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Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Agenda

  1. Call to Order

 

  1. Roll Call
    1. Absent: James Kurnik
  1. Accepting or Amending of the Agenda
    1. Motion to move the budget requests from treasurer’s report to new business.
      1. Move budget request for ACLU to second spot.
      2. Move APALSA funding request to follow officers’ reports.
    2. Motion to approve agenda as amended
      1. Passed

 

  1. Accepting or Amending of the Minutes
    1. Amend minutes under parking report: Ms. Choy, not Ms. Levy, provided the information regarding the no-compete clause between the property company and Case.
      1. Motion to accept minutes as amended.
        1. Passed
  1. Officers’ Reports
    1. President’s Report
      1. Financial Aid Disbursements
        1. Financial Aid Committee spoke with representatives from the medical school. They disperse checks the first week of school.  There will be more details forthcoming about the law school initiative.
      2. Dean’s Forum
        1. Forum with Dean Chodosh was quite informative, but attendance was lacking (18-20). 
        2. Discussed technology initiatives, including web casts of symposia and speakers a, qyasi, Chris Chan and Thomas Irvin are on the committee.  They are looking for another tech-savvy individual to join.
      3. Hurricane relief donations raised $332.  Another fundraiser for hurricane relief will be Thursday at Panini’s. 
    2. Vice-President’s Report
      1. The Dean’s forum will become the responsibility of the curriculum committee. 
      2. Lexis-Nexis is sponsoring faculty-student breakfasts. 
        1. Tuesday morning was successful.  Almost 100 people attended. 
        2. There will be six held throughout the year—appx. 1 per month.  The next breakfast will host professors with work experience in different regions of the US.
      3. There are plans for a cultural diversity day, for which everyone will be encouraged to wear their ethnic attire. PMBR will likely sponsor the event.
        1. Mr. Ryan asks about whether this is primarily for the LLMs.  Ms. Choy answers that it is for the whole student body and will help incorporate LLMs into SBA events.
        2. James Tsai is Lt. Gov. of Diversity in the ABA and is assisting in the organization.
        3. Ms. Levy clarifies issue of whether the student organizations with an ethnic focus will be invited to participate.  Of course they will be. 
        4. Mr. Mortenson delegates this task to the JD/LLM committee.
    3. Secretary’s Report
      1. Vote on meeting schedule
        1. The budget meeting has to be moved to the week preceding Oct. 1st, as that is the start of the fiscal year.  Friday Sept. 30 was proposed, but a number of senators reported that they would be absent due to previous engagements.
      2. Mr. Neely moves to accept the calendar without any meetings scheduled for the last week in September and the first week in October.
        1. Passed.
    4. Treasurer’s Report
      1. Fiscal year begins on October 1st and the budget needs to be approved prior to that.
        1. Committees have requested $20,000 more than can be allocated.  Mr. McLaughlin will be emailing out the proposed budgets to the orgs, which will give them appx. one week to appeal their allocation before the SBA budget approval meeting.  The appeal must be in writing, addressed to Mr. McLaughlin.
        2. Mr. McLaughlin thanks everyone involved with the budget committee for a successful meeting.
      2. Budget allocation:  Ms. Levy explains the revised budgeting scheme.
