Carbondale Reporter

The Southern Illinois University Undergraduate Student Government met on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Here are the meeting minutes provided by the school:

I. Call to Order – 6:02PM

a. Meeting called to order by Executive Vice President, Ben Handler

II. Roll Call – 6:04PM

a. 35 out of 38 Senators in attendance

III. Approval of previous meeting minutes (10/04/2016) – 6:05PM

a. Senate asked for objections – none raised

b. Vote – unanimously in favor of approval of previous meeting minutes

IV. Approval of meeting agenda (10/18/2016) – 6:06PM

a. Motion made to swap line items 10 and 11, second is given

i. Vote – in favor of swapping line items 10 and 11

b. Motion made to approve meeting agenda, second is given

i. Vote – in favor of approval of the meeting agenda

V. Executive Reports

a. Executive Assistant - Jami Hagemann – 6:08PM

i. Jami reminds Senators that she can be a point of contact for any and all questions

regarding to USG, and that she is planning on attending the Multicultural Affairs

Council meetings to try and be more involved with students and student issues

b. Gabi Piquini – Treasurer – 6:09PM

i. Gabi apologizes for yet another meeting with a lot of funding bills, but says that

the number of request that are being submitted have gone down drastically and

that the Senate should expect shorter agendas in the future.

c. Ian Ritchey – Chief of Staff – 6:10PM

i. Ian says that there are a few absences in the Senate tonight, and that he is

continuing to work on our goal of filling the Senate and that any help is

appreciated. Also, he explains that we will be swearing in two new Senators

tonight.

d. Rose Weisenstein – Vice President for Student Affairs – 6:11PM

i. Rose explains that the Executive Board is working hard to rethink the way that

decisions are being made in order to serve students in the best way possible. She

also says that the SIU student trustee, Naomi Tolbert, will be included in

conversations with the Executive Board in order for her to better understand and

be informed of USGs functions and activities.

e. Ben Handler – Executive Vice President – 6:12PM

i. Ben tells the Senate that he will be participating in the Search Committee to find

the next permanent Chancellor for SIU, and that he will be happy to answer any

questions relating to the search.

f. Jared Stern – President – 6:13PM

i. Jared explains that he is participating in a conference call with the Board of

Trustees including President of the University system, Randy Dunn for a triennial

performance review, and if anyone has anything that they want asked to come

and tell him after the meeting.

VI. Committee Reports

a. Internal Affairs Committee – Elizabeth Lewis – 6:14PM

i. Elizabeth Lewis is not in attendance, so another member of the IAC, Senator

Duvall, stands and reports that the IAC met with four organization since the last

meeting, and that they are all up for approval at tonight’s meeting.

b. External Affairs Committee – Brandon Kyles – 6:14PM

i. Brandon stands and explains that the EAC had their first meeting this past week

and that they will continue to brainstorm ways to help with student and

community outreach on behalf of USG. They plan to begin work on decals at

their next meeting.

c. Multicultural Affairs Committee – Rose Weisenstein – 6:15PM

i. Rose explains that the first MAC meeting is tomorrow night in the conference

room in the Student Engagement Suite on the third floor of the student center.

She also says that Marissa Jackson will be co-chairing the committee. She asks

that Senators communicate with their constituents to provide input to the

committee moving forward.

d. USG Governing Documents Advisory Board – Jared Stern – 6:17PM

i. Jared explains that the USG GDAB had their first meeting this past Sunday and

that Senator McConnell was appointed to be the chair of the committee. This

means that this is the last time that Jared will be giving the committee report.

Additionally, a vacancy has opened up on the Board to be held by a Senator.

Senator Heller has shown continued interest in this position. The President asks

for a nomination of approval to the Board to be given to recognize Senator Heller

on the committee. Motion is made, second is given, and the Senate officially

approves Senator Heller to serve on the USG GDAB.

VII. Old Business

a. SB 17-21 Blacks Interested in Business – Event Funding – 6:18PM

i. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, is called to the podium to present the bill…

1. SB 17-21: $150 for “Homecoming Tailgate.”

2. Members of the organization are invited forward to speak on their behalf

a. No members are in attendance.

3. Motion made to open the floor for discussion, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of opening the floor for discussion

i. Point is made that this event is this weekend and that the

amount is minimal, as well as this was already tabled at

the last meeting. Therefore, even though they are not in

attendance, we should still vote on it today.

