APPROVED
The Associated Students of Las Positas College
Senate Meeting
April 10th, 2015
1:00 pm – Adjournment
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Adoption of the Agenda
IV. Approval of the Minutes
V. Officer Reports
A. President
B. Vice President
C. Director of Legislation
D. Director of Communications
E. Director of Events
F. ICC Chair
G. Senators
H. Committee Reports
I. ASLPC Advisor
J. Student Trustee
VI. Guest Speakers
VII. Public Forum
VIII. Old Business
A. Org Sync Veto
B. CBRC
C. Conference Debrief
IX. New Business
A. Budget Update
B. Mission and Vision Statement
C. ASLPC Elections
D. ASLPC Scholarships
E. April 17th Meeting
F. Spring Event
X. Announcements
XI. Adjournment
APPROVED
The Associated Students of Las Positas College
Senate Meeting
April 10th, 2015
1:00 pm – Adjournment
I.
Mr. Ansari called the meeting to order at 1:11 p.m.
II.
Roll Call
Officers:
Rafi Ansari
Paulina Reynoso
Olga Salgado
Ashley Landicho
Ciera Soliz
Eric Pineda
Senators:
Alejandra Garcia
Alexander Ivanov
Alexandre Nguyen
Antonio Aguilar
Brandon Byrne
Claire Huestis
Fatima Elgarguri
Jasmine Guraya
Jose Gutierrez
Luis Perez
Mateo Garcia
Nancy Kang
Omar Elgarguri (UNEXCUSED LATE)
III. Adoption of the Agenda
 Mr. Ivanov moved to approve the agenda for April 10th, 2015 with the following
changes:
o Add ASLPC Elections, ASLPC Scholarships, April 17th Meeting, Spring Event
 Mr. Garcia seconded.
 Motion passed unanimously.
IV. Approval of the Minutes
 Mr. Byrne moved to approve the minutes from March 20th, 2015.
 Ms. Soliz seconded.
 Motion passed with 1 abstention.
APPROVED
V. Officer Reports
A. President
Mr. Ansari said that administration has finally got webmaster to fix the student
government page. He’s been working on updating club pages as well. He’s
working on reviewing scholarships with 3 others. He’s been working on
accreditation and urged everyone to check out the new library.
B. Vice President
Ms. Reynoso made the agenda and sent out some emails.
C. Director of Legislation
Ms. Salgado worked with Mr. Nguyen on flyers with his team. Other projects
she’s been working on include terms and conditions for the wheels bus program
with Mr. Miner, updating election packets with Mr. Ansari, and explore
orientation packets with Mr. Byrne. For those interested in volunteering in that,
let her know.
D. Director of Communications
Ms. Landicho said there hasn’t been a meeting in two weeks but she worked on
revising the cafeteria survey with Mr. Elgarguri and will be sending out copies
soon for all attending Las Positas College to survey. She and Mr. Miner had
ordered office supplies and blue books. She updated contact info.
E. Director of Events
Ms. Soliz familiarized herself with her new position and has been working on an
upcoming spring event.
F. ICC Chair
Mr. Pineda has been working on CBRC, fixing some polls, updating some club
info on ASLPC website, and is working on an ICC event.
G. Senators / H. Committee Reports
 Mr. Garcia did his office hour. His committee meets later in the semester. He
spoke with Ms. Huestis to make posters. He misunderstood how the voting
process works and suggested that when they can start campaigning they clear that.
 Ms. Landicho went to a Facilities committee meeting last week. They just
finished the new library this week and key pad locks and security cameras have
been installed in the music rooms.
 Mr. Elgarguri said that the architecture firm bid will start soon where they will be
deciding on which contractor is going to install the new building. He also did his
office hour.
 Ms. Huestis said that her committee met over spring break. She also worked on
finances and the budget.
 Mr. Nguyen worked on expenses for board election, marketing for elections
(flyers), and accreditation.
 Mr. Aguilar said his committee meets Monday.
APPROVED
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Ms. Elgarguri went to student success. This week she did the academic fairness
report and looked over scholarships.
Ms. Guraya did her office hour this week, worked on the internships project, and
has been working on contacting some groups to come to Las Positas.
