Minutes of the
STUDENT ASSOCIATION SENATE
OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
4 November 2012
CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The meeting was called to order by Speaker Austin M. D. Quick at 6:00 p.m. in the Clara Sperling
Skyroom of the Holmes Student Center. Senate Clerk Chad Harris conducted a roll call of Senators. All
members were present except; Senator(s). Also present were Executive Directors, and members of the
Northern Star, with a quorum present, the meeting proceeded. President Pro Tempore Brian Troutman
asked Senator Frascello to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance.
MEETING AND AGENDA APPROVAL
Speaker Quick motions to amend the agenda and move items A, E, F, G and consider it read as old
business. Motion Adopted.
SPEAKER’S REPORT
Good Evening Everyone, I’ve got a couple of things that I would like to go over quickly, but we’re going
to try to keep everything moving. I appreciate everyone’s patience, specifically those of you who are not
a part of the Senate for allowing us to take care of this important thing. Part of the important thing to
keep in mind with the photos is not only the photo itself, but one of things as Speaker that I have been
trying to do is to create a historical placement of these photos on the wall in our office. That way, years
from now we will still have these pictures. And even after three years now I’m starting to forget names
of some of the faces. But the idea is that these photos will be hanging on the walls for students at this
university for many many years. Thank you tonight for your patience. A couple of things that I want to
talk about briefly, first and foremost we talked about last week the sexual assault that happened on
campus last Friday. I have a paper that I am going to pass around and if you would like I have copies for
you. The fellow Huskie that was assaulted last Friday talked to the police and this is the sketch that was
done, so if you would like to pass this around and look at this. I met with the police chief on Friday and
they still do not have leads on the suspect so it is very important that we pass this around and take a
look at it. The next thing that I would like to talk about is probably the hardest. As all of you know, we
had a fellow Huskie die this past Friday. Anytime that we talk about the death and loss of a student here
on our campus it is always a reality shock for us and a reminder of our own mortality. Being young and
youthful we look at the fact that we have our whole lives ahead of us, specifically those of you who are
ten years younger than I am. It’s always a terrible thing no matter what the circumstances, to lose
someone young and full of energy and life. Without going into specifics, we will see more and more as
the days, months and weeks go by and we have plenty of time to reevaluate things. One of the things I
would like to talk about this evening is I met with the Greek Affairs committee this afternoon, and thank
you to Senator Zanayed for his leadership in that committee. Specifically I am going to speak to the
members of Greek Row whether they live in a Greek house or are just one of our students. It is
important that as students and as student leaders that you pace yourselves and it is important that you
NIU STUDENT ASSOCIATION SENATE
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11 November 2012
hold each other accountable and take care of each other. One of the things that we are going to find
through this without going too much into it is we are going to find a little more stringent rules coming
out of this. One of the things that I challenged the organizations with and I challenge those of you that
live in the Greek community and those of you that live all across campus in the Residence Halls or Eco
Park or wherever it is to take care of yourselves. Make sure that you are making sure that people are
doing ok. Say people shouldn’t serve underage drinks, say people should be careful, etc. It’s all about
how you take care of each other. One of the things that came out of the Bystander Intervention Training
was to take care of each other. I might not know you, but I have a common bond with you. If I say that
you are having a problem I am going to take that to heart and do what I can. That’s what our motto
should be. It’s all surreal in my mind how it is all coming together. How we talked about the bystander
intervention, we talked about the amnesty policy and all these things all correlate to the fact that we
need to take care of each other. I have asked Senator Zanayed to work even closer and work diligently
to get both the Bystander Intervention training done. I hope that all of you have started taking the
necessary movements to take that course or are planning to get it completed. I have also asked him to
work on the amnesty policy. We have had multiple complaints from students that have gone to
Kishwaukee hospital there is a state police officer that has been stationed there and people are afraid of
taking students to the hospital out of fear of getting prosecuted if they are found underage drinking or if
