2.19.17 SFC Ad Hoc

Members Present: Hassan, Vince, Sulan, Peace, Monique, Josh
Time Start: 1:00pm
Time End: 4:30pm

INDIVIDUAL AD HOC - Mobilizing for Resistance Lecture Series

Monique: We’re going to get started by introducing ourselves.

Jesse: Starting immediately after the election last semester we started coordinating faculty to set up teach ins about the election and provide models of resistance and activism for students. It was very successful and there was a lot of attendance. We coordinated seven talks scraping up money from different departments and we wanted to set it up this semester on a little bit more stable footing. We’re asking for this now because we haven’t had a chance to charter since we started after the election.

Bryn: This is a really cool opportunity for faculty and students to come together and collaborate.

Jesse: We are working to tie the talks specifically to phone banks and protests. We’re looking for as many tie ins as possible. We budgeted for some unconfirmed speakers in here because we’re talking to a lot of Oberlin faculty who have not confirmed yet.

Sulan: How many people showed up in the past 7?

Jesse: Usually around the fifty range.

Vince: A lot of this is food cost. Can you tell me why this has to be during lunch time, like why can’t it be later?

Monique: Like 4-6pm?

Josh: We think it’s really good for turnout and these talks are worth hearing and sometimes it’s hard to get Oberlin students to come out otherwise.

Vince: If you didn’t have food how many people do you think would come? Because we push the idea that people should be coming not for the food but for the event.

Ellie: We schedule it for between 12 and 1:30 because that’s lunch time where people don’t have anything scheduled and it’s the most accessible time of the day. The 4pm spot wouldn’t be accessible to athletes and conservatory students. People also have meetings around that time.

Peace: Do you plan on chartering and have you taken any steps to doing so?

Jesse: Yes, but it’s been really hectic so we haven’t started working on that yet.

Josh: I’m curious about the promotional material. For the poster designs is it a student artist?

Jesse: Yes.

Josh: Are they able to work on campus?

Jesse: Yes.

Monique: Can you talk about who you’d bring for the honorariums?

Jesse: We were never seeking out speakers outside of Oberlin but these names came up as people who would be interested in coming to Oberlin. James Jordan is a really amazing grassroots organizer.

Peace: Moving forward is this org strictly focused on activism related to Trump’s administration?

Ellie: It’s more about how our response to activism needs to shift depending on what’s going on. The goal is really to just give people this baseline knowledge about what’s going on and the historical basis of things so people can move forward with these ideas.

Bryn: Trump was definitely the catalyst for this because after the election people were very confused and wanted information so we’re trying to capitalize on that energy.

Elijah: Have you guys reached out to other activist groups and tried to incorporate the speakers into their groups instead of making another group for this?

Jesse: These are lectures about their expertise so it’s hard to have student org shape what the lecture is going to look like.

Ellie: We also want this to stay as a place where we can bring a wide variety of speakers and putting this under someone else’s group brings that groups politics and history. Having our own organization allows it to have a wide array.

Vince: Maybe consider reaching out to get as much help as you can. There’s a lot of orgs that align with these speakers.

Monique: You’ll receive an email from us with our decision.


INDIVIDUAL AD HOC - Evelyn White Lecture

Monique: Welcome to today’s ad hoc.

Natalia: I’m writing my history capstone about Evelyn White who worked as a journalist. She never wanted to be in the spotlight but she ending up working with people who were in the spotlight. She traveled to Cuba to visit Assata Shakur and she had a lot of contact with Black feminists at the end of the 20th century. Oberlin owns Seal Press collection and no one has really done much about it but it has a larger implication outside of Oberlin. My vision for it is that we would make display cases of Evelyn’s papers that are in the seal press collection and make it more widely known on campus.

Josh: So you’re writing your capstone about Evelyn White so that inspired you to bring her? Or you’re bringing her as part of your capstone?

Natalia: Separate.

