Proceedings of the November 7th, 2007 Meeting
Agenda 1) 5:45 FOOD (thanks Anwei!)
2) 6:00 Welcome with introductions (Kristina)
3) 6:05 Announcements (Kristina)
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 (10/31/07).
iii. We still need a grad rep for the Elections Commission.
4) 6:10 Funding (Polina)
i. Stanford Bridge Club
ii. The Science Bus
iii. Stanford Kayak Club
iv. Hindu Student Council
5) 6:25 Representative swearing in (Kristina)
6) 6:30 Programming Update (Adam S. and Justin)
7) 6:35 ASSU Update (Hershey)
8) 6:40 Vote on ASSU Airport Shuttle (Hershey)
9) 6:50 Bylaw Update (Adam B.)
10) 6:55 ASSU Legal Counsel Budget Modification (Polina)
10) 7:05 Cupertino Shuttle Update (Song and Zakai)
11) 7:20 Proposal for spotlight purchase (Melahn)
12) 7:30 New Business Attendance Voting members present:
At large 1: Maxim Afanasyev
At large 2: Hanna Muenke
At large 3: Kristina Keating
At large 4: Zeng Fan
At large 5: Lan Wei
Business: Rhyan Uy
Earth Sciences: Kyle Anderson
Education: Michelle Brown
Engineering 1: Melahn Parker
Engineering 2: Marja Mullings (proxy Adam Beberg present)
Humanities: George Bloom (proxy Matt Turk present)
Medicine: Yana Hoy
Natural Sciences: Fen Zhao
Social Sciences: Euan Robertson
Voting members not present:
Law: Shireen Barday
Others in attendance: Susano Montes, Paul Cristman, Donna Winston, Adam Sciambi, Hershey Avula, Justin Brown, Maria Spletter, Laureen Lan, Yan Yan, Anwei Chan, Polina Segalova
Minutes 1) 5:45 FOOD (thanks Anwei!)
2) 6:00 Welcome with introductions (Kristina)
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3) 6:01 Announcements (Kristina)
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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 (10/31/07). Approved by consensus.
iii. We still need a grad rep for the Elections Commission.
4) 6:03 Representative swearing in (Kristina). Yay for Michelle!
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5) 6:04 Funding (Polina)
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i. The Science Bus – Service organization that goes to East Palo Alto Charter School (elementary school) to teach science lessons. Has the following programs.
- Field trip to Stanford with Science Olympics
- Other off-campus.
- Quarterly barbecue to plan lessons for quarter and recruit
- 50 demonstrations a year (2x a week), leading to many expenses for that.
Recommended $2750. Have 100 people on mailing list, have 15-20 students at each lesson, with about 30 kids in attendance. $2750 passes by consensus.
ii. Stanford Kayak Club – Provide low-cost options for students to become involved in whitewater kayaking, by sharing sets of gear, which are very expensive. Need to get some leaders trained for swiftwater rescue certification. Recommended $400. Set-up as conference fees, since it isn’t open to all graduate students. $400 passes by consensus.
iii. Hindu Student Council. Security fees have increased again. Previously got a quote for 2 officers, but the space they’re using has another entrance, so now need a third officer. Voting on the entire budget one more time. Expected number of attendees is now 300. Recommended $4539 total, a $149 increase from the previous recommendation of $4390.
Melahn asks what the group would do if they got more money, they first say that they might pay their Yoga instructors more, but also report that they would likely be able to put on more events, and would have the human resources to manage this.
iv. Stanford Bridge Club – Have weekly bridge games, including sets for competitive rankings or those just learning. Looking for money for snacks, playing aids, marketing expenses. Recommended $300. Passes by consensus.
6) 6:19 ASSU Legal Counsel Budget Modification (Polina)
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Technicality, switching $75 from one line item to Travel Fares (Parking permit increase) within funds for their previously approved budget.
7) 6:21 Programming Update (Adam S. and Justin)
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Big Game tailgate is being paid for by Programming discretionary money, but we have to approve this particular expense. Requesting $1445 from GSC. Already have Maloney Field and security reserved, so are in good shape. Athletics is out of money from their football budget this year so they won’t be helping us, but may be able to do so in future years. GSPB is also out of money, so we’ll be paying for this event.
8) 6:26 ASSU Update (Hershey)
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Big Game will be a whole week of fun, there’s a committee working on that. Primarily focused on Undergraduates, organized by class presidents, but Grad students are welcome. After the game there will be a concert by ‘Roots.’ ($20 for students). Party at Row Houses as well. Flicks will also be back for that. Want to do a card stunt at the game, or something else fun (still working on ideas). Big Game is December 1st.
