At last night’s meeting, the senate approved $500 from the general reserves to go towards Autism Awareness Week, to be held March 28-31.  The events will be spearheaded by Joshua Miranda ‘13 and his committee.  Watch for more info coming after spring break.

The senate also voted to approve the new draft of the SA Constitution, as presented by the Constitutional Advisory Committee.  With this approval, the new draft moves to a schoolwide vote which will tentatively be conducted during an open meeting the last Tuesday of March.  Any fulltime undergraduate student present at this meeting can vote on the new Constitution.  Watch your email and the SA Facebook page for more information, and view the draft by clicking the link below.

NewConstitutionDraft1

We the Student Association support the Obama Administration’s repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, as it is not in accordance with the beliefs of individual freedoms and the pursuit of happiness.

 Fix it with Five reported back with the results of the vote.  About 10% of the student body voted, and the winning non-profit was Spectrum Youth and Family Services.  The senate approved the vote, and the roughly $10,000 grant will be awarded to Spectrum.

The Senate also approved a $400 request by the Student Labor Action Movement club to fund a panel of SMC alums with careers in social justice.  The alumni will come to speak about continuing work in the social justice field after graduation.

The Constitutional Advisory Committee updated the senate on their work.  Watch your email for the revised draft and email the SA with suggestions and comments.  A schoolwide vote is planned for an open meeting on March 9th–more info to come soon.

Enjoy the snow and have a great time if you catch the Mardi Gras parade on Saturday!

Who: EVERYONE

What: The “Fix it with Five” Donation

When: February 17-19

Why: The Fix it with Five organization has compiled a grant of roughly $10,000 to be given to a local charity.  The eligible charities have been narrowed down to three with info about each located below.  It is now your, the student body’s turn, to vote on which organization will receive this grant.  This is your money and you now have the opportunity to decide where it goes.

This is a great opportunity for us to give back to the community so please make sure to check your emails next week and take the time to cast your vote.  It will take less than a minute to complete and will be of great benefit to a local organization.  Thank you all and remember to vote on February 17-19!

COTS – Housing Resource Center: http://www.cotsonline.org/joomla-license/need-housing-or-at-risk.html
COTS Housing Resource Center prevents not only the financial devastation of homelessness but also the emotional and physical stress of homelessness.  Through a centralized housing resource center dedicated to homelessness prevention and housing retention, this program helps low-income households retain their housing and avert homelessness by providing one time financial assistance for contingencies beyond a household’s control, such as an emergency medical cost or car repair bill.  We use a well-established network of landlords to help low-income families on the verge of eviction transition into more affordable housing placements and avoid ruining their credit.

Spectrum Youth and Family Services: http://www.spectrumvt.org/
Spectrum’s mission is to work with homeless young adults in Vermont.   We provide them with basic needs, mental health/substance abuse counseling, educational and employment services.  Due to the recession we have witnessed a 30% increase in the number of youth residing in our shelter and a 91% increase in the number of times we had to turn someway away due to lack of space.  We desperately need to create a second residence, and while $10,000 will obviously not fulfill this entire need, it gets us heading in the right direction.

Neighborkeepers: http://neighborkeepers.org/
This grant will help NeighborKeepers’ Nutritional Literacy Project teach families to fish by improving their nutrition and health.  The project’s Americorps Member (Sudanese American) will provide direct service teaching families to grocery shop by reading food labels and cooking nutritious meals in their homes.  New Americans and families struggling with a lack of resources will be given the opportunity to join the NeighborKeepers community garden.  By attending the weekly NeighborKeepers meeting that provides supper and childcare, community members may decrease isolation and achieve goals through a Circle of Support by befriending three allies (volunteers/students) who “do with” versus “doing for.”

Reminder that there is no meeting next Tuesday because of the long weekend.  Enjoy the break!

February 19 + 20 is the Winter Carnival, more info to come next week.

The three non-profit organizations that are candidates for receiving the almost $10,000 Fix it with 5 grant will be presenting in McCarthy at 7:00PM on Thursday 2/4.  Students will be able to vote on which organization they want to receive the funds next week.

COTS (www.cotsonline.org)
NeighborKeepers (www.neighborkeepers.org)
Spectrum Youth and Family Services (www.spectrumvt.org)

This is also a GOT SKILLS event.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the senate discussed our response as a community to the earthquake in Haiti.  Given the many ties our school has to the country, we believe it is important that the school continues to be involved in rebuilding efforts after the initial surge of money and aid.  Possible ideas brought up during open forum were a future annual MOVE service trip, an educational scholarship, and using money from the SA’s general reserves to donate to a sustainable project.

We encourage students to continue the conversation with classmates, faculty and staff, and get in touch with the SA to give your thoughts on the direction the school should take.  In the meantime, you can donate via checks payable to Catholic Relief Services (drop them off at the MOVE office or Campus Ministry).  MOVE will also be tabling in Alliot this week.

All clubs who have a change in leadership for next semester please email studentassociation@smcvt.edu.

Thanks for all your hard work this semester, see you in January!

Next week’s meeting is holiday themed!