Proceedings of the September 5th, 2007 meeting
Agenda 1) 5:45 FOOD (thanks Anwei!)
2) 6:00 Welcome with introductions (Kristina/George)
3) 6:05 Announcements (Kristina/George)
i. Please be aware that all meetings are recorded and will be made available on the GSC website.
ii. Approve minutes from the last meeting (8/22/07) with the following changes:
- Correct the spelling of Hershey Avula’s name in the attendance.
- Dean Power’s last day is September 14th, not September 4th.
- The post Big Game Party is a Row Block Party, rather than Road Block Party.
- The correct date for the Mausoleum Party is Saturday October 27th, not Saturday October 26th.
4) 6:10 Funding (Adam B)
i. French Stanford Student Association
ii. Asha for education
iii. Persian Student Association
iv. Spicmacay
v. Bahai Association at Stanford
5) 6:20 ASSU Update (Hershey)
6) 6:25 New Business Attendance Voting members present:
At large 1: Maxim Afanasyev
At large 2: Hanna Muenke
At large 4: Zeng Fan (proxy Srikant Vaithilingam present)
Engineering 2: Marja Mullings (proxy Adam Sciambi present)
Humanities: George Bloom
Natural Sciences: Fen Zhao
Medicine: Yana Hoy (proxy Cullen Buie present)
Social Sciences: Euan Robertson (proxy Adam Beberg present)
Voting members not present:
At large 3: Kristina Keating
At large 5: Lan Wei
Business: Rhyan Uy
Earth Sciences: Kyle Anderson
Education: Ryan Williams
Engineering 1: Melahn Parker
Law: Shireen Barday
Additional attendees – Varun Mittal (Asha), Nikhil Rain (Asha, Bahai, Spicmacay), Hari Kannan (Asha), Venkar Srimivasan (Spicmacay), Mohammad Shoeybi (PSA), Olivier Pincon (French Stanford Student Association). Minutes 1) 5:45 FOOD (thanks Anwei!)
- There is a request to have a vegetarian food options at the meetings.
2) 6:00 Welcome with introductions (George)
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3) 6:05 Announcements (George)
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i. Please be aware that all meetings are recorded and will be made available on the GSC website.
ii. The minutes from the last meeting (8/22/07), with the following changes, are approved by consensus:
- Correct the spelling of Hershey Avula’s name in the attendance.
- Dean Power’s last day is September 14th, not September 4th.
- The post Big Game Party is a Row Block Party, rather than Road Block Party.
- The correct date for the Mausoleum Party is Saturday October 27th, not Saturday October 26th.
4) 6:10 Funding (Adam B)
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i. Persian Student Association – They are hosting a food event on September 23rd as part of the observance of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan, observers fast during the day, and break the fast after sundown. Different student groups host those dinners during the month. Based on attendance in previous years, the group expects 200 people to attend. They plan to have food from a Persian restaurant, with a total cost for the event of about $1500. The group has already requested $500 from other sources, and so requestis $1000 from the GSC. The request for $1000 passes by consensus.
ii. Bahai Association at Stanford – They are hosting an event on September 16th with a speaker coming in, to be followed by a discussion. The speaker is Steven Phelps, PhD (from Princeton), who will talk on ‘The New Atheism Reconsidered: Is God a Delusion.’ The group expects 40 people to attend, and have already reserved the Nairobi room for the event. Are requesting money for snacks to be served during the event, which per GSC guideline standards is $3 a person, or $120 total. Thus, the funding committee recommends this amount, rather than the requested $40. The recommendation for $120 passes by consensus.
iii. Spicmacay – Spicmacy is a new student group this year, hosting their first event. They are organizing a dance performance event, with an invited dance troupe which will demonstrate the Manipuri Dance style, which originates from Northern India. They estimate that the event will cost over $3130, and that other sources will contribute $700-$800, so they are asking the GSC for $2630. The funding committee recommends $2050 in light of caps on aspects of the event, such as honorarium, which is high in this case because it is a group of people performing, rather than an individual. Some money from the original request is thus shifted into other categories, such as auditorium rental, to balance the group’s request with the GSC’s limits. The recommendation for $2050 is passed by consensus.
iv. French Stanford Student Association – not yet here [Secretary Note – This item was later discussed in New Business]
v. Asha for Education. This is a community service group that is primarily graduate students, and this is the first time they have asked for money from us. As a point of interest, Asha means Hope in Indian. They originally wanted to have an off-campus trip, but the GSC guidelines for funding groups require on-campus events, so they have changed their event to be a hike to the Dish, followed by food and discussion of what the group is about. This plan means that up to 75 people will be able to attend. The committee recommends $375 for event food and $90 for food supplies. The request for $465 passes by consensus.
5) 6:20 ASSU Update (Hershey) – Hershey is not present, so there is no update.
6) 6:25 New Business.
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i. Cullen reports that the next Alumni Association board meeting will be held September 20th and 21st. Asks if there are any graduate student issues in particular that we would like him to bring up. There are no suggestions at the moment. However, this prompts us to think about our progress (or lack thereof) on the Graduate Student Survey, which would likely have some interesting items to report to the Alumni Association. Anyone who has not yet completed his or her report on the data is again urged to do so quickly, so that we can create a cohesive write-up, and prepare to present this to the rest of the community, including the Alumni Association.
ii. Funding Request – The French Stanford Student Association representative arrives, so we discuss their funding request. They are hosting a welcome party primarily for new students (but open to anyone), which will be held on October 4th. The committee recommends $350 for food and $50 for supplies for this event. In the beginning of December they will have a Wine and Cheese party, for which the committee recommends $400 for food and $50 for supplies. The request for a total of $850 passes by consensus.
iii. Fen wonders whether the GSC will be holding a fall retreat. George will look into this. In the past, this event has apparently occurred in October, and included any interested new students. |
