S.G.A. SENATE MEETING

March 6, 2017

The meeting was called to order in the Leaders Suite of the Donald G. Bollinger Student Union at 4:00 p.m. Presiding officer was Vice President Austin Wendt. The Recording Secretary was Dolly McGeever. The prayer was led by Senator Sydney Moxley and the pledge was given by Senator Stephen Battaglia, Jr.

The Nicholls Student Government Association Mission Statement was read by Senator Emily Bergeron and Senator Keilan Kiger read the first value of the Nicholls Creed.

The following Executive Board members were present: Vice President Austin Wendt, Treasurer Katelyn Cortez, Director of Public Relations Abigail Ledet and Secretary Dolly McGeever.

The following Executive Board members were absent: President Tommy Thibodeaux and Director of Student Rights and Grievances Peyton Chiasson.

The following Senators were present: Sydney Moxley, Kaitlyn Mistretta, Mallory Robichaux, Josie Graham, Beau Bourgeois, Christopher Oubre, Keilan Kiger, Emily Bergeron, Amy Rogers, Alec Stieffel, Emma Bourgeois, Drake Thibodaux, Stephen Battaglia, Jr., Jennifer Duthu and Ty Fanguy (appointed).

The following Senators were absent: Madison Kiger, Savannah Sadaiappen, Paige Thomas, Josie St. Pierre, Rabina Tamang, Peyton Gee, Emily Ledet, Tyler Legnon and Sean Adams.

Student Supreme Court was represented by Justice Joshua Chiasson.

Election Commission was represented by Secretary Dolly McGeever (Ex-Officio).

Guests present were Dr. Eugene A. Dial, Jr., Vice President of Student Affairs and Student Government Association Advisor, Penny Cade, American Cancer Society Representative, Dr. David Stewart, Mass Communications Department Head, Nicki Boudreaux, Instructor of Mass Communications and Director of Student Publications, Mayrna Forbes, Administrative Assistant for Mass Communications Department, Francesca D’Agostino, Tristan Smith, Courtney Beamer, Tyler Ussery, Cameron Price, Jacob Parra, Alexia Williams, Jake Vincent, Rachel Klaus, Angelle Gaspard, Alexis Cannon, Ana Pizzolio, Jeffery Miller, Katherine Kelly, Emily Cade, Collin Brazan, Richard Galbreath, Jr. Gunnar Galbreath, Blair Verdun, Hollyn Millet, Victoria Brockman, Amanda Hedrick, Courtney Sylvest, Jewel Pomeroy, Jessica Mouton, Jarrod Riggins, Morgan Ivers, Alondra Medrano, Chelsea Jackson, Julia Boudreau, Joycelyn Lewis, Eric Diggs, Bailee Dehart, Ashley Dufrene, Zachary Boudreaux, Emmalyn Buquoi, Linda Martin, Alvin Coney, Erica Tibbs, Brandy Dunbar, Deante’ Baham, Nicole Henry, Kathleen Rodrigue and Daniel Benitez, Jr.

No Minutes were presented.

GUEST SPEAKERS: Dr. David Stewart, Mass Communications Department Head, Nicki Boudreaux, Instructor of Mass Communications and Director of Student Publications, Members of La Pirogue Yearbook, The Nicholls Worth Newspaper and KNSU Radio Station.

Nicki Boudreaux, Instructor of Mass Communications and Director of Student PublicationsI am Nicki Boudreaux. I’m the Director of Student Publications and an instructor of Mass Communications here at Nicholls. Thank you first of all for allowing La Pirogue to speak to you today. As you know the university last week announced that they were repurposing the student university assessed fee that pays for La Pirogue into two separate $5 fees to fund the Student Advising and Mentoring Program and the Broad Student Success Initiative on campus. The reason why, as explained by the SGA Vice President, we were asked to come here to explain how this came about. There is no input that comes to the Student Media as a whole. There are about sixteen students that are paid to work on La Pirogue as their student job. The fee that is charged is $10 per student per semester as a university fee, not a student self-assessed fee, since 1949 when the university started the first yearbook. I’ll place the yearbook here if anyone wants to see it. There were no self-assessed fees. It was part of a fee that came from LSU. We were part of LSU as a junior college. That fee was increased from $3.50 in 1948 or 1949 to $10 per student in 2001 and that’s what it is today. The

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yearbook is financially in great shape. We actually have a very good size budget and La Pirogue ceases to exist if that would happen, the money that we do have that students have paid into funding the yearbook will actually revert back to the university’s operating account. So we will also lose all of the money that was dedicated to the yearbook over the years in student fees being paid to Student Publications. Right now we distribute yearbooks to about 20% of the student body. We gave out more than 90% of the yearbooks this year and we could have actually ordered more. There has been some talk about whether or not we should go online. One of the issues I want to point out with that is, this is my college yearbook (Ms. Boudreaux holds up her yearbook) and this is the technology we used to produce it in 1996 (Ms. Boudreaux holds up a diskette). If you’ve never used these before, it’s a diskette. If we relied on technology rather than the printed page in 1996 for my yearbook, I would no longer have access to it today. So in 20 years if we go to an online yearbook, chances are you won’t be able to sit down and show your kids what you did at Nicholls because you won’t have a copy to rely on. Right now, it’s floating in a cloud somewhere so it’s very difficult to even imagine what technology will be in 20 years. I think that’s one of the obvious concerns. The only time that I recall having an opportunity to give feedback to the administration was during the summer when they were having meetings. Dr. Stewart presented at those meetings. I had also put a memo forward to the administration to the Vice President of Finance in February of 2016 addressing the yearbook fee, including ways that I thought we could possibly reduce that fee or possibly combine our self-assessed fees for all the Student Media to reduce the overall amount. That memo did not go further than my initial signature. So ultimately, we just want to make sure our students have a voice. The yearbook is for the students, that’s why we do it. So if the student body doesn’t want a yearbook, than that’s fine but we wanted to give the students a chance to talk and I think all of these students feel that they deserve a voice.

