I. Call to Order Michael (9:04)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Michael prayed
Present: Michael Spory, Benjamin Bergey, Sarah Beck, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Nels Akerson, James Souder, Katie Landis, Darian Harnish, Peyton Erb, Todd Hooley, Dan Sigmans, Gabe Brunk, Matt Dean, Mariah Elliott, Heidi Bauman, Hannah Wenger, Amy Springer, Vi Dutcher, Ken L. Nafziger
Absent: Amin Laboriel,
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 27102010-1 to approve the minutes: Nels
Second: Dan
Motion approved
IV. Announcements
a. Senator Info sheet: Michael passed around a sheet with senator information that will go on the SGA board. We checked our information to make sure it’s correct.
b. Power of the People Exhibit signup: Michael shared that this photography exhibit is
coming to Common Grounds and focus on four issues in the social justice realm. There are a lot of photos and the SGA would like to help hang these photos. A sign-up sheet was passed around for senators to sign up for a two-hour shift to help.
c. Fitness Center update: Ben shared that the tax we discussed last week applies to both
faculty and staff. Ken shared that EMU would have to not allow community members to use the fitness center in order for this benefit to legally be tax-free. There is a lot of gray area here because community members use the center frequently and we also offer discounts to EMHS students and employees. They are going to look at ways to not tax faculty and staff while still allowing community members to use the fitness center.
V. Committee Reporting:
a. CAC: Joel DeWald shared that about 1/3 of the EMU community responded to the survey on artists they would like to see in concert at EMU. The top response was Mumford and Sons, who due to recent success are now out of our price range, which were followed by The Wailin’ Jennies and Ingrid Michaelson. Another popular choice was Joshua Radin. CAC will continue to look at which of these artists will be touring on the East Coast (specifically in VA) in the spring semester and will work on finalizing a choice that works ASAP.
VI. Old Business
a. Committee switch: Katie has a Safety Committee meeting at 10:00 tomorrow morning and she has class during that time. Michael offered to take her spot tomorrow.
VII. New Business – Funding Requests
a. Josh Kanagy – Peace Fellowship: Josh Kanagy shared that there are six EMU students wanting to attend the four-day MCC conference in New York this year. The topic this year is on mining justice and how to address this issue. These students will also get a tour of the U.N. building. When they return from the conference, they are planning on writing an article in the WeatherVane to share their experience with the students. They are requesting $600.00 to help cover transportation, conference registration, food, and lodging for six EMU students. This $600.00 will not cover the entire trip but will greatly help fund the trip. Senators discussed that this amount was a lot of money; essentially we are giving $100 per person which is a lot of money to allocate. There was discussion on how they would present this experience back to EMU; while a WeatherVane article has been done in the past we would like to see more based on the amount of money we are now giving. We believe it is acceptable for us to request that they have some type of forum (perhaps a CG event) in addition to an article.
Motion 27102010-2 to approve the request of $600 to Peace Fellowship with the stipulation that they will have a forum to present their experience back to the EMU community: Darian
Second: James
Motion passed unanimously
b. Joe Hochstetler – Cycling Club: Joe shared that the Cycling Club is trying to promote
bike safety on EMU’s campus by encouraging students to wear helmets and use bike lights. They would like to subsidize the cost of buying lights to sell to EMU students at a reduced price to encourage students to bike safely. In addition, they are hosting an alleycat on November 5. An alleycat is a bike scavenger hunt done at night so bike lights are essential. The most important thing is safety on a day-to-day basis and bike lights can help that! They’re requesting $300 to cover half of the cost of the 20 bike lights. Senators thought that this is a great idea since we have a lot of bikers on campus and many people bike when it is dark.
Motion 27102010-3 to approve $300 to Cycling Club to subsidize the cost of buying bike lights for EMU students: Janelle
Second: Hannah
Motion passed
c. Will Morris – Res Judicata: Will shared that Res Judicata is renting a bus to take
students to the Rally to Restore Sanity held in Washington D.C. on Saturday, October 30. They have rented a bus which cost $860 and want to charge students $10 per person to ride up to the rally. Right now, there are 45 students signed up and if SGA does not subsidize the cost, they will all have to pay $15. Res Judicata is paying $250 to help with this as well, so SGA is kind of the “third” partner in this venture. If any money is left over, it will come back to SGA first.
Motion 27102010-4 to approve $250 for Res Judicata to subsidize the cost of a bus to take students to the Rally to Restore Sanity: Gabe
Second: James
Motion passed 16-0-1
VIII. Open Floor
-Will noted that with tonight’s funding requests we have used about 20% of our yearly budget so we are still in good shape!
-James shared that his mom, who works in Alumni Office, said that our card was much appreciated by the office. J
-Mariah shared that Take Back the Night is starting on Monday. Todd is playing and will sound awesome so come out to hear him! Thanks to Katie for helping design the posters!
-Janelle wishes everyone a safe and happy Halloween!
-Ben affirmed the senators for all their hardwork and creativity this semester. It’s been a lot of fun so far! *claps*
-Michael shared that the EMU board meeting is happening in December and on Friday, November 12 they have a lunch with student leaders at noon. Come out and enjoy!
IX. Adjournment
Motion 27102010-5 to adjourn: Janelle
Second: Peyton
Motion passed
Meeting adjourned (9:55)
smb 10/27/10