drugs are involved, etc. The bottom line is that there is a police action when people break the law but
that is not what our concern is. Our concern is to take care of the students. If someone is hurting,
someone is in pain, someone is sick, no matter what the circumstances, you need to do what you need
to do to get that person to the hospital. There should be no question and if you have a problem I want
to hear about it. If people are too afraid to go to the hospital because they are afraid of being
prosecuted for underage drinking that is a problem. People need to understand that the goal should be
to keep people safe because that is very important. It is a sad event. It is always sad to discuss the loss of
a student especially one with such a future ahead of him. Without going into any more detail I want to
ask your assistance. Tomorrow at 5pm we are going to have a meeting in the student association about
this to continue planning the memorial on campus for Wednesday at 4pm in the Carl Sandburg. We
need people on Wednesday to handout things. We don’t have the resolution done but we will. And I’d
ask that we take a moment of silence. Moving onto another thing that I wanted to talk about with you
about an article that came up earlier this week. I’ve talked a lot this year about holding the
administration accountable. And a lot about there needs to be some change here at the university. We
don’t hold all the facts but last year we had an officer that was accused of sexual assault, and Friday it
came out in the paper that the police department withheld documents. We need to demand better, this
is the second time now that we have an issue with the NIU police department investigating. We both
know many officers that are top notch, but there a lot of areas where its questionable. And the issue at
hand is that if you have an officer in your force that has been accused of a crime, not an alleged breaking
a policy, but a crime. Look accords the board at the other departments. They will not do the
investigating because of the connection with the officer. Same thing with the coffee fund, which is an
internal thing, despite the fact that they did well to my knowledge it still leaves an area for question.
And when you have the police chief who reports to the vice president who reports to the president who
is doing the investigation on other people in the same departments, that’s a problem. And I think we
need to continue to bring up this point that there needs to be some changes in the administration, it’s
just over and over and over again that we’ve had questionable judgment from these people. I just want
you to keep this in the back of your mind, the articles are online, and we need to demand better, it is
time. With that I end.
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11 November 2012
COMMITTEE REPORT(S)
Senator Rebecca Clark, Mass Transit:
 Gone over different route changes, stay after if you want ot know about them.
o Budget concerns
Senator Michael Theodore, University Services:
 Plus minus is at University Council Wednesday
o Needs to be discussed further, waiting on vote
Senator Zanayed, Greek life:
 Talked about combating binge drinking in the University
o Bystander intervention training November 15th
EXECUTIVE BRANCH REPORT(S)
President Delonte Leflore:
 Needs help spreading the word on Bystander Intervention
o Help those in need.
 In Financial crisis
o Looking at bus routes
o Taking steps for next year’s budget
 Enrollment is down
o Check SA for gift bags to help student enrollment (More info there)
OLD BUSINESS
SAB 44009: A Bill to Recognize UNICEF Campus Initiative
o Motion Passes at 6:58 pm
SAB 44010: A Bill to Recognize NIU Racquetball Club
 Senator Smith Inquires “
 Senator Fullilove Inquires ”
o Motion Passes at 7:03 pm
SAB 44011: A Bill to Recognize Almost Rockwell
 Senator Domke Inquires”
 Senator Adetunji Inquires”
o Motion Passes at 7:06 pm
SAB 44012: A Bill to Recognize Power Lifting Club
 Senator Allen Inquires”
NIU STUDENT ASSOCIATION SENATE
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11 November 2012


Senator Frank Inquires”
Senator Beltran Inquires”
o Motion Passes at 7:12 pm
SAB 44018: A Bill to Amend the FY13 Budget
 Senator Allen Inquires”
o Motion Passes at 7:16 pm
SAR 44027: A Resolution to appoint members to the Presidential Search Committee
 Senator Johnson Postpones to Rules and Procedures
SAR 44028: A Resolution to Elect a New Speaker
 Chad Harris
 Michael Theodore
 James Zanayed
 Brian Troutman
 James Alford
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rebecca Clark: If anyone has any questions come see me after.
Austin Quick: Please wait till the meeting is adjourned to pack up.
ADJOURNMENT
Speaker Quick requested a motion to adjourn. Motion is made by Senator Zanayed. Seconded by
Senator Theodore. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:30 p.m.
MINUTES SUBMITTED BY
Chad A. Harris, Clerk of the Senate & Special Assistant to the Speaker.
EXECUTIVE ALLOCATION INFORMATION
None
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11 November 2012