Student

Government Association
American International College

Senate Minutes 16 September 2015

Senate was called to order at 7:46 PM. Present were:
Executive Committee:
Alexander Clark, Student Body President
Antwan Bluster, Student Body Vice President
Cameron Akers, Student Body Treasurer
Rebecca Gray, Speaker of the Senate
Freshman Class Cabinet:
Kyle Tyler, Freshman Class Representative
Sophomore Class Cabinet:
Brittany Chalmers, Sophomore Class President
Kelsey Johnson, Sophomore Class Representative
Junior Class Cabinet:
Sierra Naughton, Junior Class President
Isabela Daudt, Junior Class Secretary
Danielle Campbell, Junior Class Representative
Amanda Wallace, Junior Class Representative
Senior Class Cabinet:
Joao Costa, Senior Class Representative
Extended Board:
Marisa Najarian, School of Business, Arts, and Sciences Representative
Jazmine Baehr, Campus Relations Representative
Haley Lassiter, Commuter Representative
Frannie Sanchez, Student Athletes Representative

AGENDA ITEM I: Approval of the Agenda
Senate unanimously voted to approve the agenda.

AGENDA ITEM II: Executive Committee Report
The student body president welcomed everyone to Senate for the first time as a whole.
Clark announced his goals for this year include filling the remainder of the open Senate
seats, collaborate with as many organizations as possible to help promote Student
Government Association, build relationships with more students on campus, and assist
organizations in requesting money for programming.

Clark reminded all representatives to be checking email on a regular basis and reminded
everyone to communicate all questions or concerns. Clark reminded class cabinets that
weekly meetings are required.

SGAs first event will be held September 24th at 6pm State of the campus is a pasta dinner
that SGA is hosting so RSOs on campus can be more informed on how senate works and the
proper way to request funds from SGA.
AGENDA ITEM III: Class Cabinet Reports

Freshman Class: No report given.

Sophomore Class: Representative Chalmers is currently working on organizaing the weekly
class cabinet meetings.


Junior Class: Representative Naughton reported that the junior class cabinet is still looking
into developing an on campus-recycling program. It was also reported that all Junior Class
Cabinet positions have been filled.

Senior Class: Representative Costa is working on organizing weekly class cabinet meetings.

AGENDA ITEM IV: Finance Committee Report
The student body treasurer prefaced budget and funding request reports by announcing
that sign ups for a permanent Finance Committee will take place following the Senate
meeting.

The Senate proceeded to discuss one budget request and two funding requests.

The first request is Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) requesting reimbursement
for $1,350 for the speaker Aaron Cooksey who spoke during welcome week the event was
open to all students. The finance committee recommends the amount in full because SAAC
was proactive and because it is important to promote synergy between athletics and the
senate also with SGAs reimbursement SAAC will be able to have more money to have
events later in the year.

President Clark drew attention to date that this was requested. SAAC reached out to
Student Government Association over the summer and has been working with
President Clark. The reason SAAC is requesting reimbursement is because this event
was open to all students.

Representative Chalmers asked for a guess of how many non-athlete students were
there.

Representative Najarian stated that she did not believe the event was not properly
advertised and does not think we should fund this, this event was held off main
campus in the gym and more so directed at student athletes instead of non-student
athletes.

President Clark stated that the stands were full for this event, and how this speaker
had a different take and message that was really important for students to hear.

Treasurer Akers stated that funding this event gives SGA the chance to get behind
the idea alcohol awareness which is a great public relations opportunity for
organization and this is also a very important topic that cannot be addressed
enough.

Representative Najarian asked if it was required for all athletes to be present.

President Clark stated that yes it was but there have been lots of events that are
required for athletes but he does not see the problem with that if we could have
made it mandatory for the entire campus we would have.

Representative Chalmers stated that this event was more so directed towards
student athletes rather than non athletes, it was not very well advertised so non
athletes did not really know it was happening and could not really benefit from it.

President Clark was informed by SAAC that there were issues getting this event on
the weekly buzz, but with that being said the stands were full at the event. Clark
stated that he has never been at an event where there has been that many students,
granted it was mandatory for athletes but we have funded event where only a
handful of people have shown up, a large percent of our campus was at this event,
funding this event would be going towards an event that effected a large percentage
of students.

Representative Naughton asked if both representatives agree that we should just
have better communication between senate and athletics for better advertisement?

Representative Najarian stated in the future she would like to see some form of
communication about every event on campus and that she does not feel that it is
right for organizations to just pass us the bill or to pay them back after they hosted
an event that they paid for in the first place.

Speaker Gray stated that the reason they are asking for reimbursement is because
when they asked there was no way for us to fund this when they needed it, the first
time she heard of this was in July which means that it was brought up to the student
body president sooner than that, and they were asking how to get this money
approved and we did not have structure or place to approve this money but we said
that they could ask for reimbursement, they know they are supposed to ask before
they spend it but in this case there was no way for that to happen.

