[38] in UA Senate
Welcome to the Senate!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Paul Baranay)
Sun Oct 4 01:37:16 2009
From: Paul Baranay <pbaranay@MIT.EDU>
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 01:36:46 -0400
To: ua-senate@mit.edu
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Dear Senators,
Congratulations on being elected to the UA Senate! I am very excited to
work with all of you this year, which is bound to be pivotal both for the UA
and the student body as a whole. We have many difficult issues to face
ahead of us -- ranging from Institute-wide budget cuts to changes with MIT
dining -- but I am sure that all of you are up for the challenge.
My name is Paul, and I am the Senate Speaker -- the person who runs Senate
meetings, coordinates the Senate's agenda, and serves as the overall
spokesperson for the Senate. I'll be working closely with each one of you
to help you implement your personal goals and projects for this year. One
of the major aspects of my job as Speaker is to serve as a resource for all
of you -- about the UA, the MIT administration, and anything else. If you
ever have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me.
I'm assisted in my duties by Tim Stumbaugh, the Senate Vice Speaker; Liz
Denys, the Secretary-General; and Alex Dehnert, the UA Treasurer. Of
course, the Senate also works very closely with the UA's Executive branch,
so you will also be seeing a great deal of UA President Mike Bennie and UA
Vice President Maggie Delano. If all these names and positions sound
confusing, don't worry -- it will all become clear very soon.
This semester's first Senate meeting will be this upcoming Monday (tomorrow)
on *October 5 at 7:30 PM in the Senate Chambers *(W20-400). Please arrive a
few minutes early if possible. The agenda for this meeting consists of
three major items: discussion with our special Senate guests, Senator
Orientation, and discussion of the UA's operating budget for Fall 2009. If
you are unable to make this meeting for any reason, please email me as soon
as possible. The full Senate calendar is posted at http://ua.mit.edu/senate.
(The date of next week's meeting is up in the air due to Columbus Day
Weekend; it will be finalized at Monday's meeting.)
On the subject of dates, please also hold Saturday, October 24 - Sunday,
October 25 in your calendars. That weekend is the annual UA Retreat, which
is a prime opportunity for building friendships with others in the UA,
learning about some of the UA's major successes (and missed opportunities)
over the past few years, exploring your personal vision of how MIT ought to
be -- and also having a lot of fun. Short of major existing commitments,
attendance at the retreat is expected. Let me promise you in advance that
the retreat will be highly beneficial to you as Senators and as student
leaders in general.
Our guests for this meeting are three of MIT's most prominent deans -- the
Dean for Student Life, the Dean for Undergraduate Education, and the Dean
for Graduate Education -- who will be meeting with us to discuss the recent
proposed budget cuts. You can find the full text of the report at
http://ideabank.mit.edu, and you can view the UA's summaries of a few
important recommendations at http://ua.mit.edu/taskforce. *Please do your
best to familiarize yourselves with the report and the UA summaries before
tomorrow's meeting.*
Finally, to answer one very common question in advance: what *is* the
Senate, anyway? My personal opinion is that the Senate is what you make of
it -- no more, no less. The Senate would be nothing without great Senators
who are driven to make relevant, positive changes for the MIT community.
That said, the Senate does have some specific roles within the UA and MIT in
general. First of all, the Senate is the representative body of
undergraduates -- whenever you speak in the Senate, you are really speaking
on behalf of constituents from your dorm or FSILG. As such, the Senate
serves as one of the primary discussion grounds for any and all issues
relating to the quality of student life and education here at MIT. Second,
the Senate has the power and the responsibility to set the policy of the UA
Executive branch, by writing, discussing, amending, and enacting
legislation. (Legislation will be one of the primary topics of Senate
Orientation, as well as the UA Retreat.) Finally, the Senate holds "the
power of the purse" for the UA and is responsible for disbursing the
$250,000+ of funds that the UA receives each year.
Once again, this is going to be a very important year for MIT. I look
forward to working with all of you to help make a difference for the student
body!