        1. There will be a midyear review, at which advisors from each organization will be required to appear before the budget committee (at the treasurer’s discretion) to report what they have accomplished thus far and what further plans they have for the remainder of the school year.  Orgs will have to spend their money wisely, prove to the SBA that they have been spending wisely.
        2. Mr. Mortenson explains that they have to show the results vis a vis the number of members and participants attending events.
        3. Mr. McLaughlin points out that in subsequent years, there will be more accountability among the organizations.  If org says that all the money is going to beer, but only 10 people attend events, treasurer will have the discretion to request a report from the organization to justify their expenditures to receive further funding.
        4. Mr. Ryan applauds the idea and says that the best way to accomplish this is to have the org appear before treasurer to get further approval.
        5. Mr. Zink asks whether is it logical to withhold money the subsequent year because of a poor allocation of funds the previous year. 
          1. Mr. McLaughlin answers that this will make the exec boards of the orgs held more accountable for their choices.
        6. Mr. Zink asks what’s to hold them accountable the following semester.
          1. Mr. McLaughlin concedes that this is a good point.
        7. Ms. Swaine says that these are legitimate organizations and the SBA should give them money in good faith as trustworthy law students.
        8. Mr. McLaughlin says it’s not just about spending unwisely, it’s that there are a few orgs that never spend their money at all, while other orgs are in need of dire funding for events they intend to hold.  It’s not about SBA being a watchdog.  The review is more to make sure that the organizations are doing their best to maximize attendance and have a successful event; so legitimate events are not in the hole.
        9. Mr. Ryan mentions that in the past organizations have forgotten their funds and spend it all at the very end of the year on things that are not popular to students, poorly attended, etc. 
        10. Mr. Hsieh thinks the midterm report is good, but from the standpoint of the budget committee, all the orgs already have to apply for their funds.  He compares it to other schools where allocation is specific for social, educational events, etc.  He also mentions that it is hard to predict how many people will attend an event the following year and the allocations are based on the previous year
        11. Mr. Zink suggests that SBA bring in an auditor, particularly whenever an organization is cash-strapped and others still have their full funds available.  His undergrad did this successfully.
        12. Mr. Tsai asks for clarification on what Senate will be doing at the immediate moment about this issue.  Mr. McLaughlin responds that it’s an FYI for the future.
    5. Senate Counsel’s Report
      1. Mr. Neely says that the treasurer has wide latitude to make decisions in his position.
      2. Roberts Rules of Order: when you address the body, you have to be recognized by the share.  In our body you raise your hand.  The senator will be told to speak and normally have a maximum time limit.  A nonmember normally can’t gain the floor, unless a member gives up some of his/her time.
      3. Senator Weinstein has resigned; therefore there is a spot in the 3L class.  Mr. Neely has received no 3L applications. 
        1. Ms. Lefton suggests that an email go out to the 3Ls because they may not understand why a position is open. 
      4. Mr. Neely thoroughly inspects his notes before closing.

