SGA Meeting 09/30/12
Vrinda calls the meeting to order at 7:10p
Absent: Taj Meyer, Alicia Makepeace, Kellie Meyer, Rebecca Payne-Passmore.
Announcements
Vrinda Varia ‘13: today is a pretty extensively packed meeting, so we are going to try and get going quickly. Just to preface, please remember to say your name and class year. Natalie cannot look up when she is typing and it really does help her out.
Karina Siu ‘14: just to recap this weekend; soccer tied Franklin and Marshall, which was the first time we haven’t been beaten by them since 1994. Field hockey did get a loss, but held 3-0 but Franklin and Marshall who is 10th in nation at the moment. Volley ball is having a Seven Sisters Tournament this weekend. They are going to be playing against all of the Seven Sisters Colleges, so please come out and cheer for them this weekend; they will be the only home team as well.
Ali Raeber ‘13: just a reminder that elections are happening from 8am tomorrow until 7pm on Tuesday. Please remind your constituents to vote. If you have time to table for the event, please volunteer on the doodle I emailed out.
Saba Qadir ’13: I am one of the bio major reps and so next week we are going to be holding our first department tea. We have had one already and it was not as well attended as it could be so I just wanted to get the word out. Bio majors, get excited.
Tyler Garber ‘14: if the newly appointed committees’ can please come up and introduce yourselves to the community.
Hell Week Committee
· Ali Raeber
· Sila Ogidi
· Aine Sheehan
· Sarah Loshusan
· Pamudu Tennakoon
Anie Sheehan ‘15: our goals are to make sure frosh have a safe, consensual and fun hell week and to work with traditions and SGA Eboard to achieve that goal.
Student Finance Committee
· Nicole SooHoo
· Trang Hoang-Le
· Sookyoung Oh
Nicole SooHoo ‘16: a goal would be to make a strong connection with clubs and committees.
Sustainable Food Committee
· Anne Claire
· Hannah Weinstein
· Linh Tong
· Kirsten Adams
Campus Greening Rep
· Linh Tong
Seven Sisters Rep
· Caylyn Perry
· Sarah J. Shaw
· Natalie Kato
Caylyn Perry ‘16: my personal goal is I have this big idea to have alumnae from the Seven Sisters come together and discuss being a woman and all of the issues prevalent in society.
Board of Trustees Rep
· Alexis De La Rosa
· Yichun Fu
Alexis De La Rosa ’16: I am really excited to keep a new open communication with board and Bryn Mawr community.
Social Committee
· Jennifer Park
· Lauren Mandelbaum
· Marisa Rafsky
Grad School Rep
· Ana Cordova
Conflict Management Committee
· Molly Fessler
· Jenny Kwon
· Ambrosia Johnson
· Sarah Loshusan
Molly Fessler ’14: we are all excited to be a part of this committee, and are looking forward to working with the Honor Board and become more visible on campus and hopefully to have a successful semester.
Outreach and Communications Committee
· Jennifer Mendez
· Marisa Rafsky
· Lindsey Crowe
Jennifer Mendez ’16: I am excited to get started. My personal goal is to make SGA and everything we do more prevalent and get more people involved.
Orientation Reorganization Committee
· Aine Sheehan
· Archana Kaku
Tyler Garber ‘14: thank you all for presenting. The list of appointed people can be found at appointments.blogs.bynmawr.edu.
Lee McClenon ’14: are there any appointed positions that were not filled?
Tyler Garber ’14: yes we are going to run them again in November. I believe they were Computer Access Coordinator, Access Service Rep, Go board moderators, and one other. Be on the lookout for that.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: these committees might have more space for more positions.
Sowmya Srinivasan ‘13: unrelated, but the China Care Club is having a fund raiser in the lobby, and will be there after the SGA meeting, so you can pick up a fish ball. They are raising money for Chinese orphans.
Nora Scheland ’15: BMC Dems is hosting the presidential debate watching party in the Campus Center on Wednesday at 9-10:30pm. All are invited and there will be snacks. We are only hosting one debate watching party because the others conflict with fall break. This is the opportunity to watch, it is on domestic policy.
Emily Tong ’13: Open Mic is having their first event this Friday at Arncliffe. Signups are at 7pm and event starts at 7:30pm. We are going to have food and fun!
Irene Shin ’13: I just wanted to say that for everyone who came to mean girls, thank you, it was really great. We will have more events like that in the future so be on the lookout.
Vrinda Varia ’13: this Wednesday from 3pm – 5pm is Pets on the Green between Wyndham and Erdman Green, as long as the weather is good, so go out and pet some pets! Support Counseling Services. The Board of Trustees will be here starting Thursday. There is a dessert open to Juniors and Seniors on Thursday. You can rsvp to Joann Doherty at jodohert@bmc. The dessert will be at 7:30pm in the DVR. We are taking applications for Seven Sisters Conference which will be at Smith. The Eboard can invite 4 members of the undergraduate community with us. The conference will be November 2 – 4. We will be circulating applications will be through activities. They are due Friday.
