Senators Present

Daniel Strigle, Michael Mancill, Michael Golub, Sarah Walker, Michael Magnun, Ashley Strauch, Beth Steele, McKinley Zakurdaew, John Seiler, Ayla O’Scannell and Simon Ortega

Senators Absent

Mickey Wilson

Directors Present

Corey Boiko

Guests Present

Anne Williamson, former Senator Bobby Pendleton, former senator Robert Kinnard, President Emeritus Joe Hayes and former vice president Dillon Ball.

Ball stepped down from his position as vice president. Freitag then appointed  Ball  as a senator, which he accepted during the meeting. “I enjoyed my term as vice President. There were a lot of ups and downs but I really enjoyed the opportunity to represent the students in that manner. Thanks for the opportunity to serve,” Ball said.

Election results

The 2013 ASUAF election results were made official. Twenty ballots were found to be fraudulent and removed after students reported that their student ID numbers had been used without their permission to vote. After the reading of the winners, Zakurdaew said, “[Votes for] ‘Boners Boners Boners’ didn’t do as well as my numbers had initially projected.”

Summer senate

The senators on the summer senate committee are Seiler, Magnan, Zakurdaew, Steele, Strauch, Strigle and Mancill.

Senator of the Year

The senate named Michael Magnan ”Senator of the Year.” Zakurdaew said Magnan has been a tirelessly working senator all year. “He was on all 5 committees last semester, took over Student Affairs committee chair and has greatly improved ASUAF,” Zakurdaew said.

Quote of the Year

Ball’s comment from last semester was voted as the quote of the year. “Do we have enough money between the trust fund and the roll over to purchase a moon base? No? What about a really small moonbase?” The runner up was a quote from Freitag, “Thanks for champin’ up, you guys rock.”

SB 180-012 Pretty Pictures Update

The legislation would allocated, 700 to buy a maximum of 4 cameras for the UAF Library Media Desk. “The library only has one nice camera. All the rest are point and shoot and the lenses don’t even come off,” Golub said. Ball felt that the legislation had too many unanswered questions and the senate shouldn’t pass a large amount of money without being fully informed about the issue. The bill failed and will be renewed during the summer senate.

SB180-007 Summer Committee Funding

Ball and Zakurdaew sponsored the legislation, which would move $2,200 of senate project funds into the summer committee fund because there’s not enough time to research projects currently proposed. It passed.

SB 180-014: Combining the Vice President and Senate Chair Positions

The legislation would remove the position of senate chair and replace it with the Vice President position. There was opposition from Strigle and Steele, claiming that students should have more of a say in the removal of elected positions. Steele said, “We are the senate by the people for the people, not by the people who know better for the people.”

Hayes spoke in favor of the legislation, saying, “With the shared position you’ll have a natural connection [between the legislative and and executive branch.] There’s no knowledge gap, or information gap. This position hurts the senate in the way that’s it’s set up right now.”

Ball, Zakurdaew and Mancill said that they believed the senators should choose their own chair because there have been people that have taken the position that did not necessarily care about the legislative process.

Walker suggested that the legislation should be reread because there was so much confusion, people didn’t seem to understand that the Vice President position wasn’t actually being removed. The senate voted and the legislation did not pass.

SB 180-015 In which there is Commencement

Steele sponsored the legislation, which would allocate money to purchase fake mustaches for graduates during commencement fail. It was “fiscally irresponsible and ridiculous”, said Magnan, and the money could be better spent. The senate voted and the legislation did not pass.

SB108-016 In which there is Karaoke

Zakurdaew sponsored the legislation. The bill to use $3,500 to purchase a Karaoke machine for students to borrow. Zakurdaew talked to Heather Kraemer, the manager of the Pub, and she suggested a sturdy one that would be a good choice. Strigle supported the legislation saying, “Let students sing and make an ass of themselves, especially in the cold winter months. That sounds great.” Pendleton suggested that a pub worker could put the digital songs on the machine as digital songs last longer than CDs. Any group would be permitted to borrow the machine. Strauch recommended that the bill fail. “We just struck down a bill that cost less. The machine would only serve mostly on-campus residents and those over 21.” The senate voted and the legislation passed.

SB 180-003 Honoring Former Senator Kinnard

The legislation would enact the title of Senator Emeritus on Kinnard. Zakurdaew said that he respects Kinnard but thinks that Emeritus is a big title to give away after only one year after graduation.