 

  1. APALSA funding request-- Mr. Hsieh
    1. Annual APALSA BBQ and info session held thus far.  Wants more people to attend to encourage cultural diversity.
    2. He requests money from the 2004-05 fiscal year bc the organization has run out of funds.
      1. Info meeting cost $80.  The BBQ cost $300.  The attendance for the info meeting was 30.  the BBQ was 40-60 people.
    3. Mr. Ryan asks why they held events without the money.  They were told that they couldn’t get funding because the new fiscal year was Oct. 1st.
    4. Mr. McLaughlin interjects that any events still to occur prior to next fiscal year was thrown out during last budget meeting. .
    5. Mr. Hseih asks for $289.30 to cover the events.
    6. Choy asks whether the money is coming from the rollover.  Mr. McLaughlin answers that it’s coming from what the SBA still have left over.
    7. Choy then asks that if the BBQ was held jointly with SALSA and APALSA, why they aren’t splitting it.  Hseih answers it’s because he covered it.
    8. Mr. McLaughlin says there is $12,000 left at this point, and by October 1st, the SBA should be on schedule for the budget rollover. 
    9. Mr. Ryan asks why they didn’t request money for this last year if this is an annual event.  Mr. Hsieh answers that this is the 1st annual.  He will be making it annual after this year.  Ryan asks whether this is in the budget request for next year, but Mr. Hsieh replies that he forgot. 
      1. Choy suggests that if they don’t amend their request for next year to cover this cost,  that they won’t get additional funding at that time.
    10. Mr. Ryan says that he is voting in favor while holding reservations about the responsible spending of the organization.
    11. Mr. Zink asks whether we can make it clearer to the organizations that they have to start itemizing events for the next school year.
    12. Mr. McLaughlin points out that APALSA still has money in the account, just not enough to cover the event.  He suggests that the account be zeroed out and SBA approves to cover the rest. 
    13. Mr. Kringle asks how much is in the SALSA account. 
    14. Ms. Lefton suggests that we only work with APALSA right now that we don’t have to wait on notifying SALSA.  But Neely mentions that that’s unnecessary, as that is in the Senate’s power. 
    15. Ms. Choy moves to vote on approving the request.
    16. Mr. Neely moves to amend that SALSA and APALSA split their costs and the remainder come from SBA (after zeroing out APALSA’s acct).
    17. Mr. Zink points out that since all this money is rolling over, it will ultimately come from the same place.
    18. Motion to vote on amended request to reimburse APALSA by covering the remaining costs by zeroing out the account, or $289.
      1. Passed, with  2 opposed, 1 abstention.
  1. Committee Reports
    1. Admissions:  Lauren Lefton, Kelly Swaine  
      1. Considering a stay-over-night program for entering law students.  The purpose of the sleep over is to show incoming students how fun Case Law really is.  Ms. Swaine (more seriously) mentions that this is for welcoming prospective students.  It still needs to be formalized with the admissions.
        1. Mr. Mortenson says that they should get in touch with Jennifer Alcorn.
        2. Mr. Hsieh asks whether this is like an outreach.  Asks whether they will be requesting money.  Ms. Lefton responds, no, they can buy their own drinks.
        3. Ms. Choy commends the idea and says that the med school does this successfully.
    2. Alumni: Michael Mortenson, Brent Ryan, James. Zink
      1. Mr. Mortenson says that he has been slow on getting young alums together.  He spoke with Ku Yoo on further organizing events.  He wants to meet in the near future at the winking lizard.
    3. Buildings & Grounds:  James Kurnik                           
      1. Mr. Mortenson suggests that bird guards be placed over the windows of the bridge because they fly into the glass and die.
    4. Commencement: Reid Arnold, Kelly Swaine              
      1. Ms. Swaine says that the head of the committee is doing fundraising.  She asks what the standard allocation of the budget is.  The proposal for this upcoming year is $17,642.
      2. Mr. Ryan suggests that the speaker they get for commencement be pretty sweet.
      3. Mr. Mortenson mentions that nobody knows who arranges for the commencement speaker. 
      4. Ms. Levy says that a prof like Prof. Scharf with connections should ask his acquaintances. 
      5. Mr. Mortenson says that the clothing sales can be more successful to raise funds.  The committee should come up with designs to present to the SBA to vote on for approval.
      6. Ms. Swaine agrees that the designs were hideous last year.
    5. Community Service:  Ms. Levy      
      1. Ms. Levy says that 30 people have signed up for the race.  Today was the last day to sign up, but the website was giving problems.  Anyone trying to sign up should talk to Ms. Levy.
      2. Students went out last Friday to plant flags in front of KSL to remember 9-11. 
