ASLCSC Senate Meeting Minutes

March 7, 2006

Ninth Senate

 

Call to order

The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m.

 

Roll Call

Present: Senators Bautista, Bybee, Hanson, Mewes, Ojeda, Rawson, Riggers, Sherpa, Smith. President Racich, Vice-President Ambriz, Committees Director Bloomsburg,  Associate Justice Wittman, Associate Justice Vaughan, Associate Justice Astle.

Audience: Ernie Williams, Ron Smith, Brandon Lytle, Pam Laird, Jimmie O’Harra, Senate Secretary Myndie VanHorn.

Excused Absent: Media Relations Director Rohde.

 

Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve the minutes of February 28, 2006 Senator Hanson, second Senator Rawson. 8 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention (Riggers).

 

Student Government Advisor

          Ernie Williams- Informed the Senate that mid-term grades have been posted for those who are enrolled.

 

Student Activities Coordinator

          Brandon Lytle- Tomorrow night Texas Hold ‘Em in the SUB. Halo tourney has been postponed to 3 pm Thursday. Ping Pong League registration due Friday. Spokane Chiefs on Saturday. SPB working to bring Clumsy Lovers to the Elks on March 29.

 

LCSC Administration Communications

          Ron Smith- Thanks to those who came to the Student Fee Hearing “it was pretty uneventful.”

 

Executive Communications

          President Racich- Seconded Dr. Smith’s thoughts about it being a quiet Student Fee Hearing.

          Vice-President Ambriz- Presented the budget.

          Media Relations- Excused absent.

          Director of Committees- Nothing.

 

Judicial Communications

          Associate Justice Wittman- Got ballots done. Have two more election board members. Everything going as planned. President Racich brought up that the ballots have to be approved by the Senate according to the bylaws. Discussion ensued as to whether there needs to be an official vote on the ballots. Found that there does not need to be an official vote. AJ Wittman informed the Senate that he has the ballots right now.

Motion to amend the agenda to include the sample ballot, Senator Rawson, second Senator Smith. Unanimous. AJ Wittman explained that there are six different ballots and explained the concept behind the different ballots. Passed around the ballots for Senate approval. Got Senate approval with a few corrections. Will be submitting the ballots to Myndie for help with the printing process.

 

Committee Reports

Graduation: VP Ambriz reported that he and Myndie went to the Elks last Friday for a walk-through. Informed the Senate that the account is not doing too well financially and informed the Senate that the Committee will possibly be coming to the Senate for a transfer of funds.

Faculty Senate: Senator Bybee reported. The informal accreditation for the education division was positive. They had 300 students for Pro-Tech Day which was a good turnout. They are talking about asking the SBOE for an increase in athletic waivers. Talked about how teachers will have more views of the classrooms on campus, will be through Julie Crea. Talked about the Student Fee Hearings. Discussed course fees and whether or not they are added in to the total cost of education. Approved a few curriculum reports if you want those he has a list, come talk to him later. Talked about changing the SCE’s (Student Course Evaluations) due to the length and repetitive questions. Senator Hanson reported that there is a request for proposals for outsourcing the bookstore.

Curriculum Committee: Senator Hanson reported. Met today. 7 proposals for first reading. Second reading, 23 different proposals approved, will now go to Faculty Senate and then go on to Administration.

Directors Council: Senator Smith reported. Bob Sobotta wanted to invite all Student Government members to participate in the Native American Week and invite them to the Friendship Banquet on Thursday of the week. Informed the Senate that they are talking about changing the Hotel and Restaurant Management degree to a Hospitality Management degree (Senator Hanson added that this will be offered through BTS and the Academic side). Also are looking to add a Fire Management degree. Working at trying to get an online supplemental catalog for even number years so students won’t be lumped into a two year catalog.

Clubs and Orgs: Senator Smith reported. Met last Friday. Had a couple of guest speakers. OELA informed the group that Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated on May 3 instead of May 5.

 

Old Business

None.

 

New Business

          Senate Bill 06-S048: The allocation of $250 for Cesar Chavez Day.  Motion to vote Senator Hanson, second Senator Bautista. Roll call vote: 9 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions. Bill passed.

          Senate Bill 06-S049: Clubs and Orgs Grant Funding. Motion to vote Senator Sherpa, second Senator Rawson. Roll call vote: 9 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions. Bill passed.  

          Senate Resolution 06-S008: Student Fees. Senator Bybee passed out resolution as the resolution just came out of committee. Motion for friendly amendment to change “Fall Session” to “Spring Session” Second Senator Mewes. Unanimous. Motion to vote Senator Rawson, second Senator Mewes. Roll call vote: 7 Yes, 2 No (Senators Hanson and Sherpa), 0 Abstentions. Resolution passed.

