After Environmental Affairs Commissioner Andrew Cvitanovich ’02 motioned to amend his recorded attendance from last week’s meeting to an absence because he wasn’t there, ASPC Vice President Michio Brunner ’02 motioned to approve the minutes. The motion passed unanimously.

The recently elected Senate members were introduced. The Senate established that South Campus Representative Hans Hassell ’05 is a Scorpio, Communications Commissioner Dru Hilty ’02 can fit her fist in her mouth and ASPC President Jake Oken-Berg ’02 is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church (he urged anyone who was interested in becoming ordained for free online to check out ulc.org).

The Senate will have a retreat at Neil Gerard’s house this Saturday.

An agreeable time to meet is still an issue in the Senate. Evenings are problematic because Oken-Berg said the "adults" (advisor Neil Gerard, Dave Swenson and Dean Quinley) will have difficulty attending and there are conflicts with classes and other activities among the senators.

Oken-Berg contacted Brenda Barham Hill at CUC because many students were complaining about having trouble dialing out. He requested they fix the problem as soon as possible to save students the inconvenience of not being able to call off-campus. At a later date, the Senate wishes to address the structure and infrastructure of Pomona’s phone service arrangements to hopefully reduce the costs of phone calls.

Many students have had trouble drying clothes in campus dryers, excessively shelling out quarters and wasting time doing laundry. The Senate will attempt to repair the dryers by talking to the Office of Campus Life and/or housekeeping. The dryers, as well as other campus utilities, may need to be replaced in the near future.

Residence Halls and Food Commissioner Mike Rush ’04 said that the new cards for this year have several additional options that the College ultimately hopes to use, including card readers in laundry machines and vending machines, offering an alternative to quarters. Eventually, it may even be possible for the cards to be used to flex items in the Village.

Promoters of a potential overlay requirement for future Sagehens called Dynamics of Difference and Power (DDP) appealed to the Senate for support for their proposal. Academic Affairs Commissioner Scott LaBoda ’03 said the requirement is intended to "educate students about how power differences play out [in] race, gender, sexuality, religion."

The Senate discussed how to go about deciding whether or not to endorse it. Brunner voiced immediate opposition. Oken-Berg suggested waiting a week to make a decision so that senators could review the proposal. Several Senate members requested an educational campaign and student polls before taking a stand. Cvitanovich wanted public forums to discuss the issue and educate students.

Community Affairs Commissioner Supriya Patel ’04 appealed to change the legislation for the community affairs committee from five members at-large to at least five members at-large. Brenner motioned to approve. The motion passed unanimously.

Patel then motioned to appoint several students to the committee. The motion passed unanimously.