Student Council – The new class! – 5/2/10

Well, forget that. Cover It Live doesn’t work. We’ll just do it the old fashioned way instead.

12:25 – So to update you — the meeting hasn’t started. SJ still isn’t here. What a shock that SJ would screw up the first meeting.

12:38 – Chief Justice Tre Darby has finally arrived. Woo. I sure hope there is an explanation!

12:40 – Templeton and Gosselin are musing on how they will miss long winded filibuster attempts. Open forum has about nine names according to a few people.

Funny how boring this all is when nothing is happening.

12:42 – Called to order. At 12:41. Even thought its 12:43. But that tag said 12:42. Weird, man.

Roll Call – all 33 members are here. Last time that’ll happen.

They’re sworn in and done.

Open Forum (which Tre almost bypassed) – Heidi Allstop – Member from SPILL. Showing support for Matt Manes and Brandon Williams, passionate about the well being of the student body. Says that Williams and Manes were great mediators. Matt was a real great honest guy.

Sam Polstein – (one of the current Leg Affairs VC, city issues, running for Leg Affairs Chair) – speaks to his ability to run Leg Affairs.

Erik asked if anyone from the Press Office is here — No. Should I seize power? Well, I have a blog, that’s good enough, right?

Polstein is talking about lobbying the state on the upcoming biennial budget to make sure that student issues are heard in the budget and that UW is properly funded. He also wants to highlight the Big Ten Student Association. Traveled to DC to lobby on behalf of SAFRA and talk about a leg affairs arm of the Big Ten Student Association. Great opportunity to get 10ks of students to have their voices funneled in at the federal level.

Also need to have people working over the summer, etc. Passing around a copy of the e-mail in case they have any questions.

Ingrahm – You talked about working with ALDO, a couple of the committee members brought up the issue of whether repealing ALDO or keeping it in place with reforms would be the best route. There may be some concern that repeal of ALDO could have some unforseen consequences. There is a large portion of campus that REALLY wants it repealed, what is your position?

Polstein – Repeal is kind of impractical – some of the points of ALDO are really unfair to businesses and creates a house party atmosphere. But its impractical to think we’ll repeal ALDO right now. Really? I don’t think so. Businesses and students vs. Capitol Neighborhoods? Especially when Cap Neighborhoods isn’t even as gung ho about their alcohol issues? (effectively dropped some of them when it was listed around 18 or 19 on a list of 20 priorities.) Now, crime is still a huge issue, but it’s got a sunset clause, right? Wouldn’t this be the only that it would be practical to repeal it?)

Lizotte – how will you increase involvement?

Polstein – I really think it’s more of an image thing. We are working on state, federal and city level. It helps out that Johnson had a good year last year. Making sure that Leg Affairs actually does things goes a long way.

Kayla Lubenow – MPOWER member, Leg Affair member. Adam Johnson, Sam and Kyle had impeccable leadership – achievable wonderful victories — SAFRA, student appointment on ALRC, great job of forging really intimate relationships with city officials. Hopefully, that will expand. Gov. debate, etc. Sam is the most qualified person to take that position and continuity is helpful. Has shown extreme dedication. He also has extensive knowledge of the communication ties and he’s the only person who can use those to the fullest.

Theo Sharpe – Nominations Board – Advice for SC – if you are on SC to put forth your own agenda, you should walk out right now. So if you were here to make sure to make sure your resume looks flashy or to gain status, you are in the wrong space. If have any ulterior motive, walk out right now. It’s important to know that not everything you want to see happen will happen. There were a few reps who got frustrated that certain things didn’t go their way. The fact that they did not agree effected their relationship outside of the SC. So avoid that. Secondly, ASM is not a business.

Nominations Board stuff – Chair, VC and Sec were part of Noms Board – it helped a lot, but I’d say to avoid that this time. The Chair is supposed to be there, but avoid putting VC and Sec. They have a lot of other obligations and we have a very tight schedule. If we can’t meet quorum, that’s going to cause problems and I’d say to avoid that.

Decisions made should not be political. The fact that an applicant does not support your ideas does not mean those ideas are not worthy. It should be based on qualifications, not whether you personally like them.

Junger – let’s keep in mind, we have business to get to.

Matt Manes – speaking on behalf of Erik Paulson, he is in DC working on his own stuff. One of the most active members. Letter that most of you received – Endorsements – Williams, Johnson and TJ Madsen. I have no doubt that most will get a fair shake with Brandon Williams. He helped take the Tenant Support contract once he was appointed to Council. I also don’t have to constantly hassle him to get it done. He runs a meeting well. Johnson has done an amazing job transforming a joke into a legitimate committee. T.J. Madsen is going to drag ASM kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. You want him into a leadership position.

Jonah Zinn: Endorsing Academic Affairs Chair. He’s really committee and interested in continuing and expanding the work we did this year. We’ll talk more about that later. I hope that we can keep a positive tone and atmosphere and that’s all really important.

Colin Ingrahm: Meeting schedule for the summer. Having this meeting today was a really big stretch for me. I know not everybody may have this case, but for me Sunday is a day for my family. I’m here today, but I ask that as we go through and schedule meetings for the summer, but hopefully we can try not to have these meetings on Sunday. Just so that we can allow everybody to come. Let’s avoid to do that.

