Senate of the Associated Students
Minutes for Wednesday, February 22, 2012, at 5:30 P.M.
Rita Laden Senate Chambers, on the Third Floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union
1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Speaker Broad called the meeting of the Senate of the Associated Students to order at 5:40 PM, presiding Secretary
Joselle Benitez.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
Senator Clarke and Senator Smith were absence excused. Senator Zikakis was tardy unexcused at 7:06 PM. Senator
Jacobs was tardy excused at 5:45 PM. All other Senators were present.
A quorum was present.
4. ADOPTION OF MINUTES
a. The Senate considered the approval of the minutes of February 15, 2012.
Senator Edgington motioned to approve the minutes of February 15, 2012. Senator Kobany seconded.
Motion carried.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Senator Snell introduced guest speaker, Adam Stoltz, who gave a presentation about university.
Adam Stoltz: I work with the university marketing department. We’ve been predominately working on the brand,
look, and feel of the university. We are a Tier 1 intuition- we are amongst national universities, we have research
and broad programs. There are only 200 Tier 1 schools and we are 181, I believe. It is important to understand
how university ranking work. How we compare to other schools in the west- Alumni giving: 9%. , Acceptance
rate: 91%, Top 10 percent of high school class: 27%, Full Time faculty: 98%, Class size > 50: 16%, Graduation
rate: 50%( improving as we speak), Freshmen Retention rate: 78% , and Undergraduate Academic reputation51%. I am speaking to you because you are a part of the perception of the university. Nevada is the lowest ranked
Tier 1 school in Academic Reputation among peers. If the state name is in the name of the institution, they are
ranked higher. We use the whole name so that we comply with the board of regents. If student body can adopt
University of Nevada vs. UNR, I feel like we will distance ourselves from UNLV.
Senator Sheehy: what should we do as students to up the ranking?
Mr. Stoltz: I’d like to meet with someone at the Sagebrush because they use “UNR”. Other than that- talk about
your experience, opportunities, and story to others.
Senator Deraedt: Do you bring this presentation to high schools? I think that these statistics would have been
helpful.
Mr. Stoltz: When we do NV bound we have videos. We try not to compare ourselves to other school because it’s
not really proper. We do talk about the fact that we are Tier 1 and UC equivalent. The website is being updated
more.
Senator Menbari: I noticed that the GPA is now 3.0 for admittance, has it changed?
Mr. Stoltz: It’s been 3.0 for years.
Senator Menbari: If GPA increases, does it improve our ranking?
Mr. Stoltz: We are a land grant institution and our mission is to educate the students of Nevada. If we get too
picky we won’t be living up to our mission. We are going to have over 50 national merits to the university next
year.
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Feb 22, 2012
Page 2
Amy Koeckes passed out stipend paper work.
6. RECEIPTS OF PETITION AND CORRESPONDENCE TO THE SENATE AND REFERRAL
7. REPORTS OF ASUN OFFICERS
a. President of the Associated Students, Casey Stiteler: Banquet is Friday April 13th. Doors open at 5 PM and
dinner starts at 5:30 PM. We are waiting on invitations. I‘ll be completing a statement on behalf of the
student alliance regarding the new funding formula proposal. Feb 27th 3:30 PM. We had a meeting with
Senator Zikakis about capital expenses and uncommitted. I am reviewing legislation the research grant.
Thanks for getting that done Senator Sheehy and the Interim Committee. Russell and Chris have put
together some good data on campus escort. There is a minimal amount of error in the program. It shows
just how cool it is that we have been collecting data. If you sit on a university committee please check the
memo- I would like to have reports from you guys.
b. Vice President of the Associated Students, Richard Corn: no report.
c. Director of Programming, Huili Weinstock: Second Chance Prom is this Saturday. Update on Wolf Stockwe have secured the band but have not released the name. We are looking to another band that is
equivalent to that band.
d. Elections Chair, Michael Garganese: Ther commission will have something to look into. A number of
people listed on the website but have not paid the $50 deposit. March 6th we will be having a BBQ and
handing out Voters guide. Primary: 6th Elections: March 13th working on the ballots. Working with Russell
to get ballot set up in the Webct form. Should be done by this Friday. We have someone coming through
election poll coordinator. (Introduced Nick Capperalli).
e. Attorney General Kathryn Merrill: I have been dealing with legality issues regarding election. Questions
and chalk.
f.
g.
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i.
j.
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l.