Kinnard spoke and said that he believes in the power of education and works to bring veterans to UAF. However, he declined because he felt that there were other legislators better suited for the position. The senate voted and the legislation did not pass.

Free Brinner

O’Scannell reminded the senators that they were hosting and funding a late night breakfast in the Wood Center on Monday night from 8-11 PM.

Senators present

Mickey Wilson, Michael Mancill, Simon Ortega, Ayla O’Scannell, Sarah Walker, McKinley Zakurdaew, Daniel Strigle, Beth Steele and John Seiler

Senators absent

Michael Golub and Ashley Strauch

Officers present

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

Marriage counseling for sustainable groups

The R.I.S.E Board and the Sustainability Office have been working with Freitag to create a selection committee to help them work together. Freitag says there had been poor communication between the departments in the past and this committee should repair some of those issues. The ASUAF President, Director of Sustainability Michele Hebert and an ASUAF senator, ASUAF Office Manager Anne Williamson and student sustainability worker will make up the committee.

Glowsticks at the concert

O’Scannel reported that members of the senate handed out all of the glow sticks that they purchased at the Theophilus London concert. She added that next Sunday The Sun Star will move into the senate chambers. They will be out of their current space chambers by of May 5.

Voter fraud update

Freitag says the elections board has a good idea of who is behind the ASUAF voter fraud. They won’t reveal a name until they have enough evidence. Two of the computers used to vote were off campus and OIT is currently contacting ACS to get those IP Addresses. The computer that was used on campus appears to have voted from 9 different locations. Figuring disciplines of student id numbers. When connecting the student ID numbers from the fraudulent ballots, it was found that most of the students had a connection to one club. Freitag said the Dean of Students wants to make an example of the students responsible for the fraud. “If we can prove it,” Freitag said, “this person will not be involved with UA at all in the future.” As a result of the fraud, the election results will not be made official until the next senate meeting.

Senator of the year

Zakurdaew, Seiler and Macill were nominated for the “Senator of the Year” award. Further nominations were tabled until next week’s meeting.

“SB180-012 Pretty Pictures Update”

Golub sponsored legislation to purchase 4 Canon DSLR cameras for students to rent from the UAF Library Media Desk for $4,000. It was sent to the student affairs committee for review.

“SB 180-013 Feeding Malnourished Students Before Finals”

Seiler sponsored legislation to allocate $3,000 for the purpose of hosting a late night breakfast and study help event. It was sent to the student affairs committee for review.

“SB180-014 Combining Vice President and Senate Chair Positions”

Magnan sponsored legislation that would remove the position of the Senate Chair and replace it with the Vice President. The change would provide an extra link of communication between ASUAF Executive and Legislative branches and help the senate make quorum. The legislation was sent to the internal affairs committee for review.

“SB180-015 In Which There is Commencement”

Zakurdaew sponsored legislation that would allocate $300 to purchase fake mustaches that would be given to graduates to wear during Graduation in honor of Chancellor Rogers’ famous mustache. It was sent to the public relations committee for review.

“SB180-006 In which there is Hot Chocolate”

Zakurdaew sponsored the legislation, which would provide students with marshmallow hot chocolate in the ASUAF office. The legislation was sent to the public relations committee for review.

SR180-003, 004 and 005 Emeritus

The legislation was created to nominate former senators Robert Kinnard and Chelsea Holt as Senators Emeritus and Frietag as President Emeritus. Emeritus is Latin for someone who has served their time with honor and has moved on. The legislation was sent to the internal affairs committee for review.

So long, farewell, auf weidersein

Freitag gave a passionate speech to the senators in the event that this was her last senate meeting after 5 years of service. “Just remember that ASUAF can always improve, it can always be better and you can always be better in your positions. Don’t ever settle for something that’s not the best. The students are your constituency and you owe them the best.”

Senators present

Daniel Strigle, Michael Mancill, Michael Golub, Michael Magnan, McKinley Zakurdaew, Beth Steele, Ashley Strauch and John Seiler

Senators absent

Sarah Walker and Mickey Wilson

Directors present

Bryant Hopkins

Officers present

Mari Freitag

Guests Present

KSUA employee Annie Bartholomew, CMENC students and former ASUAF senator Jennifer Chambers

Music students thank the senate

Students from the College Music Educators National Conference attended the senate meeting to tell ASUAF how they used the funds  they received to attend the American String Teacher’s Association National Conference in Providence, R.I. “I learned ideas that I can apply not only to my classes here, but also in my student teaching,” said a CMENC student.

