Senator Goals
General Expectations
Dining Board Update
Budget Committee Review
Other Projects

The minutes from last meeting were approved.

Senator Goals
The meeting began with each senator briefly outlining their goals for the next term.

Duane – change the way BC allocates funds.
Davis – Better communicate what ECC does to the student body.
Hernandez – work with the ongoing Sevy restructuring process.
Diagne – increase interactions between St. Olaf and Carleton
Owens – increase class unity in the class of 2012
Moor – get vending machines to take Schillers and organize social events
Gourevitch – make the next Day of Service a success
Heckman – how to communicate better with the class of 2013
Rafiq – social events for the class of 2013
Kimball – assemble more furniture and help with the Day of Service, more art in public spaces
Ali – get Carleton involved in the census process and start a leisure fishing club
Boyce – refurbish the website
Durani – work on the longer term Bald Spot furniture, work with the results of the Wellness Center review to make the WC a better place
Heifetz – find ways for senate to be better integrated with and more visible to the greater student body
Heavenrich – help restructure the Sustainability Revolving Fund
Longabaugh – continue working with the Arts Union project

Martin – help senate

Hodes – work on revitalizing Sayles, and the Textbook Exchange, and streamlining Budget Committee
Bharucha – Wellness Center review, and increase CSA’s publicity on campus

General Expectations
Bharucha and Hodes prepared a presentation about general expectations for the senators. All senators are expected to attend Senate meetings. More than two unexcused absences automatically puts a senator up for impeachment. Senators should be engaged, hopefully for the full duration of the meeting.

Senate uses Robert’s Rules of Order with most speaking limited to 45 seconds.

Senators should avoid swearing or verbally abusing members of the Carleton community.

Liaisons will be asked to send in updates that will be made available on the internet. Senators are free to submit agenda items. All senators are required to read both the senate and Budget Committee minutes.

Updates from all senators will help keep students informed and help senators coordinate their efforts.

Kimball suggested a CSA Senate Twitter feed and volunteered to create it.

Heckman recommended photo updates.

Ali asked if there could be a vending machine on 4th Library or in the CMC. There may be issues about food being prohibited.

Heifetz added that senators who meet with faculty members should post reviews of how the meeting went on the website, especially if they’re being uncooperative.

Ali pointed out that there is no longer a senate/OIL Liaison. It will be coming back in the Spring elections.

Dining Board Update

Bharucha hopes that each week, a member of one of the various committees on campus can give a powerpoint presentation to Senate. Duane gave a presentation about the dining board.

All Dining Board meetings are open. Various members of the administration, student body, and Bon Appetit make up the Dining Board.

The Dining Board begins with day-to-day issues at the Dining Halls. From there they deal with logistic issues or updates from Bon Appetit. Recently there has been several presentations about buying local food. The comment cards and online comment box are also dealt with.

The amount of local food has been a big issue. The apples and much of the meat is bought locally. The specialty nights are also a topic at the Dining Board meetings.

Labeling food has been a constant issue, but hopefully it has been improving recently. In response to student complaints, they have added more variety, and walnut butter. The comments are very important to the Dining Board.

In Sayles, the wrappers are now all compostable. They are also looking into reusable baskets. Recyclable cups may also show up at the snack bar.

There is a possibility for changing the meal plans. The Dining Board would like to hear more from students and is very responsive to criticism and advice.

Currently there is a vacancy on the Dining Board.

Statistics for what percent of food is local can be obtained by contacting Bon Appetit.

Heifetz pointed out that the choice between the 12 and the 20 meal plan does not offer enough choices for students looking to save money. Bon Appetit’s response was somewhat unsatisfactory, saying that they simply need to make enough money to run their operation. In order for the issue to move forward, there is a need for concrete proposals about new meal plans.

Heavenrich responded to Ali’s question about a “pulper” which would crush the wasted food to reduce the amount of water when it is composted. She said that the pulper does not weigh the waste.

Durani said that there was a group on campus that bought scales so that the waste could be weighed, but there was not distinction between consumable and nonconsumable waste, so it was impossible to get accurate measurements.

Rafiq added that if there is a new proposal for a meal plan, more meal equivilency’s could be a part of the changes.

Ali asked about the bag lunches. They are available in the morning at LDC, but it is kind of inconvenient.

Heavenrich reported that EAC gave some money to a hire a worker that could monitor Bon Appetit’s invoices to determine how much of the food is local.

There will probably be more picnics this year.

St. Olaf pays less for their dining but it’s unclear where those savings come from.

Budget Committee Review
Senate usually deals with Budget Committee requests by approving all those under $1000 as a block. This streamlines the process, and senators can pull out any requests they would like to review.

Last term there were issues about money running short near the end of the term.

Heifetz said that there had not been budget shortages the year before last.

Senate unanimously approved changing the tradition of block approval to a $900 limit.

Budget Committee plans to go through a process of reevaluating how it can better distribute funds. Comments are welcome.

In order to request funds from Budget Committee, students must fill out a form that can be found on the CSA website under Financing.

All senators will be asked to have one office hour per week in the CSA Office. Last year they were in the NNB and on the CSA Office hours. The hour is not only a chance for students to meet with senator’s but also an hour that senator’s can spend dealing with senate issues.

Other Projects

Senators will also be asked to do Study Break visits. Hopefully there will also be CSA fliers in the bathroom stall.

Kimball announced that the CSA Senate Twitter Feed is fully operational, one week ahead of schedule.

Diagne is looking for Carleton students to participate in a speed dating event with St. Olaf. The event will be Thursday April 8th. They are asking for 20 to 30 students. Ali said that previous speed-dating events were incredibly popular.

Bharucha proposed that CSA Senate also have social events. The goal would be to get to know fellow senators and increase synergy. They will probably be held at Burton.

The Class Representatives will be meeting each week.

MAPSC will be having retreats to encourage networking between the student governments of Minnesota.

The Day of Service is still in the process of being nailed down. It will probably be held during mid term break.

The Textbook Exchange website is not yet complete but should soon be operational.