tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-185104772011-06-08T01:34:11.427-05:00Illinois Student Senate is the representative body for the students at the University of Illinois. This blog allows members to discuss a variety of aspects about their lives, including but not limited to their involvement in ISS. ANY OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THAT OF ILLINOIS STUDENT SENATE AS A WHOLE.Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1144958101209371722006-04-13T14:45:00.000-05:002006-04-13T14:57:26.466-05:00

I hope you enjoy the ISS blog. Brian Pierce had the idea of starting it last year and he’s hoping this year it will really take off. You’ll also notice our blog links to several other local blogs, the two I visit most regularly are Illini Pundit and The Next Frontier. Illini Pundit is a conservative blog with several commentators with considerable expertise on local issues. The New Frontier

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1144554098785899792006-04-08T22:40:00.000-05:002006-04-08T22:41:38.820-05:00

The current capital budget for the U of I includes $51 million for the renovation of Lincoln Hall. It is very unlikely the republican party will allow these funds to make it into the final budget. Meanwhile, our administration is pushing through a $250/ semester fee to get a handle on our current $800 million backlog on deferred maintenance.Renovating old buildings is significantly more expensive

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1144017094415982622006-04-02T17:17:00.000-05:002006-04-02T17:50:29.840-05:00

Billy Joe Mills and I discussed making 2 amendments to the current USPD proposal. The first is supported by both the chair of ed pol and the chair of the committee on conduct governance. The second they generally seemed to agree with us on, and the chair of CCG might vote for it (the chair of ed pol is not a voting senator).No matter how you feel about the resolution, I urge you to at least vote

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1143479609196261952006-03-27T11:09:00.000-06:002006-03-27T11:13:29.223-06:00

From yesterday's News Gazette:"Business administration Professor Mark Roszkowski has filed a resolution with the campus Senate calling for the UI to take action to end Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. The resolution, to be voted on Monday, says the event promotes binge drinking and disruptive behavior, reduces class attendance, disrupts classes and "seriously undermines the educational mission of

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1141869688606917272006-03-08T19:58:00.000-06:002006-03-08T20:01:28.626-06:00

Do You Need a Ride to Vote?Ride the Voter Van! The Illinois primary election is on Tuesday, March 21 when many students will be away on Spring Break. Illinois now allows voters to vote early from February 27 - March 16. -Illinois Student Senate and Volunteer Illini Projects will offer FREE Rides to the Champaign County Clerk's office on March 13, 14, and 15. The Champaign County Clerk's office

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1141192865621716262006-02-28T23:50:00.000-06:002006-03-02T01:45:43.150-06:00

Hi Everyone,I'm posting this because Josh told me to.Gail Schnitzer and I had a meeting with County Clerk Mark Shelden to discuss various student voting issues. We thought it went really well!First, we're going to work with him to send out the usual primary election mass mail and we'll include in this mass mail our efforts to take students to vote early.Second, we can do a deputy registrar class

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1141020297300894452006-02-20T00:02:00.000-06:002006-02-27T00:06:06.240-06:00

My last column was on the state of the Student Senate, I posted the column on my personal blog. I think we've done a great job together this year. Thanks for all your hard work! The post is here.

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1140387645146393692006-02-19T16:18:00.000-06:002006-02-19T16:20:45.166-06:00

ISS has created categories for 5 faculty awards and the nomination process is now open. If you know an instructor who deserves an award, nominate him or her here.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1139809706990095672006-02-12T23:45:00.000-06:002006-02-12T23:48:27.013-06:00

I posted some thoughts on student leadership on my personal blog, this will run as a column in the DI tomorrow. The column is titled A Crisis of Courage. I'd love to hear your thoughts.LoveJosh

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1139455075017710652006-02-08T21:11:00.000-06:002006-02-08T21:17:55.046-06:00

I think we actually did this a while ago, but now that Professor Sehitoglu of the ME department has come in and talked to us, I thought it would be a good time for people to discuss what they think about the proposed TAM merger. Share your opinion!And to let people know what's going on, Academic Affairs (which is chaired and run in its entirety by Melissa Kennedy, I just happen to know a great