Ghosts of senators past

Former senator Jennifer Chambers gave her opinions on the ASUAF budget approval. Chambers suggested that the senate change some of the bylaws of the student applications for Alternative Spring Break and the Nanook Traditions Winter Carnival funding to include other programs. “Those are great programs,” Chambers said, “But ASUAF should be doing more to help graduate and non trad students.”

Chances to volunteer

O’Scannell spoke with UAF Employer Relations Coordinator Alice Palen, about Green Dot Alaska. The program is a non profit that works to combat sexual abuse in Alaska and helps people who would be bystanders in those situations to defuse the situation without getting confrontational.

UAF giveth…

Freitag is working with the Board of Trustees to create a scholarship from their trust fund. The scholarship would be offered to an undergraduate one semester and a graduate student the following semester. There is approximately $2,000 in the trust to dispense.

…and UAF taketh away

The UA Board of Regents met in Sitka last week. One of the topics for discussion was tuition for School of Management. Tuition will be increased by 10 percent in fiscal year 2014 and 15 percent in fiscal year 2015. Freitag opposed the proposal going through. Freitag said the proposal sets a bad precedent for the rest of the UA system. “I just want the students to be aware of what’s happening and I hope we can get some students to testify against it in June,” Freitag said.

New student staff

The new General Manager for KSUA is Brady Gross and next year’s Sun Star editor-in-chief is Lakeidra Chavis. They will begin their positions in May.

“SB180-009 Concert Board Document Revision”

O’Scannell sponsored the legislation, which disallows ASUAF from reversing all of Concert Board’s monetary decisions. The Concert Board must provide a year-end report in April or May. The legislation also removes both elected positions and replaces one of the removed positions with a hired student employee.

KSUA employee and Concert Board member, Annie Bartholomew  said the Board wants people who are active in seeking the role and not just getting write-in votes at the last minute.

The legislation passed by a 7-1 vote. Golub opposed the legislation.

“SB180-010 State of ASUAF Revisions”

Zakurdaew, Mancill, Steele and Magnan sponsored the revision of the legislation. With the revision, the legislation will allow the year-end recap to accurately reflect the entire year. The annual report will now be presented to the senate for approval after elections and before the last meeting of academic year.

“SB180-011 Much Needed upgrades”

Magnan sponsored this bill that allocated $4,500 to purchase new computers for students to use in the ASUAF office. The legislation was moved to Student Affairs Committee.

“SB180-012 In which there is Springfest”

Zakurdaew sponsored the legislation, which would provide prizes to hand out during the Springfest Tradition. The proposed charges were $400 to hand out bubbles, $175 for white t-shirts for the Color Me Bad Fun Run, $300 for Alaska Airline miles and a Razor Scooter as prizes for the Kick-off BBQ and $200 for watermelons to throw from the top of Gruening for a total of $1,075. The senate passed the legislation unanimously.

“SB180-006 ASUAF Budget discussion”

Senate legislation to approve the budget of $15,000 for each semester passed unanimously.

Senators present

Michael Magnun, Ayla O’Scannell, Michael Mancill, Daniel Strigle, McKinley Zakurdaew, Ashley Strauch and Sarah Walker

Senators absent

Beth Steele, Michael Golub, Mickey Wilson, John Seiler and Simon Ortega

Officers present

Dillon Ball and Mari Freitag

Directors present

Fred Brown

Have money? Feed students.

Freitag wants to fund and staff a late night free breakfast program near finals week with Nanook Traditions or as a fundraiser for Alternative Spring Break. Alternative Spring Break still has to raise a little over $1,000 for their trip to Mexico and the program can help raise the necessary funds. Freitag encouraged the senators to come up with other projects that could help students before the end of the year “As of January we still have 10 grand in senate projects and I want you to spend it,”  Freitag said. “There are a lot of things that you could do with that money.” O’Scannell suggested giving away root beer floats at a Springfest event.

