Point of Clarification

The Downtown Senate finally seems to have an accurate figure for how much money they have to allocate the rest of the semester after weeks of incorrect estimations by ASU administration and the student government.

Director of Finance Sam Tongue said USGD has around $30,000 remaining to allocate this semester after weeks of incorrect estimations. (Kristin Fankhauser/DD)

Factoring in the $4,675.08 it distributed to four organizations at Friday’s Senate meeting, USGD has around $30,000 remaining this semester, said Director of Finance Sam Tongue.

This semester’s funding problems began in mid-January when James Rund, senior vice president of Educational Outreach and Student Services, told the ASU student governments they would not be receiving as much student fee money as they originally expected.

Rund told Downtown President Joseph Grossman to expect up to $19,100 less than previously estimated, leaving USGD with a little less than $20,000.

Tongue began reviewing the USGD accounts after hearing of the funding drop looking for more money, but discovered several expenses that had not been authorized by this year’s Senate.

At the Feb. 1 Budget Allocations Committee meeting, Tongue announced the Senate had less than $10,000 left.

But, after talking with ASU administrators, Tongue learned these funds were coming from a rollover fund from last year and were not using funds from this year’s budget.

This scare did caused USGD to freeze funding at the Feb. 3 Senate meeting.

Since that meeting, allocated funds and a $5,000 overestimation by USGD has brought the remaining funds to $30,000.

Tongue said the most recent overestimation was due to problems with addition.

The Downtown student government took a stance at the Feb. 3 Senate meeting against the proposed guns on campus bill currently making its way through the Arizona legislature.

The Downtown student government decided to oppose the new guns on campus bill going through the Arizona senate. (Stephanie Snyder/DD)

The Senate’s debate over the bill was a condensed version of a national discussion that is repeated any time a “guns on campus” bill pops up.

The Senate decided on a vote of 10-1 that they would not support SB 1474, with the one no vote coming from Senate Leader Zack Lindsay.

The bill would prohibit universities from enforcing any law that restricts carrying a gun on campus. ASU President Michael Crow released a statement on January 31 strongly coming out against the bill.

USGD decided it was important for the Downtown students to have a position on the bill as well.

Lindsay was the most vocal in support of the guns on campus bill, saying having a gun would help students protect themselves if a person started shooting while students were in class.

In response, senators said it would probably be just as dangerous to have several people shooting while trying to defend themselves as having just one person with a gun.

One of the biggest issues for senators who were against the bill was the impact guns on campus would have on the university learning environment.

“There’s going to be a lot of untrained individuals carrying (concealed) weapons in a learning environment, and that’s not what a learning environment’s meant to be,” said College of Public Programs Sen. Cecilio Porras.

It is necessary for people who want to carry concealed weapons to take a training course. However, senators were not impressed by the extent of the course, saying there needed to be more training involved with getting a concealed weapons permit.

In the end, most senators decided to vote for what their constituency would want, and they said most students don’t want guns on campus.

The applications for students to become candidates in the 2012 ASU student government elections aren’t online yet, but some Downtown senators have already decided if they’re going to run for office in April.

So far, half of the Senate’s 12 members have said they will likely not to run in this year’s election.

Half of the Senate has decided not to run this year, and most of the remaining senators haven't decided what they want to do yet. (Jessica Zook/DD)

– Zack Lindsay, senate leader and College of Nursing and Health Innovation senator – Even though Lindsay has had a great experience in USGD this year, he is unsure whether he will run for the Senate again. He is worried about having a heavy workload next year.

– Dani Sandler, College of Nursing and Health Innovation senator – Sandler is a member of the election committee, and therefore cannot run for office.

– Stephanie Avalos, Freshmen senator – There is still a lot Avalos would like to do in student government, but she hasn’t made her final decision yet. She is currently leaning toward running.

– Amanda Manz, Freshmen senator – Likely juggling two jobs, a full class schedule and a choir position, Manz will not be running for office in April. Despite having fun in USGD, she said she needs to start focussing on activities directly related to her health sciences major.

– Rachel Cassinat, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion senator – Cassinat is not planning on participating in April’s election because she will be running for President of Student Nutrition Council. She would like to focus on that leadership role next year.

– Eneida Shqalsi, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion senator – Shqalsi might run, but it depends on whether she is chosen to be a Community Assistant next year.

– Torunn Sinclair, Walter Cronkite School senator – Sinclair said she is definitely not running for the Senate next year.

– Malcolm Brinkley, Walter Cronkite School senator – Brinkley is leaning toward running for office in April, and that decision is not likely to change.

– Joey Amonett, College of Public Programs senator – Amonett is interested in an appointed Executive Board position and currently doesn’t plan on running for the Senate. But, he hasn’t made his mind up definitely.