Dr. James Stewart, Mass Communications Department HeadMy name is James Stewart. I’m the Head of the Department of Mass Communications. I’m alumni of Mass Communications and the Student Media. Ms. Boudreaux was actually on The Nicholls Worth staff and La Pirogue. So we’re alumni as well. We both served as advisors this summer. I just want to emphasize a couple of things. Number one is that we have been trying for some time actually to consolidate Student Media on campus. Obviously, the technology has changed. They’ve done tremendous work as of this year alone with The Nicholls Worth. They’ve been involved in online journals for a number of years with The Nicholls Worth so we’ve been trying not to have three separate things. We have a television station and radio station, a newspaper and a yearbook. We’ve been trying to get those things working together because obviously the yearbook fund is extremely healthy to the tune of about $500,000 and we have argued that we can produce better content for you and save a lot of money. So we believe there is an opportunity for involving Student Media but at the end of the day, it is your voice and it should be there going into the future. An independent voice from the administration, from your teachers or whomever else and to see a part of that go away would be tragic actually. This book dates back to the 1940’s. Something that some people don’t realize is that Student Media here on campus was instrumental on campus in the 70’s with integration of various night clubs and things like that. It was student leaders like yourself, Ken Wells who I believe was the SGA President at the time. He was also a member of the Student Media staff and was a very vocal advocate for integration of local establishments. So Student Media plays an important part of your lives. One last comment and it gets to the technology. We tell the staff constantly that your audience is not today, your audience is ten years from now, fifteen years from now or twenty years from now. When you get the book, everything is fresh in your mind. You’re going to remember that professor, you’re going to remember that classmate, you’re going to remember that girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. You know what, you’re not. I can tell you, that’s what my gray hairs are all about. The yearbook will be there to help recall those memories. The important part of it is we try as much as possible to give a broad overview of what went on, not just who the Homecoming Queen was and who the President of SGA was but also other stories about what it meant to be a college student at Nicholls State University this year as opposed to any other year at the university. At the end of the day, it’s your book and it should be your voice that makes the decision.

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Hollyn MilletHello, I’m Hollyn and I’m the Editor of La Pirogue and I’m a Sophomore. I’ve been working for La Pirogue since my Freshman year. I also did the yearbook in high school. The yearbook is important to you, like Dr. Stewart said, later on in years. If we take it away, Nicholls doesn’t have a hard copy, none, no looking back at the past, nothing like that. For SGA, all the things you do, that’s recorded and put in the yearbook. If they take away the yearbook, all you do, no one will remember you, no one will remember what the Greeks do, and no one will remember what Athletics does. You might as well not have the football games if you can’t remember them. The yearbook is a hard copy. A book that you’ll have for the rest of your life. If you say why can’t we get an online yearbook and put it on social media, that’s not forever. You will forever grab your yearbook off your shelf and look at it and remember everything, your graduation picture, your Senators. If you give up the yearbook, all you have is that one picture. You can’t look back at one of your best friends when you graduated or if someone might have passed away. You won’t have that anymore so it’s very important to keep the yearbook here because it means so much in later years. All of you and all of us have a word and if we don’t say anything, it’s just going to go away.

Tyler UsseryMy name is Tyler Ussery. I am the current Station Manager of 91.5 KNSU, our campus radio station. I’d like to say in regards to the entire Student Media that this is a vital portion of Nicholls’ campus. Where will you get your news in The Nicholls Worth? I have DJ events and we have bands that play on campus, from KNSU. I have students that go out and interview current artists at music festivals and things like that. It’s valuable experience for students on this campus to have Student Media. If we’re going to have a Mass Communications Major, how are we going to train them for the field if we don’t have The Nicholls Worth, if we don’t have La Pirogue, if we don’t have a 91.5 KNSU Radio Station. Might I add that it’s a great station. What I just want to say is that you students benefit from Student Media. You benefit with your major if you’re a Mass Communications Major. It’s great training in the field and also all the memories you make on campus will be engrained in a book that you’ll look back on for years. It might not register with you right now but twenty years down the road, whenever you look back at the book and say man I graduated from Nicholls State University and that’s my picture right there. You’ll be able to show your kids that picture and give them inspiration to keep their dreams. That’s special and that’s what Student Media is.

Richard Galbreath, Jr.Hi. My name is Richard Galbreath, Jr. and I’m one of the Copy Editors for The Nicholls Worth and La Pirogue yearbook and I’m a professional. I’m a Freshman. This is my first year here. I needed a job on campus so I decided to apply for whatever they had and I came across The Nicholls Worth and La Pirogue at one of the many events on campus for Freshmen. Again, I got the job. I wasn’t a Copy Editor at the time. I was a Photographer and I worked really hard taking pictures throughout the first semester, the Fall semester of this year, then I transferred over to copy editing. The time I’ve spent as a photographer and the time I’ve spent as a copy editor, they are two different positions but it’s the same thing. It’s not just a job, it’s something you work for. It’s not just getting paid to sit on your butt and work a desk or scan people into the Rec Center or whatever. You are actively working harder, doing research, taking pictures, finding out information, and archiving things around campus. It’s a lot of hard work and to just see it go, just toss it away because they need a fee to take care of or add a new fee, it’s not right. All of us work so hard to produce this yearbook for you. We put our blood, sweat and tears into it and it’s something we’re all passionate about. This is my family here. I have become so close to the people I work with and for that to be taken away, it’s not right.

Courtney SylvestHi everybody. I’m Courtney Sylvest, one of the Section Editors for the yearbook and I want to talk more about the financial standpoint of it. Like they mentioned, we have about half a million dollars in our account. While the fee that the university just took away from us is gone, the money in our account was written on our fees in the semester collected that it was going toward the yearbook, so how can they. There are no decisions that have been made about it yet but they are considering relocating that money somewhere else. They told us that money (fee) was going to the yearbook.

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Jacob ParraMy name is Jacob Parra. I am a Microbiology major here at Nicholls State University. I’ve attended for three years so I’m a Junior and I’m Program Director at KNSU. My mother went to Nicholls way back when and over Christmas break, I actually went through her yearbooks and found pictures of her with the crazy 80’s hairdos. I made fun of her for that haircut and for that first hairdo because of La Pirogue. I pick up the yearbook every year, not because I want it every year but because in twenty or thirty years, my kids, if I have any, will be able to look at it and say “Wow Dad, why was your hair so long?” or “Why didn’t you shave your beard?” but Student Media in itself is incredibly important to everyone here at this campus. I’m from Lafayette. The amount of times I’ve heard students talk on ULL’s radio, was maybe three times in the twenty years. I personally hire all the DJ’s that play and talk on KNSU. This semester we had about twenty DJ’s, every single one of them talks and plays their music on the radio. That is a wonderful experience. One of the DJ’s I’ve hired wants to get into the business. Radio is usually one of the ways to get acclimated to that kind of music environment. If you do cut Student Media, you cut people who want to be Journalist, you cut people who want to print books, you cut people who want to plan fancy camera things they call TV’s these days, and they cut radio. You cut so many opportunities for people that they wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s important stuff like that which makes Nicholls unique so please save our Student Media, #studentmedia.

Rachel KlausHi, my name is Rachel Klaus. I am a Senior and I am a Managing Editor for The Nicholls Worth. I would like to say and point out something that is important. Not only is Student Media made up of Mass Communication students, we are made up of many different majors. Half of the students attending today are not Mass Communication Majors. I’m pointing this out because it not only affects the Mass Communications Department, The Nicholls Worth or La Pirogue yearbook at all, it affects all of us students. I think it’s very important growing up on this campus. I live not far away, five minutes away. I’ve seen what this campus can do and I’ve seen what students can do and achieve great things. The Nicholls Worth and La Pirogue are very good for experience. I think I am pursuing being a Journalist and I’m going to have a really good chance because I’ve had hands on experience doing this. You cannot get hands on experience pretty much doing anything else in this field. Being a Biology Major and a Copy Editor, there are other jobs along the line where you can write a paper and do it correctly. You can do anything with this job description. I just want to recognize that there are other people besides Mass Communication Majors that are in our department.

