Session of March 3, 2022
March 10, 2022
Minutes Recorded by: Francis Ko, Acting Secretary
Visitors: Matthew Strong, James Langley, Stephen Foster, Former Senator Gowing
Call to Order at 11:06AM
Senator prays
Roll Called
Minutes Approved at 11:11
Officer Reports:
PPT Moyes: Good morning everyone! We are obviously missing a lot of people. Letting me or VP know about an absence is important. Also, we are not meeting next week over spring break.
Committee Reports:
Sergeant Rubingh: Elections have concluded, and Matthew Strong is our President Elect.
Speaker Avent: What about other positions?
Sergeant Rubingh: Jessica Landreth and Krista Anderson
Chairman Crowder: We’re winding down right now because of spring break, but afterwards we have a lot of exciting stuff planned for the future.
Special Business:
Old Business:
Sergeant Rubingh: Do we have a bill relating to the funding of the societies?
Chairman Shaughnessy: Next week
Senator Hofer: We have ideas relating to this we would like to discuss, but maybe in open forum
PPT Moyes: How is go kart funding going?
Senator Byrne: I believe five teams are currently emailing, I can hopefully give the money to one before spring break if receipts are taken care of.
Chairman Crowder: How are polos?
Senator Berry: They are ordered and will hopefully be in before the end of the semester.
Citizen Gowing: Weren’t we trying to go away from refunds?
Senator Byrne: I asked about that and we found out that they were just the easiest route
Senator Allen: Having said that, they are highly discouraged
New Business:
Announcements:
Chairman Crowder: Floor snacks are in. Second, Friday ice cream is happening tomorrow.
Open forum:
Senator Hofer: We are thinking about giving fans to SAGA workers as a gift of appreciation. Ideas?
Senator Berry: As a buzz app mod, I have been hearing a lot of complaints about account bans. Have y’all heard anything about this from your floors?
Chairman Crowder: I have heard about specific post issues, but nothing from people.
PPT Moyes: I haven’t heard anything either, and to Hofer’s idea, I know that some workers already have fans, so how can we get a number of people.
Senator Hofer: I talked to Laura Cobb, and she told me there are about 46 people. Also, some of the older fans have burnt out.
Chairman Crowder: Another idea would be to give Walmart gift cards. The only problem is that giving them gift cards legally would count as income. There are ways to get around this, but giving gifts seems to be the easier option.
Citizen Gowing: I would also like to add that gift cards are rather impersonal gifts. I like the idea of tangible objects.
Senator Allen: Maybe could just ask them what they would want on a survey. That way we would know quantity and what they want.
Chairman Crowder: I appreciate the input. It seems helpful to get the project started … Something else my committee has been talking about is the barbecue sauce/cups/straws situation. One option could be inviting Laura Cobb to session. I learned that we are able to buy biodegradable straws and put them in the Hive. Thoughts?
PPT Moyes: Any updates on the metal straw situation?
Chairman Crowder: I can get them over spring break.
Senator Byrne: Why biodegradable?
Senator Hofer: Bon Appetit has a company policy.
Senator Byrne: How long is the company contract?
Speaker Avent: I think that that isn’t public information.
Senator Berry: We did the math earlier, that would be about $700 per semester
Senator Hofer: It might be less because not everyone could get a straw every day.
Citizen Gowing: I support high-balling it to have leftovers.
Senator Berry: Something I want to mention is that the moment we do this, we will have a lot of pressure to keep this up, so we might have to keep that in mind for future budgets.
PPT Moyes: I heard that COVID has affected the contract in a few ways, so maybe we can consult the people who made those decisions.
Speaker Avent: I heard that the contract is pretty guarded, changing or even learning has also been historically pretty difficult.
Senator Berry: Speaking of COVID, have there been any updates on the uplifting of our COVID policies?
Senator Allen: I haven’t heard anything about it, but I doubt that they will bring anything back.
Senator Berry: The one specific policy I was thinking about is allowance of off-campus visitors overnight, since I don’t think that the pandemic can affect that anymore.
Citizen Foster: I would like to add interest over what the welcome back initiative is actually doing now.
Speaker Avent: We can bring specific questions up in the discord to formally ask them later.
Senator Allen: One more small note, I would like to redact my negative outlook, I get that we can move forward. Also, the university does have a COVID response coordinator, and I will look into that.
Senator Ko: I do have a question for the executive cabinet. Have y’all decided to go forward with the purchasing of a school rock?
President Ryan: We looked into that, and it could cost around $10,000. We won’t have any decision on that for a while.
PPT Moyes: To clarify, if you think that your strength can be used elsewhere, changing/collaborations on committees are things.
Senator Hofer: I motion to resign.
Motion seconded.
Senator Hofer: Wait … I motion to recess.
Motion passed.
-Meeting Recessed 11:51