General Studies Lounge

Minutes 1 April 2008
These minutes were taken by Junior Class VP Evan Madeo.
Attendance:
Niko Cunningham
Nancy
Paige La
Brenden
Joey
Alex
Allen
Monique
Maria
Adrian
Richard
William
Joel
Dominic Stellini
Melissa
Clare Jake
Brody
Evan
Young
Updates: Club sports in University Calender, club sports involved. Delegate
Jake: time to have an event for senior thesis presentation, what times are good troughout the week
Tranisition insurance, expanding the role of insurance, mental health, physician accessibility
Lisa Weber: CCSC college days 4-7 – 4-12 and election
William: International students lunch this Friday
Richard: defers to Evan
Whitney: night off last night
Maria: elections are coming up
Monique: Karly and I working on Kaplan for test prep. Opinion on working with Kaplan? Senior committee tabling in the lounge for the gift fund. Kick off 29 April. Senior Dinner on the 20th.
Allen: working on the senior fund drive. Cherry Blossom festival upcoming
Raul
Alex: program for last week of April, 4 school event hopefully – water balloon dodge ball
Brenden: 9th, quiz night on 100th and Columbus, 8pm, update
Paige: facilities coming to senate to discuss rental allocation policy
Nancy – GS student more info on Financial Aid, lounge. Joey is trying to get students to be allowed to live in their dorms
Young – backyard event planning, candyland.
Brody: article on the GS Lounge Site.
Monique: Pilates class, free classes. Announce your events before the class. Will be going till the end of the semester
Niko: we should transition to the mst important issue of the evening. I would like to open up a conversation. I would like to introduce Susanna as well as the Judicial Chair.
Susanna: we put together a proposal for a fair hearing. You should consider us as an option to chair the meeting. We believe this to be fair.
Allow for motions
Speakers list
Random selection on the speakers list
3 minute limit =fro speaking
flip coin to decide to chair and timekeep
after speakers list, we entertain a motion and move from there
Allen: motion to suspend Art 1 sect 4 Sub D to suspend
Paige: up or down, that is not the way it works.
Niko: all in favor? 8 Abstentions 9. Motion fails.
Richard: does this not pass?
Niko: No, you need 2/3 majority.
Allen: you need a simple majority
Brenden: I would like to discuss
Niko: we need to suspend meeting rules first
Allen: the president cannot chair his own impeachment hearing. The rules do not allow for a change in chair during a hearing. I hope you all vote yes.
Helena: Pass
Brody: Motion for them to chir the meeting
Niko: Is there any debate
Nancy: I would like to motion for Susanna to chair the meeting.
Niko: For 16, Against 1
Stellini: How many voters are there
Brody: 20
Alen: Repeats motion.
Niko: For 17, Against, Abstentions 2. Susanna is now the chair. Meeting rules until 8.30
Susanna: we wre going to keep it clean. The gravity of this siuations necessitates this process. There will be a 15 minute opening statement session. They will speak on the record. Those opposing will have 15 minutes. There will be a speakers list. It will not be reopened. It will be random to ensure fairness. Once closed, I will entertain a motion. Voting will be role called.
Stellin: GSSC has the room till 8.30. We will go till 10.
Susanna: we can talk about that
Chicati: coin toss?
Susanna: that did not pass
Allen: 7 minutes for statements, 2 minutes per speaker
Nancy: same thin, 15 minutes is excessive
Richard: is the chairs need for a role call up for discussion
Susana: we can talk about it. We will discuss further.
Dave: I echo sentiments abot time. Niko should have two minutes at the end
Paige: I would be sown for cutting the time
Evan: Closing statements
Susanna: time frames for opening statements, split the time in hals and put some toward the end. Bookend woth closing statements. Role call voting? Under the open mike section, direct questions are not where we are going. Points of fact is what we are m=limiting the respons to. No oe is complelled to answer. Anything that is not a point of fact will be considered an interruption. 3 interruptions will equal expulsion. No opinions, points of fact. I think closing statements is a good idea. I entertain a motion to reset time limits.
Allen: I motion: 5 minutes opening, 2 minutes per speaker. 2 minutes closing
Susanna: Second?
Brenden: I am still unclear?
Sussana: that is not on the table. All in favor 13, Opposed 3, Abstentions 2. Motion Passes.
Brody: Is it cool for the President to vote.
Niko: What Articles was suspended?
Allen: 4, 1 D.
Sussanna: Are we required to suspend the whole article?
Stellini: The president can vote if not chair
Allen: do the rules refer to students and council?
Susanna: the rules are for all. It would require a new motion to prevent students to vote. We need to vote again. Is there a second? All in favor? 10, Opposed, 8, Abstentions, 2. Motion Passes.
Allen: can I make a motion to reconsider.
