General Meeting 10/17
In attendance: Neil Cacali, Anthony Crisostomo, Ernesto Falcon, Stephen Guichard, Aparna Agnihotri, Navdeep Singh, and Kate Casey
Agenda approval proposed (Ernesto) second (Anthony)
Approved 8, nay 0
Agenda approved
Motion to approve Oct. 3 minutes (Ernesto) second (Aparna)
Approved 8 aye, 0 nay
Minutes approved
Event funding request: Exigent APALSA (David Kang)
Open to the whole school; Halloween costume party; big turnout last year; mostly the funding will be used for the DJ and drink tickets, misc.; there is a charge of $15 for McGeorge students to attend; the money will go into the general fund; thinking of starting a scholarship fund with the funds from Exigent; scholarship could be given out in the Spring; hypothetically APALSA will have an incoming first year class scholarship and one for entering second years; the fund could be to increase the Asian population that is decreasing at McGeorge; has not spoken to Dean Simmons yet; the event will be at Moma Lounge and the entire venue will be rented out; the cost of renting the venue is zero; the Lounge makes money off of drink sales;
Discussion: How much is the DJ (Aparna); $240 is the total request; $260 is for drinks; there is no food requirement? (Lexi); It’s basically a bar review, no food or anything (Anthony); there is a dance floor which is a big attraction (Aparna); number one concern is what they will do with the money but the scholarship idea is understandable (Ernesto); one worry is that the group has not met with the Dean or anyone about the scholarship so who’s to say what will become of the money later (Kate); they haven’t requested funds in excess of the cost which is nice (Neil); our account is currently, if we fund all of the groups’ requests, will be spent for this semester; we could approve of some and deny some so we’ll be okay in the Spring (Ernesto); we also have a carryover fund but we shouldn’t have to rely on it for these kinds of funds (Neil); part of me worries that they have enough money for this event and they don’t really need it (Ernesto);
Move to deny funding (Ernesto); second (Lexi)
Discussion: There are two issues here, one that
Ayes (3); Nays (1) (Lexi); Abstains (2) (Aparna, Neil)
Moot Court funding proposal (Chelsea Tibbs)
I apologize for the late proposal; we have spoken to the school administration; first, we are only asking for $500 from SBA but $1500 is closer to the cost of the TANG event/competition; I am a competitor so I haven’t been as involved as I would have liked; our total budget is between $1700 and $1800 including two receptions; last week our planning committee was told that there was confirmation from big judges and our advisor wants us to throw a mixer for them; J. Nicholson, Russel Horne, and J. Duarte are coming; that’s why our request was so late; at that time we also didn’t know what the school would contribute; Cassandra has been able to tell us that there wasn’t money in her budget but that there could be funds elsewhere; Moot Court only has $281 in the budget so it’s minimal what we can contribute ($100); the Tang competition itself is giving $871 and Cassandra has committed $300+ and printing costs; the $1500 is for Bon Appetit for breakfast, lunch, and snacks including the two receptions; the paper costs will be covered by McGeorge: about $150 will be spent on competitors’ welcome bags; Hastings is coming too; $50 will be spent on décor; $100 on prizes and misc.; we are providing certificates of recognition but Roger Dickinson is coming to present those and he is printing them; we are hoping that this will be an impressive event for the judges and people who are coming to campus
Discussion: how many people will be here on Saturday and how many people will be at the reception because it is on a Saturday and no one cares about the 3DCA judges, it’s not okay that a faculty member has told you to do this and it has resulted in a late event request (Lexi); for certain there will be 4 teams here on Saturday and the reception will be for about 40 people maximum, the Tang competition at McGeorge has experienced multiple snafus in the past (Chelsea); I think it’s worth it for the school and for our competitors to redeem themselves for messing up before, we also have volunteers from the GLS classes (Chelsea); how many people are in Moot Court (Ernesto); we have 44 students on the Moot Court teams (Chelsea); has Professor Telfeyan given any money to this cause (Neil); I haven’t heard anything along those lines (Chelsea); Casandra usually gets money from alumni (Ernesto); the receptions are open to all students and it is being advertised to each GLS class (Chelsea); What time is the Saturday reception (Lexi); mid-day on Saturday (Chelsea); Sarah Schumacher was informed that if there are unused we can sell back food and drinks back to Kevin that we can get back to SBA (Chelsea); what exactly is the $500 going towards (Neil); we are still waiting on a breakdown (Chelsea); There are finals on that Saturday and I’m not sure how that will affect the receptions (Kate); The competition is confined to the courtroom (Chelsea); if Moot Court is not fully funded on this request how will you raise the rest of the money (Lexi); I don’t know, it’s last minute for Cassandra too and we don’t really go to non-official channels (Chelsea); the idea that an advisor or professor demands an event be held and they don’t offer to pay for it there is a bigger issue that we need to address for all future events, not just Moot Court’s (Kate); the committee members and everyone on the teams have input on the events and this was an exception because of the last-minute commitments of important people we felt that this was important and it could help McGeorge look really good (Chelsea); Why aren’t you using more of your budget? (Neil); we don’t collect dues and we didn’t want to bankrupt ourselves our first year (Chelsea); even if there are not exact numbers, why are we just now hearing about it (Neil); the disconnect came when we knew we were getting $875 from the competition and we thought that would be enough to cover all that we needed with the help of the school and then we had this last minute event that we needed to organize (Chelsea); because you’re having two receptions, would it be possible to invite the judges to the Friday reception(Aparna); the Saturday one is specifically to accommodate the judges and they probably won’t come on Friday since they have to be there on Saturday (Chelsea); the judges actually participate in the competition, right? (Ernesto); yes, they are the panel of the three judges (Chelsea); what’s your contingency if you can’t get funded here (Anthony); I am not certain but I know the planning committee members have said that if they have to pay for it themselves we will (Chelsea); related to the event, having Dickinson giving the appreciation certificates, are we endorsing Dickinson, everything is an election move, it is something to be culturally and politically sensitive to (Lexi); oh, I don’t know, that hasn’t been a concern since we’ve been so busy with the competition, it is something I will look into (Chelsea); a way to solve that is to call Pan’s office and ask if they would like to donate (Lexi).
