Constitution and Statutes Minutes
April 6th, 2015
John E. Sapp Conference Room 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Chair: Senator President Pro-Tempore Grantham
I.
Call to Order
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Meeting is called to order at 6:44PM.
Roll Call – Vice-Chair Gomez
II.
III.
Quorum is established with 5 voting members.
Student Remarks
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Shomari Gloster: The applications for the executive branch will be open until the 10th and
interviews will begin next Monday. I will be asking the Senate President to send out an email.
Approval of Minutes – March 23rd, 2015
IV.
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V.
Senator Ascanio: Motion to approve the minute from March 23rd, 2015. Second. All in favor.
Moved.
Approval of Agenda
VI.
Senator Gloster: Motion to strike appeals hearing for Michael Motes. Second. All in favor.
Moved.
Senator Gloster: Motion to switch items A and B on the agenda. Second. All in favor. Moved.
Senator Gloster: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda as amended. Second. All in favor. Moved.
Guest Speakers
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None.
Remarks of the Chair – sgaspt@unf.edu
VII.
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If Senator Azzouz shows up she can appeal.
VIII.
Old Business
IX.
New Business
a. SB-15S-2859 Title IV Revisions
- Senator Grantham: This is a revision of title 4 the legislative branch. It is all just language
changes. The elections and appointment committee needs to be stricken and government
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oversight needs to be added. Senate Officers shall be elected in the spring. This is to
comply with the new CR. There are places that say the 5 standing committees, we only
have 4 now. In 403.5 under D subsection 2, all bills should be effective from passage; it
should be approval not passage. Term of office 406.1 B, those senators should have their
term upon installation. There is not a whole lot of power change, just wording.
o Senator Ascanio: For the part that says it is subject to the executive veto power
was it not like that before?- The only thing that changed, is that 2/3rds is only for
procedural change. Everything else is majority vote. It is word for word out of
article 2, it is to be congruent with that.
o Senator Gloster: 402.2 B the last senate, there have been conversations from
people who have served as pro temp and C&S, there is a lot of power for that one
job. What do you think about separating the two? - Fiscally we would have to
find out how we could split up the two jobs. There are pros and cons of splitting
the jobs. Cons would be finding the money to pay for both jobs. Another con, a
lot of my job as pro temp is because of what I do as C&S chair. It would give the
Pro temp more time to deal with managerial processes. I think this is something
that should be looked into; I know it has been brought up in the past.
 Senator Ascanio: I move to approve SB-15S-2859. Second. All in favor.
Moved. Roll call vote
 Senator Gloster: Motion for unanimous consent. Second. All in
favor. Moved.
b. Appeal Hearings
Michael Motes (4)
I.
Farah Azzouz (5)
Not present.
 No motions made.
*Senator Gloster: Motion for 3 minute recess. Second. All in favor. Moved. (7:01)
*Reconvene at 7:04PM
*Senator Gloster: Motion to open the floor for amendments to the agenda. Second. All in favor. Moved.
*Senator Gloster: Motion to have Senator Ian Harvel as 2nd and Farrah Azzouz as 3rd on the appeal
hearings. Second. All in favor. Moved.
*Senator Ascanio: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda as amended. Second. All in favor. Moved.
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II.
Ian Harvel (6)
Senator Harvel: February 23rd was the Monday of homecoming. I was too lazy to fill out an
appeal form. March 9th I was working a charity that night at 7:30, which is why I missed that. I
did not fill out a form for that. Roundtable was completely my fault I missed that. The summer
osprey voice I still have on my desk. I will ask you to remove for the first two meetings. This
upcoming senate meeting is my last one, so I think it would be pointless to remove me at this
point.
Senator Ascanio: Is there a reason you didn’t fill out the forms? - I was just too lazy to
fill them out.
 Senator Ascanio: Motion to remove 2 points from the 23rd of February and the 9th
of March. Second. Discussion.
 Senator Ascanio: I rescind my motion.
 No motions made.
III.
Farah Azzouz (5)
Senator Azzouz: I have 5 points from Jan 12th I don’t remember what it was. I filled out a form
for all of my absences. 23rd I was attending Mrs. UNF and on March 9th I had a test. I am
requesting off for March 9th for 2 points and the committee meeting on Jan 12th for a ½ point and
March 9th for ½ a point. For a total of 3 points off.
o Senator Gomez: Are you aware of the redemption policy? - Yes.
o Senator Harvey: You are asking for January 12th and you don’t remember what you were
doing? - Yes, I did fill out a form for that though. I was probably just studying for a test.
o Chairman Grantham: Senate on Feb 23rd and March 9th, did you fill out forms for those
two dates? - Yes.
 Senator Ascanio: Motion to remove 1/2 a point from January 12th, ½ from the
23rd, 2 points from March 9th for a total of 3 points. No second. Motion dies.
 Senator Gloster: Motion to remove ½ a point from January 12, ½ from the 23rd,
and 1 point from the 9th, for a total of 2 points. Second. Discussion. Roll call
vote 5-0-0. Motion passes.
o
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* Senator Ascanio: Motion to open up the agenda for amendments. Second. Discussion. Nay Roll call
vote motion passes 4-0-1.
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X.
Senator Ascanio: I think if she had a test then I think that is a good enough reason to remove all
points. I think it is unfair if it is a class conflict.
Senator Gomez: Some of the issues we have been having with the process, as far as the points go.
Do we take away those points that aren’t taken away from the Senate President? If the next chair
doesn’t know what this committee has been through. I think we need some documentation. We
discussed something about if the senator did or did not fill out their form. I think the future
committee needs to be aware of.
o Chairman Grantham: We haven’t made any legislation as a guideline how to conduct this
process. We have set a precedent. This is ultimately up to you guys, it comes down to if
you support them or not.
Senator Ascanio: I think the sheet is a great tool, I think it is something we should always have. I
think we should have the reasoning behind why they missed their meetings.
Senator Gloster: I think with senator orientation being on Saturday, the pro temp can give a
presentation on the process for all the possible senators. I think for sake of continuity it is up to
the chair. I think for him to go over these things at senator orientation is important.
o Chairman Grantham: Your goal is to do what is right. Don’t approve it if you don’t agree
with it.
Announcements
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Senator Orientation is this Saturday at 9:30 till 2:00. It is a great learning experience.
Next Monday is our last senate meeting; we will have the elections for the cabinet.
I wanted to talk about the possibility of a CR, looking at having a majority vote. It would be
something as a discussion.
Thank you all for your service over the term.
Banquet is this Thursday at 6:30.
Final Roll Call – Vice-Chair Gomez
XI.
XII.
Quorum is reestablished with 5 voting members.
Adjournment
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Meeting is adjourned at 7:44PM.
Minutes taken by: Leah Tolisano, Senate Secretary.