Susanna: I will entertain a motion to amend
Nancy: I would like to motion to allow 2 minutes per GS student
Susanna: that is a different motion. You are proposing what the sheet says? Favor, 13, Opposed, 1, Abstentions 5. Passes. Congrats students.
Allen: Point of clarification. We did not set who is first.
Susanna: we will get to that in the end.
Brody: I want to speak in favor of role call vote. We must go on the record.
Richard: It is important for the body to show its preferences. There is merit to a secret ballot. I will not make a motion.
Brenden: I miiror the last statemnent
Paige: Brody said it
Allen: Brody said it
Sussanna: role call vote? 17 Pro, Motion passes. Closing statements? The accused should have the last statement. Con should have the final word. No disagreement.
Nko: I would like to entertain the ability to audiorecord for prosperity.
Brenden: I motion to record.
Susanna: Second? Is this for personal or public use? All those in favor? 4 Opposed? 12 Abstentions? 4
Niko: I will defer to the first speaker
Susanna: The issue is closed. We are right at 8.30. These are the rules. Oppening statement will be given to the mover.
Niko: how is the mover defined?
Susanna: It goes to the one who first makes the motion.
Nancy: I motion to impeach.
Susanna: we will begin
Brody: can I move
Susanna: Yes. I will be militant about maintaining order. Treat each other with respect. Nancy has 5 minutes.
Nancy: My name is Nancy. I know Niko talked to many of you. I do not want to be President. This is about fairness and openness. I told others who wanted impeachment that they were on their own. I realized though that I was shirking my responsibility. This is not aout Niko. He is a likeabe guy. But this is not about that. This is about holding him accountable as president. I have passed out a sheet. This is evidence that he is unable to uphold the office. [Nancy reads the sheet]…I want to apologize for not bringing this up sooner.
Brody: I would like to praise the councilmember’s for holding this discussion. This takes courage. Many wish that the council would have left a brighter legacy. I want to give you a background. I have worked with Niko for months. I have very carefully been searching for the moment in which Niko tok responsibility. He has not. I will share the result of this action. Niko called me and threatened me. I will repeat the threat. If you make a motion, I will run against you next year.
Susanna: that is time. Niko.
Niko: I did say those words to Brody. I think the E_Board have worked for the students. Have we fallen short, have I fallen short. There is no question that there could have been a better laeder. When I wake up, I think about GS. I wear the armband. I was voted in as an activist. I took photos on GS living conditions. I was asked in a debate last year if I would submit to the Administration, I said I would never. I fought for the delegates to vote. I fought for the alignment of the hunger strikers. I sent an email for financial adi. 430 people responded, not because of a charismatic presence. They took my email away. I told Nancy about this email. When I hit send, I paid the price for it. I did not say that FA would be fixed this year. I did not say that I would fizx housing this year. Ut look at where we have come. I have fallen short. But look
Brenden: I have had long talks with him about getting off the computer. He fights for us. As a council, we all could have done better. We failed as well.
Susanna: At this time we will open the speakers list. Please speak your name. We will repeat back the names. If you hear your name, you are on the list. [Break] We will be doing this fairly. One person has been added to the speakes list. His name is mentioned in the allegations. We will recognize Keith who has just come in. Mr Cunningham has the right to respond to points of fact.
Nancy S – Niko need to follow the rules. He needs to serve the presidency. He only sat in 1 meeting of the OMA. In the emails, I have evidence that the brides were burned before that. We did not know that before. [Nancy reads the email] “you have rendered the GSSC irrelevant”. Barring particioation of GSSC
Niko: OMA resolution, I was at 1 meeting. My part was to work with Sam.
Jake M – My biggest problem to date is keeping the e-board informed. I need to know about these things when they come along. When members say that they do not know, ask Niko…we need to all be participating.
Brenden – I would like to refer to the quot at the bottom of Awn’s email. I was disgusted by it. It was unprofessional at his level. It is not his job to suck up to Administrators. Impeaching should not be at the top of our agenda. We should be dealing with business. We should hold ourselves accountable.
Allen S – with a heavy heart that I have been proactive in this process. We have tried all year to work with our president. All year we have been dealing with this. The idea that it is not his job to maintain relationships with the Administration is ridiculous. He has ignored the E-Board. I have never seen an agenda beforehand.
Brody – we still have time to reclaim accountability. I would like to go into specific instances… the survey was an imbaressment. The use of the survey was an imberassment. We have no financial accounting as to the money spent for orientation. Why do I need to get an email from Awn. This is about the Constitution.