4. Motion made to close the floor for discussion, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of closing the floor for discussion

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-21, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

b. SB 17-33 Cornerstone – RSO – 6:20PM

i. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, returns to the podium to read the bill due

to the fact that the Chair of IAC is not in attendance for this meeting.

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf

a. No questions or objections raised

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-33, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

c. SB 17-50 SIUC Society of Non-Destructive Evaluation – Event Funding – 6:23PM

i. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, returns to the podium to read remaining SBs listed under

Old Business.

ii. SB 17-50: $1,500 for “ASNT Annual Conference.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

iii. Motion made to approve SB 17-50, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

d. SB 17-51 Delta Phi Mu Sorority – Event Funding – 6:28PM

i. SB 17-51: $1450 for “16th Annual Unity Dinner.”

1. No members of the organization are in attendance to speak on their

behalf regarding their request

ii. Motion is made to table SB 17-51 until the next meeting, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-51 until the next meeting

e. SB 17-52 Industrial Designers Society of America – Event Funding – 6:28PM

i. SB 17-52: $500 for “2016 Industrial Design Workshop.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-52, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

f. SB 17-53 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers – Event Funding – 6:30PM

i. Motion is made to omnibus SB 17 53-55, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of the omnibus

ii. SB 17-53: $1000 for “National Conference.”

1. Motion is made to amend the bill to raise the amount to be allocated from

$1000 to $1500, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of approving the amendment

g. SB 17-54 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers – Event Funding – 6:30PM

i. SB 17-54: $300 for “Social Events”

h. SB 17-55 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers – Event Funding – 6:30PM

i. SB 17-55: $500 for “Tacos AI SHPE”

1. Motion is made to amend the bill to raise the amount to be allocated from

$500 to $600, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of approving the amendment

ii. Motion is made to approve the omnibus that includes SB 17 53-55, second is

given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

i. SB 17-56 Interfraternity Council – Event Funding – 6:43PM

i. SB 17-56: $0 for “Open Recruitment Events”

1. Motion is made to open the floor for discussion, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of opening the floor for discussion

i. Discussion is had amongst the Senate on whether or not

USG should be “reimbursing” organizations by funding

events that have already happened.

ii. Discussions surrounding the idea reimbursing

organization last for approximately 30 minutes, and

specific discussions may have been inadvertently left out

of these minutes.

2. Motion is made to close the floor for discussion, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of closing the floor for discussion

3. Motion is made to table SB 17-56 until the next meeting to allow for

more discussion on the issues previously discussed, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-56 until the next

meeting

j. SB 17-57 National Society of Black Engineers – Event Funding – 7:15PM

i. SB 17-57: $0 for “NSBE Marketing.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-57, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

k. SB 17-58 National Society of Black Engineers – Event Funding – 7:17PM

i. SB 17-58: $3500 for “Fall Regional Conference.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-58, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

l. SB 17-59 Lifesavers – Event Funding – 7:23PM

i. SB 17-59: $150 for “Lifesavers Retreat.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-59, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

m. SB 17-60 Alpha Phi Alpha – Event Funding – 7:25PM

i. Motion is made to omnibus SB 17 60-61, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of omnibus

ii. SB 17-60: $350 for “Homecoming Tailgate.”

n. SB 17-61 Alpha Phi Alpha – Event Funding – 7:25PM

i. SB 17-61: $2000 for “Miss Eboness Pageant.”

1. Motion is made amend SB 17-61 to raise the amount from $2000 to

$3500, second if given

a. Vote – majority in favor of approving the amendment

ii. Motion made is approve the omnibus, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approving the omnibus (record of votes cast

can be found on the last two pages).

o. SB 17-62 Kappa Alpha Psi – Event Funding – 7:30PM

i. Motion is made to omnibus SB 62-66, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of omnibus SB 17 62-66

ii. SB 17-62: $850 for “Bowling Event”

p. SB 17-63 Kappa Alpha Psi – Event Funding – 7:30PM

i. SB 17-63: $1000 for “Drive Inn Movie.”

q. SB 17-64 Kappa Alpha Psi – Event Funding – 7:30PM

i. SB 17-64: $1600 for “Masquerade Ball.”

r. SB 17-65 Kappa Alpha Psi – Event Funding – 7:30PM

i. SB 17-65: $100 for “Masquerade Workshop.”

s. SB 17-66 Kappa Alpha Psi – Event Funding – 7:30PM

i. SB 17-66: $400 for “Roger C. Wilson Leadership Conference.”

