Thelomathesian Society
Minutes
September 20, 2005
I. Call to Order
This meeting of the Thelomathesian Society was called to order in
the Hannon Room of the Student Center at 7:37pm by President
Adam Casler.
II. Attendance
The following Senators were present, absent, or excused from the
meeting on 2005:
Present, Excused,
Residence Name Unexcused
Senior Townhouses Mandie Barney Present
62 Park
Dean Eaton Jana Morgan Present
Erica Peterson Present
Paul Congleton Present
Emily Denham Present
Kelly Sleight Present
Gaines Tyler Hanson Excused
Hulett Kaitlyn Bradley Present
Kaitlynn Reyell Present
Jenks Drew Crawford Present
Lee Alicia Johnson Present
YiLun Wang Excused
Cameron Bruns Present
James Johnston III Present
Off-Campus
Priest Meredith Kane Present
Rebert Ardelle Rivera Present
Aubrey Fulton Present
Hai-Yen Nguyen Present
Laura Rabinow Present
Reiff Rolando Pintos Present
Sykes Kirk Donovan Excused
Simon Mawson Excused
Karoline Chrzanowski Present
Meghan Moore Present
Emily-Anne Gullickson Present
Present
Theme Cottages Nicole Collen Present
Frank Izaguirre Present
Present
Whitman Andrew Long Present
Ashley White Present
Derek Benavides Present
Rachel Hall Present
Present
On Campus Live in Greek Caitlyn Carlson Present
Kyle Davidson Excused
Jon Solomon Present
FYC Katie Spring Present
Sara Garrett Present
Sophomore Class
Junior Class Mike Weineke Present
Amy Lichorat Present
Senior Class
Senator At Large Sarah Callaway Present
Kristen Bednar Present
Christine Akin Present
Charles Okara Present
Kyle Darlow Present
Justin Newcom Present
Audrey Bouffard-Nesbitt Present
Ben Sears Present
Elizabeth Boyd Present
Chance Johnson Present
Bob Glover Present
Jon Cardinal Present
Alex Sheppard Present
Present
Sarah Stalter
Harold Sammis Present
III. Officer Reports
A. Vice President of University Relations – Mr. Simba
Pasipanodya
Fellow Students,
Please accept my resignation from my position as the
Thelomathesian Society Vice President of University Relations,
effective immediately. After much thought, considerations and
consultations, I have come to realize that this is something that
is necessary to do and it is with a very heavy heart that I make
this known to you. Being a senior and heavily involved and
committed in various campus positions of leadership and
employment, including the Vice Presidency of this body, I have
found the start of the semester very engaging, extremely
demanding and ultimately overwhelming. This year is an epoch-
making one for St. Lawrence University as we are embarking on
many ambitious projects to transform life at our school for the
better. The student body, now more than ever, is in a position to
play a pivotal role in charting a course for the school’s future.
For this reason, I believe that students at our school need the
sort of leadership that will give 110% of themselves to the great
goals that need to be and will be achieved this semester and
year. I realize that I cannot promise this to the position of the
Vice Presidency of the Society. I want the best for our student
body and in all honesty, given the circumstances, I am truly not
it. I am dedicated to assisting my successor in every way I can to
facilitate a smooth transition and will always remain available to
assist the Society in any I can. My time in this Society has been
truly memorable and richly rewarding. I thank you all for this
opportunity to serve the student body and while at it, to mature
as an individual and as a citizen of the community.
Once again, thank you very much.
B. Vice President of Senate Affairs – Mr. Randy Olivo
Constitution Approval
Motion: Article 8 Section3
Vice President Olivo said that the only reason for the change is to
make sure that we know who is on the committee, not to control
it.
Questions
Senator Wieneke asked if there was a reason for people not in
Thelmo to be on the committee.
Vice President Olivo says that yes, especially when doing budgets
in the Spring.
Debate
For: Senator Hughes said that the Budget and Finance
Committee has to be able to act with a certain degree of political
autonomy. Unpopular decisions have to be made by this
committee. To be able to do this they need to be free of extra
political influence. The autonomy will be chipped at if this is
taken away from the constitution.
Against: Senator Pintos said that removing it will not make the
committee any less autonomous. There is no power to remove a
member.