Julia BoudreauxHi, I’m Julia Boudreaux. I’m a Senior and I’m a Section Editor for La Pirogue. This semester I was looking for a job. This is a job experience where you gain experience that will benefit you. I learned to deal with stress. I learned how to communicate with photography in The Nicholls Worth and this is just a fraction of memories for us to have a voice with. Part of my job is going through old yearbooks for inspiration from old pictures. Getting rid of the yearbook is getting rid of memories. In the 1980’s we had a football player that joined the NFL and in the late 80’s, we had countless major league baseball players that were produced at Nicholls. For me, getting rid of the yearbook is getting rid of all these memories. It’s like a family. We work well together. It’s a really good job. There’s no way you can ever replace those memories. It’s a physical copy of our time at Nicholls. Ten, twenty, thirty years down the road, this is what we’ll have to show our kids. This is what my campus looked like when I was here. Getting rid of the yearbook gets rid of those memories.

Joycelyn LewisMy name is Joycelyn Lewis. I am a Public Relations student and I’m a Sophomore. I am from East Texas and my Dad came to Nicholls. My Dad brought his Nicholls Worth to East Texas. That’s how I found out about Nicholls. My Dad doesn’t know why I’m down here but my Dad got to show me “If you want to go to school, this is what Nicholls has to offer.” I’m not down here as a Nursing Major. I’m down here as a Mass Communication Major. I chose Nicholls because I saw La Pirogue. I saw myself at this college because I was able to look in that book and say you know what, I like what I see. Getting rid of the yearbook is going to take away that experience for other students. I learned how to live down here in Thibodaux, coming out here as my Dad did. What am I going to have to show my child? This is us. This is how we operated our student body. I’m from a different state and I’m down here. I side with my department because this is all we have.GUEST SPEAKERS CONTINUED:

Chelsea JacksonHi. My name is Chelsea Jackson from Virginia. I’m a Mass Communications student. I am not a part of Student Publication. I’m still very active on this campus and within my department. My issue with the possibility of the yearbook going away is that they did not ask the student body our opinion. That is what bothers me. If they silence our voice without our opinions, without our options to decide whether or not we want the yearbook. Personally, I don’t pick up the yearbook but I want what other people want. I know that other people want to look back twenty years from now and see the picture of their friends, their past, and their experience here at Nicholls. This isn’t just about the yearbook. They made this decision without the student body’s opinion, without their option to even voice their opinion. They did this without our knowledge. That is what bothers me. As part of the Mass Communications team, we are about voicing our opinion, about voicing the students’ opinion and letting everyone know what Nicholls is about. But they chose not to hear our opinion and that is what bothers me. They silenced our opinions. This Mass Communications team is a part of the Student Publication who have opinions and are dedicated to this department or dedicated to other organizations they’re a part of. They did not have an option to decide what they do with their experience in college. If they chose to do this to the yearbook, what’s next? Who’s next? Without our opinions, no thank you.

Ana PizzolioHi. I’m Ana Pizzolio. I’m a Senior and Mass Communications Major. I work with The Nicholls Worth. What bothers me more about this situation was that although I know it was not a self-assessed fee so the university has the right, they could take it away if they want to but why did they have to take it away. If there is no cap for the amount of fees they can charge the students, it seems that the national average on fess is way above what we charge. Why do we have to give up the yearbook fee? What is the real intention of getting rid of the yearbook? It’s a question that I couldn’t get answered. The process with the summer committee meetings and everything bothered me a lot because I requested public information. I wanted to know what was discussed in those meetings, which organizations were being evaluated and which organizations on campus were going to be taken out without our input. We wanted to know what was going on in there and we were shut down. We put in requests and were told there wasn’t a committee, that those meetings weren’t official meetings, that there were no meetings for that. Well there was. Where is this information? So we felt that everything was done behind our backs. We felt that they wanted us not to have a voice. They wanted us not to have a chance to say “Do not take the yearbook fee”. If we don’t do anything right now, it’s not going to be just the yearbook that’s going to be taken out of us. They’re going to take The Nicholls Worth next. They’re going to say we don’t need to have a publication. They’re going to say why do we need to have these organizations on campus. All I want to point out is that it was taken from us without our knowledge. It was done so we wouldn’t have a voice. I think we as Student Media, we as the students, are the opinion makers, we are the trendsetters. We are the ones who should decide if we want the yearbook or not. If the book is valuable to us, who is the university to say that we don’t have the right to have one.

Jessica MoutonHello. My name is Jessica Mouton. I am a Freshman and I am the Layout Design Editor for The Nicholls Worth and La Pirogue. The one thing I really like about having my position is that while I am a Mass Communications Major, the skills that I’m learning right now in my job as a Freshman, I wouldn’t be learning it until I am a Sophomore or Junior in my classes. Currently this semester, I have laid out all six different designs for La Pirogue and that is a skill that I would not have gained until my fifth or sixth semester. I’ve currently and recently been working the newspaper and the job that I hold right now is exactly what I want to do after college. This is something I can absolutely put on my resume and is going to look absolutely tremendous. It gives me hope for getting a job after college. Taking away Student Publications makes it feel like there’s less of a chance for Mass Communication Majors to get a job after college. There’s already a small chance but this gives me hope. Taking away the yearbook is even less hope for me that the newspaper will continue. That’s something that everyone else should be thinking about because if they take away the yearbook, what’s going to stop them from taking away other organizations on campus. If they think they can take this away from us, they can take away experience, they can take away memories, and they can take away our one thing that keeps all of our events together. What can stop them from taking away anything else? GUEST SPEAKERS CONTINUED:

Nicole Henry

My name is Nicole Henry and I’m a Mass Communications Senior. I’ve probably interviewed some of you. This is my passion. I love this department. They stand by us 100%. I hate to make this so sad but about two years ago I did lose my father. Essentially, this is about being nostalgic, emotions, the things we feel when we see our pictures. Heck, there would be no “Throw Back Thursdays” without pictures. I remember after my Dad’s funeral, one thing that brought us comfort was looking at his old pictures. One of those things was his yearbook. It was great to see him in high school and just that one thing brought me a little bit of peace instead of disheartened about losing him. So I just politely urge you to think about this and let’s not take away pictures and things that we’ll all look upon years from now, things that bring us peace.