          Senate Resolution 06-S010: ASLCSC Support of the D.R.E.A.M. Act.

à Motion for friendly amendment Senator Hanson, second Senator Smith. Line 1 change “Eighth” to “Ninth” change “Second Regular” to “Spring”. Line 10 capitalize the “s” in Senate. Line 34 remove “e” from “or.” Line 69 capitalize State. Line 69 remove space between hyphen and “Clark.” At the end of line 69 change the period at the end of the sentence to a comma. Line 70 capitalize “parker.” Line 71 change “President” to “Chair” and capitalize “Faculty.” Unanimous.

à Motion for friendly amendment Senator Sherpa. Line 32 comma after “unfortunately.” Line 38 period after “talents.” Second Senator Smith. Unanimous.

à Motion for friendly amendments Senator Ojeda. Line 48 spell “pursuing” correctly. Line 59 add apostrophe “s” to “College.” Second Senator Smith. Unanimous.

à Motion for friendly amendment Senator Sherpa. Line 16 hyphen between “co” and “sponsored.” Second Senator Hanson. Unanimous.

à Motion for friendly amendment Senator Smith. Lines 10, 15, 20, 26, 36, 40, 45, 58, 64; change “DREAM” to “D.R.E.A.M.” Second Senator Hanson. Unanimous.

Motion to vote Senator Bautista, second Senator Rawson. Motion to vote as amended (without reading the friendly amendments) Senator Hanson, second Senator Smith. Motion to override voting, Senator Rawson, second Senator Smith.

à President Racich commended Senator Ojeda and said that she thought this was a “wonderful resolution.” Senator Bautista commented that she has seen people working on this in the student body. This is something that is being “actively worked on” the campus. Senator Ojeda stated that she wrote a letter to the Editor of the Tribune and a couple other newspapers. She also sent a copy of that letter to Butch Otter; his response led her to believe that he was not really familiar with the Bill. Informed the Senate that there are certain requirements for illegal aliens to attend college. An example of one of these requirements is that the alien wanting to attend college would have to have lived in the United States for five years before the passing of the “D.R.E.A.M. Act” to be eligible. Senator Smith stated that he had done some research on this since he found it in his box. Brought up the issue of “in-state tuition” and the fact that these students would not be paying out-of-state tuition. Also brought up the subject that these students could be in college and their family be deported which would separate the family. Senator Ojeda responded that the Act only solves one of the many problems that illegal aliens face, it does not solve for all the problems. AJ Astle asked if illegal aliens pay taxes and asked why they would be eligible for in-state tuition. Senator Bautista added that the immigrants leave many of their families behind; they took that risk when they came to this country. VP Ambriz stated that he strongly believes in this Act. Stated that there are a lot of illegal aliens in this country and this Act is for people who desire Higher Education. Believes it is an investment in this country. Senator Hanson asked Senator Ojeda what steps the D.R.E.A.M. Act takes to document undocumented people. Senator Ojeda responded that if they meet the requirements of the Act and complete two years in a Higher Education institution or two years in the US Military they will be permitted to apply for a conditional status which would allow them to stay in the US for six years. Senator Bautista brought up that a great deal of these illegal immigrants are paid very low salaries which do not allow them to pay a great deal of taxes. Pam Laird brought up that International and Out-of-state students take a hard blow with tuition. Senator Sherpa stated that she supported the Resolution but wanted to ask the Senate to think about the fact that if they support this Resolution that they should also support the International students and out-of-state students. Brandon Lytle asked if these illegal immigrants would be eligible for Federal Aid. Senator Ojeda answered yes. Senator Ojeda stated that these illegal immigrants were brought here when they were very young and did not have a choice about where they lived. A lot of them are honor roll students and star athletes but they cannot do anything with their talents if they are held back. Senator Bautista added that they are already here and are being restricted because they can’t get a higher education. These people are going to have children in the US who will be US citizens. “I think its going to happen either way and the more we do to help them along is better…they’re here already and are not going to leave unless they are deported.” Senator Sherpa asked if there was any way that International students could be added to the Resolution. Senator Ojeda answered that the D.R.E.A.M. Act was not geared towards International students it was specific to illegal aliens. Motion to vote: Senator Bautista, second Senator Mewes. Roll call vote: 5 Yes, 2 No (Senators Hanson and Smith), 2 Abstentions (Senators Riggers and Sherpa). Resolution failed.