For: Senator Hughes said that the Senate should know who and
how many are on the committee. They aught to be able to make
their own decisions
Against: Senator Newcom said that this only controls the number
of senators, not non Thelmo people.
Motion: Article 2
Senator Wieneke asked what the exact meaning of this change
was.
Student Delegate De Rosa said that it must be more thought out
and the campaign manager is the on campus representative and
will be held to the same rules as the candidate.
President Casler said that the new rule is that you must be there
if you are on campus.
Friendly Amendment: Denied
Moved
Second: Senator Chrzanowski
Questions:
Senator Wieneke if you are on campus, you need to be there or
send a representative for you. If you have a conflict that night,
you should be able to send a temporary representative
President Casler suggested that Senator Wieneke draft a new
amendment to ass this idea in.
C. Secretary - Brigette Smith
Secretary Smith had no report.
V. Student Delegate Report
Student Delegate to the Board of Trustees – Jason DeRosa
VI. Committee Chair Reports
A. SLUSAF Central Treasurer- Andy Cook
Treasurer Cook announced that he has hired a new Junior
Assistant Treasurer, Ashley Cutler. He said that Cutler has been
a very productive member of the Budget and Finance Committee
in the past, and he has full confidence in her ability to do the job.
He also stated that all three Treasurers have set up office hours
at these times:
Andy Long: Monday 4-5pm
Ashley Cutler: Tuesday 4:30-5:30 pm.
Andy Cook: Thursday 2:30-3:30 pm.
B. Academic Affairs Chair – John Gursky
Chairperson Gursky welcomed the Senate. He then apologized
and stated that he does not have any new information to present
to the Senate from Dean Cornwell because he had to cancel the
meeting that was set up last Friday. Chairperson Gursky
explained that he tried to get in touch with him to reschedule,
and is still waiting for a response. Chairperson Gursky
continued by saying that the first committee meeting was held on
Sunday afternoon. Quite a bit of brainstorming was done, and
he said that there are now a few solid examples of Academic
Advising issues to present to the Dean. However, there are only
four examples. He then thanked Delegate DeRosa, and Senators
Bednar, Moore and Alexander for providing the committee with
examples. Chairperson Gursky then presented to the senate a
sheet so every senator could fill out academic advising stories.
He stated that he wanted them by the end of the meeting, or
address them to CMR 902 and return them to him as soon as
possible.
C. Student Life Chair – Guin Seaward
Student Life Chairperson Guinevere Seaward apologized for her
absence last week, but thanked her Assistant Chairperson John
Cardinal for delivering the report in her place. Chair Seaward
also thanked her committee for a productive first meeting. Chair
Seaward reported on a current project involving the use of SLU
meal cards at off-campus locations, specifically Dominoes.
Senator Solomon discovered that SUNY Canton has a similar
meal card and is currently able to use their meal plan at
Dominoes. In previous years, this issue had been problematic as
local establishments had not wanted to pay expensive fees for the
card machines. However, Dominoes already has such a machine.
Senator Solomon is currently in communication with Cindy
Atkins to discuss this option. Chair Seaward also reported that 3
of her committee members: Senators Kane, Gullickson and
Crawford, will be meeting with Cindy Atkins tomorrow afternoon
to discuss the townhouse meal plan. Prior to this semester, the
townhouses were not obligated to purchase a SLU meal plan.
However, this semester it became a mandatory feature of the
Senior Townhouses. The committee hopes to learn why the
change was made and if there is any possibility for reverting to
the previous, optional meal plan. As this proceeds, the committee
will be incorporating the opinions of Seniors and the Townhouse
Council. Chair Seaward announced that Thelmo had been given
the final document of the Greek Engagement Project, which
details the conclusions and recommendations of the taskforce.
The Student Life Committee will make the document available to
all of Thelmo in two weeks, once the Greek houses and governing
bodies have had ample time to review the document. In addition,
Chair Seaward informed Thelmo that President Casler, Assistant
Chair Cardinal and herself would be attending IFC and
Panhellenic meetings this week to formally introduce the
committee’s study and goals. Their visit to IFC occurred early
that day and a similar presentation would be made to
Panhellenic on Thursday evening. Chair Seaward also
announced that she will be opening her committee meetings to
any member of the Greek community. Finally, Chair Seaward
reminded her committee of their meeting at 8:30pm on
Thursday, in the Crandell Room.