President Clark stated that something we need to work on with organizations is how
to properly advertise and if this had been advertised properly there would not have
been any room at all in the gym.

Representative Lassiter stated that she feels that the point is moot and that they
should have made a better attempt to advertise this event.

Representative Najarian stated that SAAC is pretty much the athletic SGA so she
does not understand why we should reimburse them for something that their
organization is supposed to do in the first place.

Representative Chalmers asked how SAAC receives a budget if we do not give them
one.

Treasurer Akers stated that athletics has a budget that is given to the different
teams and whenever money is available they give it to SAAC.

Representative Sanchez stated that SAAC does not technically have a set budget and
they do not normally put on events because they do not have a budget and this topic
is so important, this event was not broadcasted as well as it could been because of a
miscommunication of some sort.

Representative Najarian asked if the president could have sent an emergency email
out for a vote to see if the senate agreed that we should reimbursement

President Clark stated that the idea was on the table but we figured it would be
better to have this conversation instead of trying to do it through email.

Representative Daudt motioned to move to the previous question

The motion was seconded and passed.

Senate entered a vote on funding this request.

This funding request was passed with a vote of 8 in favor 4 against and 0 abstention.

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The second request is a budget from POWER. Their total request amount is $10,269.98 this
is a budget for all of the events for the year they are planning on 12 events

voter registration- $684.98
prohibition event game show - $375
AIC straw poll - $200
power debate - $ 40
debate watch parties (4)- $600
patriots day ice cream social
gun range trip to mass fire arms- $3250
cut the national debt- $140
state of the union bingo- $1050
un trip -$ 1700
state house tour$ 1200
political rally trip$ 900

The finance committee recommends this budget in full because all of the listed events are
well thought out and adhere to powers mission

Representative Najarian asked where the UN head quarters is and what is the
national debt clock.

Speaker Gray spoke as the President of POWER and stated that the national debt
clock is an event that you use flip charts to show the national debt and the UN
headquarters is in NYC.

Representative Costa asked if these events would be properly advertised for.

Representative Baehr spoke as the Vice President of POWER we will have sufficient
advertising on all of our events, we are already working on flyers and already have
an advertising plan for our event this year.

President Clark stated that Rebecca gray is the president therefore he is confident
that all events will be planned and advertised for properly.

Representative Lassiter asked for event number seven to be explained more.

Speaker Gray stated that a really hot topic debate is around gun control and the
second amendment and POWER is trying to bring someone from the NRA to campus
to give a talk about gun safety and then this event student will learn how to properly
handle and use a gun.
The trip will be three hours at the range and the first hour is a course learning about
how a firearm works, the second portion is simulation and the third is an hour being
able to actually shoot a firearm on one of the ranges.

Representative Costa asked if there is a cap off for the amount of student allowed to
go on some of these trips.


The Speaker stated that for the gun range we will only allow 35 and students will
have to purchase tickets for 10 on AIC tickets and for other events for the other
events that require bussing we can take as many student that will fit on the bus.

Representative Najarian asked if we are actually allowed to have students who are
21 and over get their first drink for free.

Speaker Gray clarified that POWER was trying to give students gift certificates for
the Stinger and that they were not directly subsidizing costs of alcohol.

Treasurer Akers stated that approving money for an event does not mean that the
event will be approved by Zachs office.

Representative Najarian stated that she does not believe we should fund an event
that might not happen.

Representative Lassiter stated that she does not know if she can really get behind
event number 7 because it seems like an unnecessary use of money because you do
not need to shoot a firearm in order to have an opinion on gun control and she feels
like it is just a lot of money to just take people for a fun trip to fire guns.

Representative Baehr disagreed with the statement made by the previous
representative and stated that it is a opinion of a large population that it is guns that
kill people instead of the people firing the guns, we as an organization are trying to
show that there is no reason to be fearful of guns as long as they are used properly.

Treasurer Akers stated that he concurs with the statement made by the previous
representative, also there is currently roughly $199,000 left in undistributed fund
the amount that this organization is asking for is not overmuch at all

Vice President Bluster stated that he was at the finance committee at which this
budget was discussed and we recommended in full because this event is going to be
educational it is not just a chance for students to just go in and start shooting.

A motion to move to the previous question was passed.
The budget was passed with 8 in favor 0 opposed and 2 in abstention.

Student Body President Clark submitted the third and final funding request. Student
Government Association will be hosting a state of the campus event and requested a total of
$640 for catering. The finance committee recommended funding the request in full.

Representative Najarian spoke in favor of this event because she think its a great
way to boost the knowledge of SGA.

Representative Costa asked about what food would be purchased.

President Clark stated it would be a pasta dinner.

Representative Najarian motioned to amend due to there not being enough plates
for people that should be attending.