Dan Pasca: member of  Board of Directors for UC, Leg Affairs arm, speaking out on behalf of Williams and Johnson. Williams organized the committee meeting completely impartially. He’s done the same with Council. He is never a BS’er, and it’s a real pleasure to see him work. Adam Johnson has been really impressive. Adam is really well thought of around the UW system. One of the main jobs of VC is to be the external person of Madison. I’ve seen him do that very effectively and it will help with Student Reps meetings. No one was there to represent Madison, which was a point of much discussion. Tom, what’s the deal? He has argued in favor of legislation that he didn’t necessarily support that was supported by the whole body.

Martin Uraga (butchered by Darby) – Member of SSFC, SACGB and Diversity Committee. Has been trying to work with Olikara and Max Love to improve Diversity on this campus. Just want to introduce myself to those I didn’t get a chance to introduce for this meeting. I made the decision a little late, but I think I’d be a great chair for the committee.

Steven Olikara: Outgoing Diversity Chair. Gave my closing remarks as chair. I talked to Max Love, he didn’t want to run for it. So, I’ll speak to Martin. (Gives him some support.)

Also would like to speak to slates. When you talk about tuition, financial aid, diversity, etc, that’s a common ground interest for all students. Don’t try to politicize those issues. I encourage yourself to open yourself to new perspectives, don’t blind yourself through your slate.

Scott Thompson – WISPIRG Chair, sexy man (according to sex out loud). WISPIRG can’t endorse candidates, we’re non-partisan. But let me give you some background on Jolie Lizotte. Jolie has an incredible amount of experience, coordinate a press conference with Herb Kohl, with the 200 person WISPIRG kick off that didn’t lose a bunch of people and didn’t need food. Went to a bunch of cities talking about high-speed rail and it was a huge success. She has done a lot of cool things and she would be cool to hang out with. I worked out with Matt Manes a lot on SSFC and I think he brings a lot to the table.

Rashi Malik (SP? Sorry.) – WISPIRG Sec. – speaking out on Jolie. Her experience would really help on ASM. She has definitely helped our recruitment drive, find people who are passionate about the issues. So that would help with ASM recruitment drive as well. Has worked as coalition coordinator for WISPIRG, coordinated two campaigns with the New Voter Project, and Credit Card campaign, which is something that ASM could work on too. Her experience with those as well as coordinating and training interns would help.

1:27 - Chair vote…

Ingrahm – Rules committee and appointment of Chair to rules committee has been left off the agenda.

Nominations process.

Fergus nominates Zinn.

Johnson nominates Williams.

Zinn speaks: There’s a lot of people who say they want to make ASM relevant to students, I want to make it seem like a more effective, efficient and powerful group. We should try to focus on the things we have in common and the issues and goals we can all agree on. And keeping in mind that we have a lot of common points. I think I understand parli pro, can get meetings moving. I have a few issues in mind that we can get moving on. Vote 2010, lobbying for higher ed, campus safety, we can all work together on.

Williams: I tried to meet with everyone, didn’t get to. Sorry to those of you I missed. I want to touch on a few things that I agree with on Zinn and reflect on my track record. Worked my ways through the trials of viewpoint neutrality. Worked out parli pro and an ability to be impartial as chair. When someone came and asked them with questions, I didn’t tell them how to vote but how to get through that vote. SSFC is almost entirely reactionary,but I tried to reach out. I tried to bridge the gap between GSSF groups and SSFC. I created an intern program to have an impartial mediator. I am also working on the Tenant Support services. When working on that, I also worked with Leg Affairs chair Adam Johnson to get in contact with Bryon Eagon to make it work. And I think this is indicative of how I like to work.

Question and Answer

Matt Manes: You both mentioned you want to do active outreach. Aside from the e-mails I have seen, what have you already done to practically disseminate your info?

Williams: Established two blogs, tried to turn the writing into Vlogs and they don’t have to read a thousand word essay. Yeah, but then they have to just watch you in a boring background. Talking heads aren’t that fun, or else there would be higher ratings for Meet the Press.

Zinn: Mentioned my work on Academic Affairs and SLAC. We work with a lot of student orgs to make sure the campaigns move forward. And with Ac Affairs to increase our capacity to work on issues. What it’s going to take in the next session is that it’s going to take some effort to seek out alternative ideas on campus. These campaigns are really important because it will allow us to do as much outreach as possible. It will take reaching out to these orgs and being open to new ideas. In terms of outreach to reps, I’ve tried to meet with as many people as I could. And I’d like to set up regular meetings with them and seeking out different ideas and approaches. So that way, we’re debating larger issues IN SC rather than the smaller points in the bulk of meetings.

Matt Manes: Familiarity with moderating through Parli Pro?

Zinn: Didn’t use it so much in Ac. Affairs, but I’ve seen it work a lot in SC and I have been reading up on it a lot. And hopefully the result should be more effective meetings.

Williams: Being on SSFC is probably the best way to learn and you get a full understanding of SSFC. Operating under Roberts Rules is so different than running Robert’s Rules. But after a year of doing that, I’ve done that quite well.

Fergus: What is your personal leadership style?

Williams: I am the spoke on the bicycle wheel. I like to drive people to go after telling them how to get there.

Zinn: I like to be as open and accessible to everyone as possible. That being said, I also am very passionate about things I’m working on and working with people to find the best solution to move forward.

Vandenlangenberg: I’d like to hear your strategies for building alliances with a group that has so many different ideologies.

