Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Student Government met Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Here are the minutes as provided by Southern Illinois University-Carbondale:

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT GOVERNMENT

~ SENATE MEETING MINUTES ~

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2016

11/15/2016

MEETING

MINUTES

MEETING MINUTES

I. Call to Order – 6:00PM

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

II. Roll Call – 6:01PM

a. 37 out of 41 Senators in attendance

III. Approval of previous meeting minutes (11/08/2016) – 6:02PM

a. Senate is asked for amendments or objections to the previous meeting minutes, none raised

b. Motion is made to approve the minutes from the previous meeting, second is given

i. Vote – majority in favor of approval of meeting minutes

IV. Approval of meeting agenda (11/15/2016) – 6:03PM

a. Senate is asked for amendments or objections to the previous meeting minutes

i. Motion is made to add SB 17-108 entitled “SIU Off-Road Club” as line item “l”

in New Business, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of amendment to the agenda

b. No further objections or amendments to the agenda are made

c. Motion is made to approve the meeting agenda, second is given

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

V. Executive Reports

a. Executive Assistant - Jami Hagemann – 6:04PM

i. Jami’s reports consists of providing the Senate with funding information, including the amount that has been spent thus far. She explains that an email was sent out with this information before the meeting.

b. Gabi Piquini – Treasurer – 6:06PM

i. Gabi reports that the funding board has begun to allow for RSOs to present their budgets for events that are taking place next semester. Additionally, she explains that any comments/concerns/suggestions to the funding board are welcome from the Senators and the public.

c. Ian Ritchey – Chief of Staff – 6:07PM

i. Ian reports that he has changed the format in which constituency reports will be filled out, and that the last report for the semester is due at the next meeting on

d. Rose Weisenstein – Vice President for Student Affairs – 6:08PM

i. Rose reports that she just attended the Chancellor’s Diversity Committee in representation of USG. She also states that there are important events that require students input regarding diversity. The dates and times of the events are as follows:

1. 11/28/2016 at 6:00PM in Grinnell Hall

2. 11/29/2016 at 12:00PM in Guyon Auditorium

3. 11/30/2016 at 6:00PM in Quigley Hall, room 140B

4. 12/01/2016 at 5:00PM in the University Museum Auditorium

e. Ben Handler – Executive Vice President – 6:10PM

i. Ben reports that he recently met with the Rec Center Advisory Board, and that if anyone as any questions regarding that meeting or anything else please feel free to contact him.

f. Jared Stern – President – 6:11PM

i. Jared reports that he recently met with the Chancellor, and that he voiced concerns that he has heard from Senators and constituents that include smoking on campus, student parking, and how the current campus climate in the wake of the election is affecting student. He also reminds Senators to please make sure that they fill out their ballots completely.

VI. Committee Reports

a. Internal Affairs Committee – Elizabeth Lewis – 6:13PM

i. Senator Lewis reports that the IAC has been looking into multiple issues including proxies, impeachment, and attendance policies.

b. External Affairs Committee – Brandon Kyles – 6:15PM

i. No report as the Chair is not in attendance.

c. Judicial Board – Kelly Meloy – 6:16PM

i. Kelly reports that a new form as been distributed to the Senators to streamline the process for submitting cases to them, and that if anyone has any questions please contact anyone on the Board.

d. Diversity and Equity Affairs Committee – Rose Weisenstein/Marissa Jackson – 6:17PM

i. Rose and Marissa report that the DEAC has been working on issues that include addressing the climate on campus after the Presidential election. They also report that they are working on a plan to mandate that all members of USG take Safe Zone training.

ii. Motion is made to suspend the rules, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of suspending the rules

iii. Motion is made to revisit the EAC Report on the agenda, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of revisiting the EAC Report

a. Senator Kyles reports that the EAC has begun to split up tasks to better fundraise, advertise, and promote USG on campus. This includes working on flyers for advertising and working with local restaurants to fundraise.

iv. Motion is made to reinstate the rules, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of reinstating the rules.

e. USG Governing Documents Advisory Board – Jared Stern – 6:22PM

i. Jared reports that he is giving the report because he was appointed to Chair the committee in the absence of the Chair. He reminds Senators that proposed Funding Guidelines and changes to the constitution will be presented tonight, and that they will be receiving the documents via email in order for them to review the information before the next meeting.

VII. Advisor Report – Tena Bennett – 6:23PM

a. Tena Bennett reports that there is a meeting regarding the eclipse that is taking place next fall, and that all students are welcome to attend that meeting. She then introduces Troy Vaughn, the Director of the Student Recreation Center, to speak on the current events happening at the Rec Center, and some of things that Student Fees are used for.