VSO collaboration meeting this weekend, but probably mostly undergrad groups, workshops on planning and funding events. VSO dinner that night too, which Euan and Hanna will possibly attend.
8) 6:30 Vote on ASSU Airport Shuttle (Hershey)
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Last year, the shuttle cost $10,000 and had 400 riders, which was $25 per person. People were charged $5, as it was mostly a pilot program to see if the trips could work effectively. This year, tickets will be $10 a person, with the goal of making it self-sustaining. Last year, late planning meant they had to use the big 40-person shuttles, but we will be able to use cheaper 20-person shuttles this year. The total cost of the shuttles is $7200, and there is some money left from the last shuttle run, so this year they are looking for a total of $5414, split between the GSC and the Undergrad Senate. Max capacity of the busses is about 1000 people, which with $10 tickets could bring in enough revenue to cover costs. Will have ads on busses too, which will help make money as well. Any extra money made will roll back into GSC and Senate reserves. The shuttle will have a number of stops close to graduate residents, including Lyman, Campus Dr at Bowdoin, at Escondido and at Serra, and also Serra at Pampas. Shuttles will run to both SFO and SJC, with two shuttles to the former and one to the latter.
Concerns are presented about the wording of the presented Bill, including references not updated to reflect Graduate students, and an unnecessary tone taken about the source and potential other uses for any money given. Because of these concerns, we choose to vote on the amount of money to be given, rather than on the Bill itself.
Melahn asks for information to be collected about grad vs. undergrad, could possibly be collected via eGroups. Operators were intended to collect this information last year but did not.
$2706 for the ASSU airport shuttle is approved by consensus.
9) 6:47 Bylaw Update (Adam B.)
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The Constitution affects the Joint bylaws, which affects separately the GSC bylaws and Senate bylaws, which together create the Joint rules of Order. The Constitution was recently updated, so the others now also need to be changed. GSC bylaws will mostly be about explicitly saying that we work primarily by consensus, but other sections may need more looking over, because they haven’t been examined or updated in awhile. Kristina recommends that everyone take a look at the bylaws at some point. Most available online, but not necessarily the most updated versions, so can get those from Adam if interested. Talk to Adam if you want to be involved.
10) 6:50 Cupertino Shuttle Update (Song and Zakai) – Not present.
11) 6:51 Random Announcements
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i. Thanksgiving website is up and running. 880 people currently registered for the event, with 1700 spots total. This hasn’t even gone out on Grad Announce or Grad Events yet, so there may be an influx soon. We get handouts about the event that we should hang up around campus.
ii. If people are in current paid positions, checks can be picked up from ASSU office in Old Union.
iii. Kristina has posted a Facebook flyer regarding signing up for Grad Events. She hasn’t seen it being posted yet, so we should let her know if we see it. Was $25 total, with 5000 shows over 5 days targeted to Stanford graduate students. Euan suggests monitoring the website. Matt sarcastically adds that he never thought of that. Everyone laughs.
12) Proposal for spotlight purchase (Melahn)
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Suggests getting two more lights for GCC to add more lighting for the stage area. Only special lights can be used in the existing track system. Around town, these are $180, but found less expensive versions online. For $220, can get two light fixtures without light bulbs, which probably aren’t so expensive to buy separately. However, it is important to note that this system would need to be permanently in place in the GSC and is non-transferable. Kristina has concerns about buying items specifically for the GCC, in that it may set a poor trend for the future in terms of expectations for who will pay for items and other costs for the GCC. There is currently no operating budget from the GCC, which is where one would hope money for things like lights would come from. Kristina has been working on getting an operating budget, and will talk to the GLO and VPSA in the next week to see where that stands and whether they might fund these lights. However, in the meantime, suggestion to look into more portable spotlights that could also be used by other groups, so that it doesn’t seem like we are buying something specifically for the GCC. Main concern is not about the money, but about the precedent about buying things for GCC. Melahn argues that it will benefit many graduate students to have better permanent lighting in the GCC, so it is not necessary to have portable lights in order to reach students. Maria argues there is a difference between maintenance and improvements, and that it would be okay to help out with improvements to the GCC, but that it’s important for administration to be clear on that distinction, so that the GSC does not become responsible for building maintenance. Will bring this item back next week after looking into those options.
13) 7:14 New Business
No new business, meeting adjourned.
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