Senate General Body Meeting #15 — Agenda (12/03/24)

112th Johns Hopkins Student Government Association

Senate Meeting #15

December 3, 2024 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

   1. Excused Absentees: Prisha Agrawal
   2. Unexcused Absentees: Brandon Benjamin, Tarini Basirreddy

2. Convening Business (40 min)

   1. Sophomore Programming Council Confirmations - Chair Tim Huang
   2. Justice Nominations - President Stone Meng

3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

4. Public Input (3 min)

5. Reports (5 min)

   1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
   2. Advisor Report (2 min)

6. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

7. Updates from Meeting with President Daniels- Executive Branch
   1. Brainstorming post Daniels Meeting
8. Lighting of the Quads Tabling- Chair Tim Huang

9. First Reading

10. Second Reading

11. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

12. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 9:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.

112th Johns Hopkins Student Government Association

Senate Meeting #15

December 3, 2024 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

MINUTES

11. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Excused Absentees: Prisha Agrawal
    2. Unexcused Absentees: Brandon Benjamin, Tarini Basirreddy, Nayshawn Ferebee, Ivan-Alexander Kroumov, Cynthia Sanchez Hidalgo, Omotara Tiamiyu, Tyler Turner

12. Convening Business (40 min)

    1. Sophomore Programming Council Confirmations - Chair Tim Huang
       1. Sophomore Programming Council members got confirmed.
          1. Grace Guan
          2. Julian Martinez
          3. Ava Jacqueline Flores
       2. Motion to confirm these nominations passed.
    2. Motion to move Justice Nominations to Convening Business was passed.
    3. Justice Nominations
       1. The Judicial Branch was missing two justices. Stone nominated these justices:
          1. Caitlyn Ramdat
          2. Aryan Gautam
       2. Motion to confirm these nominations passed.

13. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

    1. Agenda got approved.

14. Public Input (3 min)

15. Reports (5 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
       1. GBM time changed to 7:20-9:20 PM. There will be a vote on Teams. We will have a short meeting tonight.
       2. President Stone Meng will speak on the updates from the President Daniels meeting as those will be shared in non-legislative business.
    2. Advisor Report (2 min)
       1. Advisor Jessica Snell said that admin invitations to GBMs have to be sent before the semester ends for a lineup of admin to come in. People should send a Teams message with the names of people they would like to see.
       2. Snell thanked those who filled out the WiFi survey. This will go out this week to all undergraduate students.
       3. IT is looking forward to speaking at a GBM in the spring semester to discuss the survey and some other topics.

16. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

17. Updates from Meeting with President Daniels- Executive Branch
    1. Brainstorming post Daniels Meeting
       1. Meng said that the University showed an increase in diversity and made progress with the Affirmative Action results. Meeting with an Admissions Officer is coming up. This meeting should provide more information.
       2. For construction, Daniels will pour much more funding to compensate the students, but not in the way of a tuition reduction. This is to support students by things similar to the Freshman Annex or MSE Annex. To work out exactly where that funding will go towards, we will have a discussion about this. Meeting has been scheduled for next week to confirm how the funding will be used. Tonight’s meeting will translate into that meeting.
       3. Programming Chair Tim Huang said that there will be a separate meeting with Brittani Brown on construction. We need ways to ask President Daniels to give us funding that is related to the library closure. Tuition reduction and increasing dining dollars were rejected because they are not directly related to the library closure.
       4. Vice President Amy Li said that enhancing student life is important, so initiatives about that is requested.
       5. Li said that the portable security cameras will be taken down by the end of this week. There will be more permanent security cameras.
       6. President of the Senate Nasreen Naqvi said that they don’t have facial recognition as it is against the law. They also agreed that they are hideous.
       7. Naqvi said that tours of the student center with hot chocolate or other offerings to compensate for the construction were well received. They need ideas related to student life, directly correlated to the construction. For example, each faculty member in the medical campus was given compensation after their construction. Ideas must be related to what is being impacted. We have to make a creative case because it doesn’t make a difference to them if we have to walk 5 extra minutes to get to class.
       8. Secretary Buse Koldas said that they liked the idea of having engineering majors visit the construction sites from an engineering perspective in tours that are career-focused, romanticizing the construction.
       9. Naqvi said that the hours of study centers are going to be extended for reading days and they will be released soon.
       10. Motion for unmoderated caucus of 10 minutes passed.
       11. Vice President of Senate Srigouri Oruganty said that Marc passes on the weekends to go to the D.C. campus to study could be a good compensation.
       12. Meng wanted the freshmen to understand what the Freshman Annex was, so he explained that it was a big giant tent with heaters and tables allowing the students to work there but it wasn’t popular. It is a closer study space that students can go to.
       13. Naqvi said that it was a huge tent at the Freshman Quad with socially distanced desks. It was very unpopular and it was not brought back and that's why we have Hopkins Club now. This or another alternative can be brought back. It was worth millions. Dance groups used it to practice but it was not used to study. It also had a very loud generator and no bathroom.
       14. Li said that they had their freshman formal there.
       15. Li suggested investing in transportation so that students can go off campus to study but this contradicts student engagement on campus. We could allow them to go to other Hopkins spaces.
       16. Sophomore Class President Vishnu Dontu said that they have put us in a tight spot. He doesn’t know how useful pouring millions into such solutions would be. If money is put into MSE, it won't be seen for a few years. Tuition reduction is directly related, according to him.
       17. Fraternity & Sorority Senator Yashas Mallikarjun asked for more frequent shuttle hours and, if not, the budget for the spring concert to be increased to get a better artist or more student organization funding.
       18. Chair of Programming Tim Huang said that Annex can be used as a performance space if needed.
       19. Senior Class Senator Jacquelyn Slade asked to make the outlets actually work in the Annex. It is a small investment, but very impactful. She also suggested giving out food passes to local cafes and to offer transportation to these places. Center for Social Concern could suggest alternate study places. She reiterated to get a software for libraries to show how occupied a place is. She would like to know where there is space on campus.
       20. Cultural and Identity Senator Jordyn Craig-Schwartz said that in Brody, they should check the outlets and furniture. They are falling apart, especially at the Brody Reading Room. We had a library at the time of Freshman Annex, so everyone went there. She asked: Would more people go to the Annex if we don’t have a library now? It shouldn’t be called the Annex and should be advertised in a better way. There’s more potential for it now though, according to her.
       21. WSE Senator Amy Xu said that since clubs have a lot of supplies, storage would be amazing. She suggested the admin to pay for storage fees. For those who request, an area could be allocated. For the Lime scooters around campus, some sort of allowance or a small grant for upperclassmen to buy scooters and store in their places to make it less crowded could be considered. It may be worthwhile for students who live off campus or have to navigate around construction. She is inspired by Wellbeing Day, and she suggested Hopkins to invest in custodial funds to have school employees maintain outdoor seating. More furniture could be brought out in the spring or early fall when it's nice out.
       22. Senior Class Senator Ryan Alezz suggested increasing the amount of J-Cash. Another problem to him is that campus looks ugly and depressing. He believes SGA should make the campus loook more appealing, especially for seniors graduating. There could be more green spaces and plants. Special garden study spots and popup gardens put up every week could be a good idea. There could be chalk paintings on the ground and outdoor basketball or sandball court to bring people out. Couches in the Annex seem like a good idea and he believes that it probably didn't work out just because of social distancing.
       23. Sophomore Class Senator Jazzlyn Fernandez said that if there is no tuition reduction, where this money is going. She asked if we are getting anything out of it that we aren’t paying for. She asked to make sure that the annex is at least equipped enough if it is brought back so that it is a comfortable space.
       24. WSE Senator Moses Frumkin said that to some degree, if they are going to spend that money on D.C. then why wouldn’t they just give us 5 thousand dollars so that we can spend it however we want. He believes these don’t add any value and that we should add this to the follow up email.
       25. Senior Class Senator Jennifer Tang Cabrera said that she was here when the Freshman Annex was here. It was a cozy space that she went to a few times for the events. It could be successful now since we don’t have any other options. She suggested having mini cafes and other little things to make it a more appealing space. Individual tables were a major reason why people didn’t want to be there. Pop up cafes could motivate students to study with free coffee.
       26. Craig-Schwartz said that pathways to Brody could be improved with some lights. SGA could ask the administration to leave some of the lights from LOTQ. She said that decorating construction sites with string lights could work.
       27. Sophomore Class President Vishnu Dontu likes the idea of Lime scooters. Besides, he suggested providing free academic supplies like desk lamps, backpacks or calculators since these are more related to the library.
       28. Freshman Class Senator Kevin Xu said that Lime scooters could be a good idea as they expedite your trip to classes. The major problem, to him, is that there is a lack of parking zones. In order for that Lime solution to be effective, there should be more parking slots. He asked to advocate for changes in the number of these park zones. He suggested cooperating with scooter apps to establish. Group study spaces are in short supply and should be prioritized. He asked to gather opinions from students.
       29. Huang said that the minutes of this meeting are posted but the ideas are shared on Teams. Any new ideas can be added to the list. At this point, we’re looking at nothing or something. We can bring up these points to let him understand spending more is a must. We’ll post President Daniel’s meeting information on social media. They ask everyone to spread the word about this.
       30. Naqvi said that meeting with Brown will happen before this semester ends.
18. Lighting of the Quads Tabling- Chair Tim Huang
    1. The event is on Thursday and fireworks will be behind Shriver. Wheel will be spun and depending on the number, different levels of prizes will be earned.
    2. Everything will be set up starting at 4:30 PM and help will be needed.
    3. General volunteers for line maintenance will be needed.
    4. Religious and Spiritual Life Senator Zachary Bahar asked how many pig keychains there are, to which Huang said only one.
    5. Alezz asked how many sweatshirts we will give out. Huang doesn’t know the exact number of freshman sweatshirts.
    6. Attendance incentives will be given for volunteers.
    7. Meng asked if the fireworks are at 7:30 PM.
    8. Li asked if we identify ourselves as SGA people while managing lines.
    9. Huang asked people to wear a sticker if they are a volunteer.

19. First Reading

20. Second Reading

21. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

22. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 9:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.