      3. Ms. Levy would like to set up a toy drive for Buddies for the holidays. 
    6. CSO/career planning:  Laura Ball, James Kurnik        
      1. Possible event is a lunch presentation of 2Ls that had different summer experiences to help out current 1Ls. 
        1. Mr. Mortenson says that he met with a CSO staff member about a similar event.
      2. Ms. Swaine mentions that (ala the Docket article) the Coast Guard was included in the DC interviewing day, which became primarily a military recruiting day.  There are a lot of disgruntled students.
        1. Mr. Cary says he brought it up at the Dean’s forum.  Some students refused to go when they found out about the arrangement and were told they couldn’t participate in future interviews.  Mr. Cary felt that this was excessive punitive action. 
        2. Mr. Mortenson suggests that for the next forum, CSO and Dean Chodosh can attend to discuss such issues.
    7. Curriculum:  Brent Ryan, Chris Kringle       
      1. The name of the Civil Litigation Clinic was changed to the Civil Litigation and Mediation Clinic.
      2. Professor Berg’s proposed course proposal, Research and Ethics and Regulation: Emerging Issues and Ongoing Challenges, was approved.
      3. Professor Groetzinger’s proposed seminar, The Art of International Deal Making, was tabled until the next meeting.
      4. Former Senator Shuba created report that will be presented at a future meeting.
      5. Mr. Ryan says that once a course is approved it stays on the course list until it hasn’t been taught for 3 years.  Mr. Ryan is trying to ID courses that everyone takes before graduating, and flag classes that are desirable, then create a schedule that won’t overlap secondary classes with these primary classes.  Students should be well prepared for the bar.  When students see an interesting class offered, they will jump on opportunity and give up a primary course, bc they don’t know if it will be offered again.
      6. Ms. Levy mentions that it appears that most of the bar oriented courses are scheduled around the same time, and students will drop a course expecting to take it later, only to find it is not being offered—such as with what happened with Administrative Law.
      7. Mr. Ryan says that students need to communicate the demand for classes.  Mr. Mortenson corroborates this information.  It was brought up at the Dean’s Forum.
      8. ERISA, family law, and sport and entertainment law have been restructured.  New sections have been added. 
      9. Mr. Mortenson explains that they can’t let more people into the clinics for pedagogical reasons.  The full year requirement is for the benefit of the students. 
      10. Mr. Ryan mentions a clinic that was a semester long last year, but it didn’t conform to the capstone requirement and CaseArc.
      11. Mr. Arnold says that the clinic should be worth more than 3 credits because the workload is so heavy (expletives have been deleted).
      12. If any students have questions, they should email Mr. Ryan or Chris.
    8. Fall Ball:  Laura Falcone
      1. Proposal for ticket prices:
        1. The price of the venue is $20,586.  DJ is $400.00.  Open bar, but no triple fisting.
        2. Advertising needs to be stronger.
        3. Mr. Arnold asks whether this is buffet…Ms. Falcone fervently answers yes. It’s just better this way. 
        4. Ms. Choy says three words: chocolate fountain fondue
        5. The taste test was outstanding.
    9. Honor Code:  Chris Kringle, James Tsai
      1. The faculty working with the committe has been revising the code on honor code violations.  Mr. Tsai has asked Prof. McMunigal for a copy.
    10. Library: Lisa Levy
      1. There have been complaints about the library.  It’s still under construction.
    11. SBA Retreat:  Devlin Cary, Laura Falcone   
      1. In the fall, a small event, like bowling or a casino.
      2. In the spring is the bigger retreat…like leaving Cleveland. 
      3. Mr. Cary open for suggestions.  Possibly someone’s dad’s huge house.
    12. Student Life:  Reid Arnold, Laura Falcone, James Zink
      1. Bar review last week f’n rocked.  Over 200 people attended. 
      2. Panini’s is doing a fundraiser this Thursday.  $25 at the door, free draught beer from 9-12.  $10 will go to the law school to donate, and Panini’s will donate any profits.
    13. Sports:   Devlin Cary, Lauren Lefton
      1. Mr. Cary got in contact with CSU.  In the past there has been a flag football tourney. 
      2. Possible volleyball tourney with the med school.
      3. During the winter it will be indoors, like dodgeball.
      4. In the spring there will be either softball or baseball.
    14. JD/LLM:  no report                         
    15. Website:                 Jennifer Choy, Annamarie Holmes, Laura Ball:
      1. There will be a blog spot for rotating upcoming events.  Everything is set to go within the next 3 weeks.
      2. Mr. Cary suggests a link to intramural sports.
    16. Financial Aid: Michael Mortenson, James Tsai, Greg McNeil, David Greenspan
      1. Refer to president’s report.

