Associated Students of CabrilloCollege

Aptos Campus, 6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA95003

WatsonvilleCenter: 318 Union St., Watsonville, CA95076

ScottsValleyCenter: 104 Whispering Pines Dr., Scotts Valley, CA95066

Voice: 831.477.5677

Fax: 831.479.6172

Total on Roster: 20
Votes needed for simple
majority vote: 50% + 1 = 11
Votes needed for 2/3 majority: 13 / Location:
Aptos Campus
6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA
SAC East, Room 225 / Date and Time:
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Student Senate Minutes

The Cabrillo College Student Senate held a non-mandatory meeting on Thursday February 2nd, 2012.

The meeting was held at the Aptos Campus. These are the minutes reflective of that meeting.

Item / Motion / Yeas / Nays / Abstains / Result
IX A / Motion to approve $400 from the Programs account to purchase snacks and water to hand out for the first week of school. / 14 / 0 / 0 / Passed
  1. Call to Order at 3pm
  1. Roll Call

Executive Officers

Vice President: Oleksii Chuiko-Absent President: Charlotte Achen-Present

Treasurer: Joseph Gomez-PresentTrustee: Joseph Watkins-Present

Legislative Representative: Gaby Avila-Absent Watsonville Representative: Joshua Riparetti-Absent

ICC Chair: Ivan Sumano-Vargas-Present Scotts Valley Representative: Stephen Venegas-Present

Senators-At-Large

Stephanie Petrillo-PresentKathybelle Barlow-Present

Sharon O’Connor-PresentDarwin Constantino-Present

Arthur O’Reilly-AbsentJennifer Venegas-Present

Chris Steele-PresentJesse Collins-Present

Sage Goncharoff- Present James Williams-Absent

Laura Hunerberg- PresentSummer Maiorino- Absent

Advisors

Sesario Escoto-Absent

Flor Chacon- Present

  1. Adoption of the Agenda 3 minutes

New Business Item B will be presented by Kathybelle instead of Sharon. Treasurer Gomez moves to approve the agenda, and Senator Barlow seconds this. The agenda is approved unanimously.

  1. Approval of the Minutes 3 minutes
  1. December 8th, 2011

Trustee Watkins moves to approve the minutes, and Scotts Valley Representative Venegas seconds this. The minutes are approved unanimously.

  1. Public Comments

This time is reserved for members of the public to address the Senate on issues not already appearing on the agenda. There will be a limit of five (5) minutes per speaker.

Hanson, a junior from Delta High School, is present to observe the meeting. The senate welcomes Hanson.

  1. Announcements 5 Minutes

The Borrow-A-Book program has moved to Sesario and Dennis’ offices, and all of the books are in SAC East now. There is much help needed to run this program, so any senate member or club member who is interested in helping is encouraged to talk to Sesario or Lois. The fax machine is also ready to go, so please fill out the times you are available, or what your office hours are so that we may post this information. See Jesse to tell him what times work for you.

  1. Special Items
  1. Communications Workshop Info. / Discuss. D. Navarro 65 Minutes

A bio-reaction is something that occurs during communication that may affect the alignment of the conversation. In order to get effective communication with another person, it is important to recognize when these bio-reactions are taking place, so that both parties are communicating within alignment. Each person sees, views, and reacts to things differently, and this is important to keep in mind. In addition, there is a difference between listening to what someone is saying and actually hearing the point they are trying to make. When a disagreement occurs, try to determine how both parties align on the topic, then act on it and adjust it. This is called the Cycle of Value. Usually, instead of doing that, we follow a Cycle of Waste, when we disagree, defend and then destroy. Listening is what is going to play a key role in determining which cycle you follow in your conversation. Great leaders are people that have heart and know how to listen at a very deep level and those are the people other people want to work for and with. Bio-reaction is the Cycle of Waste. A stimulus leads to the amygdala senses threat, which kicks in right away, like when you think something IS that which it IS NOT. You know you are there when your heart starts racing, you get sweaty palms, and you want to run. You go into flight/freeze/appease. This is not something you can choose to do or not do; it is a natural part of the brain’s activity. If you are aware of this, you have a choice. If you don’t become aware of your bio-reaction, it is virtually not possible to be able to communicate effectively. When you find yourself in bio-reaction and you want to get out of it, first, you need to breathe. Then you need to ask questions and go into inquiry. If you are in bio-reaction, you are not on the Ladder of Listening; in a sense you are just standing on the ground looking at the ladder. The 1st prong is CONTENT; you hear the facts and what the other person is saying. The 2nd prong is COMPASSION; you are standing in the other person’s shoes and you are listening for the spirit of what they are saying. The 3rd prong is ESSENTIAL PURPOSE; when you hear the purpose the person is presenting. The 4th prong is INTERSECTION of what you are saying and what you are doing as a group. Watch yourselves in meetings, and when someone says something and it turns into bio-reaction, repeat back to them the concern or need or purpose that they are putting out, and it will shift the conversation and calm the situation down. When people perceive that you are aware of and sensitive to their purpose and concerns, they communicate and collaborate. This is value. Remember that language is only 7% of communication, and that you should always consider perception.