After brief discussion about amending no amendment was passed as it was not
formally introduced with how much the request should be amended by.

A motion to move to the previous question was passed.
By formal vote, the funding request was passed with 10 in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 in abstention.

AGENDA ITEM V: Ongoing Business

The first order of ongoing business discussed was lighting in the Gazebos on campus. Due to an
increase in illegal activities happening in the Gazebos having increased lightning could help deter
that activity.

Representative Costa asked if all gazebos were impacted or just the one near pouch.

Representative Najarian stated she could look into all of the gazebos on campus.

The gazebo discussion was tabled until the representative has more information.

The next order of ongoing business is trying to get more text books in the library.

Representative Najarian stated that she is looking into see how much it would cost to put on of each
text book in the library that is being used for classes on campus. She spoke with a representative
from the library and was informed on a barcode system that we are required to use and that the
library cannot even afford to put barcodes on all of the books that they currently have.

Speaker Gray voiced concerns that the library is using a system that they cannot afford and asked if
the representative had any information on that system and why we cannot afford it.

Representative Najarian stated that we are part of an interlibrary loan system and we apparently
do not have the money to put barcodes on all the books that we have already.

Representative Chalmers asked if we technically need the barcodes because as the books will not be
able for interlibrary loan.

Representative Najarian stated that she believes that these textbooks will still need barcodes so
they can be checked out to students so we know who has them if they have been checked out and
not returned.

The discussion was tabled until September 23, 2016.

AGENDA ITEM VI: Open Forum/New Business
Representative Chalmers proposed a new program called, Wake Up Wednesday, that would occur
once a month. Beginning at 7:00 AM Student Government Representatives would give out breakfast
foods and coffee in the Collaccino Living Room and connect with students about their concerns and
ideas for campus.

President Clark commented that it is a great initiative and that his only concern is that the
time frame might not have as much foot traffic as wanted.

Representative Lassiter questioned why it would be on a Wednesday.

Representative Chalmers replied saying that it sounds better.

Representative Lassiter stated that she thinks as a commuter that this is a great time
because that is when commuters are getting to campus. She asked Chalmers to explain the
catering proposal.

Representative Chalmers explained that the food section is just based off of the good cents
menu on the Chartwells website and it just has a variety if we decide to go through with this
we can change what we order and how much we order.

Speaker Gray stated that she is in favor of this plan and thinks it is a really good idea. She
stated that we have noticed that it is harder to get to the commuter students and a good
opportunity for us to connect with student we normally would not.

Representative Wallace suggested putting half of the food out at 7:00 so that students who
come later are not stuck with the picked through leftovers.

Speaker Gray seconded Wallaces idea of putting the food out in increments.

Wake up Wednesday was tabled until the representative has more details on advertising and
funding.

Representative Costa proposed sponsoring umbrellas for the tables on the Campus Center deck as
well as tables throughout the quad.

Representative Najarian suggested bringing back the tables that were originally outside of
the DC back to the outside of the DC.

Representative Lassiter stated the hot season is pretty much over we do not really need the
umbrellas now.

Representative Costa replied that he is aware that the hot weather is passing but it would
be a great investment for next semester.

Representative Lassiter voiced concerns that tables on the quad would obstruct events that
occur frequently in the space.

This discussion was tabled until we can find more information and better developed plans.

Representative Najarian suggested continuing the Wal-Mart shuttle from last year and expanding to
do a Holyoke Mall shuttle.

Representative Daudt asked if it would be possible to have both.

Representative Lassiter stated that the Holyoke Mall shuttle would be beneficial to
everyone because there is a Target in the mall that students can grocery shop at.

Representative Chalmers supported having the shuttle again because it can be difficult for
students to find rides places.

Discussion was tabled until plans for funding and a scheduled are brought up.

AGENDA ITEM VII: Advisors Comments

Zach Beaver stated that we have had a lot of staffing changes in the department of student affairs
and residence life. He noted the following changes.
- We now have full time employees for resident directors instead of graduate assistants
- Matt Scott is now the associate dean of students for residence life
- Alex Cross is now the assistant director of residence education
- We have also filled the assistant director of housing operations position
- Brian OShaughnessy is now associate vice president for student affairs
- Collin McQuade is now Coordinator of Student Activities and Campus
- Zach has also taken on new responsibilities with the international students
- Kim Beebes office will now be moved into the campus center

Zach stated that we will be making a campus food committee to address problems concerns and
suggestions for the new DC.

The stinger should be opening sometime this semester as we are still working diligently on it.

All class cabinets, with the exception of Senior class, should seek a faculty or staff advisor.

AGENDA ITEM VIII: Announcements

Speaker Gray discussed the SGA sponsored movie night for September 17, 2015.

Representative Najarian discussed Lions Club Out of Darkness walk.

Senate adjourned September 9, 2015 at 9:35 PM.