Ms. Garcia missed Health and Safety. She did her office hour, TLP program, and
is working on implementing NCSL workshops.
Mr. Perez said his committee met over break.
Mr. Gutierrez went to the library to get stuff for TLP.
Ms. Reynoso said Nike Funds met for the last time and it’s confidential.
Mr. Pineda said his committee met over break.
Ms. Soliz said her committee met over break.
Mr. Ansari attended the Board of Trustees, where they discussed some statistics.
For online orientation, they had 4,981 students this year; for assessment, 743
more students this year; for the veteran population, it’s up to 385 veterans this
year; and for our international student program, the most international students we
have are from China, then Korea, and so on.
I. ASLPC Advisor
Mr. Miner said that the middle college program is taking off in the fall of 2015.
To recap, middle college program is where 11-12th grade students will be taking
classes at college. There will be 40 students to start off next year. They will be
taking their own high school classes and sit in during your classes; it will be the
new model to kick-start one’s college career. On May 19th, they are asking for
speakers from ASLPC to talk about life in college at high schools. He said
administration came and approached us to leverage TLP to work with students in
the middle college program, and suggested talking about unique textbook issues
and talk to us whether or not we can work with them. Best of the best is coming
up. Unfortunately a couple of lines have more than one name on the sign-up sheet.
The Best of the Best sign ups should have 1 name on each line. We are pitching
volunteers for the Livermore wine auction. We have been asked for 6 or 7 campus
tours; sign up if it looks like you could help with one of those. Some don’t have a
set date or time. Student elections are coming up; get a packet if interested. On
our website there is a link to the Student of the Year award; it’s one award and the
scholarship is sponsored by Sandia. Applications for that are due on May 27th.
There have been some difficulties communicating with committees. He’s been the
liaison between our group and the planning group to plan for graduation. He’s
also been working on bus passes with Ms. Salgado.
J. Student Trustee
Mr. Bolin said that there were 3 presentations. Dr. Russell made a presentation on
high school students coming to college campuses. The rules that still apply to
minors still apply on college campus. This would be a good opportunity for them
to get ahead and start on college classes. Some statistics they discussed were that
there were 561 requests for last semester for tutoring and they had 91 students for
Math Jam. Math Jam enabled many students to retest and prepared for college
courses really well. From 2010-2014 they saw an increase from 275 to 385
veterans. They talked about international students coming from China; someone
APPROVED
vacationing in Japan would go to those high schools and talk about Las Positas
College.
VI. Guest Speakers
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Mr. Pineda moved to suspend the orders of the day at 1:33 p.m.
Ms. Soliz seconded.
Motion passed unanimously.
Ted Kaye thanked us for the service we’ve performed here on campus. It has served well in
presentation towards the community. We don’t realize we’re held up as models to students on
campus. Working on new scholarships is what the people in his area do. The gather potential
donors and do the fundraising for the college. The best proof of that was last year when a former
instructor helped us create a program to have children get a first-class education. These people
donated half a million dollars. In terms of getting the college working along, the 12th Annual
Best of the Best is coming up. Last year they raised $125,000 in going towards scholarships.
They called it “Best of the Best” because of the showcase of talent. It included pieces from the
music department, talk hawks, etc. Items included sports tickets, U2 tickets, wine, tailors,
$40,000 value worth of items, tours in Hollywood, and more. There’s no drinking when you’re a
volunteer. They host a silent auction and serve hors-d'oeuvres from restaurants around the area.
One of you will have a special job to watch over a diamond necklace. Another event they have in
the Tri-Valley is called the wine growers auction; that organization makes more than we do.
Every year there are 4 non-profits, whose participation will result in $45,000 to $50,000 in
scholarships. We provide 15-20 volunteers. We need a few more people to sign up. In the
fundraising world, there’s something called friend-raising. By developing friendships, we were
able to get money from them. People don’t know the location or quality of Las Positas College,
or what it even is. They don’t recognize that it’s consistently ranked in the Top 7 or 10
community colleges out of 113 in the state. We are trying to come out of a situation affected by
state funding. People don’t need to come to your class. When they come on campus, they get it.