          Senate Resolution 06-S011: Health Insurance.  (Took five minute break to deal with recorder issues missed Senator Hanson’s introduction to the Resolution) President Racich spoke in regards to the Resolution. In the Spring Semester of 2002, Senator Redford wrote a Resolution that was very similar to this Resolution. This was probably the most opportune time for this resolution. Informed the Senate that she has testified in front of the SBOE at least four times, reiterating the fact that LCSC students are against the Student Health Insurance mandate. President Racich stated that she has spent the last 1 ½ to 2 years working on the Health Insurance issue. The Resolution that was written in 2002 was presented to the SBOE. Presenting a Resolution like this at this time to the SBOE would not be in the best interest of the students. At this point there is not much that can be done about the mandate. Governor Kempthorne has made it very clear that he stands behind the mandate and there are people on the SBOE that are promoting the mandate at his request. By sending another Resolution to the SBOE we would be “pouring salt into an open wound.” President Racich stated that Senator Hanson had asked about the Student Health Insurance meetings but had only gone to one of the meetings. President Racich reiterated the fact that she thought this would not be a good idea to present this Resolution to the SBOE. Senator Hanson stated that a similar Resolution was presented in 2002 and pointed out that this was four years ago. “None of the people, who are in this room, as far as I know, were actually students much less representing Student Government.” Added that this Resolution is not intended to influence the SBOE it is intended to influence the upcoming elections. Stated that he believes this is a timing issue as Governor Kempthorne will not be seeking reelection. Does not believe that this will be a “poke in the eye” to the SBOE. Senator Bautista spoke, but I was unable to make out what she was saying. Senator Mewes asked why Senator Hanson had not attended the meetings if he felt so strongly about this issue. Senator Hanson responded that the meeting that he did attend they were just discussing levels of coverage and things of that nature. He stated that what this Resolution is discussing is whether there should be a mandate. Committees Director Bloomsburg asked if the 2002 Resolution still stands. Senator Bybee stated that it does until new legislation overrides it. Discussion ensued regarding what the perception would be of the Senate voting down the Resolution. President Racich stated that she thought Senator Hanson did not know enough about this issue to understand the situation. Senator Hanson stated that Idaho will be getting a new Governor as well as a new legislature and he thought this was an appropriate time to revisit this issue. Motion to withdraw the Resolution Senator Sherpa, second Senator Ojeda, Senator Hanson stated that if it was the will of the Senate to withdraw the Resolution he would withdraw it. Roll call vote: 8 Yes, 1 No (Hanson), 0 Abstentions. Resolution withdrawn.

 

 

Senate Information Reports

          Myndie informed the Senate that she arranged a presentation for “Net-centric proposal on campus.” Will be held Thursday March 9 at 3 pm in the Media Services Training area. Information is also up on the white board. Informed the Senate that she sent out an email to the Senate applicants asking them to be here for the interviews on the Thursday March 9 at 5 pm.

          Senator Bybee reminded everyone to use the print codes for the copier appropriately. Remember that the codes are just for Senate business. Next Tuesday we will be meeting in CDA. Interviews will be after the Roundtable on Thursday those who are interested in being involved in the interviews be there.

          Senator Riggers brought up a rumor he has been hearing. Tech students may have to have drug screening. Diesel Tech students are taught to drive semis (class 3 vehicles) and the DOT requires drug testing. Keep your ears open about this issue.

 

Audience Time

          Justice Vaughan reminded those that filed for the elections that they need to get their bios and photos in to the Judicial Branch.

 

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn Senator Hanson, second Senator Riggers. Unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.  

 

Respectfully Submitted by: Myndie VanHorn

 

Bill 06-S048 Roll Call Vote

Bill 06-S049 Roll Call Vote

 

N

A

 

N

A

Bautista

X

 

 

Bautista

X

 

 

Bybee

X

 

 

Bybee

X

 

 

Hanson

X

 

 

Hanson

X

 

 

Mewes

X

 

 

Mewes

X

 

 

Ojeda

X

 

 

Ojeda

X

 

 

Rawson

X

 

 

Rawson

X

 

 

Riggers

X

 

 

Riggers

X

 

 

Sherpa

X

 

 

Sherpa

X

 

 

Smith

X

 

 

Smith

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resolution 06-S008 Roll Call Vote

Resolution 06-S010 Roll Call Vote

 

N

A

 

N

A

Bautista

X

 

 

Bautista

X

 

 

Bybee

X

 

 

Bybee

X

 

 

Hanson

 

X

 

Hanson

 

X

 

Mewes

X

 

 

Mewes

X

 

 

Ojeda

X

 

 

Ojeda

X

 

 

Rawson

X

 

 

Rawson

X

 

 

Riggers

X

 

 

Riggers

 

 

X

Sherpa

 

 X

 

Sherpa

 

 

Smith

X

 

 

Smith

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Withdraw Resolution 06- S011 Roll Call Vote

 

 

N

A

 

Bautista

X

 

 

 

Bybee

X

 

 

 

Hanson