Alexis CannonI’m Alexis Cannon, a Public Relations Major and Editor of The Nicholls Worth. As Ana pointed out, once we heard that there were committee meetings over the summer, we sent out a public records request and we were given the run around about it. They had a time line where they had to send us information on it and we even went to a lawyer and asked them to write up something. We were emailed back that there was no public meetings or committee that went before. I just want you to know that this is what happened.

Austin, SGA Vice PresidentI’d like to explain to the Senators that there was a meeting this summer that was designed to look at the different organizations on campus that did not fall under the student-assessment fees. I just wanted to let you know that there was a meeting that was held this summer.

Mayrna ForbesHi. My name is Mayrna Forbes and I’m the Administrative Assistant for the Mass Communications Department. I also assist Ms. Nicki Boudreaux whenever she needs help for her department. I’ve been in this department for three years and watched the students grow through Student Media. I have watched the students mature through Student Media and for their voice to be taken without consideration is hurtful and disrespectful. This campus is built on students and their rights. They have the right to be heard. They have the right to make decisions because it’s their money. They have to pay it back so for their voice to be shut up and not considered, for them to be disrespected and again not considered, that administration is unlawful. It’s very unlawful. Student Media is needed because we teach our students how to work in their organizations. It’s not always television. It’s not always radio. They may not always be in front of a camera but journalism is everywhere and they need to know how to do it effectively and that’s what we do. We teach them effectively. We teach them efficiently. We teach them integrity. We teach them character. We teach them teamwork. We teach them how to solve problems. We teach them how to approach people to get a story. We teach them ways of life whether it’s in school or out of school. This is not just Mass Communications, it’s everybody. This is every department, every college on this campus and it’s not fair. It’s not right for the voice about students, our students, to be disrespected in such a way. Let’s do something about it.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said even if the university took this fee away, are we, the students, allowed to assist you directly? It is obviously important but what can the Senate do to make this happen. Vice President Austin W. said basically what the Senate can do is issue a Resolution on behalf of the students saying that the Senate is not happy, we’re discontented and disheartened by the way the students were completely left out of the conversation in regards to the yearbook. As leaders of the student body, we should have been consulted on this. That’s one of the things that this body can do. As the Student Government Association, we have wide powers on things that they can do to combat the administration when it oversteps its boundaries. That’s what you have. We can issue a Resolution.

COMMENT: Senator Jennifer D. asked why was the fee taken away? Vice President Austin W. yields the floor to Ms. Nicki Boudreaux and Dr. James Stewart.

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Dr. James StewartIf you read last year’s schedule which is still available online, the Resolution went to the Board of Trustees which is the Supervisory Board for

the UL System. They’re taking $10 that we’re currently paying for the yearbook and reapportioning $5 to QEP and $5 to the Student Success Initiative. So it’s pretty general in terms. That’s the money going forward and as your Vice President said, that’s a university assessment. There’s not really much that you can do, it’s not an assessment fee you set. There’s still the question of the money left. We have been assured by the administration that they are willing to have a dialogue with us about the future of the yearbook going forward. That money is a portion of that discussion and as your Vice President said, you can issue a Resolution and that’s what you might want to consider as part of your Resolution. So discussion with you would have to be what happens with that money moving forward because as several people pointed out, some of you are Juniors and Seniors. Every semester you’ve been here, you’ve been told that the $10 was going toward the yearbook.

COMMENT: Senator Sydney M. asked what alternatives did they have available for the Nicholls community to stay up to date if the yearbook was no longer here.

Dr. James StewartWe have a number of initiatives going forward. Ms. Boudreaux has talked to Vanderbilt, I guess that’s what it’s called. She’ll explain that to you. Other than that, we’d have to find alternative funding sources. Keep in mind, we can operate the yearbook with funds for another three or four years and nobody would notice the difference of the number of books or the number of students employed. We have that big reserve.

Ms. Nicki BoudreauxLike Dr. Stewart said, as we stand right now, we can probably continue to operate for another four, possibly five years, on the money we have in reserves that’s if we’re allowed to keep the money that we have in reserves. As of now, we’re told that after this current yearbook is finished which will be some time around October or November when it’s actually printed and distributed. At that point, whatever we have left in our account will revert back to the general operating account with the university and the administration will determine how to use that money. Moving forward, we could continue to operate for another four years or so. We do have some ideas on how we can put together a new product. Potentially we can work with a company that Vanderbilt created where they do advertising. They sell the books directly to students through either students, their parents, Senior Day, etc. so we could actually generate some funds enough to operate on entirely. If the fee goes away and our reserves go away, then we really have no way to continue on. If the fee goes away and we keep our reserves, we could continue to operate for a few years until we can get another business model up and running where we could still afford to put together a product.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said so you’re saying that they told you that after they met last summer, the reserve would go to whatever. But that money you paid is from students paying to a yearbook, correct? Ms. Nicki Boudreaux said yes.

Dr. James StewartIf you look at the current fee schedule. I don’t know how many of you get an itemized receipt. I’ve asked for the information and I think it varies. If you look in the catalog under the fee structure, it reverts down how much the Mosaic gets, how much whatever gets, and your fee is listed there. It’s $10 for the yearbook and it’s been in that catalog for however long. It specifies that that $10 is supposed to be for that account. Just like you pay, for example, the ITS Fee. Now that way its set up is a student run committee by and large to make sure that money is being spent on stuff for students. I can’t buy software for a computer in my office from that account so there’s oversight there. Unfortunately, at the time this was created fifty something years ago, there was no such foresight.

Ms. Nicki BoudreauxIf you go to the university website, you can pull up a section that says tuition and fees. It will give you an itemized statement of everything that you pay, which fee it goes to. They already have the fee schedule up for Fall of 2017. The yearbook is no longer on it and with it being replaced by a Quality Enhancement Fee and a Student Success Fee. So it’s already been published for the Nicholls website for 2017. If you go there now, you can GUEST SPEAKERS CONTINUED:

see that the tuition and fees that you pay in the Fall are identical to the tuition you paid this semester. Basically the only thing that’s changed is the $10 that went to the yearbook has been replaced with these two fees that are $5. Now if you want to talk about moving forward about other things that

you as a Senate can do, the rest of our Student Media is funded through student self-assessed fees so just because the university took away a university assessed fee, it doesn’t mean that we can’t have conversation moving forward about students being able to help us fund the yearbook if they do indeed still want to have a yearbook. I think the main thing that is my main goal in this is that I’ll be the first to say I love the yearbook. It’s been a part of my life since high school when I worked on the yearbook staff then. I worked on the yearbook staff here and I’ve been advising the yearbook for the majority of the last fifteen years. So if you ask me, I want to see the yearbook here forever but it’s not my yearbook anymore. My yearbooks are printed and I have them all. It’s your yearbook. If you ask me my reason for wanting to talk to you is so that you can have an opportunity to have a voice. In Student Media, that’s what we do is we give voices to those who do not have a voice. I know that that’s what you do with the work that you do, that’s one of the main initiatives. So that’s all we want. If you ask us if we think we should have a yearbook, we’ll tell you every day, absolutely but that’s us being nostalgic, sentimental and emotional. It has to be in your hands and their hands and in the hands of the rest of the student body to determine whether or not that’s something you want.