Motion to approve $250 (Lexi), comment is that the school probably won’t let you down but it will give you a conversation that addresses last-minute events from faculty, second (Ernesto); withdraw motion (Lexi)
Additional discussion: we need to discuss this a little more between ourselves (Neil); taking into account the late request and the message that we need to send I think we should deny it (Nav); Moot Court is a good face of McGeorge and it’s how our school is known in a lot of circles, that being said, this is a small group and a late request (Kate); we do want McGeorge to look good and this is a way that the school gets people interested (Ernesto); they don’t pay dues (Lexi); the important event is on Saturday but they are only using about a third of the money (Neil), and I still can’t get over the 11 days out proposal (Neil); do we want groups to request funds without solidified events (Ernesto); I would rather do a 3/5ths compromise or a ½ compromise with an addressed letter to help out and make the event look good but to also address the issue (Stephen); prizes not allowed, décor not allowed, etc. even if this is for “food” I have the power to hold back money if it’s being misused.
Motion for funding of $200 (Neil), second (Anthony)
Ayes (2) (Neil, Anthony), nays (1) (Lexi)
Additional motion to increase $300 with a formalized letter from the board included (Stephen); discussion $250 with the letter (Lexi); would it be okay if I just talked to him at the faculty meeting about it? (Ernesto); second (Kate)
Ayes (2) (Kate and Stephen), nays (1) (Lexi)
Motion for $250(Lexi), seconds (Aparna)
Ayes (7), nays (0)
Motion passes
Junior Barrister’s event A day in the life for non-lawyers
$100 from the CDO going to gifts
How are other Day in the life events funded (Kate); $100 from the CDO then from whomever else
Motion at $236 (Lexi), second (Aparna)
Ayes (5), Nays (0), abstained (1) (Neil)
Wine Law Society questionnaire for the trip to Napa
The problem last year was that there was too much wine on the bus last year and someone lost it on the bus (Ernesto); I heard very good things about the connections made at the event and this event made some great internship and mentorship opportunities (Kate); the realm of $200 would be okay and there aren’t very many students in this group (Nav); how much did we fund the water law society for a similar event (Lexi); on an amended request we gave 200 (Neil); I don’t think it’s unreasonable to charge people for the bus since that would happen in any other event (Kate); how many people went last year (Anthony); I don’t think giving more to wine law than we gave to water law it would appear that we have a preference (Kate); but there are more attorneys going to this event (Lexi); if they can raise the money and they have the base, they can charge students and get this event covered (Ernesto); it’s not unreasonable to increase the cost of ticket sales (Neil); if it were higher I would not go (Kate); there has to be a change of behavior with the drinking on the bus (Lexi); Melissa will control that and I have full faith in her to do that (Ernesto); there is a concern about saving excess money for the event next year (Neil)
Motion for $200 (Lexi), second (Stephen)
Ayes (7), Nays (0),
Motion passes
Barristers changes
I really oppose setting a venue structure at this phase because it’s late in the semester. The reluctance I have there is that it puts SBA out there as an advisory body (Ernesto). I was thinking that it would help the next board out so that there aren’t issues with Barrister’s being a moving target (Neil).
The committee’s looked at 7-9 places at this point. The biggest benefits of the Double Tree doesn’t have a venue charge but it’s based on a certain food and beverage purchase (Ernesto). Do they charge for any other amenities? (Kate). Security would be $400 if McGeorge does it but they might not have enough bodies to do it because of short-staffing (Ernesto). Is the $400 based on two officers (Lexi). Brian Sasom gave that estimate (Ernesto). We would rather have one officer than a different agency (Lexi). Officers on duty must have an available partner with them by policy (Kate). We could ask the hotel if they have a recommendation (Ernesto). Food costs per person are $44 and drinks are $30 per person (Neil). The projection is $280 for decorations (Neil). Even with the discount on alcohol the charge would have to be $60 or $65 (Ernesto). We have to take into account service and tax (Lexi). The cap is 270 with an absolute maximum of 280 (Aparna). Why don’t we increase the price at a certain number of tickets sold, so the first so many get in at this price then the rest are more (Lexi). Is there a preferential treatment we need to worry about as far as the selling at certain prices? Would the first years come if they have to pay more? (Kate). Third years buy first (Aparna). It always averages 40-44% of attendance (Ernesto). If we aren’t having an issue selling out why are we selling them in this way? (Lexi). Travel to the after party is a legitimate concern (Kate). The actual cost is 96.57 per person (Lexi). There should be a strategic decision about the pricing sales (Lexi). My worse scenario is that we dip into the excess for Barristers (Neil); the minimum that SBA will have to pay for barristers is $9166 (Lexi/Neil); Jackie needs to be aware of those number (Lexi);
Garden Sustainability Committee
Sprinklers and solar panels are coming in (Stephen).
Elections update
They have a list of students for the vote. There has been the offer for a debate or speech online. We can do it on the blog. (Ernesto)
Wellness Committee
Jennifer Domer from PAD is planning a club-wide kickball tournament for wellness week and they will be coming to SBA for funding. She has met with Rebekah and the planning has started (Kate).
Move to adjourn (Ernesto), second (Stephen)
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