Stuff Most People Get

Seiler sponsored legislation “SB 180-007 Spring Fest SWAG – Stuff We All Get.” The legislation fund money to purchase glowsticks for the Springfest concert and hot chocolate for Springfest mud volleyball. The total cost is $500. The senate passed the legislation  passed by a unanimous vote, after some discussion about removing the second clause that stated, “Wheras, [Springfest] is super fun and could be mo’ fun.” Brown and Freitag felt that the clause should be removed because it seemed unprofessional but senators wanted to leave it in to add some variety. It was eventually stricken from the legislation.

Committee Action

The Executive Committee met and discussed the budget and student travel applications. They will bring all submissions to next week’s meeting. The Public Relations Committee also met. The Internal Affairs and Student Affairs Committees did not meet.

A new table for MacLean

O’Scannell sponsored “SB180-008 MacLean Pool Table.” The legislation would refelt the MacLean House pool table and add a table cover so that it could double as a food service table for potlucks. The bill was sent to the Student Affairs Committee.

Woo-Woo Budget

During a discussion of the budget, Magnan announced that the money for the bus to the Governor’s Cup game in Anchorage will need to be re-evaluated because the tournament organization will change next year. Further discussion was tabled for next week’s meeting when more senators could participate in the discussion.

Senators present

John Seiler, Michael Magnun, Ayla O’Scannell, Michael Mancill, Michael Golub, Mickey Wilson, McKinley Zakurdaew, Ashley Strauch and Simon Ortega

Senators absent

Beth Steele, Sarah Walker and Daniel Strigle

Officers present

Dillon Ball

Directors present

Corey Boiko and Bryant Hopkins

May he rest in peace… in an easy chair somewhere

O’Scannell announced that Collingwood resigned from the senate. “He is no longer with us,” O’Scannell said. Collingwood chaired the Executive Committee.

It’s not about the money, money, money

The American Fisheries Club submitted 2 club funding requests for $50 each and they were both funded. That error has been fixed and all other clubs were given an extra 50 or 60 cents to make up for it.

Juneau: What a wonderful town

At a recent meeting for the Board Of Regents, Governor Parnell made budget cuts including $2.65 million reduction from the university’s budget. Members of the legislature want the university to be more accountable for the money that is available before allocating out more funds.

Making lists about making lists

Boiko suggested that senators pass legislation that requires them to better account for their time in the ASUAF office.

To meet or not to meet

Executive, Public Relations and Student Affairs committees did not meet this week.

Internal Affairs committee met and reviewed the bylaws and constitution. Zakurdaew said, “It’s still there.” They also prepared for the upcoming ASUAF year in review.

And the nominees are…

Tim Murphrey of Rural Student Services and Dr. Alexander Hirsch from Political Science were nominated for faculty and staff of the year awards. Further nominations have been tabled until the next meeting.

Zakurdaew accepted the nomination as Collingwood’s replacement as Executive Committee Chair. Zakurdaew stepped down from Internal Affairs Committee Chair because one senator cannot chair two committees.

Steele and Mancill were both nominated for IA Committee Chair. The decision was tabled until Steele could be present to accept or decline and O’Scannell will act as defacto chair until next week’s meeting

March 5, 2013

Senators present

John Seiler, Michael Magnun, Beth Steele, Daniel Strigle, Ayla O’Scannell and Sarah Walker

Senators absent

Will Collingwood, Mickey Wilson, McKinley Zakurdaew, Ashley Strauch, Mickey Wilson, Simon Ortega and Michael Golub

Officers present

Dillon Ball

Directors present

Corey Boiko

Close, but no quorum

The senate did not meet this week because there were not enough senators in attendance to meet the minimum amount required for a meeting. The senate will try to schedule another meeting before spring break.

Senators present

Dan Strigle, McKinley Zakudaew, Ashley Strauch, John Seiler, Beth Steele, Michael Golub, Sarah Walker and Michael Magnun

Senators absent

Will Collingwood, Mickey Wilson and Simon Ortega

Officers present

Bryant Hopkins, Mari Freitag

Guests present

Christian Burns-Shafer

Committees not committing

The Executive Committee, Internal Affairs Committee, Student Affairs Committee and Public Relations Committee did not meet this week. O’Scannell advised them to find time to meet because there were many items waiting for committee action.

The Election Board is proud to present…

Freitag and former senator Rusty Young have been appointed to the Elections Board.