Zinn: What is comes down to is cross-community collaboration, and working on the issues we can all support. I think that if you have different perspectives from different committees.

Williams: If you just look at someone on SC and never talk to them, you never develop a good professional relationship. But we really need to develop some outside social activities. A little pick-up game on Fridays. Helps with building personal relationships.

Hanley: We used this question in Shared Gov, we use this question.  Sorry if it seems ridiculous. Please walk me through the process of how you would determine the number of golf balls that would fit.

Williams: Not only do I not have a 747, but I don’t think dumping golf balls works. But I would get schematics on a 747 – dimensions, size, etc. Then get the schematics of the golf ball. Consult with Mathematician.

Zinn: I would want to find out as much info on golf balls and 747′s, then get a team together that would be able to work on this, talk to designers of the 747, try and go forward and find a detailed solution.

Hmm. OK. I would have started out by asking why we want to know this. But that’s not the point, I know.

Volrath: Commitments? (sorry, I missed most of the question.)

Zinn: I’m very heavily involved in other student orgs, but I’ll be as involved in this as I can. I’m also a student and took a tough course load this semester and have some slightly easier classes next semester.

Williams: Only think I’ll be doing over the summer is taking LSAT classes. Initially, the way I work my course load, I try and put a good balance between that and given the fact that I think SSFC chair is harder than ASM chair, I think I can get this done.

Junger: Can you think of a time when you worked effectively on an issue you don’t necessarily agree with?

Williams: Had a hard time presenting a budget from SSFC (internal), when I was on SC and could have advocated for whatever way I wanted, but I stayed to what my committee wanted. The same thing took place with the Chancellor’s Report.

Zinn: Textbook afforability committee with Shared Gov. I would have liked a more radical approach to these problems, but I worked to come up with a more universal approach. But I usually don’t have to represent a lot of interests I don’t agree with. But I think I can do this.

Junger: When is it, if ever, appropriate for the chair to influence SC.

Zinn: I think that comes when they have all the ideas and voices brought in from the student body, then they can synthesize those voices and try and chart a course forward. I don’t think its the role of the chair to be silent and it is the role of them to see that opportunity when it comes.

Williams: You can be that center force that keeps the organization moving. The worse outcome is doing nothing. That overarching of where the org is headed, but to be that center for direction.

Cale Plamann: Lot of concern over divestment being brought to ASM. I don’t think that’s appropriate: Would you keep that off the agenda?

Williams: Certain things we want to keep out of SC. If we keep a mindset of the goals we have on SC that benefit all students, we’ll avoid that.

Zinn: I think controversial issues present themselves and are often relevant to students. On the specific issue of divestment, I wouldn’t take my personal position into account. If SC decides they want to tackle it, I’ll work as hard as possible to address it.

Beemsterboer: Role of ASM?

Zinn: Voice of the student body. To best represent students in as many realms as possible.

Williams: Difficult question to answer. I’ve been in ASM two years and it underlies everything I do. Mentions 36 0. 9 (5), etc.

Beemsterboer: Role of SC?

Williams: We have the octopus chart pointing in different directions. And SC was the central tenant. I think SSFC is on equal pegging. It can be slow (SC, he means), it can be hectic, but the overall goal of SC is to keep the org functioning and moving forward. We need to keep that in mind.

Zinn: Ultimately, SC is the arena of debate on student issues. Any focusing on student issues should be brought up here. Making sure the org is functioning efficiently or whatever. Moving forward.

Manes: We don’t often talk about the rules that govern this body. I want to know the specifics of the rules that govern this body and says what we can and can’t do. I want SYSTEM policy. Things above this org.

Zinn: 36.0.9(5) I think that’s a pretty big one. And I think there’s other court decisions that supercedes other functions that determines how we can proceed and move forward.

Just like to say, I think that’s a bit of a trap. Oh! Williams just said it was too.

Williams: UW System policy regulates seg fee policy, but again, seems to be a trap of sort.

Manes: You both served on SC and have spoken a lot about mediating and such. In this past year, how have you have engaged your opposition to reach compromise.

Williams: Stipend bylaws – it’s always contentious. So I opened myself to sit down with people who had questions about it. Helped chart compromise.

Zinn: Helped work some compromise on the Seg Fee sweep, other than that, I think I’ve generally had a way of being open, but didn’t feel that everyone was open to talking to me. Shared Gov. and Academic Affairs, encouraged an….(I’m sorry, I can’t hear him.)

Fergus: How are you dealing with administration?

Zinn: There are times when administration is doing things working contrary to student interests. We need to know when they’re a powerful ally and when they are a powerful enemy. I think that asserting independence is important, but not being disrespectful as well.

Williams:  Usually our most powerful ally. Student Tenant Contract speaks to that. But there are times when you have to be able to take a stand. Pointing to one of those issues: Discussions over Seg Fee allocations. Administration told us we had advisory authority, we asserted our right to dole out those funds.

Fergus: What specifically have you done to build relationships with administration.

Williams: Built relationships with Bazell, Berquam, Biddy, etc. The relationships we have are instrumental in negotiating interests.

Zinn: Worked a lot with Aaron Brower on textbook issues. Also had some experience on LLPC, with Dawn Crim, the Chancellor. Lots of professors and academic staff that sit on powerful decision making bodies.

Vandenlangenberg: You have this team of people – five people with different perspectives, to ask whether to recommend Process A or B. You know it’s B, they say it’s A. How do you handle that?

