Happy Thanksgiving

SGA wants to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

SGA Senate Meeting Minutes 11/19

Here are the minutes from our Senate meeting last night (11/19/08). This has a lot of good information about what is going on right now in SGA! Reminder-there will be no meeting next Tuesday!

I. Community Announcements
v Men’s Lacrosse team has a game this weekend
v Circle K International is hosting a Make A Wish Benefit Fashion show tomorrow
v Leadership Tracks workshop “Ethical Breakdown” tomorrow from 5-6:30PM
v Thank you to all those who participated in the 5K Fun Run/Walk
v Volunteers need for Festival of Lights – please sign up! MANDATORY EVENT
v Thank you to those SGA members who came out to support the opening season of the men’s and women’s basketball teams

II. Officer Reports
o President President Lytle
v Special Orders – Resignation of Director McVay
v Excited to see the school senators becoming well acquainted with the organization
v Thank you to:
v Representatives sitting on the 2010-2015 Planning Committee
v Cabinet
v IGA for working on Elections Manual
v We will meet on January 13, the week that we return in the spring

o Intergovernmental Affairs Vice President Cromack
v Committee meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM
v If you see any problems with the Election Manual, please write amendments!
§ Fix problems now, don’t wait until we’re down to the wire

o Legislative Initiatives Vice President Kuentz
v Currently in lots of new legislation in committee
v If you have legislation in this committee, please come to a meeting or appoint a representative to
v Will be discussing the Tuition Cap subcommittee
v LI committee meetings are Wednesdays @ 8PM

o Student Representation Vice President Carroll
v You should be contacted about committee reports this week
v Committee meeting this Thursday at 7PM in the SGA office

o Senior Class Executive Senator Bustos
v Class meeting this week
v Go support our athletic teams!

o Junior Class Executive Senator Bencivengo
v Any ideas for class programs? E-mail Bryce (bbenciv@stedwards.edu)
v Sign up for a Festival of Lights shift

o Sophomore Class Executive Senator Martin
v Working on class social plans

o Freshman Class Executive Senator Peal
v Nothing new at this time

o Schools Represented Executive Senator Duke
v Some vacancies appointments have been withdrawn, but working to get those refilled
v Meeting this Thursday

III. Cabinet Report
o Director/Associate Director of Public Relations
v Working on posters for parking garage and around campus
v SGA now has a blog linked on our Facebook page
v There is a note on Facebook, as well, defining common SGA terms for those who are unfamiliar with them
v Coffee Shop signs (to hold office hours) are in Ginny’s box if you need them
v A sign up sheet to purchase a polo is being passed around, please indicate what you need
v Been working on marketing for cafeteria and library (ideas from retreat)

o Director of Member Development and Training
v Looking into an ice skating event
o Seeing if we can get a group discount, regular price is $10
o Director of Service
v Not present
o Director of Involvement
v Homecoming meeting this Thursday at 6PM in Bain Boardroom

o Chief of Staff
v Please fill out nomination for November Member of the Month
v Draw for Secret Santa if you have not yet
v Gift exchange and food! Sign up if you’d like to make food
v State of the Campus – January 15
v If you are buying something for the association, we are tax exempt so make sure you get the card to take with you
v Any reimbursements need to be cleared by Whitney or Marisa first
v Several people are interested in the Finance Director position – more info coming soon

V. New Business
v S.R. 112 – Campus Beautification
o Our campus is in need of aesthetic improvement
o Would like to make a mural depicting our Holy Cross heritage
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ Not sure the university would be in favor of a mural
§ Look into planting some vegetation instead of a mural
§ Push for this if you want it! Don’t be deterred by what the administration wants
§ Notre Dame has a famous mural, tradition that has already been established and could continue it here
o Objection
§ Voice vote
o Division called
§ Roll call vote
o **Sent to LI