Kendra Kelly ’13: is there a theme?
Vrinda Varia ’13: the topics will be centered and student government and the Women in Public Service Project
Your Two Cents
Hannah Lehman ’13: just want to say that there will not be a dry party in the Campus Center this year for Halloween. I wanted some student input on that. If other people on campus want to throw a party, please let Mary Beth know.
Vrinda Varia ’13: Mary Beth wanted student feedback in making sure that was going to be acceptable for the student body.
Natalie Zamora ’14: what is happening with Radnor party then?
Vrinda Varia ’13: parties have not been officially decided on. So anyone who is interested in having a party, whether it is Radnor or other dorms, let Mary Beth know by October 5th because she needs to know by then. All Halloween parties must happen October 26-28, not the second weekend because it is Parents Weekend.
Julia Stuart ’13: Radnor is going to have a Halloween party this year. We are meeting as a dorm to discuss the actual date this week. So we will let you know.
Kendra Kelly ’13: what is the reasoning behind not having it?
Hannah Lehman ’13: Mary Beth sent out an activities survey a few weeks ago and not many people responded, but people who did, did not seem very enthusiastic about it. There are events going on at the Bates Motel and there is transportation. You can sign up through Student Activities. Also, because Parents Weekend is the next weekend.
Muna Aghaalnemer ’13: is this final or negotiable? I didn’t see the survey, but is it just set and that is it?
Vrinda Varia ’13: my understanding is that if students want to have a dry Halloween party, contact Mary Beth and see if you can plan it because it is not going through the Social Committee.
Kersti Francis ’13: will we still have movies on Halloween?
Vrinda Varia ’13: I think so. Essentially a lot of the Social Committee will be investing their time with the Winter Formal that we voted on last week. So as far as planning and event, that is what they are doing. But if people are interested in having a dry party, take that student initiative and contact Mary Beth. If you have any question, come see me after.
Plenary Resolution Presentations
Vrinda Varia ’13: plenary is this Sunday, October 7th. You guys might have seen the posters on campus. The plenary committee has been working hard to get adverting in. Assembly you are all required to volunteer at Plenary, please come at 11:30am to sign in and get your placement for where you will be working. Anyone else interested in volunteering, come at 11:45am and we will love to have you there. Assembly members who are not attending Plenary, please notify Natalie Kato by Wednesday so we know how many more volunteers to get. If you miss Plenary, it counts as 2 absences towards your 4 for the semester. That being said, you will all be there anyways! We are going to do each of the presentations, they will run through it, and then if you have any questions or suggestions, we will do that after. The first presentation is being presented is by Irene. As for the new bylaws, there were 4 resolutions presented to the EBoard, and all 4 will be presented at Plenary.
Elimination of the Mediation Program Liaison Resolution
Irene Shin ’13: this resolution is getting rid of mediation program.
Resolution 1: Elimination of the Mediation Program Liaison
Presented by Irene Shin’13 and Eun-young Park’15
Whereas, I.B.3 of the Honor Code asks for there to be an appointed Honor Board member who acts as the Mediation Program Liaison.
Whereas, this Mediation Program Liaison position is described as an Honor Board member who “works closely with the mediation intake coordinators to schedule mediation and to organize the mediation program.” (Honor Code, I.B.3)
Whereas, the Mediation Program is no longer active on campus.
Whereas, the Mediation Program will now be replaced by the Conflict Resolution Committee in name.
Whereas, the Conflict Resolution Committee will act as a resource for students who would like a trained third-party to help with a social honor code confrontation (for further information of a social honor code confrontation, please refer to II.B.1 of the Honor Code). This committee will be appointed by the Appointments Committee.
Whereas, the Conflict Resolution Committee and the Honor Board are different bodies of SGA and interaction between them should be kept to a minimum. This is to ensure that Honor Board members can be as objective as possible in all Honor Board hearings.
Whereas, a Conflict Resolution Committee member will contact the Head of the Honor Board directly to deliberate what the next step should be if a confrontation escalates to the level of an Honor Board Hearing or Deans’ Panel.
Whereas, the Conflict Resolution Committee has been appointed as of September 27, 2012. Their services will be announced to the student body through the SGA assembly, Dorm Leadership Teams, as well as Michele Rasmussen, Dean of the Undergraduate College and Angie Sheets, Director of Residential Life by October 14th, 2012.
Be it resolved, that the Mediation Program Liaison will be removed as an appointed position within the Honor Board, since the Conflict Resolution Committee has been instated.
Irene Shin ’13: so more generally what this translates to is about 5 years ago the mediation program has been defuncked. So the mediation program has no use, so we are going to get rid of it. Does that make sense? Any questions?
Vrinda Varia ’13: a lot of what this is doing is updating the Honor Code to what is happening now.