D. Public Relations Chair – Katie McGinty
The public relations chair announced that door tags were ready
for senators to pick up after the meeting. Additionally, she
reminded her committee of a meeting on Sunday.
E. Environmental Conservation Chair- Kira Krumhansl
Chair Krumhansl stated that the weekly meeting time for the
Environmental Conservation Committee would be Thursday at
9pm. Chair Krumhansl reviewed what the committee had been
doing during the previous week, which was primarily work on the
Biodiesel proposal. She said that they had reviewed the Biodiesel
research that had been done by a previous student and had
identified some gaps that would be reviewed at that Thursday’s
meeting. Chair Krumhansl then gave a little bit of background on
the Biodiesel project by saying that SLU’s dining halls produce
vegetable oil waste that could be converted to Biodiesel and
supply the university with 20% of its diesel fuel needs. This
process would save the university several thousand dollars a
year, decrease the university’s dependence on nonrenewable
resources, and promote local and regional health. Chair
Krumhansl indicated that the gaps that needed to be filled were
specific costs and logistics, information on biodiesel systems at
other schools, and research on the SUNY Canton biodiesel
system. Chair Krumhansl then spoke of the conservation council
meeting that student delegate DeRosa, senator Collen and herself
had attended the previous Monday. At this meeting they had
gone through the projects they were planning on work on during
the semester. These included renewable energy alternatives, the
Farm-to-School project, composting, instillation of energy
efficient washers and dryers, sustainable transportation systems
for SLU employees, and improvements to the recycling program.
Chair Krumhansl also stated that student delegate DeRosa and
herself would be serving on the Buildings and Grounds
committee, and advise in the update of the campus master plan.
VII. President’s Report – Adam Casler
President Casler greeted the Senate and announced that he had a few
points to elaborate on that Student Delegate DeRosa had made
during his report. He first mentioned that IT is a major concern for
the Board of Trustees, and that from Thelmo's view, we should try
and mainstream IT Education in some capacity, whether by offering
certain workshops as .25 or .5 unit credit, or alternatives. He also
stated that it will be important for students to brainstorm ways to
bridge the gap between academics and student life, as they are the
cornerstones of St. Lawrence and need to be working in tandem.
Lastly, he mentioned that the GEP Taskforce Report has been
released to the members of the Inter-Fraternity Council and the
Panhellenic Council and will be shared with the members of each
house. Thelmo is going to give the houses about one week to read
this report, and then we will be beginning our Greek Review. He
encouraged students to contact him with any ideas or suggestions on
any of these issues.
VIII. Old Business
1. Film Club: Organization Status
Question:
Senator Cabibi asked if there was any intention to bring GLBTQ
movies to campus.
Yes, they want to bring films that are not normally available on
campus or through ACE.
Debate
For:
Against:
For:
Call
motion passes, unanimous
2. Java Contingency Request
Question
Debate
For:
Against:
For:
Call
Motion passes, unanimous
IX. New Business
1. Womens Action Group Contingency Request
Brittany Goss and Elizabeth Condrey came to present their request.
They are bringing Cosy Sheridan to campus to promote awareness
and performance art. $1500 total. It is not a lecture. They have
collected money from departments around campus.
Questions
Senator Solomon asked how possible they think it is to fill the seats
of Gullick Theater.
Ms. Condrey stated that they are working through sororities and
other organizations to get the word out. They are also working
through the FYP.
Chair Krumhansl asked if it would be possible to charge for the
show to cut down the cost.
Mrs. Condrey stated that it would be possible, but it would hurt the
audience size.
Debate:
For:
Against:
For:
Call
Motion Passes,
Move to wave second approval, Second, unanimous
2. Women’s Club Soccer Club Status
Elisa Prescott, Joy Wyman, and Jenny McAleese came to request
club status. They are in contact with other schools to play, want to
raise some funds for equipment, and practice three days a week.
Questions
Senator Pintos asked how many people have responded.
Ms. Prescott stated that 40 have responded, and15 to 20 show up at
practices.
