Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: November 14, 2004, No. 8

WSA Officers

President: Emily Polak
Vice President: Jeremy Abrams
Coordinator: Ali Gomer
Treasurer: Pacho Carreno

Meeting Agenda and Business

1. Approval of last week's minutes
2. Committee reports
3. Discussion on group accountability
4. Discussion about the meaning and purpose of resolutions
5. New business and announcements

Opening of Meeting
The meeting is opened at 7:08 PM.

Approval
Minutes approved.

Committee Reports

CC

• Put up signs for Thursday conversation hours.
• Worked on the representative profiles.

COCo

• Javapalooza went well.
• Initiated a ride that will go to Main Street from Wednesday to Saturday starting next semester.

EC

• Will have a conversation on resolutions next week.
• Bylaws were passed last spring about Carrie's position. Now we will put them into the constitution. Assembly members can also suggest changes to bylaws, which can only be changed with a majority of votes.

EPC

• Course scheduling principles were passed by the faculty. The motion was for the EPC to work on the issue. This will force faculty to be on campus more than two hours per week.
• Punishment would be for professors to talk with EPC if they do not abide by rules.
• Creating a WesClassifieds in Wes Portfolios. Motion to pass a

FiFac

• Lighting tour on Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

IPC

• Snowy Showy is in the works. It will not be at MoCon. Instead, it will be at Eclectic.
• Annie Fox will help try to make the blackboard system more dynamic.
• Jeremy Abrams says he needs two students to work with on CRC advisory committee.
• Working on alumni directory for majors that would cost little to set up and could be put up quickly.

SAC

• URLC will finish up student space discussion on Wednesday.
• Bridget Stapleton will be replacing Tim Reiss as ARAMARK's Dining Services Director at Wesleyan.
• Will start reviewing the meal plan structure for next year at our next meeting.
• Armando Palha will be WSA representative to the OBHS Advisory Committee.
• Follow up forum on Hazing will be held on Wednesday, November 17. at 7 p.m. in PAC 001.

SBC

• The venue for the Snowy Showy is Eclectic and the bands are Jean Gray and Weird War.

Stack

• Emily Polak asks about the weekend ride. Tara Moore says that she called Marcelo who was enthusiastic about the ride. Brittany Mitchell asks if there are enough resources for this when we are having trouble with campus safety issues right now.
• Mike Donnella asks if there is any way of starting the ride before 7 p.m. Karen Courtheoux responds that we should place safety above convenience.
• Zach Kolodin asks why the shuttle does not start until 7 p.m. Nathan Victoria is not here to answer.
• Danielle Krudy asks Karen Courtheoux if there is a policy on how teachers deal with POIs. Karen says that the EPC approved a POI resolution last year that would force teachers to hand out POI forms earlier that would be in effect for the fall '05 semester. Next fall, POI forms will also be online.
• Jeremy Abrams contends that we should not have coffee in the lobby. He then asks if 300 capacity Eclectic is big enough for students; suggests that MoCon would be better because it is bigger.
• Emily Polak clarifies that the RIDE would go into town on Wednesday night only. Further concerns about the van should be sent to Nathan Victoria. She also says that the administration should be a campus-wide space rather than a student-run space. Because the WSA is funding it, we don't want it to be a letdown.
• Brittany Mitchell says that sound equipment at MoCon costs twice as much which means that the band is not as good.
• Karen Courtheoux suggests that the winter show should be held earlier in the season so that it can be held outside.
• Ali Gomer mentions that any student who misses three meetings can be impeached.

Discussion about Group Accountability

This discussion has been suspended from the minutes based on a 2/3 majority vote of the Assembly.

Discussion about the Meaning and Purpose of Resolutions

Karen Courtheoux says that it was EPC's idea to put this on agenda. It seems that everyone in the WSA has a different conception of what a resolution is. What is worth passing? What are some alternative things that we could do when a group brings forth an issue? What is the hope of a resolution? How can we frame resolutions so that they can make a difference?

Stack

• Arijit Sen suggests that resolutions should be strongly formulated. While he agrees that the wording is important, it is not the most important thing. The fact that we pass a resolution makes a difference. Marcia Bromberg probably would not have taken action if we did not pass the resolution.
• Jess McIntosh says that this conversation has the potential to be silly.
• Zach Kolodin says that we should send out resolutions that are factually accurate and that we should be more concerned about our credibility.
• Evan Simko-Bednarski says that if we do not follow up on the issues, we have no reason to pat ourselves on the back. Brian Brotman says that we should not worry so much about pleasing the administration. Karen Courtheoux says that we can only piss them off so many times before they refuse to give us money.
• Jacob Mirsky suggests that it is most effective to create a group after each resolution is passed to use the resolution as a starting point for further action. He straw polls this question. Twelve people approve, four disapprove and 13 abstain.
• Brittany Mitchell suggests that we should not be afraid to upset the administration about grammar questions but rather about the content of our resolutions.
• Arijit Sen says we have to meet with administrators weekly and that we would
• Emily Polak says that the WESU resolution shows that we can disagree with respect.
• Evan Simko-Bednarski says that we must not forget about issues once we pass resolutions.
• Elaine Garven says that the way in which a resolution is written should be well-written and well-thought out because it affects the WSA's reputation.
• Mike Donnella asks what we should do with the straw poll. Jacob Mirsky says that we should probably look at these issues on a case-by-case basis.
• Anda Greeney echoes Elaine's comment about WSA credibility.

New Business and Announcements

• Zach Kolodin suggests that we should change the yielding procedures so that the person who initially gets time is able to allocate time as he or she sees fit. A motion to change this procedure is approved.
• Ben Evar asks if there is any progress on the third floor of the campus center. Josh Ente responds that this issue will be brought up at a meeting soon.
• Elaine Garven makes a comment that has been suspended from the minutes. Minutes on the discussion of group accountability has been suspended from the minutes.  
• Zach Kolodin says that the dean search committee will be on Wednesday; he requests that we email him suggestions.
• Jeremy Abrams asks if anyone wants to be on the CRC Committee which will reform the services of the CRC. Ben Evar asks to be on it. Interested people are suggested to send emails to Jeremy.
• Anda Greeney says some comments that are suspended from the minutes based on a 2/3 majority vote.

Adjournment
The meeting is adjourned at 9:03 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Arie Eernisse, WSA Secretary