People say they had no idea, but once they see it they get the idea. We also want to have a family
concert at the newly, renovated amphitheater. It will be on May 23rd before graduation. It will be
a 4-hour concert from 2-6 p.m. They are thinking about having potential bands, free admission,
food trucks, and having kids of all ages attend, where kids can have a fun afternoon at college. It
is a friend-raising event. Bands cost money and advertising costs money. Dr. Russell was
wondering if, with our student funds, you can help us with this effort. What we’re asking for is
$10,000. The concert is $20,000; we’re asking for half of that from you guys along with your
labor to help with the Best of the Best event. I’m happy to answer any questions.
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Mr. Elgarguri: How many people will there be?
A: In excess of a thousand people. The fireworks display we held a few years ago had
2500 people.
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Mr. Garcia: When do you need the money by?
A: I need it by next week if we get your commitment today. Today is the like the 15th of
the month; we have less than a month to get this staged on May 23rd.
APPROVED
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Mr. Ansari: The way the process works is that we have a week to think about it and then
we vote on it.
A: Bands like it when they’re paid, so we’re trying to get the best possible bands. We’re
trying to make it a family event; it doesn’t have to be the Beach Boys or a group that has
no interest today. We’re looking for something that is between too hard and too soft. This
particular event is coming out late in the season. I’m leaving Las Positas this year, and
I’ve been here for 11 years.
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Mr. Miner: What have you done for Las Positas?
A: I went to UCLA on getting my PHD. It’s all about stamina to get a Masters or PHD.
Over the period of 25 years, I’ve managed to network television production and work on
stuff like “Alias” and “Home Improvement”. I retired about 12 years ago and came here
for 1st Best of the Best gala. My office was bigger there but not as satisfying as here.
Never give up because I’d never thought I’d be in the business of show.
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Mr. Elgarguri moved to reinstate the orders of the day at 1:56 p.m.
Mr. Perez seconded.
Motion passed unanimously.
VII. Public Forum
 NONE
VIII. Old Business
A. Org Sync Veto
 Mr. Miner said that Chabot is going through with Org Sync. He said ASGA also
offers a cost-effective, potential alternative. It offers apps on iPhone, IOS,
Android. It costs $2000 to set it up and $1000 years after that. If we try it for
awhile and it doesn’t work, we can give it up. It doesn’t look like there’s a
contract with it.
 Mr. Ivanov asked if they had form submissions.
 Mr. Miner replied that not that he can see from what’s on here.
 Mr. Reynoso said that we looking for something with the form option.
 Ms. Soliz mentioned that the whole point was to have everything in one place.
 Mr. Elgarguri said it’s not a lot of work to do, just email and utilizing
communication between clubs.
 Mr. Miner said that the app is free.
 Ms. Salgado asked if IT would have an issue with this.
 One of the things different from this is that it wouldn’t really take over a college
computer. The only thing communication and IT worry about is login with their
credentials; people can just make new ones.
 Ms. Reynoso said that she thinks we should go ahead with Chabot’s so we’re
testing it together and that we don’t have to worry about the different systems.
 Mr. Perez said that we could just get form submission and see what Chabot does
with Org Sync if students aren’t using it.
APPROVED
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Mr. Garcia said he’d think that it does it cost money for the app; he mentioned
you can download blackboard on your phone for $5.99.
Mr. Elgarguri said that it’s free to download on your phone; only 1 college has the
android version of the app; he has to check if it’s Apple only.
Ms. Soliz said that we’re different from Chabot and that only testing it would not
apply completely to us.
Ms. Salgado would like to see us progress with our online community. She wants
to see simpler student forms, surveys online, and more. If we’re going with
ASGA or just right signature, we want to move forward with online portals so
students can start using it and we need to do this now.
Mr. Ansari brought Org Sync back for 2 reasons. 1) It’s easier on IT if both
colleges have the same system, and 2) If we didn’t have this problem already, we
would have gone through with this.
Mr. Ivanov said that we are trying to vote on overriding Mr. Ansari’s veto and
bring Org Sync back; if we don’t override it, it’s gone forever.
Aye means overriding his veto, meaning you DON’T want Org Sync.
Nay means you DO want Org Sync.
Mr. Miner mentioned that we voted it down as a group. Mr. Ansari’s veto would
have disallowed the vote and kept org sync alive, so we are trying to vote to keep
it alive.
