Meeting Minutes

January 15, 2010

1. Call to Order @ 8:03 AM

2. Roll Call
a. Senator Abbott – Absent – Unexcused
b. Senator Atkinson – Present
c. Senator Boles – Present
d. Senator Guzman – Present
e. Senator Jurgensen – Present
f. Senator Polo – Absent – Excused
g. Senator Shaw – Absent – Unexcused
h. Senator Ward – Present
i. Senator Won – Present
3. Additions or Corrections to Agenda
a. Senator Atkinson moved to add “Elect Chair Pro-tempore”
to the agenda under New Business
i. No second
ii. Senator Atkinson withdrew her motion
4. Approval of Agenda
a. Approved 6-0-0
5. Approval of Minutes
a. Senator Atkinson moved to table the approval of the
minutes
i. Senator Guzman seconded
ii. Passed 6-0-0
6. Executive Reports
a. President Nick Ferderer
i. President Ferderer was unable to be in attendance at
the meeting but will give a full report on January 29,
2010
b. Vice President Mousleh
i. Spent a lot of time in the office, getting things ready
for Spring Semester
ii. Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board reported that
there will be $13 million in cuts university-wide;
WSU-Vancouver will see $1 million of those cuts
1. However, our enrollment increased and
generated $1 million, which the administration
has set aside to cover the budget cuts
c. Activities Director Janine Johnston
i. AD Johnston has put a calendar on the shared drive
for everyone to look at
ii. Updated the Senate Calendar from now until
February
 iii. Senator Atkinson asked about whether or not there
would be masseuses at the end of the term since
there wasn’t at the end of Fall
1. AD Johnston said that it is not in the Activities
Budget but could be done if Senate is willing to
pay for it
7. Senatorial Reports
a. External Affairs Committee, Chair: Emily Shaw
i. Meetings will be Tuesdays @ 9 AM
ii. Will be focusing on a Volunteer Fair
b. Finance Committee, Chair: Kevin Guzman
i. Researched budget over break
c. Programming Committee, Interim Chair: Spring Atkinson
i. Meetings will be Mondays @ 10 AM
ii. Determining what Programming really is
iii. Firstenburg Student Commons Open House March
10, 2010 from 12-2
d. Rules & Administration Committee, Chair:
i. No chair until the new Chair Pro-tempore has been
elected
e. Budget Committee, Chair: Kevin Guzman
i. Thursday meetings @ 12 PM with President Ferderer
ii. Saturday meetings @ 9 AM
f. Vice President Mousleh encouraged all senators to take the
time to determine what their committee actually does
8. Public Comment
a. Mason O’Lennick spoke about the trip up to Olympia, said
that there will be more opportunities for students to join in
on this kind of event
i. Washington Student Association Campus Chapter
Chair Max Ault will be sending out emails to
everyone and Director of Legislative Affairs Sterr will
keep us informed as much as he can.
b. Vice President Mousleh reminded the senators and
executive staff present that there are roles in ASWSUV that
need to be filled, and to please promote them as much as
possible.
9. Senate Confirmation
a. Nick Green
i. Not Present, no statement
b. Haeyalyn Valdez
i. Senator Atkinson asked if Valdez had time to commit
to this as a single mother
1. Valdez said that she did have time.
ii. Senator Boles asked Valdez for an example of a time
when she was a leader
 1. Valdez said that she spent a lot of time being a
leader on the reservation
iii. Senator Guzman asked Valdez how she would handle
conflict
1. Valdez said that it is important to her that
people be respectful and not leave things
unresolved
iv. Senator Won asked what Valdez thought of the letter
writing campaign that ASWSUV helped Peter conduct
1. Valdez stated that she was in a class that Peter
came to and thought that it was a really good
first step
v. Senator Atkinson asked Valdez if she was
comfortable speaking in front of classrooms
1. Valdez said that she would feel comfortable,
she is familiar with lots of people
vi. Senator Jurgensen asked how Valdez’s background
would help her as a Senator
1. Valdez said that as a minority she understands
diversity and knows how to bring diversity in
c. Aaron Bruckner
i. Reviewed the by-laws, feels like Programming is sort
of a guardian to help meet the needs of the students
ii. Tries not to butt heads with people and has good
public speaking skills
iii. Senator Jurgensen asked how Bruckner will handle
disagreements in Senate meetings if he doesn’t like
conflict
1. Bruckner clarified that he doesn’t like
unnecessary conflict but isn’t afraid to voice
his opinion either
iv. Senator Guzman stated that Programming
Committee is currently undergoing some revision
and is curious what Bruckner’s ideas for the
committee are
1. Bruckner said that he likes Programming
because it really lets you be a part of
everything, and he would like to continue that
but would have to see what Programming is