Zinn: If the committee decides its A, you go with A. In that position, it’s necessarily the worst thing to inject your perspective, but it’s important to represent the interests of that body.

Williams: I think going back to Fergus, in regards to specific instances with a team that is saying incredibly different things.  If I have a team of specialists, I want to have a discussion of why it’s like this, just so I can appreciate the reasoning or convince them that their reasoning is not correct.

Vandenlangenberg: I’d reask, because I’m not satisfy. The specialists only know so much about their subset. I’m trying to figure out whether or not you would side with the perspectives, or would you go with your gut?

Williams: If I know the objective answer, then I should guide people to the right answer. By coordinating the specialties, I can come to the right answer.

Zinn: I think what it comes down to is the role of the leader of an org is to be synthesize the information we’re presented with. I guess I was a little confused, I was thinking of it as a theoretical example of ASM.

Rep. Kuo: How would you respond to negative press about you?

Zinn: Being able to respond and that discussion will be important. It’s important to be really active on issues on campus and interacting with the press and students, etc. Hopefully, the response to criticisms will be evident in our actions. As long as the information is out there and presented well. Make sure our Press Office is working at full capacity. If no one knew about the book swap, then that’s it.

Williams: All you have to do is pick up a campus newspaper and see the criticism on Friday’s and Tuesdays. If we weren’t operating without those criticisms, we wouldn’t be help accountable. We also have to be able to move forward as well.

Nichols: Nobody expects leadership in ASM to be perfect. Admitting you’ve done something wrong.

Williams: One of the things that I’ve done wrong was at the beginning of the session. I didn’t do the best that I could to make sure the process was as clear as possible. Did that to make sure the next SSFC Chair is established. Have a discusion about the typical problems GSSF leaders have. That’s what I’ve done wrong.

Zinn: I have a big issue with delegation. Working on the bookswap and everything else, I felt isolated, but toward the second semester I looked at the ability to divy that task up.

Love: How are you in touch with the general student body.

Zinn: I’m involved in a lot of issues on campus, have worked with a lot of students in and out of student organizations. So I have a lot of experience interacting. But part of the role is not being able to know every person on campus, but being able to synthesize information from students on campus. I obviously don’t have the expert knowledge of the Business School as Beemsterboer, but I can work with him to learn those issues.

Williams: So, I know that this sounds dorky. I actually do have conversations about ASM with other people and my friends tell me to shut up or I hand other people business cards asking what I can do for them. I know, personally, being a poli sci and econ major, I need to sit down with grad students to get perspective on something I seriously had no knowledge about. Full spectrum analysis.

Ademaj: Weaknesses?

Williams: I have a problem delegating authority. It also comes down to whether you are delegating correctly.

Zinn: Delegating is another problem. Also, getting overly focused on one campaign but not another. So, I think that by having a diverse group of people around you and being able to draw on those people it gives you some balance.

Rep. Schmul (sp?) – What do you think are the two or three most important issues for the student body.

Zinn: Affordability of higher education. Financial Aid, investment in higher education, textbook costs, etc. Secondly, Campus Safety. Third. Campus unity and equality.

Williams: Pocketbook. Every single student has some vested interest in the money they’re spending. So we have to be the uniter on issues like that. The most detached student can feel application to that.

Lizotte: Do you see the role of the chair having to tackle the issue of leadership development, and if so, how would you improve that.

I think the answer she is looking for: Campaigns and Intern program improvement.

Williams: The best leaders are the ones that inspire other leaders. I don’t want to go into specifics.

Zinn: I think it’s about being a role model, but also helping reps. But its about having reps come forward and just individual members. Means focusing on volunteers and campaigns and giving students an ability to speak at ASM. Seen that a lot in the intern program.

Move to close speakers list.

Junger: Do you feel you’ve had an unmitigated success in ASM this year.

Zinn: I don’t think anybody has had unmitigated success. But I think I’ve accomplished a lot and done a great deal of things.

Williams: For the most part, yes (Sorry, abbreviated.)

Junger: My big issue is student housing. Lots of shitholes around here, problems with landlords. I know its not just an undergrad issues, but grad issue. What can ASM do to help improve housing situations.

Williams: Tenant Support services contracts. Educating students about their rights. Specifically target those most used to be being abused. Transfer and freshman students. Some people aren’t even friends with the people they room with. Madison property ratings site. Rate my professor for landlords. This has been going on for AWHILE now. Hopefully it gets up in the next year? Gosselin? This is partially your deal with Spirn, what’s the deal? Also talks about the lease date being moved back.

Zinn: Focusing on this lease date push back, already in the works. Rep. Johnson has been working on this since it began. We need to be able to have a strong voice when dealing with property management companies. It’s important to represent the student voice in any body that represents the student voice. Also deals with these prop management companies.

Move to debate

Matt Manes: I think Williams is far and away the more qualified candidate. Has addressed the issues with Tenant Support contract, experience with SSFC, clear choice. Also want to limit debate to 20 minutes.

Carries.

Rep. Love – I personally would like to hear how many people were lobbied by constituents. Personally, I have my own choice and I think it comes down to setting the ideological approach. I think everyone knows who I support and I support that candidate 100 percent.

Transparency, please. Come on, don’t dance.