Hassan: Where are you planning to hold the event? And does the space not cost money?

Natalia: I was thinking it would be cool to have it in the archives but the archives are really small so I was thinking Mudd 050 and I don’t think there’s a fee for that.

Hassan: You didn’t budget for any publicity material - how did you plan to get the word out?

Natalia: Sorry - I forgot about that.

Sulan: And you have not yet asked any departments for money?

Natalia: Not yet I was going to wait.

Monique: You should hear back from us latest a week from tomorrow.


STUDENTS FOR ENERGY JUSTICE

Monique: Welcome to today’s ad hoc, we’re going to start by introducing ourselves.

Alex: We want to bring a group of four or five women called Women of Color Speak Out and they do primarily climate justice activism that encapsulates other forms of activism. And they talk about how systems of oppression are the root of climate change and they’re really radical. I brought them to my high school last year and they made a big splash so I’m trying to do that this year here. I see a lot of coalition building between activist groups here and I feel like these activists have a really strong network group and have a lot of wisdom about organizing. Part of what they would be doing would be giving a presentation and doing a workshop about planning and connection between students and who they know. They’re really big on personal connections and they want meals with students and that’s how I got to know them.

Sofia: We agree that we would be going amiss on campus if we didn’t talk about climate justice activism at Oberlin especially since it encompasses so many other things. And we think bringing them would allow for coalition building. We have done a lot over the past two semesters so we don’t have much funds let but we think this is definitely the most important event to prioritize with our remaining group budget.

Josh: When did you all decide to put your energy into this?

Alex: We’ve been talking about it since the beginning of the year but we really decided to recenter our focus a couple of weeks ago.

Sofia: All our energy fall semester went into a different training we were doing and since we didn’t have

Alex before this year we’ve never had a connection like this before so this is the first year we can do this which is where the timing happens.

Vince: Can you talk about why this is an unforeseen cost, not additional programming?

Sofia: When we were allocated our funds for this year, Alex wasn’t part of SEJ yet and our budget was directed towards the training.

Elijah: It seems like you need more money to put on more events and that’s a process you go through in spring budgeting not ad hoc.

Sofia: We can’t put it off a year or a semester, stuff is hitting the fan right now and we need to act.

Vince: There’s no way you can mobilize, besides this single event?

Sofia: The most effective way is for a group who has had experience to impart their knowledge on us.

Elijah: Have you talked to Tina about possibly negotiating their honorarium?

Sofia: Not yet but we also think they deserve that much because of what they do.

Elijah: Have you looked at other orgs to help with funding?

Sofia: Yes but they don’t have money.

Monique: That’s all the time we have for today. At latest you’ll receive an email from us a week from tomorrow.


INDIVISIBLE OBERLIN AD HOC

Monique: We’ll start by introducing ourselves.

Emma: We are Indivisible Oberlin. We mostly focus on call in sessions and showing up at Town Hall meetings. We chartered a chapter here and we give students scripts on what to say. We’ve done four calling sessions and they’ve been really successful so far.

Sammy: We’re the only specifically anti Trump organization on campus. We’re providing ways to resist from here.

Sal: We’re open to working with any student group on campus that wants to work with us. This is beyond ideology, we want to work with everyone. We want to combine what Indivisible is promoting in their guide with student orgs on campus.

Sammy: We have a three pronged process. The first is phone banks, the second is videos and the third part is showing up. Members of congress need to see their constituents. Obviously that is very difficult for groups of people especially since the nearest town hall is 2 hours away because of their way our district is gerrymandered.

Sal: The largest part of our budget is transportation which would be buses for protests and events. The second part is advertising costs so we can put posters and flyers on campus so we can reach the people we’re not reaching right now with emails and social media. We are also asking money for sign making materials. We also want to be able to feed our buses of people. We’re also asking for capital for anti-Trump apparel.

Monique: Can you talk a little bit more about the two marches?