Lee McClenon ’14: is this the Constitution or the Honor Code bylaws that this is modifying?
Irene Shin ’13: the Honor Code is actually underneath the Constitution, so yes, the Constitution.
Also the mediation program has been reinstated, just named as the Conflict Management Committee, so we are not getting rid of it. It has the same purposes.
Vrinda Varia ’13: next resolution is going to be presented by Natalie Zamora.
Posting Policy Resolution
Natalie Zamora ’14: my resolution is posting policy awareness.
Posting Policy Resolution:
Whereas, the Posting Policy should be more available to students of the Bryn Mawr College community.
Whereas, the Posting Policy is an administrative policy so it is “unfit” for a plenary resolution which was confirmed at Tuesday group and by conferences and events, meaning the process of updating the Posting Policy will continue as a collaborative effort with Resco and SGA, along with any student who is willing to give input on the subject.
Whereas, Posting Policy is an important school wide policy that many students will use during their academic time at Bryn Mawr College as it is a crucial type of public advertising on campus.
Whereas, the Posting Policy is only located on the Bryn Mawr College website and the SGA blog, but is not in the student handbooks that is distributed to every student at the beginning of the year in their mailboxes.
Whereas, both Conferences and Events and Mary Beth Horvath of the Student Activities Office have expressed concern with the lack of Posting Policy awareness when it comes to chalking and hanging banners over Pembroke Arch.
Whereas, without the knowledge of the Posting Policy, posting on campus becomes less effective (i.e. does not reach the people it needs to in time) and chaotic in terms of general tidiness of campus surfaces.
Be it resolved that the Posting Policy should be a reoccurring feature in the student handbook as well as posting policy specific for dorm posting be posted on the dorm bulletin boards to stay there all year long. Angie Sheets of Residential Life and Tracy Kelmer of Communications will be helping me follow up, ensuring that these goals are met before the next school year.
Natalie Zamora ’14: Posting policy is really important. When I was going out to get signatures. People did not know what the posting policy was. They actually thought I was making the posting policy, but it is already there. Thus we need to become more aware through the means of putting it in the student handbook and posting it on bulletin boards. Any questions?
Saba Qadir ’13: just to clarify, what the dorm bulletin board is that on each hall one is for the HA and one is for the dorm?
Natalie Zamora ’14: there are SGA boards, dorm boards, and HA boards. They are sometimes clearly marked, sometimes not. The dorm boards are usually the big ones when you enter the door; the SGA board depends. And the HA doors are the only ones on the hall.
Saba Qadir ’13: I have two on my hall?
Natalie Zamora ’14: I think both boards are HA boards. The only think you should be posting on are dorm bulletin boards unless it is SGA related.
Saba Qadir ’13: and that is one per dorm?
Natalie Zamora ’14: yeah. One dorm bulletin board per dorm.
Vrinda Varia ’13: there is a lot of confusion about where things can be posted in terms of every hall. Maybe that is something that Natalie can work with with Res Life
Natalie Zamora ’14: I was originally going to make this amendments to the posting policy because a lot of stuff is needing change. A lot of stuff needs change that is not relevant, other things are relevant. But it is unfit for a plenary resolution so it will be a collaborative effort.
Vrinda Varia ’14: Sarah and Kendra, your is next.
Residence Council Plenary Resolution
Sarah Henkind ’13 and Kendra Kelly ‘13: we are the res-co heads.
Residence Council Plenary Resolution
Whereas certain parties/events on campus have become annual traditions, such as East vs. West, Radnor Halloween, and St. Patrick’s Day.
Whereas these annual events are hosted in Bryn Mawr College dorms.
Whereas money for these events has previously come out of dorm budgets.
Whereas the amount of money in a dorm budgets is calculated and allocated by Residential Life based on the number of residents per dorm.
Whereas dorm budgets are intended for events and functions exclusively for the dorm’s residents, and are intended to foster community events within each dorm.
Whereas the dorms who host these events do so because they have the capacity to host large scale parties, and because they have layouts conducive for security efforts.
Whereas these events are open to all of the Bryn Mawr College student body, and often are Bi-Co and Tri-Co wide events.
Whereas the responsibility of financing these events falls solely on the hosting dorm.
Whereas financing these events puts an economic burden on the hosting dorm’s budget and leaves little funds for the intended use.
Whereas Bryn Mawr College’s department of Residential Life is concerned about the economic burden placed on dorms that host large scale annual events.
Whereas dorms that host these events feel less likely to host events due to the financial burden placed on their budgets.
Whereas the existing Party Fund only covers a fraction of the costs of hosting an annual event, and are listed as thus: Level 1: $30, Level 2: $60, Level 3: $90.
Whereas Bryn Mawr dorms cannot exceed a Level 2 party due to constrictions on capacity.