Ms. Elgarguri moved to override the Org Sync veto.
Mr. Perez seconded.
Mr. Elgarguri moved to extend time by 5 minutes.
Mr. Perez seconded.
Division of the House occurred with 7 in favor and 11 opposed.
Motion failed with 2 opposed and 2 abstentions. (ROLL CALL VOTE SEE
ATTACHED)
B. CBRC
 Ms. Reynoso ceded the floor to Mr. Ivanov.
 Mr. Ivanov and the rest of CBRC went over the Final Draft Changes before we
take a final vote on it next week.
o Mr. Ivanov was lost on how the interview committee worked for senators
and asked if we want the interview committee to meet with a person as a
senator or before they’re confirmed.
o Mr. Perez said that only if we don’t believe that they should be in senate.
o They changed “ASLPC Executive Board”  “ORC” in Article II, Section
II.2 to read as “Officers being recommended for impeachment shall first
receive a written warning from the Officer Review Committee”.
o Unexcused absences: Should a person be up for impeachment for 2 or 3
unexcused absences? Meaning you didn’t tell Mr. Miner, the President,
the Vice President, or the Director of Communications 48 hours before the
meeting?
o Consensus vote was 3 unexcused absences.
o Emergency is bed-ridden sick.
o Ms. Soliz said we need to define what an unexcused absence is.
APPROVED
o Mr. Garcia said that 3 unexcused absences are fine. For instance, if he was
asked to come in for an interview the day before the meeting, he is for 3
where circumstances can’t be controlled.
o Mr. Elgarguri said to stick with 3 unexcused absences and 48-hour rule.
o Ms. Reynoso said that we are not trying to get people out of senate and we
need to be understanding of their needs.
o Mr. Nguyen said that we still dedicate Fridays to ASLPC meetings. We
shouldn’t excuse something like an interview; sickness is excusable.
o Mr. Perez said we are not going to impeach anyone for sickness. For some
of us, this is essentially another job. You are up for impeachment if you
were working two jobs, and you miss the meeting because of work on
Fridays.
o Mr. Ivanov said he doesn’t remember if it said it anywhere to highlight
what qualifies as an unexcused or excused absence. Impeachment
accumulates to 60 points per semester.
o We don’t just go to meetings. That’s expecting a lot out of people. We
need to consider we’re doing a lot and kick people out when we need
people and are doing a lot. I think that’s too much
o Mr. Elgarguri said that this is a job you’re not being paid for. There’s no
reason for forcing people out.
o Mr. Perez said that we need to hold people accountable. People can still
explain themselves for impeachments
o Mr. Garcia said that we do have high school students coming in next year.
We need to know what the rules are; there are certain things you can and
can’t do and they might miss a couple meetings. If the rules want to be
stricter, he understands. If something comes up as far as jobs, he disagrees
with jobs as far as what a job expects of you and you need money to
survive.
o Mr. Nguyen agreed with Mr. Perez and said that we should be stricter;
impeachment is rational and the senate can decide if you want to be
impeached. We do a lot more than make money for ourselves. If you can’t
commit, you need to prioritize. We’re here for the students, not for the
money.
o Mr. Ivanov moved to extend time.
o Mr. Elgarguri seconded.
o Motion passed unanimously.
o The senate’s not going to have anything to do with officer impeachment.
ORC would decide on officer impeachment, but the senate can vote on
deciding to pass the emergency item.
o Mr. Miner proposed changing letter L to letter A for student elections.
o Director of Events doesn’t do vendor stuff anymore; that’s for upstairs.
o Director of Communications doesn’t need to get mail anymore. Sheri told
Ms. Landicho she didn’t need to do it anymore and never taught her.
o They added in PR officer maintains constant communication with
President and Director of Events.
o Mr. Nguyen approved the change under PR Officer for 9. Responsible for
surveying students
APPROVED
o They crossed out vendor guidelines.
o They added in a section under Article VIII, Section 1.7, detailing the
process by which the Officer Review Committee can impeach an Officer.
o One concern was whether ORC should do a two-week time frame. Mr.
