Boca House of Representatives Meeting Recap [January 20, 2012 Edition]

This recap is brought to you by UP reporter, Dylan Bouscher.

Kevin Varela resigned yesterday afternoon (Jan. 19) from his position as Boca Speaker Pro-Tempore to take over as Elections Board Chair. Now, an in-house election for a new  Speaker Pro-Tempore is in order. Candidates Eric Lupo, Jairo Montes, and Reginald Horace will all be interviewed by Speaker of the House, Boris Bastidas.

SG President, Ayden Maher mentioned that Thomas Levy changed his major from Political Science to Education. He is expecting to graduate in May and needs to complete a 9-5 internship, which Levy had to start this semester.SG started the Owl Country campaign over winter break. So far they have taken 87 FAU banners to hang up in local businesses. Marketing Director, Maya Carroll and former Sen. Michael Brown, are working on this project.The Subway in the stadium is supposed to be a late-night dining option for resident students, but still isn’t open. Maher said he is “pushing them” to open soon.

The Board of Trustees will vote in February on a new dorm building with 650 beds and 2,000 parking spaces. The new housing and parking will be near the Social Science building.

VP Robert Huffman confirmed and approved new positions in SG. New Executive Assistant. Michael Brown and new Executive Marketing Director, Aneal Ramkissoon were confirmed.

Student Media: Owl TV Station Manager, AJ Jordat and University Press Editor-in-Chief, Mariam Aldhahi were approved.

Greek Housing will be built by 2015-2016, at the earliest. Housing will consist of apartment style buildings that will be located near the stadium.

Boca Governor, Ryan Ebanks announced that David Aarons was appointed as Boca Raton Associate Justice. The vote was unanimous.

House Contingency Account currently has $100,000, but only about $28,000 can be spent. Mission Green’s community garden for example, is one of the projects funded by the account.

Vice Chair of BHOR, Lexi Rosario brought up that Addison Park contractors are looking to build an off-campus student housing complex called “University Park”. Students are needed for the meeting.

SG Senate [January 19, 2012 edition]

This recap is brought to you by UP reporter, Dylan Bouscher.

Here’s a recap of Thursday’s SG Senate meeting.

President’s Report
SG Elections Board Chair, Tom Levy resigned six weeks before the Spring 2012 SG elections. He changed his major to Education, got a new part time job, and could not run a smooth election, according to Ayden Maher.

LEGISLATION:
SGSSB-11-08: Written by former Sen. Michael Brown and sponsored by SG Vice President, Robert Huffman this bill would allocate $20,000 to buy new furniture and make renovations to the first floor of the Student Union. This money would come from Student Affairs’ Activity and Service Fees Reserve Account, known as the reserve account of Vice President of Student Affairs Charles Brown. This bill was brought up in the Nov. 22 Senate meeting when it was tabled. The bill is tabled again 5-0 until there is more support from the budget office and will be brought up at the next meeting.

“I’m going to express my support for this bill,” said Boca Sen. Peter Amirato. “The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

SG President Ayden Maher said, “This is one of my goals, and I want to see it through. I believe in this project and I believe that we need to renovate this union. Also, we rent out our facility to outdoor vendors, and it’s not in tip-top shape, I’ll say that.”

Open Forum:
Former Boca House Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Varela was confirmed as Elections Board Chair. “I appreciate your vote and I look forward to meeting you guys on your respective campuses and to get everything moving quickly and to have a good election,” he said.

FAU Boca Student Government Focus Group complaints list

Below is  full list of the complaints and suggestions students gave SG at their focus groups so far, and their statuses. Any blank statuses indicates that that info has not yet been obtained, but will be. Items highlighted in red won’t be addressed — either because SG doesn’t plan to, or SG can do nothing to address them. To read more about the focus groups, click here, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: I’m not sure why, but some of the items listed won’t show up. If you want to see it, you’ll have to highlight it. Sorry about that. I’m working on fixing that…

1. Make an FAU student-run credit union.
   
2. Get rid of BankAtlantic.
   
3. More parking. See above
4. Relax parking ticket policy. In August, the Boca House and SG Senate tried to put a question on the fall ballot asking students if they think parking fines should be lower. Those bills were vetoed by SG President Ayden Maher and Vice President of Student Affairs Charles Brown.
5. Improve shuttle service.
   