VIII. Old Business

a. SB 17-89 Constitutional Amendment – Meeting Times – 6:35PM

i. Senator Nartey and Senator Lugboso come forward to present their regarding the frequency that the Senate meets.

1. Point is made that an amendment was passed stating that the Senate has the authority to vote when they feel the Senate should be meeting weekly, and that it will be not be permanent.

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-89, second is given

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

b. SB 17-95 Association of Black Psychologists Student Circle – Event Funding – 6:38PM

i. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, comes forward and presents the bill

1. SB 17-95: $766 for “Fashion Show”

ii. Member of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field questions from the Senate

iii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-95, second is given

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

c. SB 17-98 Constitutional Amendment – DEAC – 6:42PM

i. Senator Heller comes forward to present the bill that proposes that the DEAC be officially recognized as a standing committee in the USG Constitution.

ii. Motion is made to amend the bill to correct an error (USAC to DEAC), second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of amendment to the bill

iii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-98, second is given

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

IX. New Business

a. Swearing in of new Senators – 6:46PM

i. Chief of Staff, Ian Ritchey, presents that the following Toussaint Mitchell has met the minimum requirements and recommends that he be approved as a Senator by the Senate.

ii. Motion is made to approve Toussaint Mitchell as a Senator, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approval

iii. Toussaint Mitchell recites the oath of office as conducted by the President

b. SR 17-06 S.E.N.S.E Divestment – External Affairs Committee – 6:48PM

i. Senator Kyles, Chair of EAC, comes forward to present the bill to the Senate recommending that USG support a movement that asks SIU to divest from companies that are involved in fossil fuels.

1. Members of S.E.N.S.E come forward to speak on behalf of the resolution and field a series of questions from the Senate.

ii. Motion is made to create a committee entitled “SIU Divestment Committee” within USG to gather more information on the amount of funds that SIU has invested in fossil fuels, second is given

1. Motion is made to recognize the USG President, second is given

a. Vote – majority in favor of recognizing the USG President

i. Point is made by the President that the Senate does have the power to create a committee, but that he feels it would be more efficient for him to look into the questions himself and give the Senate an answer to the best of his ability.

2. Vote to create the committee – majority is opposed – does not pass

iii. Motion is made to table the resolution until the next meeting, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling until the next meeting

c. SB 17-99 Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) – Event Funding – 7:11PM

i. Motion is made to omnibus SB 17-99 through SB 17-101, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of the omnibus

ii. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, presents the bill to the Senate

1. $600 for “2017 Design Days”

d. SB 17-100 Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) – Event Funding – 7:11PM

i. SB 17-100: $700 for “Midwest District Design Conference”

e. SB 17-101 Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) – Event Funding – 7:11PM

i. SB 17-101: $185 for “Chicago Firm Crawl”

ii. Member of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a series of questions from the Senate

iii. Motion is made to approve the omnibus of SB 17-99 through SB 17-101, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approving the omnibus (record of votes cast can be found on last page)

f. SB 17-102 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – Event Funding – 7:16PM

i. Motion is made to omnibus SB 17-102 and SB 17-103, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of the omnibus

ii. Treasurer, Gabi Piquini, presents the bill to the Senate.

1. SB 17-102: $470 for “AIGA St. Louis Student Conference.”

g. SB 17-103 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – Event Funding – 7:16PM

1. SB 17-103: $2,300 for “2017 Design Days.”

ii. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and answer a series of questions from the Senate.

iii. Motion is made to approve the omnibus of SB 17-102 and SB 17-103, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of approving the omnibus (record of votes cast can be found on last page)

h. SB 17-104 Constitutional Amendment – Funding Guidelines – 7:20PM

i. Senator McConnell comes forward to present the bill on behalf of the Governing Documents Advisory Board

ii. The bill is read and he explains that the document will be sent out to the Senate tomorrow morning for everyone to look over before the bill is voted on during the next meeting.

iii. Motion is made to move SB 17-108 to line item “i” in New Business, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of moving SB 17-108 on the agenda

i. SB 17-108 SIU Off-Road Club – RSO – 7:23PM

i. IAC Chair, Senator Lewis, comes forward to present the bill.

1. IAC recommends that the SIU Off-Road Club should be recognized as on official RSO by USG.

2. Members of the organization come forward to speak on their behalf and field a series of questions from the Senate.

ii. Motion is made to approve SB 17-108, second is given

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

on last page)

j. SB 17-105 Constitutional Amendment – Proxy Requirements – 7:30PM

i. Senator Lewis comes forward to present a bill proposing that anyone who serves as a proxy for a Senator must meet the same requirements as a Senator.