currently doing
v. Senator Jurgensen asked Bruckner what he would do
if he had to choose between studying for a test and
attending a student government event
1. Bruckner said he’s not sure that will ever occur
as he is usually very good about getting things
done on time, but would make sure to get as
 much done as possible, if not all of it, before
the student government event, whatever it
may be
vi. Senator Atkinson said that senators usually help the
executive branch when needed and was curious at
how Bruckner is at taking direction
1. Bruckner said that a poor leader will never
follow and he is not a poor leader
vii. Senator Won asked what qualities Bruckner had that
made him a leader
1. Bruckner said that he is assertive, not shy, a
good listener and gets along well with people
viii. Senator Guzman asked if Bruckner would be able to
attend Saturday Budget meetings
1. Bruckner said yes
2. Valdez also said yes
d. With a Valdez – 4, Bruckner – 3 vote, Valdez is elected
Senator
10. By-Law Amendment 19.011
a. Senator Atkinson asked if any changes had been made
since the last time this was at a meeting
b. Senator Shaw said that yes, Robert Chu made the changes
Senator Abbott arrived at 8:50 AM
c. Senator Shaw moved to change 1112.01 to say “staff
member”
i. Boles seconded
d. Senator Won moved to call to question
i. Senator Shaw seconded
e. Passed 8-0-1
11. Elections Calendar
a. Elections Board Chair Kimberly asked for volunteers to help
man tables
b. Elections Calendar approved 9-0-0
12. Spring Semester Discussion
a. Senator Guzman said that it is now important that
everyone learn and know the by-laws
b. Senator Shaw noted that a new Pro-tempore will need to
be elected and that there will need to be a better
distribution of tasks in the Rules & Administration
Committee
c. Senator Atkinson said that Robert Chu did all that he had
planned to do this year, and left us comfortable in regards
to the By-Laws. In that respect:
i. Be clear with the process on the shared drive
ii. Talk to each other
iii. Take this opportunity to be better at our jobs
 iv. Strengthen our communication and team-building
v. Come together
d. Senator Won mentioned that we did a lot of By-Law
Amendments last semester and he would like to see the
Senate promote the money for the students more than By-
Law Amendments
e. Senator Shaw noted that it was the External Affairs
Committee’s job to reach out to students and they would
be working on doing that better
f. Vice President Mousleh said that senators need to look
over job descriptions
g. Secretary Boles reminded the Senate that it is now 3 hours
for regular senators, 4 hours for committee chairs and 6
hours for the Pro-tempore each week and that Vice
President Mousleh is around to help
h. Senator Atkinson said that it is a good time to look at
where you are as a senator, evaluate your personal senate
goals and reflect on how things have gone so far
i. Vice President Mousleh asked for people to step up until
the senate is able to officially fill the Pro-tempore position,
and to have tangible goals for the semester out to
everyone by the end of the week.
i. Should really be able to talk to someone about what
it is to be a senator
ii. Go over committee goals
iii. Go over senate-wide goals at the next meeting
iv. Want to be able to leave a legacy
j. Office Requirements
i. Keep refrigerator clean
ii. Keep office clean
iii. Surplus should be happening next week
iv. Couch will be going around the end of the semester
v. Senators should think about what is needed in that
office
vi. Attendance and timing
1. Late at this meeting will set up at the next
meeting
2. Senator Atkinson made a point to say that
attendance needs to be better
3. Vice President Mousleh said that if you are
going to be absent you need to notify the Vice
President, the Pro-tempore, and, as a courtesy,
the rest of the Senate, at least 8 hours before
13. Recognition
a. Vice President Mousleh recognized the Senate for asking
great questions to Senate candidates
 b. Senator Guzman recognized Director of Legislative Affairs
Sterr for all of his legislative work thus far
c. Secretary Boles recognized Robert Chu for all of the work
he did for the Senate
d. Senator Atkinson recognized OSI for being so awesome on
campus – the entire issue of the VanCougar is about
ASWSUV, OSI, and Recreation
14. ASWSUV Announcements
a. Now that the elections calendar has been approved, be
prepared to meet with potential candidates for Senate
b. IT Assistant Hook mentioned his goal for the semester was
to attend at least one ASWSUV Event per month
c. Remember that we need to leave good information for the
next Senate, so we need to keep good records
15. For the Good of the Order
a. Senator Atkinson nominated Senator Guzman to be Chair
Pro-tempore
16. Adjourned @ 9:42 AM