Debate:
For: Vice President Pasipanodya said that as the Captain of the
men’s team, they have a great thing going and there is a great
interest and support for it, worthy of the status.
Against:
For:
Call
Motion Passes, unanimous
Motion to wave second approval, second, unanimous
3. OC Peak Weekend Contingency Request
Barrett Miles, president, said that they are trying to put together a
celebration of the 150th, they are putting it together to be on the
peaks at 1:50.
Questions
Senator Congleton asked if they had come up with any other ideas
for the anniversary.
Mr. Miles said yes, but none of the worked out.
Senator Chrzanowski asked when Peak Weekend would be held.
Mr. Miles said it is the weekend from the 31 to the 2nd. They usually
get around 200 people to participate.
Senator Cabibi said thanks for using other funding, and not asking
for the whole amount.
Debate:
For:
Against: Senator Collen said that the OC should be responsible
for reducing fuel consumption and is against the principle of the
OC to use so much fuel for one event.
For: Mr. Miles said that it might be against personal beliefs and
that they car pool and are trying to lower fuel consumption while
still planning the event.
Point of Order: Senator Morgan asked if they are adding vehicles
from the amount used last year.
Mr. Miles said yes, more than usual, typically there are 5 to 6
students on peaks, but this will require someone there at 1:50.
Against:
For: Senator Solomon said that it is not their fault about the gas
prices.
Against:
For: Senator Wieneke said that this is a long standing tradition
and this is a way to promote the 150th and this is important.
Against: Chair Krumhansl said that Senator Collen is arguing
against the additional cars, not the event itself.
For: Senator Cabibi said that getting 200 people outside enjoying
the Adirondacks is more beneficial, and this experience allows
them to appreciate nature and to care more about environmental
issues.
Against:
For:
Against:
Call
Motion Passes, 47 for, 1 against, 1 abstention
4. Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund
Treasurer Cook asked for approval to make up the difference for a
$2,000 donation to the Red Cross Relief Fund.
Questions:
Senator Hughes asked that since there are more senators here, send
the donation basket around again.
Debate:
For:
Against: Senator Pintos said that he is disappointed that we are
giving more to on campus events than to this fund.
For: Vice President Pasipanodya said that this is not the only
donation and there will be other options.
Against: Senator Pintos said that this looked like a
rationalization for doing less.
For: Senator Rabinow said that the giving should not stop, this is
a great start.
Against: Senator Pintos said that this is not enough, considering
the money we give out to other groups.
For: Senator Chrzanowski said that Senator Pintos is being
repetitious and this is an something that Thelmo needs to do.
Against: Senator Pintos said that we are not doing as much as we
could.
Call
Motion Passes, Unanimous
X. Member’s Time
Senator Cabibi said that there have been numerous incidents of
people who are injured walking home from the bars. There have
been rapes. Walking home alone is not a good idea. The Safe Walk
needs to be an option, it is four hours and one night all semester, it
is not too much to ask.
Chair Krumhansl said that the green bikes program is up and
running. Check out a bike from ODY and you have it for 24 hours.
Senator Peterson said that there is a driver certification course open
at 9 on Thursday this week.
Senator Wieneke asked what the Exec Board was planning to do
about the new vacant position. President Casler said that the
University committees are mostly done, once we have the finalized
list and it is approved. The main other role is Thelmo storage. Exec
is not going to appoint a new one; as the elections are in a month.
Senator Sleight said that ACE is sponsoring poker, a
comedian/juggler, and the meetings are on Thursday at 6.
Senator Hughes said that there are two tea times this week, Tues
and Wed at 10. The extra one is for the French students tonight.
Chair Gursky said to please give him the slips for the survey before
you leave.
Vice President Olivo said that he needed to speak with the new
senators after the meeting.
Senator Collen said that there are vegetarian meals served Sunday
through Thursday, please come to dinner at the Green House.
Student Delegate De Rosa said that the board meeting is coming up,
please send any issues to him.
Chair Seaward said that there is a Pan-Hellenic golf tournament for
breast cancer fund at one on Saturday.
President Casler said that the Board Of Trustees meeting is coming
up and let us know about any issues.
XI. Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn: Senator Sammis
Second: Senator Cardinal
Meeting was adjourned at p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brigette C Smith ‘07
Thelomathesian Society
Secretary