Miner said that it depends on what the issue is. Mr. Elgarguri said that the
ORC is supposed to be confidential and unanimous
C. Conference Debrief
 Mr. Nguyen moved to postpone this item to the next senate meeting.
 Ms. Kang seconded.
 Motion passed unanimously.
IX. New Business
A. Budget Update
 Ms. Huestis moved to transfer $5000 from the Student Activity account to the
Student Representation account.
 Mr. Garcia seconded.
 Motion passed unanimously.
 Mr. Huestis broke down the summary for what we spent so far this as of Spring
2015 semester. Our Student Representation is at -$2,569. It’s in the negatives
because of the money for the senate conference.
 If we approved Ted Kaye’s event, the money would come from the Student
Budget account.
 ASLPC scholarships come from the Student Senate account.
B. Mission and Vision Statement
 Ms. Elgarguri read the old mission and vision statement, then proceeded to read
the newly, revised one.
 Suggestions included that we write “we seek students needs and help students
achieve their goals by providing students scholarships, stress-free events, busprograms, tutoring, and more.”
 The second part includes “we distribute student activity fees to provide direct
support to club events, donate to RAW, Math Jam, cheaper lunch, replacing
broken tables.”
 Mr. Elgarguri suggested not making future guarantees that future administration
doesn’t want to provide anymore. Maybe just the things that we now are doing.
 Mr. Miner said that it should be distinct and clear; don’t include examples in the
statement. Put it below.
 Mr. Elgarguri said to give an example, that way you’re being broad but pointing
out specific ways we’re helping out.
 Ms. Soliz asked if this is going online. She suggested having our statement under
what we do or have it under a separate section.
 Mr. Miner suggested it to entitle it “Mission and Vision in Action” online.
 Mr. Elgarguri suggested including testimonials over the years.
APPROVED
C. ASLPC Elections:
 Ms. Salgado wanted to cover ground rules for the process of elections.
 Next Wednesday there is a candidate orientation mandatory meeting.
 Ms. Salgado said that she needs people on the Election committee. It should end
on Thursday, April 30th. Polling ends at 7. You can count votes until how long it
takes. We’re voting mostly online.
 Mr. Perez said that when they’re coming in for the paper ballot, they can’t log in
to blackboard.
 Ms. Reynoso said that admissions and records could have their names crossed out.
 Ms. Salgado said that it may not take that long until midnight to count the votes.
We will be feeding you. On voting date, candidates have to stay away from the
ballot site when they’re voting. In order for them to get food, they have to vote.
 The candidate election forum will be on Thursday, April 23rd. On that day you can
ask questions to candidates.
 People were thinking about making it festive on the day of club day. They would
need money for decorations.
 Ms. Salgado is asking for $300 for forum.
 You are not allowed to campaign in the office.
 Clubs have their meetings in 1643.
 At the end of the meeting, we could start campaigning verbally (not in the office
but in general). No posters.
 Mr. Miner said that campaigning consists of influencing other people to vote for
you, including talking about the position you want to run for. He agreed with what
Ms. Reynoso said; it’s tough to contain what you do just within that conference
room. He wants to keep campaigning out of 1643 as a neutral space.
 Mr. Elgarguri said that in terms of oral campaigning, shouldn’t be able to start
talking to people
 Mr. Ansari said that we have plenty of elections flyers. We can leave them at the
front and announce them at the front of classrooms. It will be left on Mr. Pineda’s
desk.
 Ms. Reynoso said to do your best to get people to be part of competition.
 Mr. Ansari said to not feel bad if your friend is running for the same position and
go for it.
D. ASLPC Scholarships
 For department scholarships, we are allowed to provide up to 4 names for $2500
each. We budgeted $30,400 and spent $400 on Prep-to-Pass scholarships. We are
looking to spend $30,000 on providing department scholarships across school.
 Ms. Huestis moved to approve $30,000 for department scholarships.
 Ms. Salgado seconded.
 Motion passed with 1 abstention. (ROLL CALL VOTE SEE ATTACHED)
E. April 17th Meeting
 Mr. Ansari said that the LPC 40th Anniversary will be at 12:30, so we won’t be
able to have our meeting at 1:00 p.m. We can decide on another day or move it to
earlier on Friday.
