[1287] in UA Senate
RE: Laptops
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael E Plasmeier)
Sun Apr 24 13:16:19 2011
From: Michael E Plasmeier <theplaz@MIT.EDU>
To: Timothy E Robertson <tim_r@mit.edu>, Geoffrey G Thomas <geofft@mit.edu>
CC: Jonte Craighead <jontec@mit.edu>, "ua-senate@mit.edu" <ua-senate@mit.edu>
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:16:25 -0400
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTikvQYUU=+ZjuKmSD2LJstVrGAspvQ@mail.gmail.com>
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It seems to me that "off the record" means that they do not want this to ap=
pear in the Boston Globe, NYT, etc before they are ready to announce someth=
ing. Going before a body as large as Senate means that this is not highly =
classified. It seems that they are trying to get MIT community feedback wit=
hout having this leak to the outside world.
I could be incorrect, so I agree with Tim's suggestion to ask the study gro=
up to explain what they are trying to protect.
-Michael
From: timorob@gmail.com [mailto:timorob@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Timothy Rob=
ertson
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 1:13 PM
To: Geoffrey G Thomas
Cc: Jonte Craighead; ua-senate@mit.edu
Subject: Re: Laptops
I do not believe it is reasonable for us to remain off the record. I am not=
opposed to closed discussions, but I believe the Study Group should be acc=
ountable to what they bring to the UA body. Additionally, if we stay off th=
e record, I would like the Study Group to provide, at the minimum, a public=
explanation of this request.
On Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Geoffrey Thomas <geofft@mit.edu<mailto:ge=
offt@mit.edu>> wrote:
What does "off the record" mean? As a constituennt, can I ask my senator wh=
at happened and expect them to be able to reply in good conscience?
I have bad memories of Blue Ribbon insisting its meetings were off the reco=
rd, and preventng me as a Dormcon member from having any idea of what was g=
oing on (until the leaks and 40 UAS 6.4 and all that fun stuff). MIT-Online=
is certainly more preliminary than BRDC was at that stage, but also way mo=
re important. Is there some summary of the discussion they're willing to ap=
prove? Can senators take persnal notes not on laptops?
This is what affects a body's ability to be representative. Whether you pun=
t on your computers past the Speaker's bedtime is just a question of time m=
anagement competence and respect, not representation.
--
Geoffrey Thomas
geofft@mit.edu<mailto:geofft@mit.edu>
On Sun, 24 Apr 2011, William Steadman wrote:
If every representative were to make motions to: close discussion,
postpone, etc whenever they felt it was appropriate then you don't have
a meeting, you have 30 arguing about procedure.
I don't walk into Senate trying to gauge the progress of a discussion
because that is not my job. My job as Chairman of Space Planning is to
provide appropriate info in that area. Gauging the progress of a
discussion is in fact the Speaker's job.
I recommend the Speaker move to end discussion or even better call for a
motion from the assembly whenever he thinks discussion is not useful.
There is a reason he controls the length of debate time. Yet despite the
length of all of our meetings it has only been invoked once this year.
On Sun, 2011-04-24 at 04:16 -0400, Jont=E9 Craighead (UA Speaker) wrote:
Hi, guys:
This is meant to be a notice for Monday's meeting.
tl;dr: No laptops during the guest speaker and no laptops after
11:00pm.
The MIT-Online Faculty Study Group has asked that the entire session
at Monday's meeting take place off the record. Because of this, and
the fact that this group will be our guest, laptops must not be open.
Furthermore, I am going to request that laptops also be closed during
any business that takes place after 11:00pm. If you have noticed
anything this year, it's that, usually, fewer than half of you are
paying attention to the discussion at once past about this time. If
the discussion on the floor is not interesting or useful, you should
do something about it (i.e. move to close discussion, postpone, etc.).
This is your Senate, you should own it. Otherwise, we run into
situations where a small number of participants are the only ones
driving the discussions (and effectively acting as the only student
representatives).
Instituting this rule is not fun, but I feel it's necessary to keep
people engaged, or at the very least, ensure that our last three
meetings aren't also our longest.
I would be happy to answer any questions here, but if you have
comments or want to start a discussion, please move this e-mail to
ua-senate@.
