[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
S.B. 80-GV#8
An Act to Amend Title III: The Judicial Branch
IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
Senator Byrnes submitted the following bill on behalf of the Committee on Government Operations
A BILL
An Act to Amend Title III: The Judicial Branch
[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
S.B. 80-GV#14
An Act to Amend Title V: Elections
IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
Senator Malin submitted the following bill on behalf of the Committee on Government Operations
A BILL
An Act to Amend Title V: Elections
[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
S.B. 80-GV#15
An Act to Amend Title IX: Management of Agreements
IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
Senator Malin submitted the following bill on behalf of the Committee on Government Operations
A BILL
An Act to Amend Title IX: Management of Agreements
Be it enacted by the Senate of the Associated Students,
That the Statues of the Associated Students are amended as follows:
Chapter 904: ASUN-Nevada Sagebrush Agreement
Section 01: Establishment
There is hereby established the ASUN-Nevada Sagebrush Agreement between
the Associated Students of the University of Nevada and the Nevada Sagebrush
Section 02: Purpose
The purpose of the ASUN-Nevada Sagebrush Agreement is to provide
consistency in the advertisement fund contribution from the Associated
Students of the University of Nevada to the Nevada Sagebrush
Section 03: Agreement Management
The President of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada shall
follow the funding formula set forth in the agreement, unless otherwise
provided for by law by the Senate of the Associated Students of the University
of Nevada.
Committee on Government Operations
March 30, 2013
Page #4
[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
S.B. 80-GV#16
An Act To Amend Title II of the SAS
IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
MARCH 1, 2013
Senator Snyder, on behalf of the Government Operations Committee, submitted the following bill:
A BILL
An Act To Amend Title II of the SAS
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Committee on Government Operations
March 30, 2013
Page #5
Whereas, the use of social media has proven to be an effective outreach and planning
tool for members of all branches of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada,
Reno.
Whereas, responsible use of social media services is important for elected and appointed
members of the Associated Students to help promote the image of ASUN, and misuse of
social media has lead to controversy and judicial action within the Association in recent
years.
Whereas, The Presidential Assistant on Public and Campus Relations has a vested
interest in maintaining the image and public knowledge of actions taken by the government
of ASUN.
Be it resolved by the Senate of the Associated Students, Chapter 206 of the SAS is
amended by inserting “i)” which will read “To develop a social media guideline for use of
any official ASUN-run social media sites, and to distribute a social media guideline to all
elected and appointed members of ASUN.
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[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
S.B. 80-GV#18
An Act to Amend Chapter 101 of Title I of the SAS: The Legislative Branch
IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
__________________________
SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JAY TO THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
A BILL
An Act to Amend Chapter 101 of Title I of the SAS: The Legislative Branch
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Whereas, undecided majors are counted as contributing to the population of the
College of Liberal Arts in the Senate reapportionment process;
Whereas, College of Liberal Arts Senators are currently elected by undecided
majors;
Whereas, according to Section 03 of Chapter 101 of Title 1 of the Statutes, a senator
is elected by "peers in the college of his or her major";
Whereas, undecided majors inherently do not belong in the College of Liberal Artsthus their status as undecided and not Liberal Arts;
Whereas, this artificial inflation of the population of the College of Liberal Arts has
resulted in consistent underrepresentation of other colleges;
Whereas, in addition to the question of legality of the current reapportionment
process, there is no fundamental reason that those students should be attributed to the
College of Liberal Arts;
Whereas, every senator represents the undecided voice, since an undecided major
could move into any college;
Whereas, throwing all the undecided majors under the College of Liberal Arts just
because that college is the largest is a gross generalization;
Whereas, the fact that undecided majors are advised within the College of Liberal
Arts is irrelevant in the argument pertaining to representation in the Senate;
Whereas, ideally, the undecided majors would be equally apportioned to the colleges
based on current population;
Whereas, this process would have the same effect as not counting the undecided
population in the reapportionment process, since the seats are already apportioned based on
population;
Whereas, the population of undecided majors should therefore not be counted in the
reapportionment process;
Be it enacted by the Senate, that between the first and second sentences of Subsection
(a) of Section 12 of Chapter 101 of Title 1 of the Statutes of the Associated Students, a line
be added such that it reads: "Undecided majors shall not be counted as belonging to any
college"
Supporting Docs:
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ASUN-Nevada Sagebrush Agreement
Sagebrush Funding Proposal
The previous proposals developed by the Executive Branch generated significant levels of savings
for the Association as well as provided the Nevada Sagebrush with a structured plan for its future
independence from student government funding. The proposals utilized a variety of input
assumptions; however, one assumption in particular was inherently important to the integrity of the
model: steady growth in advertising revenue. All of the proposals were developed on the basis that
revenue growth for the Sagebrush would consistently and gradually continue to increase in the
coming years. Data from our current and previous fiscal years call into question the validity of this
assumption.
