Call to Order: 9:07

Attendance: Blewitt, Evers, Gall, Howard, Kohl, McWeeney, Morabito, Nelson, Sardinha, Straube, Taylor, Wilding (Committee); Senators Blanchflower and Houtz (Non-committee)

Absent: Barnes

Discussion of Matters Listed on the Agenda:

Wilding (on FIRE): Taylor found a discrepancy between the two letters from Senate.

Wilding (on IT): Met with IT Gov regarding online voting, explored options such as Sakai and CampusLabs, looked into installation and timeline. Sakai could be in place for the spring elections, CampusLabs is unknown start-up time.

Taylor: Let’s return to FIRE. I hear concerns that the amendments to SS-18/19-15 were not a good idea. There is much disagreement even within Exec that FIRE discussions would start rumors. I maintain that sharing the letters would have been a bad idea. The Senate was prepared to vote on the original 18/19-15, but it would have been lying to the Senate; the bill’s true intent was obscured. Finance was informed at least a week ago that this was the plan. I’d like to discuss FIRE with the committee.

Morabito: I think that the Cigar tomorrow will be an interesting read; our disunity showed in the meeting. Crisis management might be a good idea.

Blanchflower: Now that this is tabled, are we immediately screwed?

Wilding (responding): I don’t think so. We didn’t really give them a concrete deadline.

Taylor (also responding): We are working for students. It is our responsibility to debate. We could have done that tonight. I will be sure that Sam Foer is informed regarding the Senate’s actions tonight.

Howard: We don’t need to be unified, but we do need to be informed. That bill was so alien to what was originally introduced that I could not in good conscience have allowed it to be voted on tonight.

Evers makes a point about cooperating with Foer, to which Taylor agrees.

Gall: Introducing it today and attempting to force a swift vote was irresponsible. I think we should release the letters.

Taylor: In the current circumstances, I also think we should release the letters. We need to stop gossiping in the future. Exec is for drafting plans, not rumor-mongering. The question used to be whether student orgs should be discriminated against, but it has only now evolved to include FIRE. We don’t plan to fail, but we do fail to plan. So, what is the plan?

Gall moves the adoption of a resolution to release all correspondence between FIRE and the Senate to the Senate, barring any legal restrictions. Seconded by Taylor.

Morabito: We absolutely should be releasing concrete information, especially now that we are backed into a corner; however, I caution that a full release may cause a substantial loss of faith in the Senate. I suggest that this be kept within the Senate.

Gall: If the students lose faith in us, then that is their own choice. That’s what makes us representative. We can also release our own opinions.

Blanchflower: This is very touchy, to just send these by email. Can we also send the amendment that was tabled, so we don’t look like complete knobs? We need to show a plan.

Gall: Yes, we do need to add our side. Also, this isn’t just us and FIRE, it’s our constituents. They have a right to speak whenever they want to. We need to consider that.

Wilding (to Blanchflower): Yes, we should include the bill.

Howard: Does this currently include the future?

Wilding: Yes, but it shouldn’t.

Howard: Where does the emails fit in? How is this distributed?

Taylor: Clearly it would be through the office of the President, though I am worried about the language and how our response would be drafted.

Howard moves to amend the resolution such that only prior correspondence would be released. Seconded by Morabito.

Taylor: I’d like to know what people are thinking.

Gall: If I were to amend it, I would give a date.

Morabito: Does that say everything before today?

Wilding: I think so?

Sardinha: If there’s concern with emailing to everybody, can we just make them available to people who want to see them? I can also think of a lot of apathetic or distrustful people who don’t want or need, or perhaps should not, be explicitly given these on a silver platter.

Taylor: I’d like to see consistency of knowledge. If we email it to every member of the Senate, then they have no excuse for being uninformed.

Wilding: I fear that handing out physical copies would get into bad hands.

Sardinha: I’m talking transparency, not hand-outs.

Nelson: Instead of email, which is extremely easy to forward, we could give physical copies so that it’s harder to share. Once something is on the internet, it can’t be taken back. We could hand out copies during next week’s regular meeting. That way, we can discuss not just what it says but what it means.

Taylor: I think that it would be a waste of paper and a distraction. I think that the more students that have it, the better. I’m not advocating that we just throw it around, but even though it hurts our image, we need the unity that it would provide. They would’ve been sent out eventually anyways. We have a responsibility to make progress.

Morabito: If we do that, please don’t hand them out during general. Give people time to read beforehand.

McWeeney: I agree with Taylor; there are no “wrong hands.” There is a saying that if transparency is necessary to preserve a system, then the system deserves to be broken. It’s time for us to own our mistakes and be as transparent to the public as possible. I see no problems with emailing.

Evers: We need to give our story instead of just the letters. We need to publish all of our stuff, possibly to the Cigar, so that it’s clear not only that we a pursuing closure, but also what closure is being pursued. Our constituents need to be informed.