  1. Committee Reports 3 minutes per committee

The Couch Committee met and had decided on a style of chairs and couches, but the business office employee met with the representatives from the place we are buying from and they don’t think the layout we had decided on will look good. The rep is coming back again next Wednesday at 9:45am in SAC East if you would like to join the discussion.

The Budget Committee will have their first semester meeting in March.

Welcome Week sent out a sign-up for volunteers. The event is Tuesday, February 14th- Thursday, February 16th. Thursday’s event will be held at the Watsonville campus.

  1. Old Business
  1. New Business.
  1. Snacks for first week of Semester Info. / Action C. Achen 3 Minutes

This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding the approval of $400.00 from the ___ Account to purchase snacks and water to hand out for the first week of school. Last semester this was done and it brought a larger awareness of the Student Senate.

Senator Barlow moves to approve $400 from the Programs account to purchase snacks and water to hand out for the first week of school, and Scotts Valley Representative Venegas seconds this and it moves to discussion. This is separate from Welcome Week and was a great idea last semester. It was decided that half of the snacks would be healthy. This item moves to vote, and is approved unanimously.

  1. Welcome Week Info. / Discuss. S. O’ Connor (Kathybelle) 10 Minutes

The next meeting will be next Thursday before this meeting starting at 2pm in the SAC East. Sign-up sheets are going around and please sign-up for what you can. Sonya from the Sustainability Club told us about a media event she is having in front of the bookstore starting at 10am on Tuesday and we would really like to have a presence at that as well. We could hand out the bags if we want to at that event. Welcome Week runs 11:30am-2pm on Tuesday February 14th-Thursday February 16th. Thursday’s event will be at the Watsonville campus. There is a sign-up sheet for these events. Darwin is the head of the entertainment and head of advertising and he has done a wonderful job on flyers. Also, 88 Keys will be playing on either Tuesday or Wednesday or possibly both days. We will be having pizza on Tuesday and burritos on Wednesday and Thursday. Scotts Valley will also have pizza. We are going to use the popcorn machine on Tuesday with the pizza. Pizza and burritos will be free with the SAC card and will cost an undetermined amount. This amount will be discussed at the next meeting. The next committee meeting is at 2pm before next week’s Senate meeting. Darwin is looking into a bouncy house for Welcome Week as well, and we will be talking about that at the next meeting. Kathybelle will not be able to attend the event Wednesday so extra help is needed that day.

  1. Spring Semester Planning Info. / Discuss. C. Achen 15 Minutes

This item is up for discussion regarding looking at this semester, what will be going on, and if there is anything else that we as a Student Senate would like to do.

Sheets were passed out explaining the events already scheduled for this semester. Watsonville meetings will now be held in the multipurpose room so we will be setting up our own chairs and tables; we will be busy and have given the dates out ahead of time so plan accordingly. Put these items in your calendar ahead of time. Our last meeting will be May 24th and that will be when we swear in the new senate.

  1. Student Senate Goals Info. / Discuss. C. Achen 30 Minutes

This item is up for discussion on the goals we decided on last summer. Have we made progress in them? If not, what should we change?

Overall, we have made some great progress on our goals. We need to ensure that we can keep the Borrow a Book program on campus. We should send out a school-wide email soon, prior to the semester starting preferably, to let them know this is available. We could put flyers in mailboxes or consider writing this information on all the blackboards to let the students know about it as well. We could use more presence in the Faculty Senate. We should be talking to them about textbook services. We need to update the inventory list on what books are available. Senator Barlow motioned to extend time by three minutes and Scotts Valley Representative Venegas seconds the motion. This went to vote and was not passed with a vote of all opposing votes with 2 yeas. We should hold each other accountable for attending our meetings and even remind each other of the meetings. The CPC meetings are Wednesdays from 2-4pm every week. The Budget Meeting will be Monday at 5pm at the Sesnon house. They will have food and coffee and tea and we would like to see some additional faces there. The bookstore got a new manager but they haven’t been looking into different textbook programs so there isn’t much to fund. In addition, we have less than 30% of our budget remaining in the 71 Account. We should try to improve our presence at other club and other campus events. A goal we will have is to all wear our shirts on the same day. More advertising at Watsonville and Scotts Valley would be helpful in promoting the Senate. We discussed considering holding an event at Scotts Valley campus or having a meeting there as well. The PR committee will now be in charge of making the senate more visible on campus, as Arthur resigned from being a senator. There is significant interest in holding a meeting outside, regardless of the location, so this item was added to next week’s agenda to discuss it. We cannot forget about bring a buddy day. We need to continue to edit and update the bylaws but need to bring those issues to the bylaws meetings and not to the senate meetings. The meeting norms have been emailed out, and we have approved them and they have been posted. We did not review and evaluate them over the winter. Senator Steele motioned to extend time by five minutes and Scotts Valley Representative Venegas seconded the motion, but it was not passed by a vote of 5 yeas, 7 nays. It would be nice to add helpful reminder to each other to check our emails and also please remember to turn in your written report for each committee.