Rep. Huang – Jonah Zinn is very inclusive and takes everyone into consideration. We’ve done a lot with student outreach and being very accountable to what students think.

Rep. Fergus – I’ve worked very closely with both candidates. I’m going to keep my vote secret, so I won’t say who I endorse, but I think we really showed here that we can stay impartial and I hope we can continue that course.

Rep. Nichols – I’ve been contacted and received a few e-mails. Fully support Brandon for a few reasons. I think one of the things that helps is serving under the person on that committee. I was so blown away by how good of a committee chair he was. It was the first time I’ve come onto a council and wanted to do a good job because I want to do a good job for the chair, as well. I can’t tell you what an amazing experience that was. He would also not give me his own opinion until he knew I had an opinion first off. I think he’d be a very very good chair.

Johnson – Williams has done a great job figuring out what we want this Tenant Support proposal looks like. Impossible not to find a common ground with this guy. Can hopefully make 17th session a turning point.

Volrath – I’ve been in ASM for a long time now, I have had the privilege of working with Zinn and Williams. So much respect for Rep. Williams

Stevenson – Both these candidates are really great, really fair, have a great deal of ability of keeping their opinions to themselves. What I want to see is an attitude of approaching ASM. The problem is that they haven’t really found a connection to students. It doesn’t significantly affect students. I think that it comes down to the attitude and being connected to campus. You can’t just sit here and blog and have office hours, but it’s not a very proactive way to know other students. This campus has a bunch of different organizations. What I’d really like to see is to organize students. I support Jonah because I know him personally, he’s a very strong, hard working leader. He really does take account of everyone’s views. He’s very good at getting people to express themselves. He also has an attitude about the student body and wants to get them and organize them. I don’t think its sufficient to play student government, you have to reach out.

Rep. Ziebell – . She supports Williams, but she sounds like she’s reading from a speech. Whatever.

Rep. Plamann - I really think that either one of them would be a good choice. The tone that ASM really wants to set with administration. For better or worse, we have spent a lot of time being kicked around by administration. And while I know both will do a lot of work to prevent it from happening, Jonah’s history with SLAC is the deciding factor. I’d be happy to work with both of them.

Beemsterboer – Rep. Zinn’s work with SLAC has been very anti-administration. It’s hard to do that and work with admin. I think you have to build work with adminsitration and there are times when it is definitely needed. Brandon Williams is the best candidate to enact positive change.

Lizotte: Some GSSF leaders had trouble working with Brandon, others have not. Just wanted to point out that.

Junger: This is the first time I’ve heard of those interactions, but I think he’s taken steps to work with them.

Saw Templeton making a “grasping for straws” gesture. In relation to Lizotte.

Manes: I’ve gotten those complaints, but I don’t know that Williams has. That seems unfounded.

Debate closed: Secret Ballot.

Erik: There was no vote on it, Chair made the unilateral decision.

Brandon Williams wins – 20-12-1.

Resumes at 3:30

Appointment of VC.

Nomination of Johnson and Lizotte.

Johnson: Biggest priorities will be the biennium budget, UW System outreach (to other UW schools) and Campus outreach. Connecting them to the process, getting them to places they want to go.

Lizotte: Continue to increase their leadership development, become a more positive thing on campus. Experience on WISPIRG, forming coalitions with other groups. It’s important to do that with other members of ASM. Help working with decision makers on other student issues.

Limiting Q and A to 45 minutes.

Rep. Love – Speak to how you’ve mobilized students on Leg. issues.

Johnson – I had no infrastructure to work off of. Everything I had came from the top of my head. Biggest victory I had was when in Nov. the ALRC was considering adding a voting member to the committee.

Lizotte: Got students out to support the RTA Board for the Dane County Board meeting. Also worked on mobilizing students to get out the vote. Very important. Also making sure you’re keeping in contact with students.

Love – Work in getting legislators to come to campus.

Lizotte: Worked with Sen. Kohl to come to campus and talk about his credit card legislation. I’ve also worked with Legislators to come out and talk about high speed rail – included local and federal legislators. Also worked in local elections in Spring 2007 in getting the two Dane County Sup people.

Hold up. That was a Roosevelt Institute debate, wasn’t it? Did WISPIRG help with that? I don’t remember.

Johnson: I’m going to talk about working to organize a Gubernatorial Debate. We’ve been in the process of talking with Channel 3000 to have students submit questions, stream it live. We’ve been in contact with the Mark Neumann, he’s expressed interest, and that’s surprising to me. They want to come to Madison. They know that’s where the power is, so to speak. Like Jolie said, we’re getting to that point where Legislators see that and can come talk to us.

(I didn’t hear Fergus’ question, because my computer is starting to shudder every 3 minutes. Bare with me.)

While I’m ignoring this question, just a little thought: If the last vote was as lopsided as it was, how big will this one be? I assume it could just go the same way, along party lines, but Johnson I think has far more credentials here than Lizotte. WISPIRG is great and all, but I gotta say, Lizotte is kind of stumbling through these questions. I am also confused as to why Q and A is limited to 45 minutes. This is far less contentious. Unless you all know something I don’t.

Fergus: What should be ASM’s role in United Council and other statewide or national student orgs?

Lizotte: We should always have a strong voice here. We should be figuring it out on behalf of students, not going through a backdoor for something we don’t understand. Should be working across the nation and state to figure this out.