Be it resolved that the Bryn Mawr College Self-Government Association request that money for annual events, such as East vs. West, Radnor Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day, no longer be taken solely from the budget of the host dorm(s), but rather be taken from a separate fund comprised of ten percent (10%) from every dorm’s budget.
Be it resolved that the Bryn Mawr College Self-Government Association will match the funds comprised of the ten percent (10%) taken from each dorm budget.
Be it resolved that these combined funds be placed under the control of the Residence Council, where the distribution of the funds for these events will be voted on by the Dorm Presidents.
Be it resolved that the dorm presidents of the hosting dorm are responsible for presenting a budget on behalf of their dorm prior to the funds being voted on.
Be it resolved that the Residence Council’s voting will be conducted in a two part process which will proceed as thus:
1) A vote in which the majority of the Residence Council’s quorum is in agreement with the event.
2) A vote in which the majority of the Residence Council’s quorum is in agreement with the amount of the funds requested.
Be it resolved that the requested money for the annual events be used for the non-alcoholic party functions of these events, as funds would only be allocated for party necessities such as bouncers, food, DJs/music, and decorations.
Be it resolved that functions receiving pecuniary resources from this fund must be open to all current Bryn Mawr College students.
Be it resolved that the creation of this fund is intended for Bryn Mawr College parties that are hosted within the dorms.
Be it resolved that this fund be made available at the commencement of each academic year, and the funds will cover the events of that academic year.
Be it resolved that the Residence Council Heads of 2012-2013 will organize the creation of this fund for the 2012-2013 academic year on the contingency that this resolution passes.
Kendra Kelly ’13: here are the calculations on the budgets [these are available at sga.blogs.brynmawr.edu]. The right hand column shows the amounts that would be contributed. The bottom is the total for the year. Our resolution is trying to help out dorms allow have campus wide events in their spaces. It is very draining on their budgets and they have not really been able to have those community teas and events that the dorm budgets are really intended for because they put a majority of their budgets into the events that are school wide. We are trying to help them out, and we realize that it might not cover the full amount of what the event will cost, but we want to try and help the dorms out and take the majority of that financial burden off of those dorms.
Lee McClenon ’14: when you say dorm budget? I think you mean dorm president budget? I think you should clarify that. When I think of dorm budget, I think of the entire DLT budget which is significantly larger chunk of money.
Kendra Kelly ’13: okay. Thank you.
Lindsey Crowe ’14: since club budgets have already been approved, will this money be acquired?
Kendra Kelly ’13: no, we have an asterisk that says that matching by SGA might not be feasible this academic year as they have already undergone the budgeting process. Sowmya, what are your thoughts on this? This is something that we just added. Do you do budgeting twice a year?
Sowmya Srinivasan ‘13: budgets are done in now and in February. As you said, it might not be possible for this semester, but we can consider it for the spring.
Lee McClenon ’14: what would happen if the money was not use? I know last year or the year before, Radnor discussed having a party that was less open for the Bi-Co/Trico/Bryn Mawr community. What would happen in that circumstance to the extra money?
Kendra Kelly ’13: I think it would function as club budgeting does, and go back into the fund for the next year. Similar to how dorm presidents, if they do not use their entire fund, it gets carried over to next year.
Vrinda Varia ’13: I envision that the left over funds would be split with Res Life and SGA. But that should probably be written in.
Perry House Transparency and Institutional Commitment Resolution
Marissa Jackson ’14: hi everyone, my name is Marissa class of 2014.
Resolution 4: Perry House Transparency and Institutional Commitment
Whereas, Perry House, Bryn Mawr College’s Black Cultural Center, is now closed as a facility for gatherings and resident housing.
Whereas, administration has given students a vague timeline concerning the renovation and reopening of Perry House.
Whereas, many were disappointed about the decision to make Pem East Fourth the new Perry House residence.
Whereas, students have had limited participation in the discussions concerning its renovation.
Whereas, members of Sisterhood, BACaSO and Mujeres have expressed the desire to have members of every ethnicity, nationality, and creed attend our meetings, events, and discussions as members of our affinity groups.
Whereas, space for Black and Latina support groups is limited on campus.
Whereas, there is limited space to hold general body meetings and special events.
Whereas, regular access to a kitchen for food demos and other cultural meals is limited on campus.
Whereas, Perry House is important and relevant to both Black History in the United States and Bryn Mawr’s history on campus.
Whereas, subsequent generations of Bryn Mawr students may not understand the cultural, political, and social importance of Perry House if it is not renovated before the Class of 2015 graduates.
Be it Resolved, the Undergraduate Student Body recommend that the Board of Trustees, President McAuliffe, Residential Life, and Facilities Services make the renovations to Perry House a priority in Bryn Mawr’s institutional planning and seek to make it a livable space for students before the Fall of 2014.
Be it Resolved, students will be invited to meetings concerning renovations and or the closing of dorms and other student spaces. This includes meetings with Residential Life, the Board of Trustees, the President’s Office, and Facilities Services.