6. Improve parking garage lighting.
7. More veggie options in the Breezeway cafeteria.
8. The Burrow is too hot.
9. Build Greek Housing. See this UP article. Greek Housing may come by 2014.
10. Unban Green Mann.
11. One-person study rooms in the library.
12. More tables in the library.
13. Guidance/help with the library catalogue.
14. Renovate the library.
15. Raise philosophy department funding.
    
16. More benches on campus. According to Bastidas, SG’s looking to build a park near the Social Sciences building, though a time and date have not yet been set. If it does, funding for benches could be used for the park.
17. Library signs with alternate study locations in case the library is full.
18. More MyFAU announcements from SG.
19. Use Gmail to send text messages about SG.
20. Improve MyFAU class registration time. In August, the Boca House and SG Senate tried to pass bills to put a question on the ballot that would’ve asked students if the technology fee should go towards updating MyFAU’s servers. Those bills were vetoed by Maher and Brown.
21. Smaller class sizes and more classes.
22. The costs of tuition, food and housing are too high
23. More social events.
24. More Supplemental Instruction Leaders. In March 2011, the Boca House spent $5,152.10 on t-shirts for SI Leaders.
25. Raise Tri-Rail awareness.
26. Make more bathrooms
27. Enforce Breezeway smoking ban. A full smoking ban is awaiting approval by FAU President Mary Jane Saunders’ executive committee. Boca House Rep. Thais Arsolino said that if the executive committee failsto act, SG will, but didn’t elaborate on how.
28. Later Library Hours
29. Better academic advising
30. Hammocks and swings near the Social Sciences building
31. Enforce littering fines. Bastidas said SG would attempt to enlist help from FAUPD, but didn’t say when or h0w.
32. Cover sections of campus to protect students from the rain
33. Longer NightOwl hours
34. Add netting around the Student Union ping-pong tables
35. More recycle bins on campus.In March, the House passed a bill to spend $619 on five recycling bins for the Breezeway cafe. They were put in place over the summer.
36. Add a new video game room to replace the one that was converted to the New Era Barbershop over the summer.
37. More study days before finals week
38. Improve landscaping. Bastidas said SG would need to meet with Facilities to address this, but SG has not yet set a date.
39. Sprinklers don’t always work. See #38.
40. Longer hours for groups to use tables in the Breezeway.
41. Better advertise campus services
42. Get students more textbooks
43. Fix the leaky Breezeway See #38
44. Fix broken classroom technology
45. Make meal plans optional for resident students.According to Boca House Rep Reginald Horace, SG is petitioning resident students on this issue.  Afterwards, they’ll take the results to Chartwells, the company that provides FAU’s food.   As of press time, there is no set date on when the petitioning will end, or when they’ll show the results to Chartwells.
46. two more drivers will be hired in spring 2012.
47. More ice machines in Innovation Village Apartments.
48. Fix crosswalk button near Lifelong Learning Center. Boca House Rep Thais Arsolino says SG will check if administration is already working on this problem. If not, she says they’ll try to get them to fix it.
49. Put statues in front of Algonquin Hall.

Legislative Update [Senate] [November 22, 2011 edition]

Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s SG Senate meeting.

LEGISLATION:

SGSSB-11-07: Written by former Senator Michael Brown, this bill proposes to change SG Statute 505.200. It would add “Executive Marketing Director” to the list of people in the SG Executive Cabinet. The bill was passed 6-0.

The statute currently says: “There shall be a President’s Chief of Staff, Executive Aide to the President, and Executive Aide to the Vice President within the Executive Cabinet.” If the bill passes, the statute would read, “There shall be a President’s Chief of Staff, executive Aide to the President, Executive Aide to the Vice President, and an Executive Marketing Director within the executive Cabinet.”

On Nov. 18, the Senate passed a bill to create the Executive Marketing Director position.

SGSSB-11-08: Written by former Sen. Michael Brown, this bill requested $20,000 for new furniture and renovations on the first floor of Boca’s Student Union. The bill was tabled 6-0 and will be brought up again at the next Senate meeting, which has yet to be determined.

The money would’ve come from the reserve account of Charles Brown, the Vice President of Student Affairs.

“I don’t see too much of a necessity with it. I think the money can be spent elsewhere.” said Boca Sen. Peter Amirato.

“I think this is something that would be more appropriate to propose in the [Boca] House, rather than the Senate.” added Davie Sen. Keila Dos Santos.