Vice President Austin W. said from the proposition from La Pirogue and as Vice President of the Student Government Association and on behalf of the President of the Student Government Association, I have the authority to create an ad-hoc committee which is a special committee to assist in this matter. It will be the La Pirogue yearbook Ad-Hoc Committee to look into this matter further moving forward. It will be comprised of students from La Pirogue and members of the SGA to ensure we’re having a well-rounded conversation. We’ll discuss that in New Business. As of right now, I’m announcing it will be a special committee that will be formed by the Senate. Thank you for coming to the meeting.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Penny Cade, American Cancer Society

Good afternoon, my name is Penny Cade. I’m with the American Cancer Society. I oversee Lafourche Parish Relay for Life and I just wanted to take an opportunity to speak to you this afternoon about participating with the Thibodaux event. You have one here in your backyard. I was here at Nicholls a few years ago and if you look at the La Pirogue, I’m sure it’s in there. It is April 22nd at the Thibodaux High School stadium. A couple of the sororities and fraternities have signed up but we would like to get more people from campus involved. It is a huge volunteer opportunity. It does represent a large part of the community, usually 1,000 to 1,500 people at the event. If you’re not aware of what the American Cancer Society does, we are 90% research for cancer but we have a lot of services and programs. We have Hope Lodge in New Orleans, which is forty or fifty miles from Thibodaux. If you need any treatment in New Orleans, you can stay in Hope Lodge for free with a caregiver. We have thirty four across the United States like that so if you have to go anywhere in the United States for treatment like that, that’s one of the facilities that the fundraising dollars go toward. That’s one of those hands on resources. We’d love to get you more involved, more of the organizations here on campus, so I’ll leave my information with Secretary Dolly M., some of my business cards and some of the information on the event. We’d love you to get in touch with me. We have meetings monthly. We have an ELT and an event leadership here in Thibodaux that runs the event but we do fundraising year round so we do appreciate it. Thank you for giving me some time to talk today and if you have any questions, we have a 1-800 number that is 24/7 365 days a year for anybody who has any questions or anybody that you know that has cancer, it’s 800-ACS-2345. We also have a website that’s cancer.org so if anybody needs our services or programs or have any questions they can definitely go there as well.

OFFICER REPORTS

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – TOMMY THIBODEAUX

I’ll be attending a COSBP meeting on April 7th and 8th in Baton Rouge. Elections are going on. As far as the amendments to the Constitution,

please get the word out to students to vote so they understand what the amendment is for. Explain why we won’t have summer meetings.

Continue to work on motions. Thanks to all our guests for coming today. This is why we’re here.

DIRECTOR OF STUDENT RIGHTS & GRIEVANCES’ REPORT – PEYTON CHIASSON

Director Abigail L. reported in Director Peyton C.’s absence:

Your “What I’ve Done/Heard.” forms are due this Friday March 10th. Remember that these are mandatory and I do keep track of who is completing them and who is not.

It’s mid semester so I don’t have much going on as far as grievances are concerned. The latest thing on campus which I’m sure you’re all aware of, is the de-funding of the Yearbook, La Pirogue. I would like them to know that we’ll do our best to fight for La Pirogue and the rest of Student Publications and the Mass Communications team. I would like to be on the record saying that last years’ yearbook was amazing. A job well done.

I’m sure you’ve noticed some campaign signage around as we are in election season. Remember to encourage as many students as possible to vote next week. We have two great candidates running for SGA Vice President and of course congratulations to our 2017-18 President-Elect Tommy Thibodeaux.

I’ll be attending the Student Advisory Board meeting tomorrow afternoon. Senators, remember that I am always here to help you, please contact me

if you need anything at all and good luck with upcoming mid-terms!

TREASURER’S REPORT – KATELYN CORTEZ

I encourage you to keep writing motions. If you have any questions about funding, please let me know.

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS’ REPORT – ABIGAIL LEDET

We want to get together with the Bridge to Independence Program. They have an event on Thursday that begins at 6:00 p.m. We’ll give out t-shirts to them but we also want SGA to hang out with them. We want to get more activity going on with them so if you can attend, it will be a great opportunity to get to know all of them.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT – AUSTIN WENDT

In addition to the Ad-Hoc Committee I’m creating with regards to the special occasion with La Pirogue, I’m also initiating another strategic committee that will be coming forward, the Parking Committee. It will be dealing with parking on campus. I’ve established that Senator Drake T. will be the Chair for it and the Co-Chair will be Senator Jennifer D. It will look into parking to see what we can do to resolve that. As Senator Josie G. and I have researched, we’ve found that parking is really a main issue with students. They’ve complained about it, talked about it and so we’re taking action as the Student Government Association going forward on the initiatives that I have. I’ll email each of you to see who would be interested in serving on that committee. It will meet outside of the regular meetings we have but will report to the Campus Affairs Committee and the La Pirogue committee as well.

OFFICER REPORTS CONTINUED:VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT CONTINUED:

ACTIONS TAKEN ON OLD BILLS

S1617-069I move that the Senate purchase 5 new M8Charging Stations for the lobbies of the resident halls. The cost will be $3,675.00. This will come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget. We have discovered a need for them in the resident halls. Students will be able to charge their devices more effectively. This will come from the Senator Projects line item portion of the budget. The cost will be $3,675.00 ($699 each plus $180 for shipping). Passed but vetoed.

S1617-073I move that the Senate approve the 2017 Spring Budget. Passed and signed.

S1617-074I move that the Senate purchase 1,000 Z-Cards for a total cost of $2,699. The Z-Cards would be purchased to provide important information such as contact information for campus departments, the Alma Mater, etc. including a map of campus to new students and visitors to our campus. The Freshmen attending events such as Orientation or campus tours would benefit from the information provided in the Z-Card. The cost of $2,699 includes shipping and would be taken from the Public Relations Line Item of the budget. Remained Tabled.

S1617-076I move that the Senate amend Article III, The Legislative Branch, Section 4, Meetings, Number 1 of the Constitution of the Nicholls State University Student Government Association. The amendment eliminates the summer meetings. Due to the absence of SGA officers throughout the summer, quorum is not present to pass any motions or to conduct sufficient business matters. The Amendment will read as follows:

1. “There shall be at least one weekly meeting of the Student Senate, day and time to be set by the Vice President with the approval of the Senate, excluding mid-term and final exams, holidays and summer session.”

Furthermore, calling an election of the student body to approve the said amendment to the Constitution of the Student Government Association which must be approved by a majority vote of the students voting and having that said election during the Spring 2017 elections. Passed and signed.

