The regular weekly meeting of SAS was held in Bates Meeting Room B on Monday, November 17, 2008. Rebecca was present and taking minutes.
Attendence
Hayleigh, Lindsey, Elizabeth, Neil, Durga, Eliot, Pam, Lily, Maddie
2. Budget Presentations
A. Gospel Choir: John Arsenault
a. Amanda: We’re asking for transportation fees from Nehemiah our director. We’re asking for $468 . We owe him a lot and we wouldn’t be where we are today. We asked Sarah Solomon from the music department to fund us, but she directed us to you.
b. John: Gospel choir is the only vocal group that’s open to the entire student body. Nehemiah said he couldn’t continue to come this year if we didn’t fund his travel
c. Eliot: What’s the average size of the group
d. John: About 12 or 13 people
e. Lindsey: Is your request for reimbursement included in the proposal?
f. John: Yes.
g. Neil: The main reason we were hesitant before is because we don’t usually fund clubs with anything other than the initial cost. Have you tried fundraising?
h. Amanda: I’ve worked with clubs that have been fairly unsuccessful given the amount of money it is.
i. Neil: I think that this is more of an appeal that a whole new proposal. It’s something we should discuss with Senate
j. Hayleigh: This is something we should talk about in discussion
k. Elizabeth: Is this for the whole year or just for the semester?
l. John: It’s for the whole year
B. Solidarity Club: Jennifer Waller
a. Jen: the solidarity club is having an event this Sunday and it’s a meet and greet for the faculty and students and the tenants of Hill House. We want to make them feel welcome. The budget is just for Flik refreshments and little snacks. We estimate 40 people will show up which is conservative. It will be a nice occasion for students to put a face to this controversy that’s going on.
b. Eliot: Have you discussed this event with the tenants?
c. Jen: We’ve been in contact with a few throughout the whole process. We made invitations that we’re going to be distributing over the next couple of days.
d. Lindsey: Will you be publicizing for this event?
e. Jen: Yes
3. Budget Deliberations
A. Gospel Choir: John Arsenault
a. Eliot: How much did we fund the Swing dance instructor?
b. Hayleigh: $600
c. Elizabeth: How much did we fund the sign language club
d. Hayleigh $300 for one semester
e. Elizabeth: I’m in support of funding this budget
f. Lindsey: I motion to approve this budget for gospel choir. Seconded. Objection.
g. Neil : This really seems like an appeal. I would be supportive of a fee that trained someone to take over this job. I don’t see the senate funding a group for years to come. Groups should be self-sufficient.
h. Elizabeth: I’m the gospel chair liaison and I’ve talked to Maddie and Michelle after we made the decision to fund the Sign Language and Swing Dance because it was a contradiction. I think we’re not expecting the ASL club to be fluent in sign language after one semester and gospel choir is the same thing. It’s an art and it’s something he’s spend his whole like studying. I’ve been to a rehearsal and I understand.
i. John: Something Nehemiah made clear to us was he doesn’t know how much longer he can keep doing this. There is a junior who is abroad right now and we’ve talked about the idea of Nehemiah teaching us.
j. Maddie: The fact that this is the only musical group that’s completely open is good. I’m going to call the question
k. Hayleigh: All those in favor of voting, raise your hand <6 yes>.We’re going to vote now on the motion. All those in favor of funding in full please raise your hand <5 yes 1 no> This motion passes.
B. Solidarity Club: Jennifer Waller
a. Maddie: I support this as an important community event
b. Lindsey: I definitely agree with that. I’m not sure about her estimate of 40 people but I’m not sure it matters.
c. Eliot: I don’t have a problem with this but a concern about the tone of the event and whether or not it could be resentful towards the college.
d. Elizabeth: I didn’t get that impression at all. Flik is really expensive but I don’t feel it’s a dwelling in the past notion.
e. Lily: Maybe we could scale back and do the event for 30 people because this is on Sunday after all.
f. Maddie: I’m wondering why it would be in Slonim as opposed to the Hill House lobby.
g. Josh: When I saw this budget, the location was my concern. Several of the tenants are elderly and that could be an issue. Regarding Flik, with reception-type things it tends to be more than people eat
h. Neil: I move to approve with the suggestion that they have the event in the Hill House lobby. No seconds.
i. Elizabeth: I move to fund $183 which is the price for 30 people with the suggestion they move to the Hill House lobby. Seconded.
j. Hayleigh: We’re going to vote. All those in favor of the motion, raise your hand <6 yes>This motion passes.
C. Further discussion
a. Neil: What is the definition now of that qualifies as an appeal
b. Hayleigh: I had a discussion with Josh about whether or not they could submit it, though it was my decision. Talking with them, to me it seemed like a different budget.
c. Lily: We talked about being consistent and if we’re going to fund other people’s instructors.
d. Neil: I feel like it’s the Senate’s job to correct us on that
e. Maddie: Because we’ve had a conversation within this body about this issue, it’s relevant to be brought back to us.
f. Elizabeth: If they were to have made an appeal, would it have gone to an appeals committee?
g. Michelle: It goes to a committee.
h. Maddie: I would shy away from setting precedents or rules. But in this case, when the budget first came our way, we hadn’t funded teaching for students. We should have a conversation about it and come to consensus about what should be the right thing to do.
i. Neil: I just checked the bylaw and it said that it should go to senate.
j. Michelle: Then there must be a contradiction
k. Lily: I feel really conflicted. We’re going around in circles. We made a decision and it’s over.
l. Maddie: I feel strongly that these conversations are really important but at the same time it shouldn’t reflect badly on us when we reflect on past decisions. If this is a bylaw issue, then it should definitely go to the bylaw committee.
m. Michelle: To clarify, Neil was correct.
n. Maddie: Motion to adjourn. Seconded. No objections.