1. Motion made to amend SB 17-66 to raise the allocation given, second is

given

a. Vote – majority not in favor of amending SB 17-66

ii. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a

series of questions from the Senate.

1. No further objections or amendments made

iii. Motion is made to approve the omnibus of SB 17 62-66, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval of the omnibus (record of votes cast

can be found on the last two pages).

t. SB 17-67 Intervarsity Christian Fellowship – Event Funding – 7:40PM

i. Motion made to omnibus SB 67-69, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of omnibus of SB 17 67-69

ii. SB 17-67: $800 for “Intervarsity Fall Conference.”

u. SB 17-68 Intervarsity Christian Fellowship – Event Funding – 7:40PM

i. SB 17-68: $50 for “Multiethnic Community on Diverse College Campuses.”

v. SB 17-69 Intervarsity Christian Fellowship – Event Funding – 7:40PM

i. SB 17-69: $50 for “Pursuing Justice with Joy.”

ii. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a

series of questions from the Senate.

1. No further objections or amendments made

iii. Motion is made to approve the omnibus of SB 17 67-69, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval of the omnibus (record of votes cast

can be found on the last two pages).

w. SB 17-70 Amateur Radio Club – Event Funding – 7:43PM

i. SB 17-70: $800 for “Radio Equipment.”

ii. Motion is made to amend the bill to read the correct RSO name, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of amending the bill the read the correct name

iii. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a

series of questions from the Senate.

1. No objections or amendments made

iv. Motion made to approve SB 17-70, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

x. SB 17-71 Model United Nations Organization – Event Funding – 7:47PM

i. SB 17-71: $2500 for “American Model United Nations Conference.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-71, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

y. SB 17-72 Malaysian Student Association – Event Funding – 7:49PM

i. SB 17-72: $450 for “International Soccer Tournament.”

1. No members of the organization are in attendance to speak on their

behalf or to answer questions

ii. Motion made to table the bill until the next meeting to allow for members of the

organization to be in attendance, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-72 until the next meeting

z. SB 17-78 Iota Phi Theta Fraternity – Event Funding – 7:50PM

i. SB 17-78: $1000 for “The Iota Gala: Black and White Affair.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion made to approve SB 17-78, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

aa. SB 17-79 Panhellenic Association – Event Funding – 7:52PM

i. SB 17-79: $0 for “Formal Recruitment.”

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. Point is made that this is the same situation that involved IFC

that was spoken about and tabled earlier in the meeting.

ii. Motion is made to table SB 17-79 to allow for more informed discussions to be

had regarding reimbursing RSOs, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-79 until the next meeting

VIII. New Business

a. Swearing in of new Senators – 7:58PM

i. Chief of Staff, Ian Ritchey, stands and affirms that he has received and verified

all necessary information from the following undergraduate students, and

recommends them for recognition as a Senator:

1. Yahaira Heller

2. Kane Hudson

ii. Motion is made to swear in both Senators at once, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of swearing in both Senators at once

iii. Motion is made to approve the nominations of both Senators, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approving the nominations of both Senators

iv. President, Jared Stern, stands and presents the oath of office with both students

for them to be officially recognized as Senators within USG.

b. External Affairs Committee – 1 nomination – 8:00PM

i. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, explains that a vacancy has opened in the

EAC, and asks for one nomination to the Committee.

1. Senator Kimberly Reiselbach is nominated, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of approval to Committee.

c. SR 17-03 United Nations Association – RSO Status – 8:02PM

i. Senator Nartey is called to the podium to present SR 17-03 that he has sponsored

and authored.

1. SR 17-03 states that the organization entitled United Nations Association

should be recognized as an RSO under USG.

ii. Motion is made to approve SR 17-03, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval of SR 17-03

d. SB 17-80 Saluki Strike Battalion – Event Funding – 8:14PM

i. SB 17-80: $150 for “Army ROTC Adventure Trailer Event.”

1. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, explains that this does not need to be approved

by the Senate due to the fact that the amount was less than $1000 and the

funding board was unanimous in their decision.

e. SB 17-81 Project Love – Event Funding – 8:16PM

i. SB 17-81: $175 for “Love Bags.”

1. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, explains that this does not need to be approved

by the Senate due to the fact that the amount was less than $1000 and the

funding board was unanimous in their decision.

f. SB 17-82 National Association of Black Journalists – Event Funding – 8:18PM

i. SB 17-82: 0$ for “NABJ/NAHJ Joint Convention.”