Facing this reality, it was necessary to develop a framework for projections that included the
possibility of fluctuating advertising revenue. If advertising revenue increases, the contribution from
the Nevada Sagebrush to ASUN should also increase, and vice versa. Knowing this, the most basic
model would mandate that the contribution from the Sagebrush would be a fixed percentage of their
net advertising revenue.
For example, during Fiscal Year 2012, the advertising department set a goal of $135,000. Assuming
$10,000 of that was revenue for ASUN publications, and using a fixed transfer percentage of 25%,
the Nevada Sagebrush would contribute back $135,000 - $10,000 = $125,000 * 25% = $31,250.
However, the Sagebrush stipulated that it was only able to contribute $20,500 that fiscal year given
the advertising revenue estimates. Since a 25% fixed transfer would be $31,250, it is evident that
this ratio is too high. However, when analyzing historical data, another situation presents itself.
In fiscal year 2010, the Advertising Department brought in $176,671 in revenue. Assuming $10,000
for ASUN publications, the Sagebrush was left with $166,671 in net revenue. This same year, they
were able to transfer $50,000 to ASUN. $50,000 represents 30% of the Sagebrush net revenue for
that fiscal year. This situation, when compared with the situation above, demonstrates that at low
levels of advertising revenue, the Sagebrush is able to contribute proportionately less, while at high
levels of revenue, they can contribute proportionately more.
These historical facts coincide with a common sense analysis of the Sagebrush finances. A
significant portion of advertising revenue—around $50,000—is set aside at the beginning of each
year to solely cover the expenses that are encumbered for printing. Furthermore, there are a host of
fixed expenses, including editors’ and writers’ salaries, which also must be paid each year. The
encumbrance and fixed expenses do not decrease given a decrease in advertising revenue, so as
advertising revenue shrinks, the amount that the Nevada Sagebrush is able to transfer to ASUN
decreases significantly. The reverse of this situation is also true, to a slightly lesser degree. When
advertising revenue increases, the encumbrance does not change, but some other expenses do
increase (travel to sporting games and others).
So, in order to develop a framework for projections that inherently provides for the future
sustainability of the Nevada Sagebrush, the agreement must allow the Sagebrush to transfer
proportionately less at low levels of advertising revenue and proportionately more at high levels of
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revenue. Upon meeting with the Ben Miller, the Editor of the Sagebrush, we decided on a plan that
uses a base revenue of $125,000 and a base contribution to ASUN of $32,000. Then, the
contribution increases or decreases proportionally based on the difference between the previous
year’s revenue and the base revenue of $125,000. Brackets have been created to allow for easy
calculation of the current year’s required contribution.
The initial appropriation from ASUN to the Sagebrush is not mandated here; however, the
contribution from the Sagebrush back to ASUN shall never exceed the initial appropriation.
The approach below shall be used to calculate the required contribution.
Funding Formula
The contribution for the current year depends on the revenue from the previous year. The Base-125
Difference is defined here as the difference between the previous year’s revenue and $125,000. That
value falls within one of the brackets in Column 1 of the table below. The corresponding constant in
Column 2 is multiplied by the Base-125 Difference. This value is then added to the base
contribution of $32,000 to obtain the contribution from the Sagebrush back to ASUN’s revenue line
item within the Advertising Department.
Base-125 Difference (in thousands of $)
20-25
15-20
10-15
5-10
0-5
-(0-5)
-(5-10)
-(10-15)
-(15-20)
-(20-30)
-(30-50)
President of the Associated Students
Date
Sagebrush Editor in Chief
Date
Constant
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35