Johnson: We have a “maditude” problem of thinking we’re more important than everyone else. Working toward a balance of being important, but taking the whole range of other school concerns into account.

Zinn: Outreach to involve people in the legislative process and what you plan to do next semester.

I’m going to power down, so I won’t cover this question. The computer needs a restart, fast, as it’s struggling.

Alright. I’m back, but these guys are still going on and on. Unless there is something that comes up that is truly significant, I’ll post it.

Lizotte claims that it’s not hard to get students involved and implies that Johnson is not putting in the effort. Ugh. OK. Sure. Here’s the deal — WISPIRG and CFACT get a lot of people involved, but what does it come to if they’re just hanging on for credit or resume boosting? ASM has the same problem, of course, but I’ll ask what’s more important — Getting a lot of people involved who may or may not be invested or getting a core of dedicated individuals involved? Certainly, cast a wide net, but its quantity, not quality.

Zinn: Should ASM endorse candidates?

Lizotte: Candidates no. Issues, yes.

Johnson: Ditto.

Junger: How do you measure your success as VC at the end of the year?

(Johnson is talking about outreach being hard to quantify, bunch of asides on Shared Gov….rambling so far.)

Lizotte is answering the question a bit more directly, trying to approach it on a plan ahead of time and how you adhere to the plan. Still boring.

I’m sorry, but this has got to be boring people to tears. What could possibly be said in the next 6 questions that haven’t been said already?

Alright. I’ll jump back into this in the next question. When I haven’t had my lunch, I get cranky.

Plamann: We should all invest in word economy – we can make these points without going on as long as we have. I have a test. Question about Johnson: someone possibly running for Chief of Staff -Templeton.

Johnson: I plan on having this run through Nominations Board. And not getting involved here.

Ziebell – What city issues have you worked on that impacted the lives of students.

Lizotte: Have worked on creating an RTA for Dane County and creating other transportation options.

Johnson: Leg Affairs has been locally focused, etc. ALRC appointment, superceded Tavern League, etc.

Debate – 20 minutes.

Rep. Manes – Adam’s work on Leg Affairs speaks for itself. Working knowledge of the organization is a criteria I look for. Can’t spend time learning how things work in a leadership role.

Rep. Love – Might be better to have not as much experience in ASM. Because ASM watch doesn’t think I’m being transparent enough, I’ll say what my vote is: I am voting for Lizotte. Johnson is really a great leader for the committee and has shown a great model for committee chairship. But Lizotte has done a lot in terms of recruitment, and WISPIRG has had some great stuff there. It’s about a lot more things than Leg. Affairs, but I think Lizotte brings a lot more to the table on other points on the job description. I remember that I was asked to go to the capitol, and that was some of the first contact I had with Jolie and there she was — being the only person talking about financial education on credit cards. Jolie brings a lot to the table and new ideas, mostly.  I hope people will give her a worthy fair chance.

Junger: Supporting Johnson. Which is largely speaking to his ability to resurrect Leg. Affairs.  Want to speak to Love — when there’s a discussion about new ideas to SC, we need to realize we’re not doing that. We’re bringing WISPIRG ideas to SC. There’s a place for that – WISPIRG. And some of those are not student issues. Rep. Lizotte has done some great things from recruitment, but that’s not the sole role of the VC.

Woolwich: Voting for Johnson and I want to speak to why. I had no idea the committee had been dead, he gave students the ability to have a voice, great ideas, he’ll be a great VC. And I think he would create the right atmosphere for discussions.

Zinn: The claim that Chair and VC need knowledge of ASM is not really that strong. It’s something that you can learn and pick up. They can pick it up quickly when they need to. Jolie has demonstrated the ability to work on student issues, but to call WISPIRG anything but a student org is offensive. They’ve shown they can work very strong on student issues and have shown that. Let’s not just do away with the idea that hearing someone new is a bad thing. Having Jolie come in with new ideas helps it be more accessible and open. When you start recycling people through ASM…well, we need a broad range of students.

Beemsterboer: I think we need to realize that Johnson has done amazing things in ASM Leg. Affairs. Big Ten platform can be used in national legislative scene with his leadership. Has worked well with UC and Fergus, has done a great job reaching out to other schools.

Ace Hillard: Will be working with Lizotte. The comment that WISPIRG ideas wouldn’t apply here is like saying that if your student org has ideas, they should stay there. And that’s untrue. Just because we belong to different student orgs, doesn’t mean we don’t represent the whole of the student body.

Plamann: Voting for Jolie. Work on state level is more important in terms of the biennial budget.

Nichols: I’ll be voting for Johnson. While it’s fine not to have ASM experience, it’s more helpful to connect all the dots.

Call to question: Fails.

Rep. Love – If we value someone coming in with no prior experience, then why don’t we want Jolie? Tyler Junger sat on SSFC and came in as Chair and did a somewhat good job. I would hope people understand that. One thing I want to say is that Jolie WAS here and no one else who wasn’t on council before can say that.

Ballot vote: supported overwhelmingly.

While they’re voting, let’s just pat ourselves on the back – I’ve surpassed 1,000 views for this live blog, and am well on the way to breaking the daily record of 1,031. I’m sure that’s because you’re all refreshing, but nevertheless — whoopee.

20-12-1 – Johnson is elected VC. Hey. Tell that SJ member to move aside. Get up there Johnson!