S1617-079I move that the SGA purchase a 50” Vizio Smart TV for Scholar’s Hall. The television Scholar’s Hall currently has is broken beyond repair due to heavy use by the students. Students typically use the TV in the Rec Room to play video games and the constant use has caused the HDMI part to break. Residents of Scholar’s Hall will be able to play video games without technical issues with a new TV. This will allow students to foster a stronger sense of community in Scholar’s Hall. The funds for this motion would not exceed $500.00. The price is $428.00 including shipping which is free. Funds would come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget. Passed and signed.

S1617-080I move that the Senate fund up to $100 for the members of the Information Systems Club to travel to a Pelicans Basketball Game in New Orleans, LA on March 17, 2017. The group has reserved the Nicholls bus for this trip. This is to assist a student organization on campus who is interested in providing their members fellowship. Students in the Information Systems Club will participate in an off campus activity that will provide a learning experience. If additional students participate, they will have the opportunity to tour the Pelican Athletic Facility. Funds for fuel (up to $100) will be taken from the Executive Travel line item of the Spring budget. Passed and signed.

STUDENT SUPREME COURT REPORT – Justice Joshua Chiasson

No report.

ELECTION COMMISSION REPORT – Dolly McGeever (Ex-Officio)

I just want to remind you that voting begins at noon on Sunday, March 12th and ends on Wednesday, March 15th. We should have the results by 12:30 p.m. in the Snack Bar Area of the Union. We have four amendments on the ballot. One is for SGA, three of them are for SPA, we have Josie Graham and Austin Wendt running for SGA Vice President and the Finalists for Mr. Nicholls are: Trey Clark, Josue Diaz Juarez, Richard Grabert and Les Theriot. For Ms. Nicholls, we have Caroline Ayers, Taylor E. Boudreaux, Sydney Richardelle and Sarah Zeringue. Those results will be announced at Crawfish Day.

The Candidates Forum and Mr. & Ms. Nicholls Presentation that were formerly scheduled for Thursday is moving to Tuesday, tomorrow, at noon. If you’re available, please get your friends to attend. It’ll be interesting and you’ll get to see everyone who will be on the ballot.

SGA SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Finance Committee – Christopher Oubre, Chair/Josie Graham, Co-Chair

Present: Senators Christopher Oubre, Josie Graham, Beau Bourgeois, Keilan Kiger, Sydney Moxley, Drake Thibodaux, Stephen Battaglia, Jr. and Alec Stieffel.

Absent: Senators Peyton Gee and Tyler Legnon.

Today we discussed the following: The motion entitled “Pedestrian Crossing Signs”. After a lengthy

debate, we rated the motion highly favorable and that it does not need to be amended.

Judiciary Committee – Josie Graham, Chair/Savannah Sadaiappen, Co-Chair

Present: Senators Josie Graham, Emily Bergeron, Beau Bourgeois, Keilan Kiger, Kaitlyn Mistretta, Sydney Moxley, Christopher Oubre, Mallory Robichaux, Amy Rogers and Drake Thibodaux.

Absent: Senators Savannah Sadaiappen, Madison Kiger, Emily Ledet, Tyler Legnon, Alec Stieffel, Paige Thomas, Sean Adams and Jennifer Duthu.

Guests: Vice President Austin Wendt.

We discussed the following: Interviewed one person for a Senator position. Members of the committee

asked several meaningful questions and found the student highly favorable.

Several absentee forms. We’re asking that Senators be in attendance at the Judiciary meetings if they’ve submitted absentee forms.

Public Relations – Kaitlyn Mistretta, Chair/Mallory Robichaux, Co-Chair

Roll was not taken at this meeting.

Today we discussed the following: On Thursday, SPA is having their movie night so we encourage everyone to

attend that. We plan to meet on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to work on the Senate Room. On March 22nd, that’s the Wednesday that we’re having a baseball game

and Party Deck we spoke about a couple of weeks ago. We’re going to have students from the Bridge to Independence there as well so it’ll give students an opportunity to meet them.

We’re going to have a table at different colleges to collect complaints or concerns from students before April 1st. We’ll get Senators from your college together and set the table outside of your college building. We’ll hand out complaint forms to find out what their problems are. We’ll also be handing out t-shirts.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said we’re moving it out of the Union because we feel they’re not the same students. We’re not saying they’re not important but we could find out about other issues. It gives us an opportunity to have discussions with different colleges instead of the university as a whole.

SGA SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS CONTINUED:

Public Relations Continued:

Just a note, please be sure you’re attending if you’ve signed up to work something.

Campus Affairs Committee – Drake Thibodaux, Chair/Beau Bourgeois, Co-Chair

Present: Senators Drake Thibodaux, Beau Bourgeois, Christopher Oubre, Emily Bergeron, Alec Stieffel, Josie Graham, Stephen Battaglia, Jr. and Jennifer Duthu.

Absent: Senator Tyler Legnon.

Today we discussed the following: Pedestrian Crossing Sign motion at length and found the motion

favorable.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

S1617-074aI move to take the Z-Card motion off the table.

1. Josie Graham2. Beau Bourgeois

Question: Move into vote:Passed For-14 Against-0 Abstained-0

S1617-074I move that the Senate purchase 1,000 Z-Cards for a total cost of $2,699. The Z-Cards would be purchased to provide important information such as contact information for campus departments, the Alma Mater, etc. including a map of campus to new students and visitors to our campus. The Freshmen attending events such as Orientation or campus tours would benefit from the information provided in the Z-Card. The cost of $2,699 includes shipping and would be taken from the Public Relations Line Item of the budget.

1. Beau Bourgeois2. Keilan Kiger

Discussion: Senator Beau B. said last year Treasurer Katelyn C. created the Z-Card motion. They were very popular among Orientations. On one side is a campus map and on the other, is a list of ten things to do at Nicholls. It was a great tool for Freshmen to use so I wanted to bring it back this year.

Question: Move into vote:Passed For-14 Against-0 Abstained-0

Vice President Austin W. presented a Proclamation read by Senator Josie G.:

Student Government Association Executive Order2017 Women’s History Month Proclamation

Whereas the world is comprised of a multitude of races, ethnicities, spiritual beliefs and cultures; and

Whereas the world is facing a unique set of challenges—economic, social and political that will require collaborative innovation and determination of all the world’s best minds, before they can be solved; and

Whereas low self-esteem can lead to self-destructive behaviors; and

Whereas women flourish in their true potential on the path to empowerment;

Therefore be it resolved that we, the Student Government Association, on behalf of the students of Nicholls State University, recognize and celebrate the achievements and obstacles women have overcome over the course of history

Therefore be it further resolved that the Student Government Association, on the 6th day of March in the year of 2017, proclaim that the month of March, Women’s History Month, be recognized and celebrated as a Month of Women’s Achievements for the students of Nicholls State University.

