2011 03 08 Minutes
The New School
University Student Senate Minutes
Tuesday, March 8 @ 8pm
2 W 13th St, Room 1204
Submitted by Kim Hurley, Secretary of the Senate
Present: Melissa Holmes, Kim Hurley, Chris Crews, Anna-Karin Loureiro, Cordelia Eddy
Absent: Rachel Housle, Sean Elias, Alex Cline, Hajir Sailors, Minju Bae
Suspended: Barbara DeLaleu, Fonzie Cuaycong, Jake Atchoo and Nicole Park remain suspended for non-attendance under Constitution XII G.
Special Guests: Rachel Stine, Lang; Eugenia Pietrogrande, [AID]
1. Library Issues
Rachel, a student at Lang, has been behind the library petition circulating this year. She came to the USS to discuss some of the issues before our joint meeting with David Van Zant. Rachel has met with librarians, had conversations with them, and received the budget from them. Regarding the use of Bobst, they discussed a 15-20 year phaseout. According to Rachel’s relaying of her conversations with Ed Scarcell, the largest issue is the cost of the technology along with a library, not the cost of buildings or books. A large debate ensued on issues related to the library.
Cordelia: You’re underestimating the problem with library budgets
Melissa: In talks with faculty and administrators, I’m under the impression it’s not funding, it’s zoning issues
Anna-Karin: I don’t think anyone in the library will have answers for this
Rachel: It’s more than a library- it’s shared space, bringing the divisions together
Kim: Regarding the contract, is it access to space or the catalog itself?
Melissa: Library is an old issue, it’s now about crowdsourcing- libraries are dying
Cordelia: I understand the importance of having distinctly our own space, but don’t understand phasing out. Bobst and NYU have much more money and resources that we can/need to use
Rachel: Cost of having our own ILS (i.e. Bobcat) would be too much money
Eugenia: Create a financial plan and do a cost-benefit analysis; build up on what we already have
2. ReNewSchool Proposal
ReNewSchool is trying to attend the Powershift conference April 15-18 in Washington, D.C. They are requesting funding for 15 tickets at $65 each, for a total of $975. Due to the lack of members present, the vote was moved online. They also requested $675 for 15 bus tickets to attend the conference, but this was rejected due to the ban on travel funding.
3. President’s Meetings
Anna-Karin and Kim will be meeting with President Van Zant this Friday along with Rachel to discuss the library issues.
4. [AID]/Amnesty International/Project Africa Proposal
Eugenia came on behalf of [AID], Amnesty International, and Project Africa to request funding for an event in early April. They are having a conference on cocoa production and child slavery. They will be having a film screening, which the director of the film has agreed to come to, a discussion panel, and catering for the event. They are requesting $630 in total. Due to the lack of members present, the vote has been moved online.
5. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 10:06pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Kim Hurley
Secretary of the Senate