Joel – In the policy committee, we decided how the president was not meeting his obligations. It is with the administrators. Niko cannot meet with the Admin without another GSSC member. They do not trust him. This is very important. This is a pattern of…if you look at the rules governing the students, youcant lie to an Administrator in any way. We should require the same here
Niko – the meeting are spead so thin because I have been meeting consistently with the other vps
Raul – I would like to apologize to my fellow students. It should have never gotten to this point. There is a 10 story building that is building. Is it better that we save one floor? How did we get to this point? It is hard for me to comprehend thqat this went on without anyone know anything. Where was the communication? Is there not Constitutional requirements that the E-Board did nott follow?
Michael S – I noticed that Niko recognized that he did fall short. It is important for a poresident to notice when he does go. This is what the GSSC is for. They must recognize this. The GSSC must act. You should have said something way before this. What the eboard needs to realize is that he is not being recognized for the great things he did. He is being noticed for his means.
Ashley – I had direct dealings with Niko. I had access to every person who bought tickets. This was not a record sale. The statement was a lie. The first Gala sold out at 250. When I was not following simple requests, Niko said that this is a social event to bully me to fix the events. As a leader, we need to hold him accountable. We need to send a larger message to the student body.
Niko – when Keith and I went through the gala budget, we received a grant to open up additional ticket sales.
Keith – as far as policing our own, we should have been policing our own all along. We should follow procedures. We should not be singling out one individual when we do not hold the entire board. He has some relationships in god standards. The use of B-forms, it only has to be signed by one person.
Dave M – I would like to talk about a different kind of precedent. It is not only one student who has followed the Constitution. No one wanted my help. Now we are having a hearing. I have to wonder when people say we did some good things, as if it allows for transgressions against the Constitution. If we establish that precedent, then we might as wll throw out the Constitution
Chicoti – those who are here without sin, cast the first stone. This is a circus. We are talking about a referendum. Are we to punish a president for stylistic issues as constitutional transgressions? I say, as a president I have wanted more. But we are talking about an impeachment. This makes us look terrible. This is a mockery.
Evan -
Nicole – transparency in action is important as transparency in intentions. The list of examples say more than any of us can say. It is important that many on council have chosen to have an unproductive relationship with Niko.
Eric W – I am a university senetor.
Susanna – this is limited to the GSSC.
Stellini – the motion was for GS students only
Susanna – I am deeply sorry
Alex K – I want to say that when I joined this council, I assumed the adults would be able to perform better than the 19 year ols. I was wrong. There is a fine line between dissatisfaction and illegality. There is a fine line. Right now, a motion at this juncture is pithy. It is one more tangent that keeps its focuas away from the students. It disturbs me greatly. We cannot blame it on one person. Getting rid of Niko will not solve the situtation.
Matt M – I am the FA guy. There is a point here about dishonesty. I don’t really care. What I can speak to is the allegation about me as a pawn of Niko. [Mat reads the allegation] I emailed NIko. I told him I was pissed off. We talked. He went over the numbers. He served my needs as a students. He did n=most of what I asked. There is no conspiracy.
Monique – I don’t understand where the outrage is for other members who just come to the meetings and nothing else. We need to clean house if we are going to hold one accountable. The students really don’t know what GSSC does or what we do until this year. All that they care about is FA. This is not a crime. I have seen no evidence of illegality. I am concerned as to how these preoceedings took place.
Paige – I understand what you are all saying. What I don’t understand is how youdo not see the arguments displayed. Niko’s bending of the rules threatens the legitimacy of the GSSC. Because these things are so important, we need someone in a position who can hold some form of discourse. You cannot run a council against the Constitution. It is late in the game, but now we can do something about it.
Susanna – now we will hear from Nancy.
Nancy – the only one who has not made mistakes is the one who has done nothing. As a president, you need to old to the rules. I have gone to Niko many many timees with constructive crticism. No response.
Brody – I reviwed the threats. He said yea, I did it.
Allen – the constitiutio is on the website
Niko – Clare is right, it is not about friendships. It is about being effective. An email after we passed the resolution to Nancy. [he reads] I play what I do best. It is from the activist front. I have burned bridges. I will be back to help next year. It will get better. The GSSC is the conduit for that. Stellini told me not to fuck it up. I am sorry if I did fuck it up. I hope we can win this thing.
Susanna – call for quorum vote. 24. It would take 2/3 to pass? 16. [small discussion aside]. Yea means impeach, nae is to not impeach
Evan – removal of office by way of impeachment.
Susanna – this is an on record roll call vote.
Chicotti – nay
Clare – yea
Melissa – yea
Alex – nay
Raul – nay
Jake – yea
Mansur – abstain
Helena – yea
Joel - yea
Allen – yea
Joey – nay
Keith nay
Nikko – nay
Brenden – Nay
Monique – nay
Wiliam – abstain
Richard – yea
Young – abstain
Karly – nay
Evan – yea
Brody- yea
Nancy – yea
Unknown - I am curious as to us having the council voting abstentions.
I am only here for three weeks.
Young - I have only been here for three weeks
William – remains abstained