Itty Bitty Internal Affairs Committee

Burns-Shafer came to the meeting with a marked up copy of legislation “SB 180-002 Internal Workings for Internal Affairs.” The legislation moves bylaws and powers from the Executive Committee to the Internal Affairs Committee. Burns-Shafer felt that instead of sending these items to a committee, the executive board should be more responsible for amending ASUAF rules and bylaws.  The legislation passed by a vote of  7-1. Golub voted against the legislation.

Bringing down the loans

Confusingly, another piece of legislation entitled “SR 180-002:A Resolution Supporting the Alaska State Legislature’s HB 17: An Act Providing For A Reduction Of The Principal of post secondary Education Loans For Residents”. The legislation was drafted to effectively reduce the interest rate on Alaska student loans. The vote was passed by a vote of 7-1. Golub voted against the legislation.

Publine and Dance Update

Seiler spoke with Risk Management on Thursday Feb. 21 and is prepared to move forward with the Pub Line for campus. The Pub Line is a bus that takes students from the pub to other bars in Fairbanks, reducing the likelihood of impaired driving.  Seiler also spoke with Residence Life about hosting a dance for underage students in the Hess Recreation Center saying that it is “aggravating that Res Life has a monopoly on one of three venues to host events.” Steele suggested that the dance be held at the Wood Center Ballroom because “dances at the Hess are getting a reputation for not being very good this year.”

Senators Present

Daniel Strigle, Michael Golub, Sarah Walker, Michael Magnan, Ashley Stauch, McKinley Zakurdaew, Beth Steele, John Seiler, Simon Ortega and Mickey Wilson,

Senators absent

Will Collingwood

Officers present

Bryant Hopkins, Fred Brown and Corey Boiko

Brace yourselves

Elections are coming. Chaired by Bryant Hopkins.

Return of the pub line

Seiler proposed restarting the Pub Line,a shuttle service that picks students up from campus and drives them to bars around town. “It’s pretty cool because it’s essentially a bar on wheels,” Seiler said. “A bar in a school bus.” The price is $100 an hour for a minimum of three hours.

To keep costs down, Seiler suggested that  popular bars sponsor the bus for one night a month. Participating establishments would have ad space on the bus and be a regular stop on the line for that month.

A suggested cost for the bus is about $5 per person. Frietag didn’t like the idea of charging for services because students already pay the ASUAF fee.

There was some worry from Brown and Zakurdaew about liability and a meeting has been arranged with risk management.

Seiler also brought forward the idea of an ASUAF sponsored dance for students that were under 21. Venues are currently being scouted.

Games in dorms

Attempts have been made to reach Residence Life regarding the purchase of game tables and dart boards. More attempts will be made later in the week.

Safety, Will Robinson

SB 180-003 Promoting Safety and Awareness of Human/Robot Hybrids on Campus was sponsored by Seiler. The bill is to use ASUAF funds to create a RoboCop. The bill was voted down unanimously.

Speaking of unanimous votes…

Senator Zakurdaew sponsored legislation SB 180-001 “In Which There is a Spelling Bee.” It was approved to provide a group of students with the $300 they needed to participate in a fund raising spelling bee for the Literacy Council of Alaska.

Senators present

Daniel Strigle, Micheal Golub,  McKinley Zakurdaew, Ashley Strauch, John Seiler, Michael Collingwood, Simon Ortega and Mickey Wilson

Senators absent

Ayla O’Scannell, Michael Magnan and Beth Steele

Officers absent

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

It’s student money and they want it now

SR 180-001 “A resolution Regarding Changes to the Financial Aid Disbursement” bill was sponsored by senators Magnan, Colingwood, Wilson, Strauch and Zakardaew. The new bill changes the financial aid policy to disburse the aid before classes begin instead of the week prior. This bill shows the dissatisfaction of students with the new system. In order to resolve this, SR 180-001 will urge UAF administration to reconsider their changes to the disbursement policy to the original system that was set in place. The bill passed with a 8-0 vote.

I have a great idea

During the meeting, senators discussed ideas to possibly start a holiday “publine” for events such as St. Patricks Day, Mardi Gras and other holidays in which students can take a bus from campus to local bars to help students get around town safely during these events. Liability issues are being researched for this new idea.