___________________________________ ___________________________________Tommy Thibodeaux, President Austin Wendt, Vice PresidentNicholls State University Nicholls State UniversityStudent Government Association Student Government Association

NEW BUSINESS:

S1617-081I move that the Senate purchase 5 spring-back Pedestrian Parking Signs at $427.09 each for a total of $2,135.45. It has come to the attention of the SGA that the safety of pedestrian crosswalks is in need of improvement. The purchase of these signs, in addition to the removal of parking spaces, will make the Nicholls Campus safer for pedestrians. Signage on crosswalks will allow drivers on the Nicholls campus to be more aware of the various pedestrian crosswalks on campus. Students will be safer when walking through campus which will improve the quality of life of our students. This motion will exceed $500. Each sign is $427.09 which will mean 5 signs will cost $2,135.45. Shipping is free for orders exceeding $249.00. Funds will come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget.

1. Josie Graham/Savannah Sadaiappen2. Alec Stieffel

Discussion: Senator Josie G. said I have been tackling the Pedestrian Crosswalk issue for several semesters. It has come to the SGA’s attention that two students were struck by a car last semester on our campus. The SGA feels this is a huge issue that needs to be resolved. I approached the Safety Department as well as the Finance Department to propose speed bumps. That was denied by the administration. Even though I tried to persevere, it was denied a few times. I came to a resolution with administration that we get these signs. They’re approved by the Safety Department as well as the administration. You can either drill them into the ground or keep them portable. The committee decided that fixed is probably the best solution. The sign will state “State Law” “Stop for Pedestrian” “Within the Crosswalk”. They are 36” x 12” and they are also fluorescent green. They’ll be placed at the following areas: by the cafeteria, by Peltier Hall, by Powell Hall and Gouaux Hall as well as Jazzman’s. Those are the ones we’re proposing to start off with. If it goes well, we’ll get more.

COMMENT: Senator Drake T. said he agrees that this is something that needs to be addressed because you have people speeding on campus. Speed bumps are something the university is not in favor of so this is the best thing we can do to address people speeding on campus and putting other lives in danger.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said I don’t think it’s a good idea because one, parking is a huge issue on this campus and two, you’re going to take away about ten parking spots. Although they are faculty spots, if the faculty doesn’t need those parking spots, why don’t they give those parking spots to students as a giveaway. Like a drawing that a student pulls from and gets to park at that parking spot near Peltier or Powell. Also, it’s $2,000 for a sign that says “It’s a State Law” “Stop for a Pedestrian” “Within the Crosswalk”. I think everybody realizes that they’re supposed to stop if they’re crossing the street. I don’t think this sign on the side of the road is going to make people stop for somebody in the crosswalk. I don’t think we should be paying $2,000 for a sign all over campus for something that is not going to prevent the problem. I don’t think it will make people slow down more than they already are. If they’re going to speed on campus, then they’ll speed on campus. We have to look at other options. I don’t think this is an option.

NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED:

COMMENT: Senator Josie G. said for a point of information, one sign is not $2,135. Each sign is $427.09. I’m comfortable with adjusting the number of signs, I think to ignore the issue and not do anything about it would be quite negligent on the SGA. Since we cannot do speed bumps, I personally don’t know what else we can do. I do understand your point about if we have these spots we can take away, why not let students have them. I agree but what I’m trying to say is this particular crosswalk from Scholars to the cafeteria, those parking spots are blocking the crosswalk. That’s where a student was struck. They were coming from behind a car and wasn’t seen. So the removal of the parking spots is not to inconvenience the students but it’s to save lives.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said I don’t think it’s going to make people stop. I don’t think that if somebody’s driving and sees this sign that it’ll make a difference. They see the crosswalk when they’re driving, it’s huge. They might not be able to see the pedestrian, but I don’t think that this sign is going to make a difference.

COMMENT: Senator Emma B. said I don’t think that it’s worth $400 per sign. We’ve all been on campus for at least one semester. You know where the crosswalks are. Putting a sign there that says there’s a crosswalk isn’t going to make a difference. People know there’s a crosswalk and drivers are still going to try to speed up.

COMMENT: Treasurer Katelyn C. said I appreciate all opinions. I just want to say that a goal of the sign is to make the crosswalk more visible. I know personally that when I’m driving by Powell Hall, I don’t even see some of the students walking behind the cars. It would be taking away that car so you can see the person walking. I almost hit people before because I didn’t see them coming out from behind the car. That’s one reason why the sign would be put there to make the student more visible to the driver. Honestly, we’re open to any other suggestions but Senator Josie G. has researched this and it’s the only thing that has been approved by the administration to do for the matter.

COMMENT: Senator Alec S. said the signs are in an effort to actually tell the students that we are trying to do something. Perhaps five signs are too much at this time. Perhaps we can reduce it to two or three but I think it’s important that we tell the students that we’re actually doing something rather than not doing anything at all. If we let this go, there won’t be signs, there won’t be speed bumps or anything. Maybe signs will progress to speed bumps. Since it’s over $500, it will have to be tabled anyway so perhaps we can just think about it.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said I understand what you’re saying about opening the way up for the crosswalk. Let’s say we take these parking spots away and the crosswalks are visible. We don’t have the signs that’s over $2,000 that we can put to other students’ use. They’re going to see a crosswalk anyway. We’re putting a sign there to say here’s a crosswalk. I think we should first try taking the parking spots away. If that still leads to a problem, then we can look into the sign issue. I don’t think we should just jump right in and say look there’s a sign.

COMMENT: Senator Stephan B., Jr. said I believe the signs may not stop all of the speeding on campus but I think the overall goal as the Student Government is that we should be doing everything we can to prevent speeding on campus. If this is the best we can do and we do it, and students continue to get hit, it might open the university’s eyes as well as University Police to start doing something about it.

NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED:

COMMENT: Senator Drake T. said the university told Senator Josie G. that they will not open up the spots unless we get the signs. In all honesty, these signs probably won’t make people stop; but if they continue to speed through it, the university will finally see that we’re doing the best we can with what they’ve given us and that it’s not good enough. We need to put things like speed bumps where these signs will be because no matter what, no one will stop. I think we should do it just to show the university that if it doesn’t work, it’s time to put the speed bumps.

COMMENT: Senator Jennifer D. said just because we’re doing something and it won’t just go away, shows that we’re trying to do something about it. It could be a starting point.

COMMENT: Senator Amy R. said I feel that something needs to be done regardless. I also think that lighting at night is important, especially at the crosswalk. There should be more lighting at the Residence Halls.

COMMENT: Senator Drake T. said one of the best things about the signs is that they’re reflective so when car lights hit the sign, they can see much better. Last semester, we went through a Campus Walk Through. There are a lot of places on campus that are poorly lit.