SG President Ayden Maher, pointed out that the Student Unions are funded through SG’s university-wide accounts, and not any campus-based accounts. Therefore, the proposal would come out of the Senate, and not any campus-based House.

OTHER STUFF:

Prem Sawh was sworn into the Senate.

COSO meeting update [November 21, 2011 edition]

This Boca COSO update brought to you by UP reporter Mailyn Abreu:

Funding approvals:

$940 for Helping International Students for t-shirts and pens.

$500 for Competency in Medical Spanish books to teach members medical Spanish.

$485 for Fencers Anonymous fencing gear and swords, after they brought documentation to prove their swords are safe.

$481 for the Association of Fundraising Professionals new member t-shirts.

$470 for Pediatrics Interest Group new member t-shirts.

$450 for the Chinese Language Club’s karaoke machine. This is for their Chinese New Year event planned for January.

$444 for the International Student Organization. This money if for food, which will be at the end-of-the-semester BBQ scheduled for Dec 2 in Live Oak A.

$389 for Mu Iota Sigma new member t-shirts.

$380 for the Brain Interest Group new member t-shirts.

$276 for the Dermatology Special Interest Group new member t-shirts.

$248 for Surgery Interest Group new member t-shirts and their event on Dec. 6, where they will host guest speakers from the surgery field.

$203 for the American Medical Student Association new member t-shirts.

$170 for the Global Health Interest Group new member t-shirts.

$105 for the Emergency Medicine Interest Group new member t-shirts.

$70 for Quidditch Association of FAU for supplies to build hoops.

Human Powered Submarine Club’s request was not stated and was moved to the Spring semester, since no representatives were present at the meeting.

COSO Director Ella Tepper informed everyone that there have been no clubhouse approvals and all clubs needs to clear out of the clubhouse by Dec. 8. The spring clubhouse applications will be available soon and due Jan 23.

Legislative update [November 18, 2011 edition]

Here is a breakdown of what happened at the last Boca House meeting by UP reporter Dylan Bouscher.

LEGISLATION:

BRHB-11-32, a bill to create “Interfaith Programming” — the religious equivalent of Multicultural Programming — was tabled, and will be brought up at the first meeting of the Spring semester on Jan. 20. It was tabled at the last session on Nov. 4.

BRHB-11-33, a bill to fund the Student Juried Art Exhibition was amended and passed . From the $3,545 that was asked for, the House approved $2,545 after removing $1,000 requested to pay students putting on the exhibition. On removing the students’ pay from the bill, House Speaker Boris Bastidas said “Last year they put on a quality event without payment for the labor, and I personally feel this is not something we usually do.”

BRHR-11-19, a resolution that suggested SG pay for an on-campus skate park was tabled indefinitely, and won’t be brought up again at future meetings.

BRHB-11-34, a bill which gave Multicultural Programming $14,562, was passed.

Since SG’s fiscal year began on Jul. 1, MP has spent 70 to 79 percent of its $112,363 budget (MP Director Marie Dumas said 70 percent, Governor Ryan Ebanks claimed 79 percent). That’s between $78,654.10 and $88,766.77. The Campus Budget Chair, Representative Jason Wu defended MP’s request, saying “They’re spending the money well, they just don’t have enough of it.”

Originally, MP requested $29,562 for Jewish Heritage Month kickoff, Women’s History Month kickoff, AsiaFest!, Black and Women’s History t-shirts, Asian Heritage t-shirts, an appearance from Cornel West, travel to National Association for Campus Activities, and office supplies. It also would’ve also paid off a $650 debt to Owl Radio. The amendment to the bill removed the costs of  Cornel West, NACA, office supplies, debts to Owl Radio and half the price of the t-shirts.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Sophomore civil engineering major Neil Coffman was elected to the House in a vote held by representatives at the meeting.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates.

Elections Board meeting recap [November 9, 2011 edition]

This post by Dylan Bouscher.

