I. Call to Order Michael (9:07)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Michael prayed
Present: Michael Spory, Benjamin Bergey, Sarah Beck, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Darian Harnish, Peyton Erb, Katie Landis, Matt Dean, Todd Hooley, Hannah Wenger, Nels Akerson, Mariah Elliott, Heidi Bauman, James Souder, Dan Sigmans, Vi Dutcher, Ken L. Nafziger
Absent: Amin Laboriel, Gabe Brunk, Amy Springer
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 13102010-1 to approve the minutes: Janelle
Second: Heidi
Motion approved unanimously
IV. Committee Reporting:
a. Cross Cultural—Will and Nels: Nels shared the committee shared about the current cross-culturals (the Spain cross-cultural is doing very well!) and how the QEP is working with the CC program and looking into how the program can be more sustainable. They’re looking at how to buy out carbon footprints and discussed the Mennonite Travel Aide service. Some cross-culturals use it and others don’t and they are going to look into whether or not we should use the same travel agent with each cross-cultural.
b. Information Systems—Darian: Darian shared that they talked about the switch from Blackboard to Moodle, e-mail and whether to provide each student with an EMU domain web address or let students choose their own domain. This would probably only be an option for graduate and seminary students. They also talked about printing and looking into providing more printing stations around campus. They won’t implement this until they have a more accurate way of taking account of who is printing what. Next semester, they will look at which students have been printing what to see if there are groups of students who print off more than others and how many sheets are used per student.
V. Old Business
a. Idea Drive Responses—Janelle: Janelle shared most of the ideas given at the Idea Drive, which ranged from playing the National Anthem to an outside sitting area for the cafeteria. She will send an e-mail to all the senators with places that she is going to pass on the suggestions to (Campus Ministries, Library, etc.) and anyone super passionate about an idea or two can e-mail her back and work to see what we can do about these ideas.
b. Committee switch—Katie: Katie is on the Safety Committee and is unable to attend their meetings on Thursday mornings. Senators will go home and check their schedules to see if they can switch with her.
VI. New Business
a. Commuter/Transfer Students Space: Mitch Stutzman, Lindsey Lehman, and Boris Ozuna came in to share about how they have heard from many transfer and commuter students about needing a space on campus. Mitch shared that many students have told him they need a physical space on campus to feel comfortable and like part of the EMU community. Lindsey shared that she is a commuter student who has found it a bit challenging to get to know others on campus due to a lack of space. When there is a large gap of space between classes and there is nowhere to go, she feels left out of campus life. There is also no place for students to keep lunches if they bring them from home in the morning. Having a space would be a great way to get to know other commuter students as well. Boris shared that sometimes he just has to go to his house because he has nowhere on campus and then he’s isolated from the EMU community. Mitch shared that one potential they thought of is enhancing the lounge area outside of Strite Auditorium in the Campus Center. There is already a small kitchenette area for students to store food and there is a lot of space that could be made more comfortable for these students. There is also more traffic there by the EMU community to interact with the commuters. The current “commuter” lounge is on the other side of the post office but it only has a few small tables and vending machines. In other words, it’s boring and uncomfortable.
Motion 13102010-2 to support the commuter lounge idea: Nels
Second: Matt
Motion passed
b. Funding Request—MRI: Jessica Sarriot brought a funding request from Students for Morally Responsible Investment in Israel and Palestine (MRI). They are requesting $300 for buying, shipping, and selling fifty keffiyehs from a women’s co-op in Hebron. The keffiyehs will be purchased by EMU students so a lot of this money will come back. This demonstrates positive investment in Israel/Palestine and is a good demonstration on campus. This also gives students the opportunity to purchase something from Hebron and show their support to these women; it will also enable EMU to have a more significant solidarity movement in the future (where women wear them around campus, as was done by some during Spirit Week). After Jess left, there was a concern with some students on how much money MRI has already requested this year. There was another concern with them making the money back and using it properly. There would need to be a good way to keep track of the money they make back on these keffiyehs. There was also a concern with using student activities fees to fund an opportunity for students to buy money. The “pay-money-for-students-to-buy-stuff” does not quite sit well with some. There was a suggestion that they may be able to find another way to fund this without coming to SGA. Senators suggested that it does not seem right to make a profit, but a loan (where the $300 comes back to SGA) sounds more in line with what we want to do as an SGA.
Motion 13102010-3 to approve a loan of $300 with the understanding that SGA will get the full $300 back by the end of the fiscal year. There is also an understanding that a business account will be put in place for MRI to collect any additional profits made for future MRI endeavors: Janelle
Second: Will
Motion passed (11-0-3)
VII. Open Floor
-Thanks to all who helped with Spirit Week!
-Peyton shared that there is another catering opportunity on October 23 from 3-8 if SGA would like to fundraise for this. She will send an e-mail for senators to sign up.
-Ben shared that there has been interest in a pep band, which Dave King is fully in support of. Michael Swartzendruber will be heading this up and there will be a meeting next Thursday for all who are interested. This will be advertised through an all-student e-mail.
VIII. Adjournment
Motion 13102010-4 to adjourn: Darian
Second: Hannah
Motion approved
Meeting adjourned (10:37)
smb 10/13/10