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1139239778590960122006-02-06T09:28:00.000-06:002006-02-06T09:29:38.630-06:00

On behalf of the entire Student Life Committee, Joseph Danaviand I would like to express our intentions to dedicate thissemester's work solely to the transformation of McKinley asa seven day clinical service. We have met with Dr. Palinkasand the McKinley Student Advisory Committee several timesafter initiating this idea because we believe a 7-dayclinical service will not only contribute to

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1138917358168357142006-02-02T15:45:00.000-06:002006-02-04T18:12:07.523-06:00

Tonight, the Illinois Student Senate in conjunction with the ACLU will be holding its first-ever cardcrawl. Both ISS and ACLU members will be visiting several campus bars such as Legends, Brothers, and Kams. They will distribute cards, which outline appropriate actions for students not to take when approached by a police officer. It is important to get the word out to students on what rights they

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1138601948157256272006-01-30T00:17:00.000-06:002006-01-30T00:19:08.160-06:00

This afternoon members of the Student Senate will be recommending several reforms to the current system of student discipline. Several aspects of the discipline process raise serious questions about the fairness of these proceedings.One curiosity about the culture of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR) is they maintain that student discipline is not an adversarial process. Although

Joshuanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1137993089548741552006-01-22T23:11:00.000-06:002006-01-22T23:20:01.416-06:00

Please post your goals for the Spring Semester under this thread.

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1137992574115928552006-01-22T23:01:00.000-06:002006-01-22T23:07:31.253-06:00

According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office study, textbook prices have increased 186 percent in the last 20 years. Many authors are constantly pumping out new editions with few substantive changes. Meanwhile, publishers are bundling textbooks with supplements that often go unused. Being forced to buy bundled books is like ordering a coffee black and being told instead you're going to

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1137369974872654372006-01-15T18:00:00.000-06:002006-02-08T21:40:36.466-06:00

Last Thursday Washington Post columnist and Champaign native, George Will commented on the ongoing controversy surrounding the use of Chief Illiniwek, a controversy that is heating up again because the Board of Trustees must soon decide whether or not to comply with the NCAA mandate to retire the Chief. Mr. Will rhetorically asks why the disapproval of a nickname should doom it.While Mr. Will is

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1136172357174331672006-01-01T21:24:00.000-06:002006-01-01T21:28:13.730-06:00

The Illinois Student Senate is out of session as winter break continues. The break has allowed many ISS members and ISS analysts to review a tumultuous year.As the term of the first assembly of the Illinois Student Senate drew to a close, confrontations flared over the issue of Illinois Student Senate representation. Problems ensued after Vice-Presidents Jason Plummer and Daniel Nugent began

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1134594768724697902005-12-14T15:04:00.000-06:002005-12-14T15:14:03.213-06:00

In order to inspire some non-ISS, non-sexual abuse related debate for the holiday season (and also to delay my studying for finals), I offer up a top ten list of the best music of 2005, with my favorite albums and three of the best songs off them.What'd I leave out? What'd I rank too high? Too low? Discuss.Top Ten Albums of 2005 1. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes "We Are Nowhere

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1133556612935036862005-12-02T14:49:00.000-06:002005-12-02T14:50:12.956-06:00

This is pretty awesome.--Brian

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1133551434621816852005-12-02T13:08:00.000-06:002005-12-02T13:23:54.726-06:00

Since our friends at the Daily Illini have fallen prey to the journalistic trap of overplaying the storyline of left vs. right instead of seeking the objective truth by running a letter from the College Republicans president instead of my letter, I have decided to post my comments here.Sexual abuse and rape are not funny. Apparently the officers of the College Democrats feel differently. In fact,

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1133333397316030332005-11-30T00:20:00.000-06:002005-11-30T00:50:17.916-06:00

The Senate Staff Program has helped to reveal a number of fresh faces to ISS who have not ceased to impress with their dedication and eagerness to be involved. A number of staffers are more active even than some elected senators. As a result, Ariel Avila and I felt like there should be some recognition of those staffers who have gone above and beyond and really demonstrated their commitment to