Senator Seiler suggested that ASUAF work with Concert Board and KSUA to host a dance for students under 21. “There are not many events for students under 21 on campus, so a dance would be a good idea,” Seiler said. Most senators agreed with the idea, and the fiscal aspect of the dance is being looked into.

Senators present

Daniel Strigle, Micheal Golub, Ayla O’Scannell, Michael Magnan, Ashley Strauch, Beth Steele, John Seiler, Simon Ortega and Mickey Wilson

Senators absent

Michael Collingwood, Sarah Walker and McKinley Zakurdaew

Officers present

Mari Freitag

Guests

Ashleigh Strange spoke to the senate regarding the Biz Bee, an adult spelling bee fundraiser for the Literacy Council of Fairbanks. The entry fee is $350 for the 3 person team. Strange only requested $300, as the team will cover the remaining costs. Students should always feel free to ask their student government for help and the worst they can do say is no, Freitag said. It awaits legislation.

ASUAF open ice beverages

Williamson was approached by Patty Ice Arena manager Adam Powell. Powell wants to hold an open ice event during Winter Carnival and asked if ASUAF would provide coffee and cocoa during the event. It would cost approximately $150. Frietag recommended that Powell first speak with the Nanook Traditions Board, who is in charge of Winter Carnival events.

Ping pong bill

Former senator Matthew Dakus sponsored a bill that proposed the purchase of new ping pong tables, Foosball tables and one ping pong/air hockey table for some of the dorms.

Magnan advocated for failing the bill since Dakus was no longer on the senate, the prices may have changed and there was no evidence of contacting Residence Life on the subject. Strauch agreed, stating that she wanted to see proof that students truly wanted the tables. Steele also said that the bill may not be worth it at this time.

Freitag said that the bill should not fail in the senate because there were some loose ends. “If you want something to happen, don’t fail it. Put the work in to get it going,” Freitag said.

Wilson agreed and said that ping-pong is “one of the world’s most popular games. If we find even 10 people who want the tables, we can supply a lot of happiness.” Golub also supported the bill.

The legislation was sent to the public relations committee for revisions.

The following information was provided by ASUAF Office Manager, Anne Williamson and clerk Daniel Strigle .

Senators present

Will Collingwood, Micheal Golub, Ayla O’Scannell, Sarah Walker, McKinley Zakurdaew, Ashley Strauch, Simon Ortega, Mickey Wilson and Beth Steele

Senators absent 

Micheal Magnan, Matthew Dakus, John Seiler and Virginia Miner

Officers present 

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

Directors present 

Josh Banks, Fred Brown and Corey Boiko

Guest

Marissa Hajduk spoke to the senate about Rare Disease Day, which takes place on Feb. 28. Rare Disease Day is a celebration that focuses on spreading awareness about rare diseases. Currently over 60 countries participate in the commemoration. Hajduk spoke to the senate about potential funding and stated that she wants to get student organizations and clubs involved to spread awareness. “It’s up to each community to put together their own kind of special day,” Hajduk said.

“I solemnly swear…”

Strauch, Wilson and Ortega took the ASUAF Oath of Office and were sworn in as senators. Seiler was also sworn into the senate, although he was absent from the meeting.

New policies make the world go ’round

Collingwood motioned to suspend the rules of procedure. Zakurdaew seconded his motion and the senate went to First Reading of Legislation,where the senate may discuss a piece of legislation and send it to a committee.

Magnan, Collingwood, Wilson, Strauch and Zakurdaew sponsored legislation, ”SR 180-001  Resolution Regarding Changes to the Financial Aid Disbursement Policy.” The legislation proposeschanges to the new policy, which now distributes financial aid on the first day of classes, as prior to previous years when it was disperseda week before.

The legislature says that the new policy does not give students an appropriate amount of time to buy books and the recently added “Drop for Non-Payment” policy create more stress. ASUAF conducted a poll to gauge students’ opinions of the new policy. Eighty-seven percent of the students marked “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied.” ASUAF proposesthat financial aid should be dispersedno less than five days in advance of the start of classes. They urge the UAF administration to reconsider the policy. The legislation was sent to the public relations committee.

Nominations open 

Nominations for a new chair for the public relations committee opened. Zakurdaew nominated Steele. Nominations were tabled until the next meeting on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2012.