1. Point is made that it would be difficult to check the GPA of proxies due to time constraints and the process that it would need to go through

ii. Motion is made to amend the bill to read, “All proxies must meet the same requirements as a Senator, except for the GPA requirement,” second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of amendment to bill.

iii. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, reminds the Senate that this legislation will be voted on during the next Senate meeting.

k. SB 17-106 Constitutional Amendment – The Executive Branch – 7:39PM

i. Senator McConnell comes forward to present the bill on behalf of the Governing Documents Advisory Board

ii. The preamble to the bill read and he explains that the document will be sent out to the Senate tomorrow morning for everyone to look over before the bill is voted on during the next meeting.

l. SB 17-107 Bill of Impeachment – USG President – 7:40PM

i. Chief Justice to the Judicial Board, Kelly Meloy, and the Chair of the Internal Affairs Committee, Senator Elizabeth Lewis, come forward to conduct the impeachment proceedings per the USG Constitution.

1. Senator Lewis reads the Bill of Impeachment stating the evidence that was brought forth, and explains that the IAC voted via closed ballot to recommend that the USG President does not get impeached.

2. President Jared Stern is afforded the opportunity to speak on his behalf as stated in the USG Constitution.

ii. Chief Justice, Kelly Meloy, explains that the Bill can now be voted on or the floor can be opened for discussion.

iii. Motion is made to open the floor for a 10 minute unmoderated caucus, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of opening the floor for an unmoderated caucus from 7:48PM to 7:58PM

iv. Chief Justice Meloy recalls order to the meeting at 7:58PM, ending the unmoderated caucus

v. Motion is made to amend the Bill of Impeachment change the language from “…President Jared Stern shall not be impeached,” to “…President Jared Stern shall be impeached,” second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of the proposed amendment

a. An order of division is called for the Chair to please recount the votes cast for the amendment

i. The votes are recounted, and the passing of the amendment is confirmed.

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

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

a. Senators converse in moderated discussion over SB 17-107

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

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

viii. Motion is made to table SB 17-107 indefinitely, second is given

1. Vote – majority in favor of tabling the bill indefinitely

a. 22 in favor, 13 against, 2 abstain

ix. Motion is made to adjourn the meeting, second is given

1. Vote – majority opposed to adjourning the meeting – does not pass

X. Public Comments – 8:29PM

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

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

1. The public voices their concerns over the fact that the Bill of Impeachment was tabled indefinitely, and that no vote on the legislation itself took place.

b. Motion is made to close the floor for public comments, second is given

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

c. Motion is made to suspend the rules, second is given

i. Vote – majority in favor of suspending the rules

d. Motion is made to reconsider SB 17-107, second is given

i. Vote – majority opposed to reconsidering – does not pass

e. Motion is made to reinstate the rules, second is given

i. Vote – majority in favor of reinstating the rules

XI. Executive Board Closing Remarks – 8:46PM

a. Jami Hagemann – Executive Assistant

i. Jami tells the Senate that she is serving on the Final Exam Committee, and that if anyone would like to provide input to let her. She also thanks the Senators for working through another long meeting.

b. Gabi Piquini – Treasurer

i. No closing remarks.

c. Ian Ritchey – Chief of Staff

i. Ian reminds the Senate that their constituency reports are due during the next Senate meeting, and to please be mindful of their attendance at meetings.

d. Rose Weisentein – Vice President for Student Affairs

i. Rose reminds the Senate that there is a DEAC meeting tomorrow night and that anyone who wants to attend is welcome to.

e. Ben Handler – Executive Vice President

i. Ben thanks the Senate for their patience is working through parliamentary procedure with him during these meetings, and that it is something that is continuously being worked on.

f. Jared Stern – President

i. Jared tells the Senators that they can expect an email with the legislation that is being voted on next week to be sent to them tomorrow morning, and to please review the information before the next meeting. Also, he thanks the Senate for working through the judicial process, and appreciates that it was conducted

properly. He also says that moving forward into next semester, Senators should expect to be receiving the legislation that is on the agenda for Senate meetings to be sent to them prior to meetings in order for them to be fully prepared.

XII. Constituency Comments and Concerns (Good of the Order) – 8:50PM

a. Executive Vice President, Ben Handler, passes the gavel around the Senate for each Senator to have the opportunity to talk about their workings within their constituency, and to provide any further closing remarks or concerns.

XIII. Adjournment – 9:16PM

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

i. Vote – majority in favor of adjourning the meeting