  1. Reports (Every other name is Bold for Easy Reading) 3 minutes ea.

Executive Officers, Senators, Advisers report on Senate Activities.

  1. Executive Officers

President: Charlotte Achen Thanks for being here. 95% of the work is done by only a small fraction of the group. There is a not a lot of full participation and I expect you to participate even in small ways. Arthur will not be returning, and Jesse will be stepping down next week so there will be some changes.

Vice President: Oleksii Chuiko absent

Treasurer: Joseph Gomez MLK meeting is going to be at 12noon tomorrow (Friday) and I will try to have an up to date budget; this meeting will be held here.

Legislative Representative: Gaby Avilaabsent

Student Trustee: Joseph Watkins I hope that your break was good and I hope we have a great start to the semester- in regards to school I hope we can update our school schedules so we can know when everyone is available. Mentor program- I want to bring that on the floor while I still have time at the beginning of the semester and I think we can all help each other catch up on speed. We can help those who have been through some hard times. Welcome to our High School Rep; please come back and let us know if you have any questions.

Inter-Club Council Chair: Ivan Sumano-Vargas no report

Watsonville Representative: Joshua Riparetti absent

Scotts Valley Representative: Stephan VenegasWe had a family issue last semester that was difficult for us to go through and we are glad to be back. Thank you for understanding.

  1. Senators-at-Large

Stephanie Petrillo I remember we said something about how reports are going to go. I would like to know what the boundaries are. I am really excited for another semester. Nice to see you all! I will be here more than last semester and will be in the office.

Jennifer VenegasThank you to Kathybelle and Stephan as I was unable to attend for Welcome Week- you did a great job. Thank you for taking the responsibility.

Sharon O’Connor We did the Second Harvest contest with the senate; the awards were given out. I don’t have the final count yet for the money; but we broke our goal. Charlotte had the highest. Sarah was the second highest. Jesse was third. Joseph Gomez was fourth. Laura helped with the farmers markets and worked her butt off so I am treating her to lunch as well.

Arthur O’Reillyabsent

Kathybelle Barlow I hope everyone had a great break and got in all the classes they need. I will be staying on the senate because I changed my schedule. Welcome Week committee is going great and so is MLK committee and the CCLC conference was awesome and we had a lot of fun and got to talk to a few Senators and Assemblypersons. We received a tour of the senate which was pretty cool and we had a nice dinner with 3 of them and had some great conversations.

Darwin ConstantinoThe first PR committee meeting will be soon, hopefully. Have to check on the availability of the other members- this is the first committee I am chairing. If anyone wants to join talk to me; I am going to be selective and only let people who work be on my committee! The two ladies already on it have contributed greatly and they have done a lot of work and I want to continue that. I have been working on the website a lot these last few weeks and please look at the website and let me know what you want changed and relay that to me.

Chris Steele SAC- At the beginning; myself, Alex, Joseph Gomez, Stephan, Joshua, Darwin, Arthur- if anyone else wants to join or if anyone wants to drop out let me know. I will be bringing some things to the senate that I would like to discuss about students with depression and I am going to be looking into the committees I am already in so I can focus my time on committees I feel more passionately about.

Jesse CollinsI sent an email out to everyone; please read that and fill out times that you are available; you are going to have to know your office hours anyway; which you could potentially put down your office hours for this. I have a class conflict that is unavoidable but I still hope to get here at the end for reports so I can hear what’s going on, but I will have to step down. I will still be seeing you though.

Sage Goncharoffno report/absent at this time

James Williamsabsent

Laura Hunerberg Couch committee is meeting next Wednesday at 9:45am in the lobby. It is important that we all step up this semester so there isn’t a small group doing most of the work. We made the commitment so it is important to be here.

Cynthia Maiorino “Summer”no report

  1. Advisors 5 minutes ea.

Sesario Escoto absent

Flor ChacònI am excited about your goals. You can accomplish many of these in the next few weeks. Try to put your best effort into everything. And remember we work as a team and feed off each other’s energy. Help each other out and let’s start the semester well. Remember the good things; but let’s forget last semester and focus on Welcome Week since we are really getting going on this. And MLK will also require a lot of energy from a lot of you. At the conference we had a lot of fun, it was the spring annual and I have some handouts and hopefully Gaby will do a PowerPoint about what we learned. The taxes will pass in semester; Look up what is going to be on the ballot; if it passes we should be okay. Talk to those of us who went if you have more questions. I am happy; senators please read the bylaws; if you didn’t complete 5 units last semester or didn’t make the 2.0 GPA, then you will not be available to serve in the senate this coming semester. It is cumulative; overall. This is in our bylaws and it is there to promote student success. If you have not met these guidelines you need to focus on that. If you are not okay, you are not able to help anybody else. When you are okay, you are able to help others. Check your emails and come and see me if you need my help.