2011 02 22 Minutes
The New School
University Student Senate Minutes
Tuesday, February 22 @ 8pm
2 W 13th St, Room 1204
Submitted by Kim Hurley, Secretary of the Senate
Present: Hajir Sailors, Melissa Holmes, Kim Hurley, Chris Crews, Minju Bae
Absent: Anna-Karin Loureiro, Cordelia Eddy, Rachel Housle, Sean Elias, Alex Cline
Suspended: Maggie Martin, Barbara DeLaleu, Fonzie Cuaycong and Jake Atchoo remain suspended, and Nicole Park is now suspended for non-attendance under Constitution XII G.
Special Guests: Chris Mansour and Todd, Platypus; Anthony Wille, Amnesty International; Jasmine, Students of the African Diaspora; Elizabeth Gritzmacher and Andrea Garcia, [AID]; Quanda Johnson, Diversity Works; Nick Krebs and Jenny Bolen, OSDA/Alternative Breaks
1. Platypus Proposal
Chris Mansour brought a proposal on behalf of Platypus, a group at the New School which holds panels and teach-ins and publishes a newsletter. They would like to host an event with 3 professors from across the US for next year. Todd stated that this is a collaboration with a psychoanalytic workshop. They are trying to bring unique professors, and the event would be open to anyone in the New School community.
Chris said they will most likely apply for Tishman, the space which would allow them to draw people from other institutions.
Melissa asked if they have allotted funds for food and videography for the event. Chris stated that they have alternative funding, and that they will not need more than a couple hundred for food.
As the USS is not normally involved in allocating funds for the following academic year, they will need to have a discussion on whether or not to allow funding to allow the group to secure their speaker.
2. Amnesty International Proposal
Anthony submitted a proposal on behalf of Amnesty International, requesting funds to attend the A.I. General Meeting in San Francisco over spring break. They have received a subsidy from Amnesty International headquarters and are requesting from USS an additional $4,340.
Melissa informed them that due to liability issues, we are not funding student travel at this time. She suggested they write to Dean Scobey and apply for the GPIA/Milano travel fund, which allows $300/person.
The group’s conference fees are $375 total. We agreed to vote on the funding for $375, which passed as follows:
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
3. Students of the African Diaspora Proposal
Jasmine, a representative from Students of the African Diaspora, proposed a co-sponsorship of an event they have set up by faculty for their 2-day conference. The conference will be on why black cultural studies should be embedded in design education. SoAD was brought into the conference because they are the most popular organization that caters to people of color at The New School. Jasmine stated that they have agreed to sponsor the student part of the conference, which is the student panel and main panel. They are requesting $3,000 for speakers, including travel for some speakers.
Melissa asked if they have applied to the Social Justice Committee for funding, especially since the USS does not fund travel. Chris asked if they have a plan for publicity; Jasmine stated that Coco Fusco should have that covered on the faculty end.
Melissa proposed to amend voting on $2,500, taking out the $500 requested for travel fees. The vote passed as follows:
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
4. [AID] Proposal
Elizabeth and Andrea brought a funding proposal for their March 25 conference on global food security. They are having two panels and are requesting funding for catering plus honoraria for 12 speakers (6 per panel).
Melissa asked about marketing plans. Elizabeth said that they have not thought about that yet and may come back for more funding for that. In terms of the food, she said it seemed appropriate to go with organic, sustainable food, not Chartwell’s. Andrea has been speaking with the caterer, who said it would be possible to get ingredients from the Union Square market, although the cost would be more than $20/person.
Andrea stated that 50-75 people are attending the conference in the Orozco room.
In terms of additional funding for speaker travel, Melissa suggested applying to GPIA and Chris suggested asking the Environmental Studies program at Lang to co-sponsor. The proposal for $1,700 went to a vote and passed as follows:
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
5. Diversity Works Proposal
Quanda Johnson submitted another proposal for Diversity Works. This project is a March 6 performance (matinee and evening) which is a salute to African-American female playwrights, focusing on two and doing a compilation of their pieces. They have received funds from two other groups already.
Chris asked about turnout for their last event. Quanda said it was very good, about 75 people came. The talkbacks were also very rich. For this production, they have Parsons students working on costumes and set; they are also trying to get musicians in. The USS motioned to vote on funding $1,000 which passed.
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
6. Academic Issues
Quanda also wanted to bring up some academic issues occurring at Drama. Due to the sensitive and personal nature of the issue details are withheld. However, the general idea behind it is the difference between the official policy at Drama and the established practices/precedent. We suggested that she meet with Sean, the Drama senator, and also put a letter together with other students who have dealt with the same issue. At the very least it would create a paper trail of documented information about the issue.
7. Service Trips
Nick and Jenny brought two proposals for two separate service trips planned for spring break and summer break. The first is the spring break trip, which is for 2 days/nights with Enable New Jersey, which provides homes and services for the mentally disabled. Students will be doing painting, cooking dinner, and playing games at the residence. The organization has asked for seven volunteers. USS voted to fund $1,500 for the spring break New Jersey trip, which passed.
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
The second trip is a summer trip to South Dakota, working with Habitat for Humanity. They presented the trip at the Green Fund in the fall. Part of the trip is also a cultural component, which Nick stated was very important. They have partnered with this location for 2 years, since 2009- this will be their third trip. USS voted on funding $6,000 for the summer South Dakota trip, which passed.
YES (5)- Bae, Crews, Holmes, Hurley, Sailors
NO (0)
8. USS Partnerships
Melissa asked if we would be interested in sponsoring food for SafeZone trainings; they have already said that they would brand it as being sponsored by USS. They would ask for $500 for each session. She also brought up the possibility of the iCAP project partnering with the Ashoka initiative. She stated that Ashoka wants to use art as social change, and that they could come up with an idea for next year. Kim stated that the way things were phrased at this point, it feels like it would be Ashoka taking over creative control of the project. Hajir suggested that we hold off on this discussion until after the show.
9. Funding Issues
Melissa stated that we have just heard that a student still has not been reimbursed for funds; the issue is that the treasurer has not responded to e-mails. She stated that she feels the treasurer should have a spreadsheet which would be shared, on what has been spent. Hajir mentioned setting up a meeting with Nicole and Karen Conner-Wilson. Melissa said that the executive committee has to show up to every meeting.
10. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 10:06pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Kim Hurley
Secretary of the Senate