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132977058727182862005-11-25T21:41:00.000-06:002005-11-25T21:55:43.766-06:00

While surfing the internet, I came across the Wikipedia entry for the Daily Illini (whether or not the DI deserves a Wikipedia entry is another question). It's a rather comprehensive entry with a section dealing with the Israel-Palestine entry dealing with quotes, misquotes, columnists, hatemail, etc (read the Wiki entry for more details), but as I scrolled down, there was Senator Vartan Danavi's

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132861908531357182005-11-24T13:50:00.000-06:002005-11-24T16:37:02.036-06:00

The Illinois Student Senate is out of session just as tensions between the Rohrschieb-Ruzic administration and the rest of the ISS reached a boiling point. The administration has come under heat in recent weeks for undermining established ISS processes and by-laws.The conflict grew as Chief of Staff Ariel Avila, long time Rohrschieb-Ruzic crony, threatened the entire Senate with delinquency for

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132611586165068362005-11-21T15:59:00.000-06:002005-11-21T16:19:46.186-06:00

Have any of you noticed the MBNA tents outside of memorial stadium or the booths in the Assembly Hall where MBNA gives out free t-shirts, towels, blankets, etc, in exchange for your filling out a credit card application? I use to kind of giggle to myself when I walked by these, because they reminded me of my old roommate. He had the worst credit in history, so bad that when i went with him to

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132277555414463802005-11-17T19:12:00.000-06:002005-11-17T19:40:05.710-06:00

The hookah industry won a huge victory yesterday as the ISS supported exemptions from the clean air act. The exemptions, pushed by Senator's Hassen Al-Shawaf, Laura Engle, and Joseph Vartan Danavi, gave the hookah industry leverage with the Champaign City Council. While the Illinois Student Senate recognized the need for clean restaurant and bar environments, it also recognized the needs of the

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132211170830174422005-11-16T23:55:00.000-06:002005-11-17T01:07:24.566-06:00

In response to Billy Joe (who just called me Mr. Rohrscheib for the first time in his life) and the rest of his cadre of revolutionaries, I submit that some of the provisions in question should be removed from the Engagement Amendment. In fact, I wanted to remove them from the amendment at this evenings Student Senate meeting. I will explain and defend my position on each point, and then conclude

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132204583399105722005-11-16T23:15:00.000-06:002005-11-16T23:18:57.683-06:00

Mr. Rohrscheib (co-president) recently proposed multiple undemocratic reforms to the campus referenda process:1) Article III, part F: Referendum questions must be asked separate from student elections, with the lone exception of referendum questions about the renewal of student government fees.2) Article V, part E: All referenda will be binding on the Student Senate. The Student Senate will not

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132161216329373382005-11-16T10:52:00.000-06:002005-11-16T11:13:36.340-06:00

I forgot to rant about the DI editorial sometime weeks ago, but here it is. Its only a little one.DI Editorial Board,I think you cleverly played out your little piece in the DI a few weeks ago. You chose the questions that we asked during the City Council and answered them. However, you conveniently did not debate or refute our points that effectively followed or in my case preceded. These

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132132144030311832005-11-16T02:23:00.000-06:002005-11-16T10:39:10.753-06:00

Billy Joe Mills and I met with the higher-ups in the Measurement & Evaluations department of the Center for Teaching Excellence to talk about the proposed new student core questions for the ICES evaluations of instructors. The meeting went surprisingly well. My concern was that we were going to have to face the choice of having to remove the question regarding political bias by instructors due to

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132092040731706312005-11-15T16:00:00.000-06:002005-11-15T16:04:31.516-06:00

What is the issue/problem?Smoking in bars.Where am I coming from?Social smoker limit of 5 cigarettes a year with New Years Day being an all-you-can-smoke free day.What's your flavor?Parliament Lights of course. (tried them in Banja Luka, Bosnia)What's the opinion?Personally I think that as long as big tobacco continues to lace their smoky treats with arsenic and use cancer inducing chemicals