– Cecilio Porras, College of Public Programs senator – After a great experience in USGD, Porras said he “would feel remiss to not run again.” He will be defending his seat in April.

– Katy Graves, Barrett, the Honors College senator – Graves is a member of the election committee, and therefore cannot run for office.

– Jessica Boehm, Barrett, the Honors College senator – Boehm is a co-chair of the new universal committee and still has many initiatives she wants to start and some that still need to be finished. But, she still hasn’t decided to run yet.

So, for those of you keeping count, three senators said they are unsure about whether to run, one is leaning toward running, two will probably run and likely six can’t or won’t be on the ballot in April.

At the Budget Allocations Committee meeting Wednesday, committee members debated if they should allow student fee money to continue to be used to fund stipends for the Downtown Programing and Activities Board and  Campus Recreation.

The members discussed proposing a new BAC bylaw that will not allow any organization to use student fee money for member stipends. The proposal will go before the Senate on Friday.

The Budget Allocations Committee meets Wednesdays at 5 p.m. to discuss student organization funding requests that usually go before the Senate later in the week. (Evie Carpenter/DD)

Campus Rec and PAB are the only major student organizations on campus whose members get stipends from student fee money. Historically, they have been allowed to use money this way because they are the largest and most complex organizations on campus and their programs reach a large number of students.

The point of a student fee program is for all students to pay into a fund that will ultimately benefit all students.

Some BAC members felt student fee money shouldn’t be used for stipends because, by definition, that money is only going to a few students.

Members of the committee will likely propose a bylaw that reads: “No stipends will be funded through student fee money until active progress has been made by ASU administration to solve the issue outside USI (University Student Initiatives) money.”

The BAC also discussed other changes to their bylaws, including officially limiting how much money can be allocated for promotional items, trips and t-shirts.

Downtown Devil reporter Jessica Zook contributed to this report.

At the Downtown student government Senate meeting Friday, senators discussed how to ratify the Universal Constitution on the Downtown campus.

Senate Leader Zack Lindsay speaks during Friday's Senate meeting. (Madeline Pado/DD)

Senate Leader Zack Lindsay proposed the constitution go before the students in a referendum, allowing students to decide for themselves if they want the new constitution.

Co-chair of the Universal Committee Jessica Boehm said the West and Polytechnic campuses were already on-board with presenting the constitution as a referendum.

A referendum will also allow the Senate to implement the Universal Constitution as soon as they want following its passage.

The campuses (mainly West, Polytechnic and Downtown) have been working on the constitution since the summer in the president’s council and small groups.

Final edits to the constitution were made Thursday night at an unofficial meeting.

There were only two funding requests at Friday’s meeting. One was from the Radio Television Digital News Association for $3,050 to go to the APTRA conference.

Senate members were concerned about giving the organization funding because they had not sent a member to any of the required Inter-Club Council meetings this semester.

In the end, the Senate decided to fund RTDNA $400 to allow one member to go to the conference, but stipulated that the president could not be that member.

The other funding request was from Active Minds for $305 for posters, water and granola bars.

The Downtown student government now has $47,304.53 left in their budget to allocate for the rest of the year.

The Downtown student government has put an emphasis on efficiency this year at Senate meetings, cutting down on meeting length by nearly half compared to last semester.

Director of Parliamentary Procedures Andres Cano (second from the left) has been active in keeping meeting times short by keeping other DPC government members on track. (Jessica Zook/DD)

Most meetings have lasted between 45 minutes and an hour, with the longest meeting lasting about an hour and 20 minutes. Meetings last semester would routinely reach the two hour mark.

The primary cause for this dramatic decrease in meeting time is the greater importance the Budget Allocations Committee this year.

With most of the official discussion regarding funding requests happening at the BAC meeting two days before the Senate meeting, senators have fewer questions about the request at the meeting.

Most of the meetings last semester were slowed down by funding requests.

Senators would get copies of the requests before the meeting, but all the official discussion of the request happened during the Senate meeting.

Practically every question Senators had about the request would be directed toward an official of the club requesting funds in a time unrestricted Q and A session.

Such Q and A sessions are non-existant this year and members of organizations have only spoken on behalf of their request at a couple meetings.

This raised concerns about lack of representation in the Senate by past Downtown student government members and students alike.

In response, the Downtown student government created a “call to audience” agenda item at the end of each Senate meeting.

So far, students have not taken advantage of what amounts to an open mike to express issues they had with the meeting.

Another aspect of this semester’s government that has shortened Senate meeting times is the increase in unofficial discussions regarding everything from funding requests to the Universal Constitution.

But, do to their “unofficial” nature, these meetings have lacked documentation as to what the government members discussed or for how long they talked.

For example, less than two minutes were officially spent during a Senate meeting discussing the operation budget for the Downtown student government this year, but some government members said they discussed the budget for around 15 hours without taking minutes.

