ATTENDANCE

Members present: Robert Guicheteau, Hesham Badissy, Sebastiano Trinh, Brendan Hale, Natalie Rehberger, Jasmine Purcell, Jonathan Gottlieb, Stefan Bach, Faurest Nelson Wicks, Douglas Ridely, Alani Akins-Smith, Ryan Morikawa, Drew Hawely, Andres Txai Villacorta, Lawrence Novak, Tyler Langenbrunner

Members absent: Ryan Bersentes, Courtney Kindell, Donald Gribbons, Paige Jones

Chair: Brendan Hale

BUSINESS

Public comments focused on a discussion amendment 3.6.

Several students questioned why the GSU did not put the amendment to a student vote before approving it; students voiced the opinion that the amendment takes power away from students; there was concern about the philosophy of opt-in policies, considering some events on the national level; students were concerned that an opt-in policy might promote instances of the “free-rider” problem in which students who choose to pay for the benefit of those who did not choose to pay. One student spoke on the immense difficulty of canvassing the student body, and another on the perils of the whole philosophy of an opt-in system on a national scale.

The GSU expressed that its intentions were to protect students from fees that could not easily be found or circumvented, also citing the fact that the GSU does not control the processes of notifying students and opting in or out on the individual level. The GSU admitted that not all members were clear on the exact implications or scope of the amendment and agreed to table the issue to next week in order to gain a clearer understanding and conducted a detailed review, taking student comments into account.

Many students expressed frustration at the level of transparency that keeping up with GSU activities is difficult. The GSU concurred that outreach is a priority, one that all committees are facing, but that the GSU has done much in the way of communication and implores interested students to email the GSU (GeoduckUnion@evergreen.edu) or post on our Facebook page.

The GSU voted on whether to resend the amendment which did not pass (9/17), and agreed to table the issue for next week (14/17).

Final preparations for Lobby Day (Capitol Advocacy Day) were discussed and schedules reviewed.