Senators Present

Matthew Dakus, Olivia Bowen, McKinley Zakurdaew, Beth Steele, Blake Burley, Michael Golub, Will Collingwood, Alya O’Scannell, Michael Magnan, Virginia Miner and Sarah Walker

Senators Absent

Bryant Hopkins, Rusty Young and Andy Chamberlain

Officers Present

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

Guests Present

Ayshe Yeager came to support an idea to make places for off-campus students to take naps during the school days.

New Director

Bryant Hopkins is resigning from the senate and will be the new government relations director for ASUAF.

Rise Board on hold

The Rise Board elections were tabled until Jan. 20, 2013.

Voting Problem?

An appeal was sent to the Elections Board because someone had difficulty voting online. The appealer logged on and once he was on the first page, he was redirected back to the log-in page and the same happened again on his second try. He allegedly went to the ASUAF office and had his online ballot reset and sent it in, but he did not receive a confirmation email and none of his write-in candidates showed up on the unofficial elections results.

The Elections Board voted that the complaint was valid but would not have an effect on the election. The appeal was sent to the elections review committee. Ball said that for the complaint to be valid there needs to be documented evidence of the problem, according to section 303.2 of the elections board manual, and there was none. It was also argued by Zakurdaew and O’Scannell that there are other options of voting and by Steele that more research is needed to really discuss the problem.

Ball said that this was possibly a singular issue and no one else has sent in any similar complaints and it is unknown if any other students had this same situation. The ERC voted 4-2, agreeing that the complaint was valid. ERC also voted 4-2 to not table the discussion until next week to not cause a special election early next semester or during finals week. There was a 3-3 vote for this appeal having an effect on the election, but according to the rules of procedure 1.2 section A1, a tie results in the rejection of a motion so the complaint was ruled to not effect the election.

Official elections

O’Scannell read the election results at the meeting, making them official.  The results are as follows:

For the senate

Mickey Zakurdaew: 176 votes
Ashley Strauch: 145 votes
Mickey Wilson: 145 votes
Matthew Dakus: 131 votes
John Seiler: 126 votes
Beth Steele: 122 votes
Lana Lawrence (Write-in): 54 votes

For Concert Board

Olivia Bowen: 129 votes

For Student Regent

Courtney Enright: 197 votes

For Student Commissioner on Post-Secondary Education

Matthew Dakus: 6 votes

For the ballot initiative raising ASUAF fee by $7 and modifying allocation percentages

Yes: 183
No: 132

New legislation postponed 

O’Scannell sponsored legislation “SB 179-012 Committee Reorganization,” which would delete many bylaws, adding new bylaws and rewriting others to redesign the committees in an effort to represent the changes in the number of senate seats. The bill was sent to the internal affairs committee. Collingwood made a motion to table any legislation until next week and Zakurdaew seconded. The senate tabled the legislation for one week by a vote of 5-4.

Cancellation?

Burley motioned to cancel the ASUAF meeting next week. Golub seconded the motion. The motion was denied by the senate with a vote of 7-2.

Senators Present

McKinley Zakurdaew, Olivia Bowen, Michael Golub, Blake Burley, Sarah Walker, Alya O’Scannell and Beth Steele

Senators Absent

Bryant Hopkins, Matthew Dakus, Will Collingwood, Virginia Miner, Michael Magnan, Rusty Young, Andy Chamberlain and Nathaniel O’Connor

Officers Present

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

Coalition of Student Leaders

Freitag, Ball and O’Scannell attended the Coalition of Student Leaders Retreat in Anchorage on Thursday, Nov. 15, and Friday Nov. 16. The senators talked about the Strategic Direction Initiative which is meant to evaluate improvements that could be made to the UA system for all students attending university or college through it. There’s a survey posted on the ASUAF page on Facebook for student feedback on SDI. There was also preparation for the Juneau advocacy trip which ASUAF senators attend each year.

Meeting Cut Short

Zakurdaew made a motion that the meeting should be ended after the officer reports so that the ASUAF members could go on their retreat to Chena Hot Springs. Bowen seconded the motion and the meeting ended by a vote of 4-2. The meeting lasted 13 minutes.