 

  1. Subcommittee Reports
  1.  Old Business

 

  1. New Business
    1. Dean’s Open Forum
      1. Mr. Mortenson says this is very positive.  The students were open with the Dean and he was open in return.  Suggests that students that have complaints should attend….either put up, or shut up!
    2. Vote on Fall Ball ticket prices
      1. Ms. Falcone thinks that raising the cost at the end might be a mistake in convincing people that are on the fence.
      2. Ms. Swaine doesn’t understand why they cut the budget for fall ball this year.  She says that it was $11,000 last year, and the prices for the tickets could be $30.  There were a record number of ticket sales.  The difference between $35 and $40 could make a difference in attendance.  Ms. Swaine also mentioned that the bulk of the people last year bought their tickets within the last 2 days. 
      3. Mr. Ryan asks how many tickets were sold online.  Ms. Swaine not sure, but there were a lot. 
      4. Ms. Swaine says that there was a $1.50 surcharge for every order online, which was covered by SBA.
      5. Mr. McLaughlin supports that raising prices would deter people in the end.  A suggestion is to make tickets cheaper for dates.  It will give people incentive to bring a date. 
      6. Mr. Tsai thinks the price is too high.  Proposes a motion to set the price at $35 for the first few days, and raise the cost later.  And to allocate more funds to fall ball at the budget meeting.
      7. Mr. Ryan suggests adding an extra $500 or $1000 to the Fall Ball budget and set the price at $35 with no raise. 
        1. Ms. Choy supports Mr. Ryan’s suggestions. Also there will be food available the WHOLE night. 
      8. Mr. McLaughlin mentions that there were some budget committee members that were unhappy about the allocation to fall ball.
      9. Mr. Ryan says that fall ball is the most popular event by far, and it is good exercise for lawyers to be able to be social and hold their liquor. 
      10. Ms. Lefton says there should be no reason why people think most of the budget goes to alcohol.  The bill should be published to prove this.
      11. Choy says that if budget allocates another $1,000, the ticket prices will be $33.29.  If  $500, then tix will be $34.95.
      12. Ms. Falcone has agreed to appeal the budget allocation at the budget meeting.  That will allow us to sell the tickets at $35. 
        1. Ms. Lefton says that last year there was no voting on the ticket prices.  Mr. Mortenson answers that exec board unsure about past precedent, but would like to defer to the senate.  If the Senate gives permission, then the exec board will set cost.
        2. Mr. Neely, as senate council, says it’s within the Senate’s power to organize the fall ball, and that the senate has the power to set the prices.  They have to grant the committee the power to set the prices.
        3. Motion to give the fall ball committee the power to set the ticket prices. 
          1. Passed with 2 opposed. 
    3. ACLU funding request—James Tsai
      1. Taken off the agenda
    4. Professional Council Volleyball funding request—James Tsai
      1. Volleyball tourney on Saturday.  Thus far there are 4 participants; would like to create a specific SBA team. 
      2. Mr. Arnold moves to not give Mr. Tsai the money.
        1.  There is debate about whether negative motions are proper.  Motion stands. 
      3. Mr. McLaughlin says that there are restrictions about giving groups affiliated with outside organizations money.
      4. Mr. Tsai notes that last year $300 was given to an ABA mock trial team. 
      5. One opposed to vote on Mr. Arnold’s motion.
        1. Passed.  6 opposed. 2 abstentions. 
    5. Mr. Ryan proposes a subcommittee to find late-night student parking and appoints Mr. Arnold to head committee. 
      1. Motion to form committee with Mr. Arnold as head.
        1. passed
  2. Announcements
  1. Cheers & Jeers
    1. Cheers:
      1. Greenspan for a mean article
      2. Mr. Arnold for a great bar review
      3. Everyone on the budget committee
      4. Ms. Falcone for all her work on the fall ball
      5. Laura Ball on the website
      6. Ms. Levy on her community service
      7. Greg McNeil for the 9-11 memorial
      8. Everyone for sitting on the Race for the Cure table
      9. The cashews
      10. David Greenspan
      11. Mr. Arnold for the new subcommittee
      12. adjournment.
    2. Jeer:
      1. SBA for creating the new subcommittee for Mr. Arnold

 

  1. Adjournment