The Downtown student government has made a concerted effort this year to bolster involvement with the downtown Phoenix community, so far highlighted by Tuesday’s Food Truck Fiesta and the New York Times Cafe on Wednesday.

Professors at the School of International Letters and Cultures Souad Ali (left) and Abdullahi Gallab (right) discuss the lasting impact of Arab Spring. (Mauro Whiteman/DD)

About 40 students went to Fair Trade Cafe on Wednesday for a free lunch and discussion of the impact of this year’s protests in the Middle East dubbed the “Arab Spring.”

The event was co-hosted by Downtown student government, The New York Times, the School of Letters and Sciences and Fair Trade.

Two ASU professors from the School of International Letters and Cultures Souad Ali and Abdullahi Gallab led the discussion, focussing on the revolutions’ impact on the United States and the how the Internet functioned in the uprisings.

On Tuesday, Downtown student government brought three food trucks to Taylor Street to promote local businesses and raise student awarenesses of Food Truck Fridays.

The Food Truck Fiesta served approximately 300 students at lunchtime.

The Downtown student government also created a “Local Affairs Director” position this year in an attempt to find better ways to connect with the downtown community.

Nonprofit Leadership and Management freshman Michael Homan was appointed as the first Local Affairs Director. He said he has so far been focusing on making students feel like a part of the downtown community.

Homan worked closely with Director of Parliamentary Procedures Andres Cano on the Buy Local, Be Local event, which was kicked off by Tuesday’s Food Truck Fiesta.

At the Downtown student government Senate meeting on Nov. 4, Cano said they will begin discussing phase two of the Buy Local, Be Local campaign at the next Senate meeting on Nov. 18.

The universal constitution was not completed by its original Tuesday deadline, but the Downtown student government still expects the constitution to be finished and voted on by the end of the semester.

Downtown student government president Joseph Grossman and the other campus presidents have been working on a universal constitution since early summer. (Evie Carpenter/DD)

Representatives from each campus are intending to meet tomorrow to discuss new edits to the constitution. The president’s council made a first draft of the constitution over the summer, and minor tweaks have been made throughout the semester.

Co-chairs of the Universal Committee Jessica Boehm and Stephanie Avalos and Downtown President Joseph Grossman will be representing the Downtown campus at this meeting.

There has already been one meeting to discuss the universal constitution this semester. This was the first chance for government representatives to see the slight edits done since the original draft.

No one from the West campus was present at the first meeting.

If the Downtown student government wants to implement the universal constitution next semester, it need to vote on it this semester, per the constitution.

The point of the constitution remains to be a basic outline of how student government should work at ASU. But, the constitution will remain broad so each campus can work within it based on their specific needs.

Three members of the Downtown student government met with several administrators from the College of Public Programs Tuesday to help create direct communication between the administration and students.

The result of this meeting was the creation of a college council in the College of Public Programs where students will be able to voice their concerns directly to administrators.

Downtown student government president Joseph Grossman was one of three government members who met with ASU administrators Tuesday. (Evie Carpenter/DD)

It is unknown when the council will be created, but Downtown student government president Joseph Grossman has been suggesting the creation of college councils on the Downtown campus since the first Senate meeting this year.

Grossman and senators from the College of Public Programs Cecilio Porras and Joey Amonett addressed other issues within COPP during their meeting with Scott Decker, director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Dana Newell, assistant dean of student affairs, and Frederick Corey, ASU vice provost and interim dean of the College of Public Programs.

How to unify the many and diverse majors within the College of Public Programs was touched on. Suggestions of how to accomplish this included a class forcing students from different majors to work together and assigning projects in classes that would include aspects of several majors.

The six also discussed some campus-wide issues, including the problems students have had with MAT 142 this semester, breaking down the barriers between colleges Downtown and having professors post class syllabi before students register for classes.

A retreat with about 70 ASU student government members this weekend was held with the intention of getting all the governments on the same page and fostering ideas of how to bring the university together.

Much Sunday afternoon’s three-hour meeting at Skysong in Scottsdale was spent with small groups of government members discussing ideas amongst themselves.

These groups of seven to eight people from different governments would then share their ideas to the whole group.

Downtown student government Sen. Jessica Boehm from Barrett, the Honors College said the government members had mostly similar ideas coming in, but it was still helpful to meet the other campus’ governments.

That doesn’t mean everyone was friendly at the start.

Boehm said all the governments ate at different tables at the beginning.

There were several “getting to know you” and team builder games throughout the retreat to help break the ice between campus governments.

There was also a brief presentation about Downtown’s universal committee by committee chairs Boehm and Freshman Sen. Stephanie Avalos.

Currently, the Downtown student government is the only government to have a universal committee. Boehm and others hope the other campuses will make similar universal committees soon.

The universal committee will be the main point of contact between campus governments and the committee’s main goal will be to try to unite ASU.