v S.B. 05 – CFL Rebate
o $400 from secondary account and all unused funds will be returned to the account
o Incentive to get students to buy CFL light bulbs and save energy, as well as money
o Cost about $3.50 more than a regular bulb, but last longer
o City of Austin will give a $2 rebate
o 2 options:
§ Give students the $2 rebate (possibly on Topper Tender)
§ Purchase light bulbs as an association and sell them to students at $2 less
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Is this offered to on and off campus students?
§ Would be open to everyone
o SGA would be in charge of this process
o This is a great idea and a good way to spend association funds
o Would be more cost effective to promote the City’s initiative rather than take on the cost ourselves
§ Feel that this a good project to put SGA name on and be in support of
o How was the $400 mark reached?
§ Conferred with several people about how much support they felt it would receive, seemed like a middle ground amount
o Think about a collaboration with the Environmental Club
o Perhaps approach University about changing light bulbs on their own
§ 60% of students live off campus
§ Some dorms and apartments make it the student’s responsibility
§ Primarily targeting off campus and students in apartments
o Objection
§ Voice vote
o **Sent to IGA

v S.B. 06 – Elections Manual Revisions 2.0
o **Bill has been withdrawn

v Motion to Remove S.R. 102 – Athletic Banners from the Table
o Meeting with Athletic Director Debbie Taylor to discuss options
o Would like to keep the door open until this meeting takes place
o Legislation was originally tabled due to a lack of communication on the author’s part
o **Voice vote to un-table
§ Un-tabled

VI. Gallery Comments
o Former President Rudy Trejo would like to reassure the association that they are appreciated and that what they do is important – don’t get discouraged!
o Don’t limit yourselves
o Your job is to represent 6,000+ students – you were elected!
o You’re here for a reason, take the responsibility seriously
o Question your leadership – hold each other accountability
o Campus Affairs and Police Safety committee meeting Thursday at 5PM in Fleck

VII. Advisors Comments Advisor Walden
o Student Organization Events:
o Circle K International Fashion Show – November 19
o Sorin Reel Film Festival – November 21
o Environmental Club recycling drive – November 19
o Sigma Alpha Pi event at Cuba Libre – November 19
o Global Innovators cupcake decorating in Club House 2 – November 19
o Delta Sigma Pi will have a Charles Schwab rep speak about financial crisis and internships
o President, VPs, Exec Senators, Chief of Staff, and Marisa are always available to talk, so schedule a meeting!
o If you have a concerns or want something to happen, talk to them so the issue can be addressed
o Remember to keep the side chatter and cell phone texting to a bare minimum

VIII. Final Comments
o There is no meeting next week – have a happy Thanksgiving!
o We will meet December 2 for our last meeting of the semester

You're invited to tonight's Senate Meeting!

Hi everyone!

SGA would like to invite everyone at St. Edward's University to tonight's Senate meeting at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Ballroom A. We have a less busy meeting tonight than last week, but still some exciting things going on. Come find out more information, or share comments, questions, and complaints. SGA is here to represent the student voice. We want to hear from you!

Tonight's Agenda:
Approving a school senator.
Resolution for campus beautification.
CFL rebate: This has to do with rebates for energy efficient lighting.
and Revisions to the elections manual.

Hope to see you there!

11/11/08 Senate Minutes

Here is some old and new legislation from our last meeting:

I. Unfinished Business
S.B. 04 – Festival of Lights Appropriations Bill
o For the past 4 years, SGA has contributed money to purchase refreshments (hot chocolate and another weather-appropriate drink) from Bon Appetit
o There have been no major changes to this bill in committee
o Comes out of the secondary account,
o Friendly Amendment – to indicate that any appropriations not spent will be returned to the account
· Accepted
o Motion for final passage of S.B. 04
§ Passes

