2011 12 07 Minutes
The New School
University Student Senate Minutes
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 – 8PM
Location: 66 W 12th St. #517
Present (8 Voting): Rachel Housle, Divya Khandelwal, Bronwyn Lewis, Melissa Holmes, Santiago Posas, Voltaire Veloso, Kathy Litchfield, Michael Kaplan.
Absent: Chris Crews, Mimi Clitus, Christin Pettibone, Katherine Towell, Hajir Sailors, Fernanda Ormeño
Guests: Amanda Ruzza (Jazz/Lang student), Steven Mucchia (Empowerhouse), Anna Feltham (Empowerhouse), Kara Matthews (Milano student), Chris Hooks (Free Press), Havanna Fisher (SOAD), Brittney Williams (SOAD).
AGENDA
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 8:09 PM by co-chair Bronwyn Lewis, who facilitated the meeting.
Introductions
Additions to Agenda
Discussion of the USS Funding Proposal Form and of the administrative policy drafts the USS is privy to.
Officer Reports (Co-chairs, Treasurer)
Treasurer and Secretary were absent. Co-chair officer report was merged into the Student Space agenda item.
Funding Proposals
1) Empowerhouse
Anna and Steven from Empowerhouse seek funding to cover lunches and t-shirt printings for their team, which will building a green house in a Washinton, DC suburb over Spring Break, as part of the Solar Decathlon. The t-shirts will cost $1000, and the lunches $600. The team also sought funding to cover $1000 of building materials requested by Habitat for Humanity. Their total requested is $2600. A few Senators raised concerns about the Habitat for Humanity request; it was clarified that because they are working with Habitat, they are required to donate the money. It was also clarified that a gift certificate for a suitable hardware store could be delivered, rather than the materials themselves. Finally, while Anna and Steven could not clarify how many t-shirts they intend to print, they did state that there is already great demand for them, and that they are intended to last for several more classes.
Melissa motions to approve $2600 to cover t-shirts, building materials, and lunches. Seconded by Bronwyn. Rachel had not yet arrived, all other members in favor. Motion passed.
2) Brazilian Jazz Festival
Amanda returns seeking funding for her Brazilian-themed jazz performance and mixer. After working with the Film Collective at the Senate’s instruction, she has added a film element to the plans for the evening, and changed the advertising budget to $700. She also worked to lower the honoraria for the bands involved, and removed the poster contest, preferring a t-shirt design contest for the event. She has also obtained sponsorship (though no financial commitments) from the Observatory on Latin America, International Student Services, and the Office of Student Development and Activities, as well as from various administrators. The proposal is otherwise essentially the same as was presented at the October 12 meeting. Amanda defended the need for music at the event, and with it the honoraria for the performers. However, several senators are still unsure if we can fund honoraria for performers, as they might be more akin to wages. After they attempt to speculate work-arounds, a few Senators propose meeting with financial advisor Karen Connor-Wilson on Thursday to clarify the policy, and request that she return when clarification is obtained.
3) Students of the African Diaspora—Kwanzaa Celebration
Havnna and Brittney from SOAD seek funding for a Kwanzaa celebration, to be held on December 15. All other details are already set, only funding is required. The total they need is $1000, which will cover refreshments from Chartwells and Food Emporium, as well as $150 in honorarium to a 5th generation griot who will perform that evening. This honorarium was somewhat contentious due to the issues with Amanda’s proposal. Bronwyn proposed that the honorarium be approved contingent on the clarification.
Bronwyn motions to approve $1000 to cover costs related to the Kwanzaa celebration, $150 of which are contingent on clarification with Karen Connor-Wilson. Seconded by Kathy. All members in favor. Motion passed.
New Business
Intermission: What we do and do not fund
In light of the questions of what we do and do not fund, Melissa reiterated that we do not fund travel or lodging due to liability issues. She noted that we have tried to partner with the Provost’s office to fund this stuff, but that effort fell through. She also noted that we don’t fund over $20 a head for food, salaries, or alcohol. Apparently these restrictions were imposed after incidents involving them while working on The Cradle will Rock.
Student Space
Melissa noted the opportunity that the occupation created for the Senate to push for a real student union space on campus, and argued we should follow through, suggesting the basement of E 16th be a temporary space, and we start to investigate the idea of working to establish a more permanent student union. Voltaire was reticent about the idea in general. Melissa pointed out that such a space could have white boards and a chalkboard-painted wall. Kathy asked about the situation with the new building. Melissa clarified that the new building will not have a student union in it. Bronwyn asked about the feedback form the Senate released. Melissa stated that only 25 responses were submitted, most very polarized—either a strong desire against a space, or a strong desire for a very loosely managed space. The general tone of the conversation was in favor of a student space, with only Voltaire opposed, mostly due to ambivalence towards such a space and towards its value.
Most of the Senators took turns attempting to clarify and defend the idea of the space, until it was pointed out that we do not need to convince each other. There were also concerns about our image, and our perceived relationship to the administrators and the occupiers. Melissa proposed that for the moment the Senate set all its meetings in the 6 E. 16th St. basement to show that it could be a useful space for student meetings or activities. She noted the space is mostly unused, save for a handful of events a year by ISS. ISS has no qualms with our plan as long as they can have the space on their dates. This proposition was much less contentious, though Voltaire also argued against it, again mostly from ambivalence.
Kathy motioned to hold all remaining meetings next semester, save for one at Mannes and one at Drama, at the basement of 6 E. 16th St. Rachel seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion passed.
(Summary results from our online space survey which was included with our all-campus email.)
2012-2013 Elections (And other internal stuff)
Melissa suggested we hold the elections on February, inform results over Spring Break, and involve the future Senate in Senate activities beginning after Spring Break. She mentioned it would be easier to emphasize the commitment required from Senators, the new Senators would have ownership and knowledge of the existing processes, and would help the new Senate start on the right foot next semester. The idea was met positively by all present.
Melissa also noted that a few things have not gotten done that needed to get done. This includes the Budget Proposal Form (which she took responsibility for) and the Committee on Committees. She also noted that the website needs a facelift, which Kathy suggested could be rolled into the training program for incoming Senators—they could gain ownership of the website as well.
Santiago proposed that the budget proposal form be made into a Google form. He volunteered to put it together over the weekend, which was generally approved.
Undoing Racism
It was discussed that they will be given $10,000, with $5000 provided by the administration.
Campus responses to OWS
Voltaire noted that our letters and Town Hall appearance were part of the story of how the occupation of 90 5th Ave ended. At Michael’s request, Melissa gave her version of the events, as a synopsis of sorts for the Senate:
Once students were in 90 5th Ave, President Van Zandt and Provost Marshall visited the students to inform them that the lease on the space was in jeopardy. It also came to light that our relationship with the realtor was in danger as well, and that this realtor pulls enough weight in the area around campus that, if we broke our relationship with them, we might be unable to find space in the area again. Melissa also noted at this point that, at least in her view, it was clear that students couldn’t feasibly stay in the space forever—it was becoming clear that they had a choice between negotiating a settlement and being pulled out by police force.
When Kellen surfaced as an option, most students at a public General Assembly (GA) meeting voted to leave 90 5th Ave and move to Kellen. This GA had a ton of students who showed up specifically to take part. A subgroup of the occupiers takes exception to this, claiming that their GA was co-opted by outside forces, including the Senate. Melissa here notes that, in her opinion, a GA by definition is open for all to attend and vote, and thus cannot be co-opted.
She also notes that that GA had some weird power dynamics. The students who showed up that night at times felt that the occupiers were deliberately holding up the process for the final vote. The GA also developed some racially problematic undertones as well. After hours of deliberation, people agreed to leave. However, during that vote and its immediate aftermath, the hardcore students disengaged from the GA entirely. Most people left that night, but a few remained through the morning, barricading themselves in.
The next day the curator of Kellen was evidently livid. The students who had remained in 90 5th Ave had gone over to Kellen overnight, disabled the security cameras, and vandalized Kellen Gallery overnight.
This having happened, President Van Zandt asked for the Senate’s opinion regarding the clean-up process. We suggested keeping the gender-neutral bathroom signs that occupiers put up, and painting one wall with chalkboard paint, and publicized a student clean-up of Kellen Gallery on Sunday afternoon.
We were also asked to speak at a Town Hall event to be held on Monday, November 28. This Town Hall, to the best of our knowledge, was going to be about what happened and about the issue of student space, and was to be led by President Van Zandt and Provost Marshall. However, as it turned out, the handful of Senators who attended were put front-and-center, which lead many students to assume we were in charge when we were not, or at the least did not realize we were.
At the end of the meeting, there was a vote of sorts on the use of the space, and the overall tone was in support of Kellen being returned for its intended use. The USS stated intentions to send at an email survey that gathered a more robust opinion of students and organizing space. That evening, the USS was informed that the lobby of 72 Fifth Ave. was the only available space to relocate the scheduled events at Kellen. After an internal discussion, co-chair Melissa Holmes send the following email to Radhika Subramaniam:
The USS believes that students need a space—but not your space. Tomorrow we will send out a public email with this sentiment, but in the meantime, I hope it is not too late for you to continue tomorrow’s activities at the gallery.
Although this has been a trying time, I hope now that Kellen Gallery has been brought into the forefront, even more students will be able to experience all that it has to offer.
Voltaire added that he felt we were put in that position by the admins, and that he is afraid we are now seen as an extension of the administration. Senators in general agreed, Michael adding that it is important we not be seen as an arm of the administration, but rather a liaison. We need to retain and define our autonomy. Voltaire added that he wouldn’t mind using our leverage, with which Melissa agreed. Chris Hooks interjected, noting that when he asked Peter Taback about the USS’ involvement, he responded by saying that the USS was the appropriate democratic institution to decide. He asked if that is what we see. Melissa responded that until that moment, we were not under the impression that we had that power. The discussion continued generally along the same trends.
Meeting adjourned by Melissa Holmes, at 10:15 PM.
Minutes taken by Santiago Posas. Respectfully submitted by chris crews, Secretary of the USS.
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