The Associated Student Government (ASG) typically holds meetings from 3-5 p.m. every other Monday in the Boardroom of the 1000 Building. This meeting was on Feb. 28, and was the third meeting of winter quarter. Students may attend if they would like to meet their representatives or voice an issue. In addition, students may meet with their representatives in the Student Life Office on the third floor of the PUB on most weekdays. The next meeting will be held on March 11.
This meeting began with Vice President Chloe Shek acting as the Chair of the meeting even though President Denish Oleke was present. No explanation was given for this.
The agenda was amended by Governmental Affairs Officer Ronald Widjaja to have acting Chair Shek call presenters to the podium in place of the Budget and Financial Officer Ezekiel Park, who was absent from the meeting. The amendment for the agenda was approved.
Open Comments
Tech Affairs Officer Isaac Tchao mentioned trying to diminish expenses of their current budget of $750,000 because, according to the projected budget, they will have a negative balance of $126,000 by 2026.
They also bought a new color printer and a MacBook computer for Student Life. There was no justification provided for the purchase.
Club Affairs Officer Eneya Kwesele stated that there is a club awards ceremony scheduled from 6-8 p.m. on May 24 that will recognize certain clubs for the work they have done.
Sustainability Officer Brian Tansil — along with the Student Life director — had contacted the rental car company Zipcar with the purpose of possibly having rental cars on campus in light of the residential campus starting in the fall. They are looking into liability and doing a cost-benefit analysis.
Amendment
Widjaja presented an amendment to the constitution and by-laws. The first action proposed was a change to the GPA requirements for ASG from 3.0 to 2.5. The explanation for the proposed change was to promote a higher level of equality for students that wished to be involved in student government.
The second part of the proposal was to change the by-laws regarding what a majority vote requires.
The current mechanism states that a two-thirds vote is needed for a motion to pass. The proposed change was to reduce the requirement to a 50 percent vote. Widjaja explained that a two-thirds minimum voting process makes passing a vote difficult if members of ASG are absent from the board meeting. This was the reason for the proposal change.
With five out of eight votes Shek declared the amendment approved. However, it was pointed out to Shek that five out of eight votes does not meet the two-thirds requirement that was just outlined verbally by Widjaja.
When laughter subsided, Shek stated that since the vote did not pass by a majority, she would be “making the final decision” on the amendment. A student representative asked what she meant by that. Shek clarified saying she would be making the “tie-breaking vote.”
With only five out of eight votes for the proposal, the ASG fell short of the required 66 percent needed to pass.
A number of ASG board members seemed unsure if this was the proper procedure. Student Government Representative Riley O’Neil recommended verification of the rules before a vote was made, stating “Should we look it up before we just assume?… We are a government.”
To which Shek replied, “I am going to pass this amendment, so let the minutes note that the amendment to the by-laws was approved.”
Mini-Grants
ASG
Social Justice Officer Marissa Perez requested a mini-grant for four events on National Womens Day on March 8. Some of the events would include a speaker from Tostan giving a presentation on how women can use their voices for power and a movie night with a screening of “Wonder Woman.” The amount was amended after Oleke pointed out that the amount requested was less than the itemised list that had been proposed. A calculator party ensued and an amount was finally agreed upon.
Requested: $602.75
Granted: $607.37
SCC Association of Nursing Students
SCC Association of Nursing Students requested a mini-grant to cover the cost of the graduation ceremonies for the nursing students in the 6 and 10 quarter programs. There was much debate over whether the requested amount should be adjusted based on whether the food was taxed. The phrase “I think” was thrown around many times. O’Neil pointed out that assumptions on tax should not be made on the spot, and was corroborated by another student representative. Eventually, the ASG board agreed that due to lack of knowledge the amount would not be amended: Calculator party averted.
Requested: $321.39
Granted: $321.39
Hiking Club
The Hiking Club president requested a mini-grant to fund a trip to the Seattle Bouldering Project on March 9. The event is open to anyone, not just club members. The Hiking club was unaware that, for insurance reasons, the vans provided to the school by Sustainability and Commuter Options Fees (SCOF) can only be driven by employees that have been approved.
This led the board to agree that the request needs to be revised, but they encouraged the presenter by saying that they think it is a great event for students. Tansil told the student that SCOF meets on Wednesday, and if the transportation could be revised by Tuesday, then he would add it to the SCOF agenda.
Requested: $166.79
Approved: $0
