STUDENT SENATE Meeting of September 23, 1998 Unofficial Meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM. Roll was taken at 7:10 PM. Senators Present: Anthe (CIT), Chang (MCS), Devine (HSS), Die (CFA), Ditterline (CIT), Gross (CIT), Guzy (HSS), Hardjanto (SCS), Hutsko (MCS), Joshi (MCS), Kalafchi (SIA), Mccartin (CIT), Merry (HSS), Monroe (CIT), Moskowitz (HSS), Ng (CIT), Phelps (SCS), Silverman (MCS), Stovall (MCS), Strauss (SCS), Tham (SIA), Wei (HSS), You (SIA) Senators Absent: Chan-Mendez (SIA), Guerra (CIT), Jones (CFA), Koch (CIT), Meier (CIT), Tassone (SCS) Ex-Officio Reports: Activities Board (Denise Fazio): No report Graduate Student Assembly (Grant Bromhal): Not present Greek Council (Avanash Jain): Not present Division of Student Affairs (Dean Murphy): Not present Student Dormitory Council (Rob Migliore): Not present Student Body President (given by Sarah Gross): I met with Dean Murphy discussing about furnishing and decorating the Morewood basement and other issues. Also, the Newsletter will be out in the next 10 days. Student Body Treasurer (Keith Rothschild): I am still looking for an Assistant Treasurer. If anybody is interested, please contact me. Special Businesses: Approval of Validated Petitions Alex Markel, a sophomore ECE major, is accepted as an official senator representing CIT. Committee Reports: Academic Affairs (Amy Ng): The time and place of AA committee meeting is to be announced. We are updating the report from last semester concerning the student online web site. Teaching Assistant evaluation form is being processed. The University has been working on the Life Skill Workshop, a three-unit optional course. The primary goals of this course are to help students develop and articulate a life vision, to provide students with the tools necessary to manage their extraordinary talents within the constraints of time, and to develop their leaderships. Campus Affairs (Neil Guzy): The committee is focusing on the poster policy with five organizations to work with. We are also working on the survey on the Morewood Basement project. In preparation for the Homecoming, the committee is working to make sure that it will run smoothly. We are work together with Housing focusing on dormitories. Funding and Recognition (Sern Tham): F&R will be presenting four special allocations. Human Resources (Jamie Chang): The committee discussed what kinds of items should be on the HR web page. Charlie Anthe will be doing the initial work on this. The committee decided upon a labeling system for the inboxes in the Senate office, which should be done by the end of next week, pending the purchase of supplies. The committee approved the specifications for a new PC for the Senate office. The computer has been purchased and should arrive before Mid-semester break. If you would like to see the specifications, talk to Robb Moskowitz. In preparation for the computer's arrival, files are being moved off of the Senate's Power Macintosh to its Andrew accounts. This is to make room for several applications which need to be installed upon it which currently reside on the older Macintosh Centris and to allow easier access to Senate's documents on all platforms. The committee has agreed to dispose of the older Centris by first offering to sell or give it to a worthy organization. Should there be no interested organizations, the computer would be sold on the open market to the highest price. F&R will be handling the disposal. Later in the meeting, we will be voting on the election dates chosen by the committee. The committee chose October 27, 28, and 29. The committee will likely be bringing up locations and times at the next Senate meeting. The committee discussed the front-page article concerning vacancies that was in last week's Tartan. The committee agreed that there were several errors in it, and I sent a letter to the Tartan at the committee's request, asking for correction and clarification of the article. The committee also discussed ways in which Senators can contact their constituents. Methods such as use of departmental and college electronic bulletin boards, and departmental dlists were mentioned. We encourage Senators to explore these and other possible routes of communication with constituents, and share what they learn with the rest of their college delegation. Direct any question concerning the HR Committee or its issues to me at: pet@andrew.cmu.edu , or call x2-2695 Public Relations (Joshua Merry): The committee meets every Monday at 9PM in Skibo. We are still working on the poster publication on campus. The committee is also up-to-dating the Senate flier to advertise the available positions in the Student Senate. Chair (Drew Stovall): Keycards will be ready by the end of next week to access the copy room. New Business from Committee: Approval of Election Dates (October 27, 28, 29 (T, W, R)) accepted by voice vote. F98-003 - Special Allocation to Friends of the Board A special allocation of $300 to repay the organization for previous special allocation of the same amount zeroed from their account at the end of last semester. The wood for the ramp is being stored in a shed owned by CIA and it will be used at Spring Carnival. Motion approved by voice vote. F98-004 - Special Allocation to SPICMACAY A special allocation of $2960 to refund SPICMACAY for funds that were inadvertently left in the account last year and subsequently zeroed. Approved by voice vote. F98-005 - Special Allocation to Dancer's Symposium Dancer's Symposium provides CMU students the opportunity to express their creativity through dance. A special allocation of $2050 for Dancer's is recommended. Approved by voice vote. F98-006 - Special Allocation THISTLE A special allocation of $272.03 for THISTLE in order to purchase a new hard drive that has been having problems since last year. It was approved by voice vote. New Business: Singapore Students' Association & ARCC (Awareness of Roots of Chinese Culture) request for a special allocation funding of $550 for Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn festival is a major festival for the Chinese that has deep cultural significance. Motion was approved by hand vote. Points of Discussion: The Career Center is working with Jobtrack, a company based in California. They create a new web page for submitting resumes, which require students' social security number. However, some senators have expressed their concerns with the confidentiality and security of the personal information given. Resolutions will be discussed further through the Senate meeting next week. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM by voice vote. Respectfully Submitted, Paula Rumli