Sammy: Yeah one of them is the march for science because a lot of people in power now seem to think that science isn’t real anymore and the other is the tax day march to pressure Trump to release his tax statements. If more urgent protests pop up we also want the flexibility to attend those.

Monique: If you had to prioritize one of the marches which one would you pick?

Emma: My personal favorite is the march for science but we would have to ask the members of our group which march they want to go to because we want it to be a choice that as many students as possible are available for.

Josh: Are you trying to operate as an umbrella org or coordinate other groups?

Emma: We’ve reached out to many student orgs and we’ve framed our purpose as an umbrella group. We want to take the power of existing orgs and bring them together.

Vince: The $200 for gas reimbursement - where’s that number from?

Sal: It was based off of a little estimate of what might work to reimburse some students.

Elijah: You guys have already been to protests or no?

Sal: I went with a couple of people to a protest against Betsy DeVos.

Emma: This group is for anyone of any political affiliation who disagrees with Trump.

Monique: Thanks for coming in.


PHOTO CO-OP AD HOC

Mia: Photo Co-op has gone through a lot of leadership and tanked everytime and we’re really working to get it up and running again. I think I did a big ad hoc to get the darkroom running but it still missed a lot of things the darkroom needs to be up and running.

Haley: All of these items are essential to the photo co-op functioning and bringing members in. No one uses the space because there’s no leadership or direction.

Mia: We’re trying to buy film in bulk because it is the cheapest form and a lot of people don’t know how much film they need or what kind of film they need so we’re going to give them the film for the stipend of the co-op they pay. Right now if you walk into the photo co-op and there’s no curtains you’re going to ruin someone’s work which is why we need to buy curtains. We’re trying to create a space for people to learn photography especially film developing. We’re predominantly black and white but we also do color photography.

Sophia: Film photography in Oberlin is very inaccessible to most people in Oberlin and there’s two classes but it’s pretty impossible to get in. There’s so many people on this campus who want to do photography. If we can get all these materials we can provide a space for people to learn and not be shut out.

Monique: Are you guys going to submit a spring budget?

Sophia: Yeah.

Monique: How do you guys envision this being ran next year?

Mia: People pay $50 a semester for everything that we supply. We hope to do trainings for people and post a schedule on the door on how the darkroom works, how to use it, how to keep it safe, and use it in the future beyond us.

Peace: You said you have a lot of interest in this group now? Has this interest been prevalent and if yes why are you ad hocing now as opposed to last semester?

Mia: Last year Annie ad hoc’d to for darkroom materials and she dropped the ball. I was abroad last semester. And Haley and Sophia were working to get experience last semester. The first week that I got back I realized things were not the way they need to be.

Elijah: Why didn’t you just wait to submit this as a spring budget?

Mia: We wanted to do it as soon as possible. These are items we need for the room to function.

Elijah: What would be on your spring budget if this was funded?

Mia: Rudimentary material.

Monique: We’ll let you know our decision no later than a week from tomorrow.


BIKE CO-OP

Monique: Welcome to today’s ad hoc.

Emma: For many years there’s been a cycle of the treasurer taking money out of the fall budget instead of the spring budget to pay our summer mechanics which is about six thousand dollars. And it seems like the only way to break that cycle is to add that money to our current budget so we don’t go into the red.

Maddie: Basically this is about making sure people are getting paid on time. We can’t really stop hiring summer mechanics. What I heard was that the budget allocations were shifted so that we got them in the fall not the spring which is what caused this problem so we’re just trying to stop the cycle.

Emma: Last year the presidents had to pool their own money together to pay the summer mechanics and then get reimbursed when August started which is just a big hassle. The 5000 dollar request is definitely an ideal but because we’re being frugal we could probably do with 4000.

Brian: This year we basically have to pay two summers worth out of one budget.

Josh: If this has been happening every year was there ever discussion of putting double the amount on the spring budget.

Maddie: I think there was a lot of confusion and disorganization and people didn’t know where the money was going.