Be it Resolved, the President’s Office, Dean Rasmussen, and the Board of Trustees will give members of Sisterhood, Mujeres, and BACaSo institutional commitment to renovate Perry House within the next three years so that the Class of 2015 will the opportunity to live in and revive Perry House before their graduation in May 2015. It is important that subsequent generations understand its historical importance.
Be it Resolved, students, for the sake of Perry House, will hold monthly discussions with the Dean’s Office, the Board of Trustees, and the President’s Office until an institutional commitment to revive the Perry House tradition has been signed. The Deans Office is significant as a liaison between student grief and administration. The Board of Trustees is significant as it is responsible for the decisions concerning campus financing.
Be it Resolved, students hold monthly discussions with the Deans Office, Board of Trustees, and the President’s Office until a definite plan for Perry House has been set in motion.
Marissa Jackson ’14: so our goal is to get the space back open so we can use it for our various events. Our goal is not to create a divide between administration and students. We really want open communication and to work together as allies because we I feel that we all have that interest at Bryn Mawr.
Saba Qadir ’13: you mentioned very specific groups in your presentation. Did you meet with these people concerning this?
Marissa Jackson ’14: I know the presidents of the three affinity groups personally and we have had conversations about it, not formally, and they have been in support of the resolution. I have spoken with Dean Rasmussen, and I feel that she has the opportunity to share her perspective and get that out to the students, but she was a very active listening and she heard our perspective. She is kind of stuck in the middle between administration and student. So she said she is going to work on speeding this up and get a better time line and be a direct connection.
Saba Qadir ’13: at some point, schedule some time to meet with facilities and JMac to get your foot in the door and make this actually move forward. One more question. Why did you choose May of 2015?
Marissa Jackson ’14: as you know it was closed this year. The class of 2015 will be the last group to have seen Perry house and know the traditions and way of life. It would be important for them to have the opportunity to revive that. So they are graduating in 2015, so hopefully by fall of 2014 it will be done or at least livable so 2015 can live in the space.
Vrinda Varia ’13: just a quick note because there have been some amendments since I last saw this. The Board of Trustees do not meet monthly. So having monthly discussions with them would not be possible. So maybe you can change it to contacting them rather than hosting a discussion.
Marissa Jackson ’14: okay.
Lee McClenon ’13: when you say students will be invited to every meeting concerning renovations to other student spaces, I don’t know if that is clear enough or feasible if that makes sense. Of course you want student input, but we already have a Representative for the Board of Trustees who go to that meeting and we have Res Co Heads that talk with Residential Life and Representatives for Facilities, and I don’t know how that fits into what you are saying.
Marissa Jackson ’14: maybe it would have it better if those individuals attend our general body meetings and we can share our perspectives and have them go back and represent us.
Lee McClenon ’14: Yeah, they should represent you, and if you have specific concerns you could contact them.
Saba Qadir ’13: one more quick note, about working. One of the lines says students have concerns about Perry House. That doesn’t seem clear to what that means. I don’t know the significance of what that is.
Kelly Wilkinson ’14: I helped Marissa when she was writing her plenary resolution and initially we had the word “upset” instead of “concern”, and we were concerned with having that word in a plenary resolution because that word was more emotional. We though the word concern would be intend that people are disheartened about it closing and all the emotions surrounding its future and closing. Maybe there is a better word.
Saba Qadir ’13: maybe you could add what you just said to make it clear.
Vrinda Varia ’13: thank you everyone who presented. Just a note for resolution writers, all resolutions are due by Tuesday at 5pm.
Honor Board Discussion
Vrinda Varia ’13: a couple weeks ago we started talking about things in the Honor Code that are kind of fluffy and confusing right now. We left that conversation concluding that Irene was going to bring an abstract back so you can see what an abstract presentation looks like. Then we can discuss this with more clarity.
Irene Shin ’13: these are all from 2010 year. These, if we had them last year, we would have presented them last year.
Abstract 10-03
Maya was a second-semester sophomore in Professor Haley’s 200-level chemistry class. The class had recently taken an exam and Professor Haley gave back graded exams and went over the answers in class. Maya had used two pens to correct her answers—one of which was the same color as the pen she used to take her test with. After class, she informed Professor Haley that points were taken off for answers she got right. Professor Haley told her he would look at it and give her exam back later. Upon carefully looking at the exam, Professor Haley noticed that the answers were corrected in the same color but different ink leading the professor to think that Maya had changed the answer in class. The corrections would result in an extra six points. Professor Haley confronted Maya with the issue and asked her to report herself to the honor board.
During the hearing Maya was regretful for her actions and explained she asked her friend for the pen she used to correct her answers with. She said that her intention to write the correct answers was for future reference. She explained that because some of her corrections were in the same colored ink, at the end of class when she quickly looked through her exam, she believed points were incorrectly taken off. Maya asked Professor Haley for forgiveness. Professor Haley spoke highly of Maya’s participation in class.
