2009 04 29 Minutes
THE NEW SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENATE MINUTES
April 29, 2009
Submitted by Peter Ian Cummings
Members (8 voting): Elizabeth Loran, Peter Ian Cummings, Ida Benedetto, Yoni Sunshine, Ben Fox, Heather Sheridan, Sarah Cunningham, Dan Schulman.
Special Guests: David Eisenhauer & Helene Wasserman (ReNewSchool), AIdan Gardiner (Free Press), Dave Shukla, Chris Crews.
. . . . . . . . .
1. CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 pm. The current qualified voter total requires 8 votes needed for a qualified motion and 7 votes for a regular motion.
2. FUTURE SCHEDULING. One final meeting was approved for 5/13 (with afterparty). Peter will try to schedule a joint meeting with New Senate.
3. STARBUCKS (ReNewSchool). David and Helene brought up the issue of the planned Starbucks in 55W13. They have 200 sigs on a petition agaiinst it. The following proposal was passed 8-0.
University Student Senate Proposal for Sustainable Coffee Procurement
Whereupon we call for the following actions to be taken by The New School administration:
1. The New School shall reopen the search for a coffee supplier for the coffee bar to be placed in the lobby 55 W 13th Street. The criteria for the selection of a new coffee purveyor shall include being a local roaster (within 50 miles), fair trade certification, and shade-grown certification. We recommend the following coffee brands be considered: Coffee Labs of Tarrytown, Gorilla of Park Slope, and Stumptown of Red Hook.
2. Workers ar the new coffee bar shall be students at The New School.
3. All future decisions that The New School makes in bringing goods and services into the university campus shall consider the New School’s role in the fostering of a more sustainable local and global economy.
4. Students shouild be involved in planning for the coffee bar and all campus concessions to ensure a fair balance between cost, quality, and social responsibility.
4. PROPOSED AMENDMENT RE OFFICERS. Peter proposed voting to give authority to New Senate to change their officer positions. Peter said he would be proposing to the New Senate to replace Secretary and Treasurer with VP Finance, VP Communications and VP Academics. It was decided to convene a joint meeting of the New and Old Senate, and to send the New Senate a proposal of recommended positions. Peter will draft this proposal and circulate to current Senate for comment.
5. FACILITIES COMMITTEE. Peter reports that he believes we could have 3 or 4 students on the facilities committee. It was decided to put an open call form for prospective members on the website. Peter will draft the position description and circulate among the members. Elizabeth will evaluate the received forms and recommend various nominees for this committee.
6. THE LETTER. An all campus email will be drafted regarding recent events on campus. At least these subjects should be in the letter: condemn the failure to call the demos committee (including Doris’s email of this week), thank them for rescinding the suspensions, but condemn them for doing it in the first place, lack of following any kind of policy, lies in emails (starting with provost firing reason, and ending with Kerrey’s statements about the occupation and claims that the protests were about Darfur, etc, rather than about Kerrey himself.)
… The Senate voted 8-0 for the New Senator Chris Crews to draft the letter. He was added to the googlegroup for this purpose.
7. THE PROPOSED ASSEMBLY. Peter believes the Faculty Senate and Provost are planning an all-campus assembly for faculty, staff, (students)? Peter is to ask the Provost and Fac Senate for USS to cosponsor it ONLY IF the purpose is to draft joint resolutions. Ida and others said they did not want us to cosponsor it for any other reasons because useless assemblies make the USS look useless. Peter is to ask what the purpose is, when the faculty senate inquiry into the occupation will be completed, and report back.
… Dan is to contact Yotam and email the googlegroup with results.
8. PASSING THE BATON. Elizabeth suggested we need a better procedure for passing authority from one Senate to the next; and that the current lousy procedure creates a “gray area.” We will recommend to the New Senate that they fix up the procedure. Members are to read the Constitution in bed.
9. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting was adjourned at 10:55pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Ian Cummings