Tuesday, March 6, 2007

GA Minutes 06 Mar 07

Proposal to Fund the Profiles in Excellence Award
Sponsored by David Nachman ’09, Corey Chu’08, and the Academic Affairs Committee

WHEREAS sustaining a rich culture of undergraduate teaching is important to both Dartmouth College and the Student Assembly;

WHEREAS the Profiles in Excellence Award reflects the Student Assembly commitment to developing the relationship between students and faculty, and has been awarded each term since the fall of 2001;

WHEREAS the award recognizes outstanding teaching by professors;

WHEREAS the winner of the award is chosen by the Academic Affairs Committee from student nominations;

WHEREAS the Student Assembly holds award dinners each term for the winner of the Profiles in Excellence Award;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee has chosen Professor Marlene Heck of the History and Art History Departments as this term’s recipient of the award;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate up to $600 for the Profiles in Excellence Award plaque and dinner.


Motion to Amend Article III, Section III of the Bylaws of the Constitution of the Student Assembly
Proposed by Jaromy Siporen ’08 and the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee

WHEREAS any amendment to a motion made during debate permanently changes the legislation if accepted by a vote of the Assembly;

WHEREAS Article III, Section III A-D of the Bylaws currently reads:
Section III. Motions Pending
A) After the Chair introduces the motion, the sponsor(s) will make a presentation outlining the motion and discussing the benefits and supporting evidence behind the motion. The Chair shall have the discretion to set a limit on the time of the presentation; however, the time allowed shall not be less than 2 minutes. After the sponsor’s presentation is complete, members will have the opportunity to ask questions about the motion to the sponsor(s);

B) After questions have been answered, any amendments to the motion will be considered. The sponsor of an amendment will speak in favor. Then, one speaker will be allowed to speak in opposition. After the opposing speaker has finished, the amendment will immediately be voted on;

C) After all amendments have been considered, the Assembly will debate the motion. The first speaker shall be a member opposed to the motion. If there is no member willing to speak in opposition to the motion the Assembly shall move immediately to vote on the motion;

D) If, and after a member has spoken in opposition, the President will compile a speaker list of everyone wishing to speak on the motion. No Member may change his or her position on the speakers list;


WHEREAS Article IV, Section II, C of the Constitution reads:

C) No legislation may be brought to the Assembly without prior approval of a Standing Committee;


WHEREAS an amendment to legislation during GA that is not germane could be construed as new legislation and therefore bypasses Article IV, Section II, C of the Constitution.

LET IT BE AMENDED that Article III, Section III of the Bylaws of the Constitution be amended to add the following, directly after clause B:

C) All amendments to legislation shall be germane, being related to the legislation at hand, applicable, and pertinent. If questions arise about whether or not an amendment is germane, the Parliamentarian of the Student Assembly shall make the final judgment.


LET IT FURTHER BE AMENDED that the rest of the clauses in Article III, Section III be re-lettered as needed;

LET IT FINALLY BE AMENDED that upon ratification by majority vote of the Assembly membership, the by-laws shall be updated by the Secretary of the Student Assembly and that this change shall have continuous effect.


Statement in Support of the Student Activities Fair
Proposed by Josh Jacobson ’09, Michael Coburn ’10, David Nachman ’09, and the Student Organizations Committee

WHEREAS a Student Activities Fair is held at the beginning of fall term each year;

WHEREAS this fair provides students the opportunity to learn about campus organizations and activities, and gives organizations the opportunity to publicize their work and to recruit new members;

WHEREAS the Student Activities Fair is run by the Student Activities Office and the Council on Student Organizations during the fall term;

WHEREAS many students are off-campus each fall due to Dartmouth’s D-plan;

WHEREAS freshmen and other students often do not feel settled in and ready to join an organization as such an early point in the year;

WHEREAS holding the Student Activities Fair every term would provide students with an opportunity to learn about campus organizations on a continuing basis;

WHEREAS the Student Organizations Committee is planning to hold an activities fair at the beginning of the upcoming spring term;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly support and endorse the Student Organizations Committee’s proposal to hold a Student Activities Fair at the beginning of the spring term.


Statement in Support of Expanding the Hours of Operation for the Gym and Kresge Fitness Center
Proposed by Josh Jacobson ’09, David Nachman ’09, and the Student Organizations Committee

WHEREAS the Gym and Kregse Fitness Center are open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the weekend;

WHEREAS student’s schedules are often very busy throughout the day and involve activities such as study groups, labs, club sports practices, etc. that do not end until as late as 11 pm;

WHEREAS in a survey administered by the Student Organizations Committee the student body supported expanding the hours of operation to midnight on every night of the week by a ratio of 686 to 75;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly issue the following statement:

The Student Body urges the Athletic Department and Dartmouth College to expand gym hours to midnight every night and to open the gym at eight or nine a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In a survey administered by the Student Organizations Committee of Student Assembly, the student body supported expanding the hours of operation to midnight on every night of the week by a ratio of 686 to 75. Many students provided various reasons for their answers, and this survey had the highest response rate of any this year, demonstrating that this is an issue students care about.

Students’ schedules are often very busy throughout the day and involve activities such as labs, study groups, tutorials, organization's meetings, club sports’ practices, and homework which often run as late as 11 pm. This often precludes students from being able to go to the gym during the current hours of operation. In addition, many Dartmouth students prefer to engage in activities in the late evening.

An extremely high number of respondents also requested that the gym open an hour or two earlier on the weekends, citing lines of people to get in the door at 10 am when the gym opens.

The Dartmouth College Recreation Advisory Board, a board within the Athletics Department, unanimously supported expanding gym hours at their meeting on March 1st, providing more evidence for the student body’s support of expansion.

Expanding gym hours will help to alleviate the high demand for cardio machines during peak hours. In addition, working out is important to students’ physical and mental health. Expanding gym hours will also provide add an alternative activity to Dartmouth’s nightly social scene.
With all this in mind, the Student Body calls on the Athletic Department and Dartmouth College to expand gym hours until midnight every night and to open the gym earlier on weekends.


LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly share this statement with the Athletics Department, the Board of Trustees, and the Dartmouth Community.


Proposal to Redesign the Student Assembly Website
Proposed by Josh Jacobson ’09, David Nachman ’09 and the Student Organizations Committee

WHEREAS the Student Assembly website [sa.dartmouth.edu] provides news, information, and resources to students;

WHEREAS the current version of the Student Assembly website is not very distinctive and uses a generic blog template;

WHEREAS a major criticism of the redesign of the Dartmouth homepage was that it resembled a blog;

WHEREAS the current version of the Student Assembly website is aesthetically weak compared to other Dartmouth websites;

WHEREAS the Student Assembly website does not make minutes, agendas, or legislation available online;

WHEREAS a redesign of the Student Assembly website would improve content, design, and branding;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Organizations Committee coordinate a redesign of the Student Assembly website by an experienced web designer;

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate up to $500 in order to compensate the web designer.
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