Chief of Staff, Mathew Neben
Chief Justice, Ashley Ellis
Director of Clubs and Organizations, Nathan Demuth
Director of Traditions, Julia Lapham
Director of Campus Unity, Jenelle Yee
Director of Legislative Affairs, Michael Stannard
Presidential Assistant on Campus and Public Relations, Misha Ray
8. REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEES
a. Report of the Chair for the Committee on Academics, Senator Sinnett: Meeting tomorrow at 7:30 PM.
b. Report of the Co-Chair for the Committee on Budget and Finance, Senator Higgins: Meeting is being
rescheduled. There will be four appropriations bills.
c. Report of the Chair for the Committee on Government Operations, Senator Herget: We had difficulty
making quorum so we will discussing everything this Friday.
d. Report of the Chair for the Committee on Public Affairs, Senator Edgington: Work on campus drinking
resolution.
e. Report of the Chair for the Committee on University Affairs, Senator Moore: Meeting is on Sunday at
4:30 PM.
f. Report of the Chair for the Committee on Oversight, Speaker Broad: Meeting tonight.
g. Report of the Chair for the Special Committee on the ASUN Endowment Account for the Advancement
of ASUN, Senator Higgins: Met Sunday and reexamined the mission of the committee.
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Feb 22, 2012
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h. Report of the Chair for the Special Committee on Undergraduate Research and Journals, Senator del
Carlo: Meeting this Sunday: Stephanie Vega will also be there. Focus will be on matrix.
9. COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Senator Hummel: On the ASUN Facebook page, I put up the poster for Pizza with the Police. Invite your friends!
10. MOTIONS TO FAST-TRACK APPOINTMENTS
a. NOMINATION OF NICK CAPPARELLI TO THE OFFICE OF ASUN ELECTIONS POLL
COODINATOR
Senator Herget motioned fast- track the nomination. Senator Diaz seconded. Motion carried.
Nick Capparelli: I am a senior Finance major and IS minor. Treasurer of SAE. I want to ensure
that polls to run smoothly and effectively. I have experience planning events.
Senator Herget motioned to approve Nick Capparelli to the Office of ASUN Elections Poll
Coordinator. Senator Sharma seconded.
Senator Herget asked Mr. Capparelli if he read his potential duties in the SAS. Mr. Capperilli said
that he did.
The Senate proceeded into a vote to approve Nick Capperlli to the Office of ASUN Elections
Poll Coordinator. Motion carried.
11. APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENTS OF SENATORS AND ASUN OFFICIALS
The Senate will consider the following nomination to an Association office:
b. There are no nominations at this time
c. Senate Committee Changes
Senator Higgins stated that he currently serves on four committees and is not able to make it Government
Operation meetings due to a class conflict.
Senator Higgins motioned to remove himself from the Committee on Government Operations. Senator
Herget seconded. Motion carried.
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15.
ELECTION OF SENATE OFFICERS
VETO MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT
CONSENT AGENDA
FIRST READING OF LEGISLATION
a. S.B. 79-41: To Amend SAS Title V
Senator Kobany motioned to fast-track S.B. 79-41. Senator Fehr seconded.
16. MOTIONS TO FAST-TRACK LEGISLATION
a.
S.B. 79-41: To Amend SAS Title V
Senator Fehr motioned to approve S.B. 79-41. Senator Hummel seconded.
Senator Herget introduced the bill.
Senator Herget: Our statutes are out dated. This bill defines what electronic or physical polling locations
are. The election commission has the power to enforce rules not defined in statues. This bill also defines
what the elections commission does.
Senator Sharma suggested including a clause about internet.
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Feb 22, 2012
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President Stiteler: I believe that it implies it in the bill.
Senator Kobany: Should physical locations be defined?
Senator Herget: Right now the definition is the “building which polling takes place”. It is up to the chair
to decide where the polling location should be.
Elections Chair Gargansese: It does give a specific spot in the bill. It states the student union and
somewhere else.
Senator Herget motioned to amend page 3, line 2 change the word “poll” to “physical polling location”.
Senator Diaz. Motion carried.
Senator Herget explained the bill line by line and how it corresponded with the SAS.
Senator Herget motioned to amend page 3, line 31 by unanimous consent to insert “physical” between the
words “each” and “polling”. Motion carried.
Senator Fehr: Will these changes be sent to current candidates?
Senator Herget: The changes won’t be applicable.
Senator Zikakis was tardy unexcused at 7:06 PM.
Senator Snell : I don’t know how secure the website is.
Senator Herget: Since it is of the same program that secures students grades the hacker would have to
have the same capability to change their own grades. Every vote would be paired with a NetId.
The Senate proceeded into a vote to approve S.B. 79-41: To Amend SAS Title V. Motion carried
unanimously.
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20.
REFERRALS TO COMMITTEE
SECOND READING OF LEGISLATION
MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Senator Sinnett reminded the body that Sketti night is next week.
Senator Jacobs: Congrats to Chief of Staff Neben on being one of the Outstanding Seniors in the College of
Business. Business student council is taking votes on faculty.
President Stiteler: Neben is resigning. He got a big boy job that he worked really hard for. Be sure to congratulate
him. If you know someone who wants to serve as Chief of Staff for the remainder of the session, let me know.
Senator Kobany: Please reply to my email.
Senator Sheehy: I was at the forum last night for field lab, it was quite well attended with 300 people there. The
legislation that we passed reflected the opinion of the community.
21. PUBLIC COMMENT
22. ADJOURNMENT
Seeing no further business to come before the body, Speaker Broad adjourned the meeting at 7:14 PM.