Senators Present

Blake Burley, Michael Golub, Olivia Bowen, Matthew Dakus, Bryant Hopkins, Beth Steele, Will Collingwood and Sarah Walker

Senators Absent

Alya O’Scannell, Michael Magnan, McKinley Zakurdaew, Rusty Young, Andy Chamberlain, Virginia Miner and Nathaniel O’Connor

Officers Present

Dillon Ball

Directors Present

Corey Boiko and Fred Brown

Guests Present

Lakeidra Chavis, a psychology student, and Kailey Skinner, an RA from the Sustainable Village, came to ask ASUAF to donate a swag basket to a fundraiser that will take place later this month. The funds raised at the event will go to supporting victims of Hurricane Sandy and the Alternative Spring Break team.

Senate Seat

Will Collingwood acted as the senate seat because of the O’Scannell’s absence.

Appointments

Beth Steele was appointed to the senate by an unanimous vote. Daniel Strigle was appointed to the Elections Board by an unanimous vote.

University Relations Chair

O’Connor stepped down as chair of from the university relations. Steele nominated Dakus as the new chair. Dakus accepted the nomination. Hopkins was voted chair of the university relations board by a unanimous vote.

Revisions to the Elections Board

There were five changes to the elections board manual: a the change to a pool system where all candidates run against each other, that ASUAF members can vote for up to seven candidates, multiple votes by one person on the same ballot for the same candidate will be counted as one vote and if the candidate is an incumbent they must run for the seat they already hold. The legislation passed by a vote of 5-2-0.

Swag Idea

O’Scannell sponsored legislation “SB 179-008 Purchasing ASUAF Promotional Items.” The legislation would allocate $1,100 funding from the budgets of advertising and promotional items to purchase items such as mugs, sticky notes, and magnets featuring the ASUAF logo. These items will be sold to students, and the mugs will be used for hot drinks in the ASUAF office. The legislation was sent to the public relations board for review.

Travel Grant 

The UAF music department applied for and was awarded $2,502.26 from the ASUAF Travel Grant program in the last spring but did not turn in their receipts before the deadline.

Hopkins sponsored legislation “SB 179-009 Fulfillment of ASUAF Travel Grant to UAF Music Department Ensembles.” The legislation would fulfillment giving a reward to the Music Department that they did not receive because of lack of communications. These receipts were received recently so that they can hopefully receive the reward due to them for activities for the rest of the fiscal year. The legislation was expedited and the senate passed the bill by a vote of 7-0.

Senators Present

Blake Burley, Olivia Bowen, Michael Magnan, Michael Golub, Rusty Young, McKinley Zackurdaew, Will Collingwood, Alya O’Scannell, Bryant Hopkins, Matthew Dakus and Virginia Miner

Senators Absent

Nathaniel O’Connor, Andy Chamberlain and Sarah Walker

Officers Present

Mari Freitag and Dillon Ball

Directors Present

Corey Boiko and Fred Brown

Guests Present

Michele Hebert, the Director of Sustainability and Brett Parks, the Board Chair of the RISE board, attended the meeting to clarify that the nominees to the RISE board need to go through an application process to become a member.

Elections

The Elections Board moved the date of elections to Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 from Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 because they did not advertise the election in The Sun Star three weeks in advance as dictated by the election manual bylaws. The candidate forum for people running for senate was moved to Nov. 26 and Nov. 27. Write in candidates to the Elections Board can be present at the candidate forum.

RISE board 

Freitag and Hèbert are working together to re-write the legislation as to the appointments of new members to the RISE board so that new members can be approved by the board itself. This will help ASUAF appoint members who will be beneficial to the board. The nominations for the RISE board was tabled for two weeks, until Nov. 18.

Nominations

 Collingwood nominated himself and Golub nominated Zakurdaew to serve on the Board of Trustees, a governing board elected to direct the policies of an educational institution. Freitag  nominated Young to serve on the Elections Board.

Appeal to the Elections Board reviewed by the Council

A complaint was sent to the Elections Board because of a misunderstanding regarding the due date for petitions. On the print version of the petition application the date said Oct. 30. On the ASUAF website the due date was Oct. 26.

The Elections Board decided that this was a valid complaint but it would not affect elections. The Elections Review Council, who are in charge of coming to a final decision on complaints brought to the Elections Board, also agreed that it was a valid complaint and that it would not effect the elections. O’Scannell, Burley, Collingwood, Hopkins, Miner, Walker and Magnan serve on the council.