COMMENT: Senator Sean A. said I live at Scholar’s Hall. Some of our students are autistic so this is a concern.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said I don’t think that we should be spending money for a sign that I don’t think is going to make people slow down. I understand what everyone is saying but literally five people just said we’re buying these signs to strike up a conversation. I don’t think that’s what we should be spending the students’ money on. I don’t think we should be spending money on the thought that the university might do something. If I’m driving down the road, that one sign is not going to make me slow down. I think we should look at more options at slowing down. Some people don’t even look where they’re walking. They might have issues where they forget.

COMMENT: Senator Ty F. said I was in the Navy, stationed in Virginia for a year. Speeding on the base was a big problem so what they did was put sensors on the side of the sidewalks. Once you passed the sensors, it sent a signal under the road that had reflectors on each side that displayed a neon light that was also visible during the day. When you crossed it, it was visible to both sides of the traffic on the highway so the traffic would recognize if someone was crossing the sidewalk. I’m not sure what the budget would be for that but that’s what the Navy did for it. It would be better than putting the signs or taking away parking spots because the sensors would be stationed along the highway.

COMMENT: Senator Josie G. said she has been trying to solve this problem for over two semesters now. I’m curious as to what Senator Kaitlyn M.’s input of this was for two semesters. This was brought up in several committees several times. What does Senator Kaitlyn M. suggests we do instead of signs.

COMMENT: Senator Kaitlyn M. said I would just like to make the point that for the past two semesters, I may not have been focusing on this one specific issue. I was probably focusing on multiple issues other than this street sign. An option may be that there are other options. I understand that the university has made it very difficult to make something happen but perhaps SGA cannot help with this problem. We can be helpful with other issues. Sometimes we cannot fix everything. We cannot help everyone. We can try but if we don’t have the resources to get it done,

NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED:

that’s O.K. Why not spend the resources on something we know that we actually can get done that the students will absolutely be able to use.

Vice President Austin W. said due to Article XIII, Letter B, Section 6, this motion is tabled.

S1617-082I move that the Senate accept the SGA President Tommy Thibodeaux’s appointment of Ty Fanguy for the position of Senator of Veteran Affairs.

1. Jennifer Duthu2. Drake Thibodaux

Question: Move into vote:Passed For-14 Against-0 Abstained-0

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE REPORTS

None.

DISCUSSION PERIOD:

La Pirogue:Vice President Austin W. said we’re going to move into a discussion about La Pirogue, about how we can move forward if you are going to be for it, or if you want to refer it back to the committee.

Senator Drake T. said he’s happy to know we’ll be forming an Ad-Hoc Committee to deal with this problem. Personally I would love to be a part of the committee because first, the university didn’t even ask for any input on getting rid of the yearbook. They just went ahead with it and Second, it provides many things for students such as employment, a great way to be involved with their majors if you’re a Mass Communications Major with the experience provided. Not only is it a book for them, it’s not just employment, it’s a passion for them, just as SGA is a passion for some of us. So if we don’t do everything we can in support of their passion, than why are we even here. We’re their voice when the university oversteps its boundaries like this. I think we need to create the Ad-Hoc Committee and we can definitely put the Resolution to call the university to bring back the $10 fee and support the yearbook along with our media on campus.

Senator Kaitlyn M. said I really think this is an issue that SGA should get involved in not only for how much it means to the university like the students, Mass Communications and everybody else but also others. This past weekend at Colonel Day, I met a girl who came to tour Nicholls and she came here from Texas because her Dad saw Nicholls play Georgia. Her Dad made a comment to one of his workers about Nicholls who was one of his employees that had come to Nicholls. He showed him all of the great opportunities and everything Nicholls has to offer. It was the yearbook, it was The Nicholls Worth, it was the media we have here. It’s not only beneficial to our students but it’s a great marketing factor for the university and I think this is something we should definitely push and work for to keep at the university. I think the university would realize how much it shows that it helps market the university. The university would realize how important it is not only to the students, not only to the faculty but to the university as a whole.

Senator Stephen B., Jr. said outside of the yearbook, I do think this is important because they have to realize they need to stop taking things away. I lost several friends because they took away the Athletic Training Program so they had to move. Also, personally, they were supposed to start the Criminal Justice Program but didn’t. This is all about the students’ voices. I really think it’s unfair because this university runs on our money so it should help us in the future and keep growing.

Senator Jennifer D. said to add to that, I think the yearbook and The Nicholls Worth provides experience, not only to the Mass Communications Department and media, but also in general. It provides jobs for students and that experience is good to put on their resumes to get a job. It’s something that is valuable and shouldn’t be taken away. It not only benefits the Mass Communications Department but also Nicholls. It’s our memories, I guess our archives. It’s something we really need to push for and should have our say that we need it.

DISCUSSION PERIOD CONTINUED:

Senator Alec S. asked if they take away the $10 fee, would it be possible for the Senate or the student body make it a student self-assessed fee rather than

the university, where we decide whether the yearbook stays in the future. We are paying for it so they can’t take it away in the future. Vice President Austin W. said the question will be diverted to the newly formed Ad-Hoc Committee so if you want to look into that matter, please join the committee that will be comprised of La Pirogue members and the Senate.

Senator Sean A. said I agree with this. For me, for example, I’m here at Nicholls in the new Bridge to Independence Program. My father and grandfather came here so I’ve seen their yearbooks. It’s special.

Ms. Nicki Boudreaux said they called around to all their sister institutions in the State and throughout the System. UNO is the only one that no longer publishes their yearbook. All of the rest of our sister institutions do still have the yearbook. LSU still has a yearbook, Tulane got rid of their yearbook but they’re bringing it back next year. So this is just a point of discussion for you.

Vice President Austin W. thanked La Pirogue for coming out today, voicing your opinions and becoming a part of this process of Student Government. For you, to let you know how we stop the university from doing things like they’ve done in the recent past, is we need to start doing our job as the Student Government Association. These are the things we’re supposed to do. This is our job that we did today. I want to commend each and every one of you that was here today being a part of our process. Going forward, we’re going to try and resolve this issue and take this up as a Student Government matter but we as the Student Government Association keep the administration accountable to the students. We can issue anything we’d like to say that we are not happy with regards with what has transpired as it has in the past.

Director Katelyn C. said opinions are what we want, the opinions of the students and opinions from the SGA but when you’re debating, it has to be respectful and not attacking a certain person. I want to mention that we have a board in SGA with projects that everyone is working on. If you don’t agree with someone, try working together with them to come up with a better solution, not just attacking their solution to the problem. We do appreciate all opinions and we want to hear the voices of the students.

Vice President Austin W. said we’re all about debate here. We’re meant to debate so we want to continue discussion. But we want that discussion to be not only critical but constructive as well. That’s just a point of reference.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Austin W. Student Advisory is meeting tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. A list was distributed for officers to indicate it they’re attending.

The following officer was sworn in by Vice President Austin Wendt.

Ty Fanguy – Senator of Veterans Affairs

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.