Emma: We’re also all new leaders.

Elijah: What is the priority of the events left on your budget?

Emma: We do an OCS event where we bring our tools and get involved in the community and fix bikes. During commencement we put on a bunch of events and we have to pay the commencement mechanic.

Elijah: Would you be willing or able to allocate any of this money to going to these costs?

Emma: I think so but it still wouldn’t be enough. But the OCS Fest is very important and so are the alumni stuff.

Monique: If you guys don’t get anything from us what would you do?

Emma: We were going to put it on our spring budget if we didn’t get it through ad hoc and then keep doing the same thing.

Monique: You’ll hear back from us at latest a week from tomorrow.


OBERLIN FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE

Monique: We’re going to start by introducing ourselves.

Helene: We are ad hoc’ing for the money to put on our annual festival. This is our 6th annual festival but we only became a chartered org last year and we have ad hoc’ed for the past years. Our treasurer submitted this as part of our spring budget but I think there was confusion about whether we were a real group and put on events so we didn’t get any of the money we requested for this event.

Peace: For student performers it just says 150$. Would it be 150 divided by four for the payment?

Helene: Yes. The 150 is for the student groups who cannot play without money because we want to be there for the students who cannot be there without financial reimbursement.

Monique: Can you talk about what this event is?

Helene: Our advisor made the Oberlin Friendship Festival an event in Oberlin a couple of years ago which includes bead paradise, a keynote speaker and more, and we are adding the component of friendship as a mode of social change.

Della: The purpose of the event is to get people together to understand what we’re doing and show that friendship, not just being nice to each other, can be a framework for social change.

Helene: We usually get a really big turnout.

Peace: How many books are you making?

Helene: 30.

Elijah: Why didn’t you ad hoc in the fall?

Helene: I didn’t know there were ad hoc times in the fall.

Elijah: How is this process changing going forward now that you’re a chartered org?

Helene: There wasn’t really any structure or official positions before.

Della: It’s also really helpful because a lot more people are consistent now and show up.

Monique: This is your first year being chartered?

Helene: Yes.

Monique: That’s all the time we have today but you should expect to get an email at latest a day from tomorrow.


Oberlin Friendship Circle Review

Hassan: They’ve been doing this for a while and they’re have really good turnout.

Elijah: My proposal is keynote, advertising, and student performers, no food or booklets.

Hassan: How does everyone feel about 250 for food?

Elijah: I propose 635$ which includes 250 for food.

All in favor
6/0/0
Passes.


Bike Co-Op Review

Monique: I say 3000.

Elijah: I say we should do 2500 because it’s the end of the semester and we are running low on funds.

Josh: I say we fund at 2700.

Top down
3000
3/3/0

OST Breaks Tie: does not pass

2700
6/0/0
Passes.


Photo Co-op Review

Josh: She came and talked to me but she has added more stuff since she showed me the budget.

Hassan: I thought they were charging for this semester but they were buying the paper because the other people didn’t know what paper to buy. But what are they going to be doing with the money they’re charging the students?

Vince: Probably saving it.

Monique: I think this is something that would be better to implement at the beginning of the fall semester.

Elijah: My question is should they get it now or should they get it in two weeks for spring budgeting?

Vince: We say two weeks but they won’t really get the money till months after. My thing is if we wait for spring budgeting it might take them a month to set up and purchase equipment and before you know it it’s halfway through the semester before they’re running.

Monique: They can plan things in advance.

Hassan: I think a lot of times people come into clubs is at the beginning of the semester and if you don’t have a club set up and ready no one is going to join.

Elijah: The way I see it they don’t need to gauge interest or gather it, they just need time to build it and establish it.

Peace: The interest is already there, people just need the equipment to get started. I think there’s arguments both ways but we have to decide.

Josh: The co-op hasn’t been functioning for two or three semesters, but have people been like “aw man” or is this something that can wait?