Madsen nominated for Secretary and speaks to it: Want to be able to display agendas a little more, be a little more of a leader by example of what we expect the webmaster, secretary and press office to do.

Q and A limited to 10 minutes.

Fergus – I know you’re here half the year, so what would you do to train your successor.

Madsen – Sustainability means a lot to me, but my hope is that I’ll be able to put some of these practices in place.

Ingrahm – Had some problems getting attendance and role call votes updated. Will you do that?

Madsen – Not only that, but I’ll make sure attendance is up to date and that the legislation is pretty up to date and commented on.

Ingrahm – Expand the role of the secretary?

Madsen – we need to very clearly lay out who is responsible for what things. Secretary is responsible for taking the notes and minutes, the secretary may not be responsible for posting. That should be press office or webmaster.

Debate

Love – I support Madsen. He’ll do what he says.

Madsen is voted in. New secretary.

RECESS. I’ll be back a bit later. I need food as well.

—

OK. I’m back. They’re on to the summer meeting schedule. Already approved weekly schedule. Postponing that to next.

Now – on to to SC appointments for committees.

Nominations – Beembsterboer.

Rep. Love – Isn’t it true an SC member has to serve on one committee.

Williams: Yes, that’s true.

Nominations closed. Beemsterboer is the only nom.

Johnson – Call the question.

Beemsterboer is on Finance Committee. Wee. VPN Warning for Beemsterboer that is apparently standard.

SSFC is next.

Manes nominated, accepts.

Rep. Plamann, accepts.

Rep. Peters, accepts.

Rep. Lizotte, accepts.

Rep. Kuo, declines.

Motion to close nominations. Fails.

Rep. Volrath, accepts.

Rep. Childers, accepts

Statements:

Manes: Just want to continue my work.

Plamann: Think that I could help clarify the bylaws and rules. Know VPN.

Peters: I just want to continue my work.

Lizotte: I have some experience working with VPN and WISPIRG’s budget.

Volrath: Chaired the SACGB committee, want to take a crack at SSFC.

Childers: I think I have the ability to make VPN decision. That’s the only qualification I have.

Williams: You can vote for three people, it will be a ballot vote.

Junger: You can distribute your votes as you wish.

Peters: Rescinds nominations due to freshman term.

Q AND A

Junger: What have you done to prepare for this?

Manes: Have been involved in Campus Services Fund, have gone through all SSFC meetings, have helped write the report to the Chancellor.

Plamann: Have had experience with this through CWC, have no life and like procedural wonderment.

Lizotte: Helped WISPIRG put together their budget, have spent a lot of time looking into VPN.

Volrath: Special student, only taking one class, working the rest. Easy for me to take off every Monday and Thursday for SSFC. Well aware of how to make VPN decisions.

Childers: Have read the handbooks and bylaws. I think I can make VPN decisions.

DEBATE

Manes: meeting with plenty of student groups outside of meetings, incredibly time committment. Hope everyone is up for it.

Junger: Time commitment is a huge amount. It’s not something that you can just jump into. Especially with five new members jumping into this.

Beemsterboer speaks to Manes and Volrath.

Call to question.

SSFC seats go to: Manes, Lizotte, Plamann and Volrath.

Nominations Board – Beemsterboer, Nichols, Deichl, Love, Savoy, Fergus, Woolwich, Zinn, Junger (removes himself, nominated back), Hanley, Fergus (This apparently includes Williams.)

Beemsterboer – Helped Theo Sharpe formulate the right people for SSFC. I have a good grasp on what qualifications we need for those.

Hanley – I’m interested specifically because of my interest on of conducting interviews and being interviewed, know what to look for in good candidates.

Nichols – Very excited about Noms board and new ideas I’d want to bring to noms board. I think its important to give them an idea of what they have access to and the information they need to succeed. I know they’ve not followed up with applications, and I want to make sure they follow up.

Junger – I’d love to serve, I just wanted to make sure these people could get their seats, but the numbers weren’t working in my head. Whatever. I have a broad knowledge base of what’s going on in ASM.

Zinn – A lot of experience in ASM and I’d like to see the Press Office go in a different direction.

Fergus – Other than Rep. Volrath, I’m the longest serving member around here, right now. I’ve worked with many open committees, Academic Affairs, etc. I know what it takes to drive on these committees and the amount of information going in. I’d nominate people with many different perspectives. People on nominations board have a good understanding of what’s going on in ASM.

Savoy – Very excited about this, very well equipped, good judge of character.

Woolwich – have been involved in the non-voting ALRC member, had some experience interning in an HR department.

Deichl (not here) -I think it’s crucial to appoint the right individuals and orient them. Have a lot of experience with the student retail assoc. and experience in retail management.

Beemsterboer needs a 2/3 vote to let him proceed.

16 in favor, 6 against. Exemption is passed.

Also need 2/3 vote to exceed nine members?

Nichols is elected to SSFC, so she wouldn’t need a 2/3 vote.

Beemsterboer removes himself from nominations.

Q and A

Volrath: How many spots do we have?

Beemsterboer: Can’t we just vote for who doesn’t get on?

Williams: No.

DEBATE

Call the Question.

Secret Ballot vote.

Vote results: Deichl didn’t get it.

Zinn motions to adjourn at 6:30 – Motion Fails.

Nominations for Rules Committee – Ingrahm, Plamann, Junger, Johnson, Ziebell, Madsen, Beemsterboer (between 3-9 spots. Nice specificity for a FUCKING RULES COMMITTEE.)

