President Pattenaude visits
President Richard Pattenaude spoke to the senators about Joseph Westphal, USM’s new Chancellor. Pattenaude talked about Westphal’s actions and plans for USM’s future. Westfall has proposed a “very aggressive budget increase,” said Pattenaude. A portion of the money will be allotted to financial aid. Westfall also does not want to increase tuition for the next two years, which is in effort to reduce monetary issues for students, he said. “Everybody says higher education is a good investment,” said Pattenaude.
Westphall plans to get a $30 million bond approved. USM will receive eight million dollars to make improvements in three academic buildings on both campuses. Bailey Hall the main academic building on the Gorham campus will have air conditioning installed. The second building on the renovated will be Payson Smith on the Portland campus. About $600,000 will be spent on upgrading the building and adding air conditioning. The last building, Luther Bonney on the Portland campus, will have air conditioning installed and painting.
Pattenaude discussed the possibility of more housing on the Portland campus, for married and upper level students (graduate students).
Pattenaude also discussed the parking issues with the parking garage beginning construction in the coming winter. “[We will] leap together off the cliff in January or February,” he said. Pattenaude said during the construction of the parking garage, about 500 spaces will be lost, but he also accounted for the University’s commitment to replace those spaces. Two parking lots were added over the summer on the Gorham campus, one behind Robie-Andrews and the other behind Phillippi Hall. There are also spaces at 19 College Ave. Pattenaude said that they are working on expanding the parking by the Alumni House, and as many as 250 spots in the Marginal Way parking lot in Portland. Once the Science building is finished on the Portland campus, two thirds of the lot by Sullivan Gym will be accessible. And lastly, the University has signed a contract with Sam’s Club in Scarborough for 100 spots. The bus that runs between Portland and Gorham will make stops at Sam’s on every run to transport students. USM only paid $5,000 in insurance
costs. Pattenaude said it is “going to be difficult, there’s no way around it.”
Two procedural proposals pass unanimously
A proposal to allocate money to pay for the furniture of 11 Baxter Blvd. was passed without much discussion. The senators had already ordered the furniture, but they hadn’t actually voted to spend the money. The proposal passed 13 to 0.
The second proposal was a Constitutional change to update the Student Senate Childcare Scholarship Statement of Policy. This proposal was also procedural and passed 13 to 0.
Students for Green Politics get their Speaker
The president of Students for Green Politics, Erin Finn came to ask the Student Senate for $5,000, or a smaller amount, to help them pay for a guest speaker to come and talk at the University. This guest speaker, Jello Biafra, price tag lies at $5,000, but when he visited USM a couple of years ago, the Senate did not allocate the entire $5,000 to his bill. The Student Senate voted to only spend $2,000 after a debate concerning
ethical issues because many senators did not want to appear as though they were supporting one political party over another, especially in an election year. Many senators voiced their opinions that it might be possible to get political speakers to come to the USM area for free. The proposal was also amended to say that one half of all proceeds of the event, which will cost $1 for students and $6 for non-students, will go back to the Student Senate. The proposal passed at 7 to 6.
Finances
Treasurer Mike Norton announced the numbers of unallocated and allocated at the Senate meeting, but the check from the student activity fee has not arrived and the numbers are merely estimates.
Appointments Committee
Sen. Andrew Goodman was absent at last Friday’s meeting, and Parliamentarian Sen. Jessica Roy covered the appointment issues. Sen. Dorn McMahon was elected by consensus to PRAC, or Promoting Responsible Alcohol Choices. Sen. Shaun Quinn and Sen. Brittany Esposito were appointed by consensus to the Finance Committee. There are two Resident Senator seats open.
Absent Senators
Josh Dolby
Brittany Eposito
Andrew Goodman
Carolyn Ezzy
Both Sen. Dolby and Sen. Esposito’s absences were excused.
The next Senate meeting will be held in Portland at 11 Baxter Blvd. at 9 a.m.