Sincerely,
Paul
---
Paul Baranay
Speaker of the UA Senate
--001636ed75dd3f69c30475156301
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Dear Senators,<br><br>Congratulations on being elected to the UA Senate!=A0=
I am very excited to work with all of you this year, which is bound to be =
pivotal both for the UA and the student body as a whole.=A0 We have many di=
fficult issues to face ahead of us -- ranging from Institute-wide budget cu=
ts to changes with MIT dining -- but I am sure that all of you are up for =
the challenge.<br>
<br>My name is Paul, and I am the Senate Speaker -- the person who runs Sen=
ate meetings, coordinates the Senate's agenda, and serves as the overal=
l spokesperson for the Senate.=A0 I'll be working closely with each one=
of you to help you implement your personal goals and projects for this yea=
r.=A0 One of the major aspects of my job as Speaker is to serve as a resour=
ce for all of you -- about the UA, the MIT administration, and anything els=
e.=A0 If you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me.<br>
<br>I'm assisted in my duties by Tim Stumbaugh, the Senate Vice Speaker=
; Liz Denys, the Secretary-General; and Alex Dehnert, the UA Treasurer.=A0 =
Of course, the Senate also works very closely with the UA's Executive b=
ranch, so you will also be seeing a great deal of UA President Mike Bennie =
and UA Vice President Maggie Delano.=A0 If all these names and positions so=
und confusing, don't worry -- it will all become clear very soon.<br>
<br>This semester's first Senate meeting will be this upcoming Monday (=
tomorrow) on <b>October 5 at 7:30 PM in the Senate Chambers </b>(W20-400).=
=A0 Please arrive a few minutes early if possible.=A0 The agenda for this m=
eeting consists of three major items: discussion with our special Senate gu=
ests, Senator Orientation, and discussion of the UA's operating budget =
for Fall 2009.=A0 If you are unable to make this meeting for any reason, pl=
ease email me as soon as possible.=A0 The full Senate calendar is posted at=
<a href=3D"http://ua.mit.edu/senate" target=3D"_blank">http://ua.mit.edu/s=
enate</a>.=A0 (The date of next week's meeting is up in the air due to =
Columbus Day Weekend; it will be finalized at Monday's meeting.)<br>
<br>On the subject of dates, please also hold Saturday, October 24 - Sunday=
, October 25 in your calendars.=A0 That weekend is the annual UA Retreat, w=
hich is a prime opportunity for building friendships with others in the UA,=
learning about some of the UA's major successes (and missed opportunit=
ies) over the past few years, exploring your personal vision of how MIT oug=
ht to be -- and also having a lot of fun.=A0 Short of major existing commit=
ments, attendance at the retreat is expected.=A0 Let me promise you in adva=
nce that the retreat will be highly beneficial to you as Senators and as st=
udent leaders in general.<br>
<br>Our guests for this meeting are three of MIT's most prominent deans=
--
the Dean for Student Life, the Dean for Undergraduate Education, and
the Dean for Graduate Education -- who will be meeting with us to
discuss the recent proposed budget cuts.=A0 You can find the full text of
the report at <a href=3D"http://ideabank.mit.edu/" target=3D"_blank">http:/=
/ideabank.mit.edu</a>, and you can view the UA's summaries of a few imp=
ortant recommendations at <a href=3D"http://ua.mit.edu/taskforce" target=3D=
"_blank">http://ua.mit.edu/taskforce</a>.=A0 <b>Please do your best to fami=
liarize yourselves with the report and the UA summaries before tomorrow'=
;s meeting.</b><br>
<br>Finally, to answer one very common question in advance: what <i>is</i> =
the Senate, anyway?=A0 My personal opinion is that the Senate is what you m=
ake of it -- no more, no less.=A0 The Senate would be nothing without great=
Senators who are driven to make relevant, positive changes for the MIT com=
munity.<br>
<br>That said, the Senate does have some specific roles within the UA and M=
IT in general.=A0 First of all, the Senate is the representative body of un=
dergraduates -- whenever you speak in the Senate, you are really speaking o=
n behalf of constituents from your dorm or FSILG.=A0 As such, the Senate se=
rves as one of the primary discussion grounds for any and all issues relati=
ng to the quality of student life and education here at MIT.=A0 Second, the=
Senate has the power and the responsibility to set the policy of the UA Ex=
ecutive branch, by writing, discussing, amending, and enacting legislation.=
=A0 (Legislation will be one of the primary topics of Senate Orientation, a=
s well as the UA Retreat.)=A0 Finally, the Senate holds "the power of =
the purse" for the UA and is responsible for disbursing the $250,000+ =
of funds that the UA receives each year.<br>
<br>Once again, this is going to be a very important year for MIT.=A0 I loo=
k forward to working with all of you to help make a difference for the stud=
ent body!<br><br>Sincerely,<br>Paul<br>---<br>Paul Baranay<br>Speaker of th=
e UA Senate<br>
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