The board recommended that Maya lose the six points and that she could not use the final to replace any exam. Maya was advised to see a counselor for her admitted tendency to “space out” and meet with her Dean. Maya was told that another offense would be taken very seriously.
Irene Shin ’13: This is an example of a less severe abstract. There are probably some other things that were not included in here. There were other factors to why it was not as severe of a punishment. These are fake names for everyone; it is not like there was an actual Maya.
Abstract 10-06
Genevieve was a second semester sophomore in Professor Knight’s 200-level history class. While grading Genevieve’s self-scheduled final exam, Professor Knight discovered that large sections of the short answer and essay sections of the exam were direct quotes from Wikipedia. Professor Knight confronted Genevieve and asked her to report herself to the Honor Board.
During the hearing, Genevieve acknowledged that portions of her exam were from Wikipedia but claimed that the sections had come from a sixty-page study guide that she had memorized verbatim. Genevieve said that since Professor Knight had encouraged them to study together and share notes, she and several other students had shared study materials. She claimed that she had received notes from another student and had included them in her own study guide without realizing that they were from Wikipedia.
Due to the extent of the plagiarism and the length of the study guide, the board concluded that it was unlikely that Genevieve had memorized her entire study guide. The board believed that Genevieve had used the material from Wikipedia on her exam by taking materials to a self-scheduled exam room or by taking her exam in an unauthorized location. Because of the severity of the plagiarism and the fact that she had taken advantage of the self-scheduled exam system, Genevieve failed the history class and was separated from the college for a semester.
Irene Shin ’13: So I just wanted to give you two different sides of what can happen. Also just to mention what is in these abstracts, it is going to be, again, an anonymous name, and a professor who ever is involved, the class and circumstances around it. Any questions about this or abstracts more generally?
Vrinda Varia ’13: so like Irene said, all these abstracts come from 2-4 semesters after the incident has taken place. Abstracts are all, in theory, about students who have moved on from their infractions. They are asked to have monthly summaries of what is currently happening. I think we have come to the conclusion that instead of continuing the debate between themes and abstracts, we will continue with the abstracts, just like this one, and have monthly presentations of what is currently happening. That will follow the format dictated by the Honor Code.
Saba Qadir ’13: is it the Honor Board Head that writes the abstracts and summaries? Who writes that?
Irene Shin ’13: the secretary of the honor board. There are two positions, one the Senior Head Council and also a secretary. Secretary writes notes and abstracts. Dean Rasmussen has the official abstracts.
SGA Goals Updates
Vrinda Varia ’13: a couple of weeks ago you guys brought up what you wanted to hear feedback about and find out what was happening. So we went out there and got information. About the campus center, some of the updates that are happening we got from Dean Rasmussen. They have ordered new material for the campus center. She said there will be new acapella mics, sound board, portable stage, everything they ordered is meant to be movable except for new lights. There will be rack lighting and that will be permanent. She said it will go somewhere below the balcony. There will be a new set of light and everything else will be movable. People will be able to rent it out. Hopefully by the end of the semester it will be here. The orders have been placed.
The other question was what is happening with the former Res Life offices. They are still looking into suggestions from students. Some of the things that have come up are another student lounge or art space where we can have displays that happening the front of the Campus Center, but so they can stay up instead of be taken down in a couple hours. If anyone has any suggestions about that, you can contact Dean Rasmussen or we would be happy to take them to her ourselves. That’s where the modifications have been moving towards.
Kendra Kelly ’13: maybe if you have the reception room as a gallery space, you have some of the old office side rooms as study spaces with tables. I know besides Rhoads quiet study, it is hard to find quiet spaces. The Campus Center and Lusty can be noisy.
Vrinda Varia ’13: I will mention that to her. I know some of the offices still need to be used as storage space.
Lee McClenon ’14: I would like to offer the opposite and say that we don’t have a space on campus that is homework free. I would want to see a space on campus where you could go there and know you wouldn’t be disrupting someone who sit doing homework. You could play a game or watch a movie
Emily Tong ’13: you mentioned that all of these materials would be available for students to rent out. So I was wondering how that process would work?
Vrinda Varia ’13: I meant borrow. It would be in the same way you would reserve on Virtual EMS.
Emily Tong ’13: I think to get everything used and having these spaces and materials, I think we should advertise it clearly. I don’t think everyone knows that you can borrow speakers. So it would be really good to campaign.
Vrinda Varia ’13: get people to our workshops. I know this year the EBoard tried to show how to use things like Virtual EMS. Our presentation is also on the blog so you can refer to that. The information is out there, but people need to ask.
Emily Tong ’13: but sometimes people don’t know what to ask for. So I don’t know.
Vrinda Varia ’13: Conferences and Events anticipate a lot of needs before you know you need them.