The Elections Board wants to poll students twice a semester. There is currently no system for doing so, but Elections Board Chair Thomas Levy wants to make it possible for students to ask other students about their opinions on relevant issues.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how the Board plans to reform student polling:

1. Create forms for students interested in posing questions (Rough drafts are expected at next Wednesday’s meeting)
2. Add language to the SG Statutes that gives the Elections Board the power to approve ballot questions
3. Require 35 signatures on all student-initiated questions, and a ⅔ majority vote for questions posed by either the SG House or Senate. (They didn’t mention which House. There’s one on each campus)
4. Publish proposed questions in the “university newspaper” (UP Editor-in-Chief Gideon Grudo says he has heard nothing about this)
5. Get question on the ballot for students to vote on.

According to Levy, “Once we make changes to the statutes, we can finalize the revisions.” Statute changes are expected to be made at the upcoming Constitution Review Commission meeting. As of this post, there is no language in the SG statutes regarding student polls, and no date set for the next CRC meeting.

Stay tuned for updates…

COSO meeting update [November 7, 2011 and October 24, 2011 edition]

Here’s a recap of Boca COSO’s 11/7 meeting by Mailyn Abreu:

Funding approvals:

$850 for the English Graduate Student Society. The money is for food a two-day event on Nov. 17-18 where students and faculty practice presenting their research papers.

$210 for FAU’s Habitat for Humanity t-shirts so the club can keep track of their members at events.

$171 for the Entrepreneurship Club‘s kickoff meeting, which they have not yet scheduled.

$44 for The Gems, a jewelry-making club. The money is for jewelry-making tools, which the club plans on keeping in their COSO Clubhouse locker.

Other stuff:

Fencers Anonymous requested $480 for fencing gear and swords, but didn’t get the money. “We can’t fund weapons unless documentation proves that the sword is not a blade and that they are only used for sport,” said Special Interest Council Chair AJ Einbinder.

There have been no new clubhouse approvals and they are still accepting applications.

 

UPDATE:Here’s a recap of COSO’s 10/24 meeting:

$1000 for the Equestrian Club to help pay for members’ horse-riding coaching.

$908 for Student Health Advisory Committee to help market their club during events.

$882 for the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association to put on an event called New School/Old School. No further details were provided.

$800 for Dance of the Orient.

$84 for Hoot/Wisdom Recordings. The money is for a banner.

Other stuff: Students for Sensible Drug Policy got approved for Clubhouse locker space.

Legislative update [November 4, 2011 edition]

This post by Dylan Bouscher:

At Friday’s Boca House meeting, three bills were sent to committees to be further debated. Here’s what they were, and what they would’ve done, if they passed:

BRHB-11-32: Written by House Speaker Boris Bastidas and Boca Governor Ryan Ebanks, this bill proposes the creation of a new “Interfaith Programming,” an SG organization which would be like Multicultural Programming, but for religion.

BRHB-11-33: Written by Jeanie Giebel, this bill requested $3,545.66 from the House for the 2012 annual Student Juried Art Exhibition (here’s some pics from the 2011 SJAE).

BRHR-11-19: Written by Rep. James Lavia, this resolution suggested that SG should allocate $15,000-20,000 to build an on-campus skate park.

Legislative Update [October 28, 2011 edition]

Here are the highlights of what the Boca House voted on this past Friday.

1. Five new people were voted into the House: Shane Blouin, Lucas Crostasosa, Cecilia McCloddden, Jason Naddell, Jacob Nadulek. They were admitted after the House voted on legislation.
2. The House attempted to overturn SG President Ayden Maher‘s veto on BRHR-14, but it failed. 75% of legislators had to vote in favor of overturning, but only 67% did. The resolution was also previously vetoed by Boca Governor Ryan Ebanks, and the House overturned that veto on Oct. 21.
3. BRHR-11-16, which was brought up at, but not voted on, at the Oct. 21 meeting, was tabled indefinitely. The resolution, written by, Matthew Zaabadick, states the Student Union, Student Union Outtakes, and Coyote Jack should be open 24 hours.
4. BRHR-11-17, written by Aaron Preston, was tabled indefinitely. It would’ve commended FAU football quarterback Graham Wilbert and tight end Darian Williams. Copies of the resolution would’ve been framed and given to both players, as well as Athletics Director Craig Angelos. Another framed copy would’ve been put in a trophy display case in the Tom Oxley Center.
5. BRHB-11-18, also written by Aaron Preston, was tabled indefinitely. It would’ve stated that the student tailgating area be moved to west of the football stadium. It’s currently next to the Breezeway, Physical Sciences building, and Administration building.

Special thanks to UP reporter Jordan Robrish for recording this meeting.