The Student Association meeting Monday night was an open forum for students to pose questions to SA members. The audience consisted of approximately 15 students.SA elections for the 53rd session began on MySlice Monday, and end Thursday at midnight. But there was little talk of the elections, only a reminder to promote voting.

A majority of questions from the audience were directed to John Barnhart, chair of the student engagement committee. He has been working with student organizations this semester and attending their meetings to discuss what services SA offers the organizations.

‘I’m working to bridge the gap that seems to exist between SA and everybody else on campus,’ Barnhart said.

The questions focused on what Barnhart has been doing to reach his goals. He said he’s met with five student organizations this semester.

The meeting also included a PowerPoint report on the cabinet’s activity. Each cabinet member summarized what he or she has accomplished during the 52nd session.

* Tim Wilke, academic affairs chair, said the university has created a task force to incorporate sustainability into Syracuse University curriculum. He also mentioned that two new learning spaces are being decided upon for the spring semester. They could include the Mount Inn, a space in Brewster, Boland and Brockway, or Bird Library.

* Greg Klotz, on-campus affairs chair, summarized the efforts being made to provide SU housing over summer break. SU wants to expand its housing options so students who have internships in Syracuse can live on campus. He also discussed his committee’s ongoing attempts to provide buses to away sporting events.

* Alejandro Fernandez-Lovo, off-campus affairs chair, outlined the success downtown with the Common Counsel and the 40 Below Summit, a Central New York youth empowerment program.

* Alec Sim, board of elections and membership chair, emphasized the importance of voting in the SA elections this week. He also said the assembly representatives that appear on each student’s ballot only apply to their home college. In total, there are 14 assembly candidates.

* Kaitlyn Eberle, judicial review board chair, created a complaint form for organizations that has been approved by the Office of Student Life.Helene Kahn and Larry Seivert gave the board of trustees report. Kahn and Seivert attended and presented at the full board of trustees meeting this past weekend. The meeting drew in 48 trustees from around the world.

Kahn said one of the biggest issues discussed during the weekend was the creation of a new office where all of the different vans around campus can be centralized. She said that at night these vans would be used for Shuttle-U-Home services. The vans will also be rented to student organizations.

‘With centralizing these resources, we’re actually hoping it saves money,’ Seivert said. ‘It makes financial sense.’

At the beginning of the meeting, the assembly passed a bill about a proposed financial vision. The assembly is responsible for providing the finance board with a financial vision for the upcoming budget season, giving criteria for budgeting decisions. When the vision sparked a debate, Marlene Goldenberg, SA president, explained that the financial vision is simply a formality. The financial vision that was agreed upon by the majority of the assembly includes the following points:

* ‘Collaboration should be emphasized in the interest of promoting campus unity and higher quality programs.’

* ‘Events catering to larger groups of students shall be given preference over those which serve only a small number.’

* ‘Funding shall be spread out among a variety of organizations to ensure quality programs in all facets of campus life.’

* ‘Funding shall be distributed to promote long-lasting and sustainable programming that is in keeping with modern technology.’

mequalte@syr.edu

Published on November 10, 2008 at 12:00 pm