Going straight to vote. Unanimous Consent. Appointed.

SAC Governing Board – Ziebell nominated.

Unanimous Consent – She is appointed.

ASM Foundation Hiring Committee. Three Seats.

Nominations: Rep. Love.

Unanimous Consent.

Shared Governance (Five members) – Bemis, Schmul, Huang, Vandenlangenberg, Theobald, Kuo, Stevenson, Hanley (declines)

—

Noms Board Chair:

Savoy – Because I’m not as familiar with the people on ASM, I feel like have an ability to judge them appropriately. I think it’d be appointing people who are qualified, not just people I think are qualified. (Sorry, I missed a lot of this, I’ll try and listen a bit harder next time.)

Nichols - Very excited about noms board and I’d like to take a new direction and vision. Make sure I ask question to ensure I appoint competent people to those seats. I see nominations board as a very important board. Attend a lot of philanthropies, in contact with a lot of new and different people.

Fading fast …this computer is starting to heave again.

Manes: Knowledge of ASM committees right now, given the 3 days they have to hire candidates.

Nichols: Will be looking for someone who can be VPN credentials for SSFC, finance, SAC GB, want to make sure they’re able to dedicate the time.

Savoy: Looking for someone who is dedicated and are competent. I wouldn’ be able to tell you what actually goes on in SSFC and that’s why I didn’t try to be on FC and SSFC and I would expect the people who would be on it to be knowledgable on those committees.

Manes: How can you appoint people with those characteristics if you don’t know anything about those committees?

Fergus: Not germane to the chair role.

Manes: Commitments?’

Savoy: I have planned in advance to fit this into my schedule. I’m going to stick with this no matter what.

Nichols: I’ve been an intern, worked on SSFC for a year, I think I have made a space to fit it into my schedule.

Close to Q and A.

DEBATE

Love: I would like to see the Nominations Chair in a leadership positions out there in new and fresh ways.  I think it’s going to take a new style to get more people to apply. I am also unsure about the prospective chair that knows the bylaws. That’s not the way to bring people from campus to ASM. I think they need good leadership skills and Jasmine’s skills allow me to support her.

Zinn: I am just a little bit hesitant to put someone from SSFC or Finance here. I’d just like to limit debate to 10 minutes.

Approved.

Rep. Volrath – she became our intern last year on SAC Governing Board, and while she was working on that I saw her really throw herself into SSFC. I think she would do an excellent job as nominations chair.

Beemsterboer – Andrea went above and beyond the call of duty to do her due dilligence to make sure the ASM staff position wasn’t really necessary. She checked with everyone before hand and that made it clear about her ability to seek out the right decision. If we were to choose anyone but Andrea it’d be a grave mistake.

Junger: Speaks to Nichols vision for following up with appointees.

Plamann: Speaks to Zinn’s uncomfort with Nichols on SSFC and Noms.

Call the question.

15- 11-1 : Nichols wins.

Move to postpone everything other than choosing the next meeting.

Fergus wants them to get moving through Rules committee.

Junger wants to get moving through that stuff as well.

Call the Question.

Beemsterboer – moves to postpone a few others…

Hey, maybe we’ll spend more time on deciding what to postpone!

Rules committee: Junger and Plamann.

Junger: rules committee was my idea.

Plamann: I spend a lot of time pouring over the rules and statutes due to Law School issues. I did a lot of CWC and SACGB and found some problems there too. Feel like I could coordinate with a lot of other chairs to figure out that everyone is on the same page and moving forward.

Johnson: Support Junger for this. I think he’s got a pretty good grasp of how this works. The chair of this will also be the parliamentarian. Tyler being the outgoing chair, he’s got a pretty good handle on there. It can bring forward recommendations, but no actual power.

Lizotte: Very happy that Junger helped to create this committee, but I think we should seriously consider a candidate who has a lot of professional experience with bylaws, which is something that a law student needs to work on.

Vote: 12-10-3 – Junger wins.

Also, Vandenlangenberg is the Shared Gov chair.

Diversity – Ace Hillard and Martin Uraga.

Have to duck out for a second, need to conduct an interview for a paper.

Martin Uraga wins 13-11-1. Sorry for ducking out. Ethics paper to work on.

Leg Affairs – Polstein and Tina Trevino-Murphy

Tina: Involved in SC, Diversity, Shared Gov, worked with Academic Affairs. One of the co-founders of External Affairs. Involved in Vote Coalition. Some of the national legislation, such as SAFRA, Health Care legislation. I’m here every week. Some upcoming national issues such as the DREAM Act. Got 7 out of 10 of United Council’s victories.

Fergus: Top victory and top weakness.

Tina: Catching up on local, city issues have finally seen the students care. I’m blown away there. In terms of weakness, that outreach and information out there.

Polstein – Restructuring the actual committee has been the biggest victory. Outreach was one of our biggest weaknesses, Tina was right. We need to work more with College Dems and Reps to make sure it’s not just Leg Affairs lobbying.

I’ve not been keeping up with a lot of this, but this is noteworthy:

Junger: Reads an e-mail from Dan Pasca from United Council, who has called Tina unreliable and said that many board members were happy to see her go. Would undo most of Leg Affairs work.

Ouch.

I really can’t do this anymore. I’ll leave after this vote, but I seriously don’t have the energy for it anymore.