Student Senate

Minutes 08.21.12

  

Agenda

Special Meeting

Tuesday, August21, 2012

4:30 p.m.Senate Office

Student Life and Technology Center

I. Call to Order

Annie Slattery– Present                        Neelam Vyas - Present

Delaney Roberts – Present                   GrahamSenor – Present

Zack Hausle – Absent                           Julia Cook – Present

Molly Elders –Present                           Lauren Wallis -Present

Blake Tierney– Present                        Annie Vogt - Present

Adelia Shiffraw – Present                     Anvesh Kompelli - Present

Rachel Head - Present                          Martin Hall – no proxy yet - absent

Ethan Ake – Absent                              Kris Nickel - Present

Lauren Beck – Present                          Peter Hanneman - Present

Kelley Lane – Present                           Drew Allen – Present

Erin Murchison– Present                        Ethan Hill - Present

Jeremy Williams – Present                    Sreesh Reddy - Present

Lance St. Laurent – Present                  Jeremy Rowe – Present

                                                             Cara Roadarmel - Present

II. SpecialBusiness

III.Announcements and Constituent Concerns

IV.Departmental Liaison Reports

V. CommitteeReports

 

Election Commission with Julie Wagner

New Election Code

 

  • One rep from each rising class as assistantsand 3 additional at-large members 
  • Assistantswill be taught how to use Big Pulse, so that this information can be passeddown to the next Election Commission 
  • Updated all listings of Senators,SoCo, MDC reps 
  • Tableis longer, but broken down better 
  • Tie voting will be decided by re-votesnot by coin-flips 
  • Could request second debate, must be approved by Elections Commissioner 
  • Appeals 
    • Clarificationon what is required and when the deadline is for people contesting and for the Election Commission 
    • A second appeal can be made but will go straight to Senate to be voted uponaccording to the bylaws. Still must be sent by a deadline 
  • Write-in candidates 
    • Added more clarification (already legal) 
    • Contested by following regular guidelines for contestents 
    • Re-vote will still exclude write-in candidate and they must be wrote in again 
    • Cannot start campaigning until after formal debates have concluded 
    • Must follow all guidelines as other candidates 
  • Personalized handouts – cannot handout illegal or restrictive substances (i.e. beer,marijuana), cannot exceed $0.75 per student 
  • Low-tech (paper option) for elections kept in just in case there are issues with the online version or for otherorganizations running elections 
  • Should we add a section about disqualifying for breaking Arkansas laws? 
    • People could attempt to sabotage candidates by calling P-Safe on competition  
  • New changes for next week: 
    • Make it that AP rep must be currently enrolled student 
    • Study abroad and leave of absence clarifications regarding voting and running 
  • Approved– all in favor 

 

Big Pulse

 

  • The system works just fine, but people have not tried learning how to really use it, especially in the case of mistakes 
  • Rachel passed down what she knew to Julie, but nobody had passed things down to Rachel 
  • Now having assistants from each of the classes should help with the transfer of knowledge 
  • Subscription was up, need renewal,this is not voting for funding 
  • Renew Subscription – APPROVED – All in favor 

 

Executive Committee with AnnieSlattery

TurboVote

 

  • Over the summer, we received notice of an opportunity to improve voter registration on campus
  • Executive Committee debated over email and phone for over a week with each other and withProject Pericles, collecting information from the company, consideringalternatives, and talking with the Dean and others in the administration.
  • Being on a tight schedule to reap the benefits of TurboVote and to have a plan set for voter registration, ExecutiveCommittee agreed without conferring with the Senate Body to partner withTurboVote
  • We apologize to the Senate Body fornot conferring with them on this decision
  • There is nothing in the Constitution or Bylaws regarding how Senate is to operate over the summer, so we hope to fixthis and avoid future behaviors such as this
  • Next week, we will vote on whether or not to fund TurboVote through Student Activity fee.
  • It costs $1000 if we reach 1000 students in a year, but if not, then it will cost$1.15 per student registered (it will also cost $1.15 for each student after1000 to register)
  • We are able to keep track of thenumber of students who register to vote and whether they vote absentee, etc.
  • It makes voter registration and voting almost effortless for the voter. It is mobile-friendly. It sends texts andemails reminding you about upcoming local, state, and federal elections as wellas where you are supposed to go in order to vote, unless you are voting absentee, which they will then send you the absentee form with an envelopeready for your ballot.
  • If we strike down funding TurboVote through the Student Activity fee, then the$1000 will come out of the Senate budget.
  • Again, we apologize for the lack of communication with the rest of Senate, but we encourage full support ofTurboVote to the student body.

 

VII. NewBusiness

VIII.Adjournment