Several members express agreement with Evers’ opinion.

Morabito moves to amend the resolution such that instead of emailing the Senate, Exec will develop a press release by noon on Friday to be published. Seconded by McWeeney.

Taylor moves to amend the amendment by adding that physical copies will be sent to the five organizations that originally went to FIRE. Seconded by Wilding. After some confusion, the motion passes by general consent.

Taylor moves the previous question, seconded by Morabito. The motion passes (9-0-2).

The amendment proposed by Morabito is adopted (10-0-1).

Evers (aside): The reporter at tonight’s regular meeting was is somewhat uncertain about what happened, and wonders if somebody could go clarify.

Howard is excused to work with the reporter.

Wilding puts the question, which passes (9-0-0), the Executive Committee thus adopting the following resolution:

Resolved, that the Executive Committee will develop a press release for publication by no later than noon on Friday, September 28, 2018, in order ensure that the public is informed on prior correspondence between the Senate and FIRE, and further that physical copies will be explicitly and independently sent to the five organizations which originally reached out to FIRE.

McWeeney: For bill SS-18/19-19, concerning amendments to Article VIII, if anyone wants to make an amendment they should do that now so we can start our debate with that.

After some discussion, Gall moves an amendment to the second sentence of the proposed Section B to make it read “The respondent will be given written notice of the charges and specifications within three (3) business days.” The motion is seconded by Howard.

McWeeney moves the previous question, seconded by Howard. The motion passes (9-0-0)

The amendment is adopted (9-0-0)

Nelson moves to strike the word “egregious,” inserting “extreme” in its place, seconded by Morabito.

Gall: Egregious has a negative connotation, and extreme can be seen in either a good or bad direction.

Howard: People should be able to read context clues as to what the word means.

The amendment is adopted (9-0-0)

Gall: I have one question under part 2 moderator, why is the moderator nominated by the elections committee?

Howard: I may or may not have had a reason for that when I wrote it in May, but that’s just the way its stated now.

Gall moves that the sentence be amended to read that “The moderator is appointed by the Rules and Ethics Committee, or, in the event of that committee’s refusal or inability, by the Executive Committee.” The motion is seconded and approved (8-0-1).

Gall: Under part three trial, subpart b execution, it states that any senators are prohibited from communication during a trial. I do not see a need for this, as in normal trials communication is allowed.

Morabito: I believe that the intention of that is to prevent sway and to make sure that people are not advocating for their friends.

Howard and Wilding express agreement with Morabito.

Gall: The proposed Section F, Part 2 says, “Granted appeals occur under new business and are moderated by the moderator of the trial.”

Wilding: That is true.

Gall: Couldn’t the moderator be biased?

Howard: The moderator is, by design, the least biased person in the trial, and if that is not true then there are other, more pressing issues.

Morabito moves to correct the numbering of various parts. The motion is seconded and adopted (9-0-0).

Morabito moves that President Wilding handle the bill on the floor, seconded by Evers. After some debate, it is decided that Nelson should be the handler instead (9-0-0)

Morabito moves that the Executive Committee submit the bill to the general Senate with a recommendation of passage. The motion is seconded and adopted (10-0-0)

Discussion of Miscellaneous Matters:

Evers requests advice regarding SS-18/19-16

Blanchflower: My recommendation would maybe be to have the bill read that the time is determined at the start of the chair’s term.

Howard: My first thing is my opinion, which is that I appreciate having the 7 pm down solidly. This is a great help, as people take Monday at 7 pm out of their schedule. My suggestion is that you make a poll and send it out via the student organization listserv and at the presidents meeting ask all the group reps to fill it out.

Morabito (responding to Howard): We already don’t exactly hold Presidents to 7:00, because they can send any representative of their group in their stead.

Blanchflower: I think that having a time agreed upon by the clubs at the start of the chair’s term is acceptable.

Gall: I think that having the meetings at 7 pm is good because changing the time can get confusing.

Evers: The other thing I wanted to mention is that my intention behind this bill is so that my whole committee could come so I can divide up the members.

Nelson: That is precisely the problem. It seemed that you were prioritizing your committee over the clubs. The main goal is to serve the clubs, and the committee will be there if they can.

Howard: A few things that are factually true, there are some clubs on campus who do not meet at Mondays at 7 specifically so that they can attend the Presidents’ meeting. Also, most classes are not held on Monday at 7 pm. This makes 7 pm on Monday ideal. My second suggestion for moving away from a time is to do what Sam King tried to do which is hold one on ones with groups instead of a large meeting.

Taylor: We have places to be; let’s not talk about a bill that failed.

10:37 Morabito moves that the committee adjourn, and the motion is seconded. The motion is approved (11-0-0), and the meeting is adjourned.