Saba Qadir ’13: about that, could a student use Virtual EMS? I thought it was just clubs?
Vrinda Varia ’13: yes, any student can use Virtual EMS, any student can reserve spaces on campus. If you have any questions about how to do that, you can find the PowerPoint on our blog. Another thing we talked about was the concerns regarding emails. How our emails become really digested and no one sees them. I know traditions spoke of advertising for Parade Night. We did figure out how to get a new list serve to everyone. Some of the concerns we have before we establish the list serve would be the name. Some of the names we came up with are “Mawrter Life,” “Mawrter Events,” or “Mawrter Activities.” Other things we questioned were who would be a moderator for this. We thought that having the SGA Webistresses would be good to refer to. That is a potential option and conversation we need to have with them. And then our last question was what can actually go out on this list serve. If everyone starts sending out emails on a list serve, no one reads them. So what can we advertise via this new list serve so that people would still pay attention to it. We all have our opinions about things, such as advertising plenary, appointments, elections, that all could be really benefited by that, but what do you think would be beneficial. My understanding of this list serve is that it would go out to every undergraduate student, but if each class year wants to send out to a specific class year, they could do the colon and put in what class should pay attention to it. But it would still go out to every undergraduate. Does that make sense?
Lee McClenon ’14: what stops it from being the next activities emails?
Vrinda Varia ’13: the moderator as students. They would have to be diligent in what they let go through this list serve.
Lee McClenon ’14: so figuring who sets that threshold then.
Vrinda Varia ’13: What that threshold is and making sure that the person who does it, maintains that. So our questions are: What should it be called, who should moderate, what should be acceptable to be sent? Any suggestions? We don’t think it our place to be making these decisions on our own; it will fill up the inboxes of every student on campus so what do you not want to get emails about? What do you not want to see in your inbox?
Kayla Bondi ’14: could one things that could not be in the emails be student individual, student run clubs.
Vrinda Varia ’13: so clubs would still be on activities emails.
Kayla Bondi ‘13 so have those things on activities separated.
Vrinda Varia ’13: So have SGA events, Traditions events, Class specific events go through this list serve.
Saba Qadir ’13: what about events held by appointed positions, or elected positions, like the safe teas? I feel that that could be something put on here because it was appointed by SGA.
Vrinda Varia ’13: we don’t want this to be an SGA list serve. There are a lot of reasons around that. I don’t think that we should say that appointed positions are an SGA position, so they can use this list serve. We should say that they are a committee so they can use the list serve. If we say it is an SGA thing, then all clubs are SGA funded. Then everyone could email through it. Maybe specific committees that are hosting teas.
Nora Scheland ’15: to go off of that, the film series committee and concert series, those are appointed positions, could we use the list serve for advertising or would that be too much?
Vrinda Varia ’13: what do you guys think?
Kendra Kelly ’13: I think it would be too much. I don’t know. It would be my hope that it is the type of things that cannot be advertised or the sort of things that are not just for entertainment but for education of the student body of what’s going on on campus. Kind of the campuses political climate. Does that make sense? Like things that are not entertainment, but educating people about what’s going on at Bryn Mawr. What we are doing here for other people. Traditions would be considered in that because it is for the benefit of the campus. I just feel like there is a distinction in there.
Karina Siu ’14: regarding film series and BMCS, I don’t think it needs to be on there. I think film series and BMCS are well advertised. I think they just would be flooding inboxes then. I like the idea that informational things, like the survey about Halloween parties. I don’t remember reading that because I just scan activities emails. So things that really need to be sent. So surveys that concern the entire campus that would affect the entire campus that need to be actually noticed.
Vrinda Varia ’13: in order to continue this discussion we need to a motion to extend time. Motioned to extend time to end of speaking order.
Sofia Abbot ’15: I would agree with Karina, I don’t need BMCS or film because I think they are well advertised and we don’t need any more emails about that. But like safe teas when they come from the dorm presidents, we don’t need to have them come through this.
Jeniffer Mendez ’16: I think it should be moderated by outreach and communications committee.
Lee McClenon ’14: I guess I am personally thinking that this is not a useful plan of action. I don’t see where the distinction will be drawn. I see what Karina sees that BMCS and film series are well advertised, but I think that there are more effective ways of advertising these events. I think sending out more emails in a different list serve is just not going to help. I think you need to find more effective ways than creating another list serve will not fix the problem. It won’t make people excited.
Kendra Kelly ’13: I think it’s about visibility of those emails, how we are getting people to see them. Just like tonight, important information has been lost through activities. So if there is a way to make them more visible in the email world, that would be helpful.
Nora Scheland ’15: I agree with what you are saying. I think that we have already seen that surveys have to come over emails and you can’t advertise for that. I think it is a hard line to draw, but I think traditions, SGA events, surveys, those will go out over emails anyway, and I think there will complaints if people don’t get the emails. So I think the list serve is important but we have to figure out where to draw the line.