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132083250934119742005-11-15T13:31:00.000-06:002005-11-15T13:45:54.900-06:00

ISS is getting some good press today. We're mentioned in three separate stories in the DI today, two on the front page, one the top story. Keep up the good work.--Brian

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1132037732895899392005-11-15T00:31:00.000-06:002005-11-15T00:55:32.900-06:00

In the effort to make clear that the only thing ISS deals with is not a 5 mph change in the speed limit, I would like to bring up the issue of the proposed merger of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics with the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Academic Affairs intends to issue a report on the topic to the senate at the first meeting after Thanksgiving break. We'll have a

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131836450203114592005-11-12T16:55:00.000-06:002005-11-16T03:22:19.810-06:00

Check out the News-Gazette, especially UI Trustee Shah's and Herman's comments:Here is a little glimpse:Shah was outraged that a pedestrian hit by an MTD bus in March had been ticketed for failure to yield, and he said he was concerned that pedestrians were being ticketed since Ms. Channick's death, but he hadn't heard enough about enforcement against drivers."The major responsibility for safety

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131648717923580502005-11-10T12:15:00.000-06:002005-11-10T12:51:57.933-06:00

A shameful chapter in ISS history was written last night. But while many in the senate (read: Josh and me) were deeply pained by the rejection of funds for ISS bottle openers and bouncy balls (possibly--nay, probably--the worst two decisions ISS has ever made), we must all join together and blaze a new path ahead in the better interests of the student body. It is a time to move on, a time for

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131646443430787582005-11-10T12:11:00.000-06:002005-11-10T12:15:31.576-06:00

Perhaps we should give out these little critters as promotional gear, each with the letters "ISS" shaved out of their fur. --Brian

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131581853147006342005-11-09T17:42:00.000-06:002005-11-16T01:43:35.836-06:00

After reviewing the facts, it becomes clear that a 20 MPH speed limit would have a negative influence on the campus community. While there is theoretical evidence to suggest a lower speed limit would increase campus safety, empirical evidence suggests that a 20 MPH speed limit would not increase campus safety. Not long ago, campus speed limits were reduced from 30mph to 25mph. Since

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131419972136558382005-11-07T21:18:00.000-06:002005-11-09T22:19:43.363-06:00

Minutes: This meeting covered a variety of different topics. After a brief welcome and the approval of the minutes, Kevin Schaffer and Hassen Al-Shawaf were unanimously voted in to be full members of the Student Life Committee. The first order of business, the Gotta Gripe Survey, was briefly talked about and Joe announced that it must be completed by next week.The second order of old

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1131000348973326412005-11-03T02:45:00.000-06:002005-11-03T00:47:16.626-06:00

There are only a few people in this world who can explain what it feels like to try to wash egg yolk out of one's hair. After Halloween night this past Monday, two more names can be added to that list: Josh Rohrscheib and me, Brian Pierce.Josh and I had preoccupied ourselves in the ISS office until about 2:00 AM. The company of some senate colleagues, including Joe Danavi, Amanda Palazzo, and

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1130973326061742582005-11-02T16:58:00.000-06:002005-11-03T00:46:57.476-06:00

The Daily Illini is reporting today that the Champaign City Council unanimously voted to keep the speed limit on campus at 25 miles per hour. This is an enormously surprising turn of events given that before the meeting there had been only 2 solid "no" votes on the recommendation to lower the speed limit to 20 and several supposedly solid "yes" votes. ISS had encouraged senators to attend the

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1130809790968928802005-10-31T19:35:00.000-06:002005-10-31T19:50:52.946-06:00

On Tuesday November 1st, the Champaign City Council will vote on a proposal to lower the campus speed limit from 25mph to 20mph. The proposal, which was suggested by the University Administration, is a reaction to the recent tragic death of a student pedestrian. Members of the Governmental Affairs Committee will be testifying against this proposal. Here's why:First of all, this plan is a knee

Illinois Student Senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177887306879104085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18510477.post-1130805010912986592005-10-31T18:29:00.000-06:002005-10-31T18:30:10.920-06:00

This is just a test. Beep.

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