APPROVED
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Mr. Miner said that the official event starts at the library at 2:15 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.
A few of our people are doing tours. All the tours start around 3:00 p.m.
People suggested doing it earlier. It conflicted since 5 people have class on
Fridays. We need at least 12 people for the actual meeting.
Ms. Reynoso suggested doing as much as we can on Friday. Whatever we don’t
finish, we postpone the rest.
Everyone was okay with that. Nothing changed.
F. Spring Event
 Ms. Soliz presented ideas on events from the NCSL conference.
 Blender events are events where we don’t have to plan too much. They are cheap
and the whole point is to bring people together.
o Pillow Prank is where we give a pillow to another person and start a
pillow fight with them.
 People said that we can’t do it unless we have a liability form.
We can’t be liable and that’s what people had to do for the
dodge ball event.
 There would need to be a pillow check for rocks and other hard
items.
 No feather pillows. People suggested getting our own pillows.
 Suggestions included us providing the pillows and pillow
checks.
 Mr. Garcia is still leaning towards the Talent Show. There are lots of great
performers. For the last Open Mic we had, the professor made it part of his thesis
statement.
 Ms. Reynoso said that we want to do different events every semester to reach out
to a different group of students who don’t normally get involved.
 Ms. Salgado asked if we could do both. It’s up to Ms. Soliz on either doing the
Talent Show or two-blender events. Her only hesitation is having enough people
to do them.
o Ball Pit event
 Ms. Reynoso said that it was successful; it got people to
participate and out of their comfort zone. They put it in front of
quad in library. Some people didn’t want to get out.
 Ms. Soliz said that this is less expensive, new, and reaches a
different audience.
 Ms. Elgarguri said that the same people go to the same events.
 One concern was if campus security would be okay with a
pillow fight event.
 All we have to do is sign a liability.
 Ms. Soliz took a consensus vote for 2 Blender events vs. the Talent Show
o Talent Show: 2
o Blunder: majority
o Both: majority
APPROVED
X. Announcements
 Ms. Salgado announced that in an email that we got in contact with Catharine Baker to
meet with us on a Monday in her office in Sacramento, from 9 to the afternoon. Mr.
Ansari, Mr. Ivanov, Ms. Garcia, and Mr. Perez have volunteered to help her out. She also
has Wheels flyers.
 Ms. Soliz announced to her Events subcommittee to be aware that she’s going to be
contacting you a lot.
 Mr. Pineda has the list of club meetings and times.
 Ms. Reynoso presented the Senator of the Month award for March to Jasmine Guraya.
The scholarship committee has improved in showing internships.
 Mr. Ansari announced that Ms. Huestis, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Reynoso, and Ms. Soliz see
him after the meeting.
XI. Adjournment
 Mr. Garcia moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:41 p.m.
 Ms. Garcia seconded.
 Motion passed unanimously.
APPROVED
Roll Call Vote:
Old Business: A. Org Sync Veto
Motion: To override the Org Sync veto.
Officers:
Paulina Reynoso
Olga Salgado
Ashley Landicho
Ciera Soliz
Eric Pineda
Senators:
Alejandra Garcia
Alexander Ivanov
Alexandre Nguyen
Antonio Aguilar
Brandon Byrne
Claire Huestis
Fatima Elgarguri
Jasmine Guraya
Jose Gutierrez
Luis Perez
Mateo Garcia
Nancy Kang
Omar Elgarguri
Nay
Nay
Nay
Nay
Nay
Abstain
Nay
Nay
Nay
Aye
Nay
Nay
Nay
Abstain
Aye
Nay
Nay
Nay
APPROVED
Roll Call Vote:
New Business: D. ASLPC Scholarships
Motion: To approve $30,000 for department scholarships.
Officers:
Paulina Reynoso
Olga Salgado
Ashley Landicho
Ciera Soliz
Eric Pineda
Senators:
Alejandra Garcia
Alexander Ivanov
Antonio Aguilar
Brandon Byrne
Claire Huestis
Fatima Elgarguri
Jasmine Guraya
Jose Gutierrez
Luis Perez
Mateo Garcia
Nancy Kang
Omar Elgarguri
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Abstain
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye
Aye