Sulan: I feel that the people who might feel that way are people who can’t get into the photo classes.

Monique: If we do it in fall it would give them more time to plan.

Monique: Proposal to fund photo co-op in full.

VOTE
2/3/1
Does not pass


Indivisible Oberlin Review

Hassan: I like this, I like the use of buses.

Monique: Can’t do the apparel.

Elijah: We need to cut down these bus prices.

Monique: I think it would be cheaper to rent vans. $800 for a bus to Cleveland is very very expensive and we should explore other options.

Peace: When then they came into the office they showed me the best prices and initially the total cost was over 2000 and I said renting vans might be easier, and they said they’d look into it. But it might be hard for them to coordinate and find students who have licenses and are willing to drive the vans.

Elijah: But also if they are going to Trump rallies where people can get punched and safety is a concern they need to be completely on top of their game and have everything planned out.

Peace: Renting vehicles from the college might be the way to go and the buses go at different rates, like it’s more expensive on the weekends.

Monique: Also for the Tamir Rice event in Cleveland, ABUSUA figured it out and found people who could drive. It’s doable, you just need to put the effort into it.

Josh: And RideShare forms are still available. If they just found 4 drivers it could be 200 instead of 800 for transportation.

Hassan: If we put in this extra money we can make their jobs way more easier.

Vince: Also students are not dependable because something could come up. I also think separate student drivers encourages people driving with someone they know and their friends which may lead to someone not going because they can’t find a ride.

Monique: We can fund both of these events if we had them take vans for the same price that one event costs if they take a bus.

Peace: I want to make a proposal for 5 vans at $499.70. Gas I was going to say $175.

Hassan: I propose $1374.91 for adjusted cost of two buses, with food, advertising and protesting materials.

Vince: Mine is the same but one bus, not two: 844.91.

Peace: I’ll take mine off the table.

Elijah: First proposal: $1374.91. Second proposal $844.91

Top Down
3/2/0
Passes


Students for Energy Justice Review

Elijah: Additional programming?

Peace: I mean yes, but I’m hesitant to say that based on the way we’ve been allocating funds.

Josh: I think it was foolish of them to try to bring someone who costs as much as their allocated budget through ad hoc.

Josh: All in favor of funding in full?

VOTE
0/5/0
Does not pass


Evelyn White Review

Elijah: I think we should give them everything plus publicity. So $684.

Monique: Yeah this is a really cool event that gives us the opportunity to bring someone who has done important work for really cheap.

Josh: Any competing proposals? All in favor?

6/0/0
PASSES.


Mobilizing for Resistance Lecture Series Review

Monique: I’m willing to give them publicity.

Elijah: I don’t think we should because I feel like they’re trying to do a pool of money to add on to missions that already exist and I feel like they can go into other orgs and pool money if they want to and ad hoc for a little bit. But this is mostly just food and the honorariums are low enough where they could get them from other groups.

Monique: Yeah I don’t think having it at lunchtime is important and I understand the accessibility issue but things happen at 4:30pm all the time.

Elijah: Also they could have staggered the events at different times so multiple different groups could go to the events.

Peace: I would fund publicity but not paying someone to make the poster.

Monique: I’m down for doing publicity for four events.

Vince: Me too.

Hassan: I get their lunch deal and it’s convenient because food is provided and I can see a lot of benefit to campus. I’ve heard a lot of good things about these talks.

Vince: I was just thinking that every group could make the argument that they need food because they’re holding it during lunch and that’s not something we should always be funding. Departments should be doing it.

Monique: I’m going to propose $140 for publicity for four speakers.

Hassan: I propose publicity and honorarium for two speakers: $910.

Elijah: Top down.

All in favor of $910.
3/3/0
Tie

OST Breaks Tie: Does not pass

Proposal for publicity and $200 honorarium

Vote
1/5/0
Does not pass

Elijah: Publicity for four events $140

Vote
6/0/0 Passes

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