Thanks,
Jont=E9 Craighead
Speaker of the Senate
MIT Undergraduate Association
Course 1C: Class of 2013
--
Tim Robertson II
MIT 2011
Mechanical Engineering
UA Senate Office Hours:
EC-B515 Sunday 5-8pm
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nk=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'f=
ont-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>It seems =
to me that “off the record” means that they do not want this to=
appear in the Boston Globe, NYT, etc before they are ready to announce som=
ething.=A0 Going before a body as large as Senate means that this is not hi=
ghly classified. It seems that they are trying to get MIT community feedbac=
k without having this leak to the outside world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans=
-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><sp=
an style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F49=
7D'>I could be incorrect, so I agree with Tim’s suggestion to ask the=
study group to explain what they are trying to protect.<o:p></o:p></span><=
/p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibr=
i","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNo=
rmal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";col=
or:#1F497D'>-Michael<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=
=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p=
> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><b><span style=3D'font-size:10=
.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style=3D'font=
-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> timorob@gmail.com [mailto:=
timorob@gmail.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Timothy Robertson<br><b>Sent:</b> Su=
nday, April 24, 2011 1:13 PM<br><b>To:</b> Geoffrey G Thomas<br><b>Cc:</b> =
Jonte Craighead; ua-senate@mit.edu<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: Laptops<o:p></o:p=
></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'>I do not believe it is reasonable for us to =
remain off the record. I am not opposed to closed discussions, but I believ=
e the Study Group should be accountable to what they bring to the UA body. =
Additionally, if we stay off the record, I would like the Study Group to pr=
ovide, at the minimum, a public explanation of this request. <o:p></o:p></p=
><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>On Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Geoffrey Thoma=
s <<a href=3D"mailto:geofft@mit.edu">geofft@mit.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p><=
/o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>What does "off the record" mean? As=
a constituennt, can I ask my senator what happened and expect them to be a=
ble to reply in good conscience?<br><br>I have bad memories of Blue Ribbon =
insisting its meetings were off the record, and preventng me as a Dormcon m=
ember from having any idea of what was going on (until the leaks and 40 UAS=
6.4 and all that fun stuff). MIT-Online is certainly more preliminary than=
BRDC was at that stage, but also way more important. Is there some summary=
of the discussion they're willing to approve? Can senators take persnal no=
tes not on laptops?<br><br>This is what affects a body's ability to be repr=
esentative. Whether you punt on your computers past the Speaker's bedtime i=
s just a question of time management competence and respect, not representa=
tion.<br><span style=3D'color:#888888'><br>-- <br>Geoffrey Thomas<br><a hre=
f=3D"mailto:geofft@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">geofft@mit.edu</a></span><o:p=
></o:p></p><div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><b=
r><br>On Sun, 24 Apr 2011, William Steadman wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=
=3DMsoNormal>If every representative were to make motions to: close discuss=
ion,<br>postpone, etc whenever they felt it was appropriate then you don't =
have<br>a meeting, you have 30 arguing about procedure.<br><br>I don't walk=
into Senate trying to gauge the progress of a discussion<br>because that i=
s not my job. My job as Chairman of Space Planning is to<br>provide appropr=
iate info in that area. Gauging the progress of a<br>discussion is in fact =
the Speaker's job.<br><br>I recommend the Speaker move to end discussion or=
even better call for a<br>motion from the assembly whenever he thinks disc=
ussion is not useful.<br>There is a reason he controls the length of debate=
time. Yet despite the<br>length of all of our meetings it has only been in=
voked once this year.<br><br>On Sun, 2011-04-24 at 04:16 -0400, Jont=E9 Cra=
ighead (UA Speaker) wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>Hi, guys:<br>=
<br>This is meant to be a notice for Monday's meeting.<br><br>tl;dr: No lap=
tops during the guest speaker and no laptops after<br>11:00pm.<br><br>The M=
IT-Online Faculty Study Group has asked that the entire session<br>at Monda=
y's meeting take place off the record. Because of this, and<br>the fact tha=
t this group will be our guest, laptops must not be open.<br><br>Furthermor=
e, I am going to request that laptops also be closed during<br>any business=
that takes place after 11:00pm. If you have noticed<br>anything this year,=
it's that, usually, fewer than half of you are<br>paying attention to the =
discussion at once past about this time. If<br>the discussion on the floor =
is not interesting or useful, you should<br>do something about it (i.e. mov=
e to close discussion, postpone, etc.).<br>This is your Senate, you should =
own it. Otherwise, we run into<br>situations where a small number of partic=
ipants are the only ones<br>driving the discussions (and effectively acting=
as the only student<br>representatives).<br><br>Instituting this rule is n=
ot fun, but I feel it's necessary to keep<br>people engaged, or at the very=
least, ensure that our last three<br>meetings aren't also our longest.<br>=
<br>I would be happy to answer any questions here, but if you have<br>comme=
nts or want to start a discussion, please move this e-mail to<br>ua-senate@=
.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Jont=E9 Craighead<br><br>Speaker of the Senate<br>MIT U=
ndergraduate Association<br>Course 1C: Class of 2013<o:p></o:p></p><p class=
=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p></div></di=
v></div><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><br><br clear=
=3Dall><br>-- <br>Tim Robertson II<br>MIT 2011<br>Mechanical Engineering<br=
>UA Senate Office Hours:<br>EC-B515 Sunday 5-8pm<o:p></o:p></p></div></body=
></html>=
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