1. It is explained that this will be voted on during the next scheduled Senate

meeting and that the information is simply being presented on during this

meeting.

g. SB 17-83 NAACP – Event Funding – 8:18PM

i. SB 17-83: $600 for “NAACP Memphis Trip.”

1. It is explained that this will be voted on during the next scheduled Senate

meeting and that the information is simply being presented on during this

meeting.

h. SB 17-84 Society of American Foresters – Event Funding – 8:19PM

i. SB 17-84: $1000 for “National Convention.”

ii. Motion is made to suspend the rules to allow for this bill to be voted on during

this meeting due to the fact that their event takes place on the same day as the

next Senate meeting, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of suspending the rules for this bill only to allow

for a vote to commence during this meeting

iii. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a

series of questions from the Senate.

1. No objections or amendments made

iv. Motion is made to approve SB 17-84, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

i. SB 17-85 United Nations Association – RSO – 8:20PM

i. Motion is made to table this bill indefinatley due to the fact that the purpose of

this bill was already resolved when SR 17-03 was passed earlier in the meeting,

second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-85 indefinitely

j. SB 17-86 The Big Event – RSO – 8:25PM

i. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, presents the bill recommending that the

organization be recognized as an RSO by USG.

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-86, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

k. SB 17-87 Luminous – RSO – 8:28PM

i. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, presents the bill recommending that the

organization be recognized as an RSO by USG.

1. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and

field a series of questions from the Senate.

a. No objections or amendments made

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-87, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval (record of votes cast can be found

on the last two pages).

l. SB 17-88 National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) – RSO – 8:31PM

i. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, presents the bill recommending that the

organization be recognized as an RSO by USG.

1. No members of the organization are in attendance to speak on their

behalf or to answer questions from the Senate.

ii. Motion is made to table this bill until the next meeting to allow for members of

the organization to speak on their behalf, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling SB 17-88 until the next meeting

m. SB 17-89 Constitutional Amendment – Meeting Times – 8:32PM

i. Senator Nartey comes forward to present SB 17-89 that he sponsored and

authored.

ii. SB 17-89 amends the constitution to have Senate meet on a weekly basis rather

than bi-weekly in order for USG to handle the amount of business in a quicker

fashion.

1. It is explained that this is simply being presented during this meeting,

and that further discussion and debate will be held during the next

meeting before it gets voted on by the Senate.

n. SB 17-90 Constitutional Amendment – Senate Seat Allocation (SRN) – 8:45PM

i. Senator Heller comes forward to present SB 17-90 that she sponsored and

authored.

ii. SB 17-90 amends the constitution to add an additional seat in the Senate for

Saluki Rainbow Network due to the number of students that they represent.

1. It is explained that this is simply being presented during this meeting,

and that further discussion and debate will be held during the next

meeting before it gets voted on by the Senate.

o. SB 17-91 Constitutional Amendment – Senate Seat Allocation (LCA) – 8:49PM

i. Senator Gonzalez comes forward to present SB 17-91 that she sponsored and

authored.

ii. SB 17-91 amends the constitution to add a Senate seat for Latino Cultural

Association due to the fact that they are not currently represented and that HSC

does not accurately represent their constituency.

1. It is explained that this is simply being presented during this meeting,

and that further discussion and debate will be held during the next

meeting before it gets voted on by the Senate.

IX. Public Comments – 8:53PM

a. Motion is made to open the floor for discussion, second is given

i. Vote – majority in favor of opening the floor for discussion for public comments

b. Debate on multiple issues including Latina and Hispanic heritage and their differences,

the funding process and the length of time associated with that process, and things that

the Executive Board could be doing differently to run USG business more efficiently are

discussed. Talking points may have been inadvertently left out of these minutes due to

the pace at which discussions were being held.

c. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, asks for a motion to move on in the agenda due

to the fact that we only have the room until 9:00PM.

i. Motion is made to close the floor for discussion and move on to line item ten in

the agenda, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of closing the floor for discussion and moving

on to line item ten in the agenda.

X. Executive Board Closing Remarks – 9:00PM

XI. Constituency Comments and Concerns (Good of the Order) – 9:10PM

XII. Adjournment – 9:14PM

a. Motion is made to adjournment the meeting, second is given

i. Vote – unanimously in favor of adjourning the meeting