Ali Raeber ’13: I agree.
Saba Qadir ’13: I think that this would work if we define clearly what it is for so if we see it in the email we will know what it is. I think that if we don’t, Lee is correct in that we are just getting more emails in a different way.
Lee McClenon ’14: I agree that he surveys are almost the most important part to get out. The issue here is how can we say these are the most important events on campus for everyone and we think everyone should care about SGA and run for an appointed position and to equate that with traditions but not COPS teas or BMCS and other school wide events. I think it would be useful for having a list serve to get student opinions because those are what you want everyone to see. Are traditions not being looked at? I didn’t know that was an issue.
Julia Stuart ’13: last year we were able to use the class list serves for traditions. This year, they have not been able to do that. Speaking as someone who did that last year, I would not be able to do that job if I couldn’t contact the student body, quickly, and on a regular basis.
Kayla Bondi ‘14 and Sarah Bristow ’14: that is what happened at the beginning of the year, there were problems. On the Wednesday, two days before Parade Night we received our bounced-back email that was supposed to be for the undergraduate community saying that we cannot email the entire school anymore or the list serve. So we were forced to go through Activities emails and we were at the bottom of the activities emails and we weren’t getting exposure. One of the biggest things that happened were that the guest students didn’t realize they could attend because they did not get the emails. And the Facebook event that we used did not really work. So it was forcing us to exclude a portion of the student body from the traditions. We are trying to get a traditions list serve too. If this goes through, we won’t need that, but it is in discussion.
Karina Siu ’14: is there a reason why traditions cannot go through the list serve for class years? Was there a complaint about that. Because I am personally okay.
Vrinda Varia ’13: I think it is more precedents setting in that the class list serves will only be used by the dean’s office. If we let traditions use it, then we let clubs use it. I don’t think the deans office understand on the student level what should be permitted. They don’t know what students need to get news about. They have their own objective like registration and want it to be a deans centered list serve.
Karina Siu ’14: so they are run by dean’s office?
Vrinda Varia ’13: class list serves are run by dean’s office and academic events are too.
Karina Siu ’14: they have that new academic events and I don’t know what the point of it is. So I don’t know if more list serves will be more annoying because then you won’t know where to send it out to.
Vrinda Varia ’13: yes and another concern is how do you reach you constituent base. I know for class presidents, how do you reach your constituents? We are going to table this and bring it up at the next meeting. Talk to you constituents and we will further the conversation later.
Next SGA Meeting Time Change Vote
Vrinda Varia ’13: The next meeting is October 28, which is the same night as lantern night. Personally, I would much rather be at lantern night. So if anyone wants to motion. Does anyone have suggestions for times?
Suggestions for Times:
2pm, 1:30pm, 1: 00pm
Vrinda Varia ’13: majority vote, anyone can vote.
Voting Results:
1:00pm – 23 people
1:30pm – 1 person
2:00pm – 19 people
Vrinda Varia ’13: next it will be an Assembly Vote only on the times between having the meeting at 1:00pm and 2:00pm.
Voting Results:
1:00 – 13 people
2:00 – 6 people
Kendra Kelly ’13: I know that it has been offered in the past that it would not be offered marked as an absence because we are changing the time of the meeting. Could that still be offered?
Natalie Kato ’14: That is not in any of the bylaws, meeting procedure, or constitution. I do not feel comfortable offering that. We could add it in the future for meeting procedures, but I do not know if I can offer that this moment.
Old business
Sowmya Srinivasan ‘13: I would like to give you guys an update about budget. As we talked about last week it is a lot lower than in past years. It has come to light that the deficit is being pushed over from 2010-2011. This was a year when there was a Grand May Day. They didn’t pay back the deficit last year so it is being left to us to bring it back to a normal balance. So what happens normally is that 75% of what is left over in the normal SGA dues account is transferred over to a surplus fund at the end of the year. In the past, it might not have been tapped into as much, but they had to use it last year. The short story is that we had a lot less rolling over into this year. So we are under what we should have. We are looking forward with what we are going to do to bring ourselves back up to speed.
Vrinda Varia ’13: just to reiterate, we are trying to recover and get a normal balance after the past years deficit of money.
Amani Chowdhury ’14: how will that effect grand May Day 2014>
Sowmya Srinivasan ‘13: we have not really thought about it yet, but there is a change of raising dues for the next academic year.
Vrinda Varia ’13: other things will also. It depends on the future treasurer is and what their priorities are.
Nora Scheland ’15: when you say raising dues, when I was at a club budget meeting, it is suggested that people are not paying their dues. Is this true?
Vrinda Varia ’13: the majority of undergraduates do pay dues. Students can request if they cannot afford to pay student dues, that can happen, but the majority do pay dues. Maria’s special events funding from last week, which was the Trans (Un)heard, which was approved but the event is not able to take place because of a scheduling problem. So that money is back into the special events fund.