II. New Business
S.R. 104 – No More Ghetto Grotto
o The grotto represents the history of the campus and it has been neglected
o It points to our sister school Notre Dame
o Deserves greater recognition
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ Commending Senator Harrison for writing this legislation
§ There is a gentleman who periodically checks up on the grotto, so the author may want to speak with him
§ Concerns with the name of the legislation – may not reflect well on the association
§ The grotto was built around the turn of the century by a dedicated Brother who did so with his own hands
§ What did the author invasion with the restoration?
· Grooming the trees and adding lighting to them to help make the area not so dark at night
§ Research for putting athletic lights around this area found problems with electrical surging, so consider that
§ Perhaps a police call box in this area
o **Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 105 – SEU ACT Now
o Continuing the work on a previous piece of legislation
o St. Edward’s has continued to increase 8.25-8.5% each year
o Other schools have decided to cap the rate of tuition
o This is important with the current economic down-turn and decreased availability of loans
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ The more the expensive that degrees become, they consequently increase their value
§ Accounting for professor salaries and other spending (technology fee) may become more of an issue
§ The state of Texas deregulated the rate of tuition several years ago, usually 4% or less increase each year
§ Concerns with the effect on our quality of education
§ There is no single ideal in mind for this, just want to research
§ Don’t agree that value of degree is correlated to tuition (look at UT)
§ May look at “lock-in” tuition for incoming students
§ Most benchmark universities have seen a lower increase in tuition compared to us
§ How is tuition capped?
· There are several ways – Overall rate of increase, freeze for several years, lock-in rates when you enter
§ Consider the other great programs that have benefited from increased funding (CaboLead, Hilltop Leaders, our own Association retreat off campus) – may call for a sacrifice
o **Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 106 – Reinstate of Pass/No Pass Options for Science in Perspective and Science in Depth
o This policy changed over the summer with no notice to the students
o Many students are in favor of Pass/No Pass for the sciences
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Are you looking at a “grandfather” type policy or making this permanent?
§ Want to see what kind of support it gains from students
o The School of Humanities was surprised that this change took place, as it went against the grandfather clause
o What is the reason this was changed in the first place?
§ Is one of the core requirements, usually all of which must be taken for a grade
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 107 – Health Education & Labeling Process (H.E.L.P.)
o Since the summer of 2005, the Balance of Life campaign has been initiated
o Judges snacks on various levels, not just calories
o Use of colored dots to indicate levels of health
o One study by Uni of Virginia, found that after adopting the program there was a 30% increase purchase in yellow and 15% in green labeled items
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Look into this labeling for the coffee shop, too
o Who decides that food gets what label?
§ Not sure, would assume it is done according to the information on the labels
o Will an extensive list be available to students?
§ Not sure, will look into it
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 108 – Athletic Registration
o Going on the heels of what President of SAAC, Taylor Land, spoke about at the last meeting
o This is a great concern to student athletes, and feel their needs should be considered
o Simply wanting to collect appropriate data
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Not sure why athletes are getting priority over student workers or students who are heavily involved in other ways, suggest that athletes should take advantage of overloading process
o Do we know how many of our benchmark schools in Division II allow preference registration?
§ No, research will be done
o Is it true that athletes currently have priority when overloading?
§ Author believes so
o Do they generally get their overload?
§ Not sure
o Athletes make up 7% of population, only 3% of those athletes would be affected by this
o Is it known why this policy was taken away, as it used to be in place years ago?
§ That is unknown
o Right now, this would only be available to charted athletics
o Motion to override unanimous consent
§ Roll Call Vote – S.R. 108 is sent to LI with a vote of 16 to 9

S.R. 109 – Call Box Awareness
o Want to research ways to increase awareness of call boxes
o 10 Minute Discussion
o As a senate, we need to keep better track of previously legislation, because this has been brought up before and researched heavily
o Location is determined by proximity to other boxes and surrounding doors
o Not seen as that important since most students carry cell phones now
o UPD does ask students to save their phone number in their cell phones at orientation
o There are no call boxes walking from Ragsdale to the parking garage – an issue for off campus students
o Issue with bad cell phone reception
o Clarification that this resolution is to market the current boxes better than increasing the number of them
o When this legislation came up in the past, UPD argument was that increasing the number of boxes and better advertising makes the campus look unsafe
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 110 – Bike Rack Covers
o Simply wanting to protect current bike racks – not looking to fund more
o 10 Minute Discussion
o What does a bike rack cover look like?
-Has 4 legs and a table, probably high enough to cover a bicycle (about 6 feet)
o Estimated cost of 1 bike rack cover?
-Tried to research online and couldn’t find anything, so want to speak with the
people who installed the racks to work with them
o Concern that it doesn’t rain enough in Austin to warrant this expense
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 111 – Color Me Bright! Color Me Right!
o There are no places for students to make color copies on campus
o Would be a beneficial tool for students making presentations or running for positions in SGA
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent