Lexington (MA) High School Senate

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-FACULTY SENATE

2001-2002

Moderator Ilana Kessler, Assistant Moderator Michael Fiveash, Secretary Sara Enders

<http://lhs.lexingtonma.org/senate>

New Senate 2002-2003

Moderator Muhammad Dhanani, Assistant Moderator Lawrence J. David, Secretary J.T. Scarry

Agenda

For the June 13, 2002 meeting:

1. Announcements

2. Welcome from the Moderator

3. One Year Shortening of X-Block

4. New Business

Minutes

From the June 6, 2002 meeting:

Quorum reached at 7:53 AM.

[Minutes Approved]

[Agenda Approved]

Announcements

S. Enders: I have received sashes from many Senators. Thanks to those who have turned them in. For you who have not turned them in, please do so soon. You may have to give them to Caty as I am leaving soon.

Fiveash presented Senators S. Enders and Kessler with plaques to honor their service, and noted "At the end of the Senate's session, it is a good time to note the extraordinary energy and intelligence of this year's senior senators. They are an extraordinary group."

Vachani: Copies of Robert's Rules of Order and related papers should be presented to new Senators.

K. Girondel: We have quite a few new faculty Senators, but we are still short four or five. Welcome to the new Senators.

Election of a New Executive Committee

Fiveash gave a brief explanation of the order of nominations and opened the floor to nominations for the post of moderator.

Jehle: I nominate Senator Inouye.

Inouye: Though flattered, I feel that I have not had enough experience on the Senate. I decline.

Rehman: I nominate Senator Dhanani.

Dhanani: I accept.

Inouye: I nominate Senator K. Girondel.

K. Girondel: I decline.

Halperin nominated Senator Shield, and then showed a prepared statement from the absent Senator Shield excepting the nomination.

Inouye: I nominate Senator David.

David: I regretfully decline, as I feel that this should be a student-led body.

Halperin: I nominate Senator Lessin.

Lessin: I accept.

[Fiveash, seeing no further nominations, gave each nominee a chance to speak in the order in which they were nominated.]

Dhanani: I have been elected to the Senate four times. I have been on the Oversight Committee twice, giving me a chance to make sure the Senate's dictates have been followed and to review all the bills at the end of each year. As moderator, I would try to give the school a better idea of what we do. The school in general has no idea, and many misconceptions exist. I would also try to wrap up old Policy, like the Honor Code, which has not been resolved for several years.

Halperin read Senator Shield's prepared statement: I apologize for my absence, as I am not in Lexington. I attended Senate meetings for two years even though I was not elected because I had to come to school anyway. I will address issues passionately. Next year will be an important year for Senate, partly due to the controversy over X-block, and I will devote time and enthusiasm to meeting with Dr. Seasholes. I will mitigate bad relations. Though I may sometimes be flustered by making motions, I can be a competent/confident leader.

Lessin: The moderator's role is to moderate. A grasp of Robert's Rules of Order is essential for that. I have a close relationship with Ernest B. Van Seasholes. Were I moderator I would take the post seriously and have fun with it.

[The Executive Committee then distributed ballots for the post of Moderator. When these were collected, the nominations for the post of Assistant Moderator began.]

Dhanani: I nominate Senator Fiveash.

Fiveash: I must respectfully decline for unspecified reasons.

Jehle: I nominate Senator David.

David: I accept.

Halperin: I nominate Senator Bogart.

Bogart: I decline.

C. Enders: I nominate Senator Williams.

Williams: I accept.

Catsouphes: If Senator Finnegan was here, I would nominate him. May I do so regardless?

Fiveash: He would need to accept it.

[With no further nominations, the nominees were invited to speak.]

David: Despite the millions in dirty money my opponent has poured into the race, I've done my best to make this a clean campaign. This is a critical year. We need leadership able to work with the administration. I have been on the Senate almost as long as I have worked at LHS.

Williams: While it is nice to have choices in these things, I am inclined to vote for David myself. He has been around a long time.

[Ballots were then distributed to vote for Assistant Moderator.]

Kessler: Congratulations to Senator Dhanani, you have been elected the new moderator. Now we will take nominations for Secretary.

K. Girondel: I nominate Senator Halperin.

Halperin: I decline.

Dhanani: I nominate Senator Inouye.

Inouye: I decline. I would like to have another year to be a regular Senator.

Bogart: I nominate Senator C. Enders.

C. Enders: I decline. This is my first year on the Senate, I would like to give the job to someone more experienced.

Halperin: I nominate Senator Tsung-Han.

Shen: I decline.

K. Girondel: I nominate Senator Scarry.

Scarry: I accept.

C. Enders: I nominate Senator Vachani

Vachani: I decline.

Kessler: Seeing and hearing no alternate nominations, Senator Scarry is elected, congratulations. Senator David has won the election for Assistant Moderator.

Committee Choices Collected

One person from each committee gave a brief description of the doings of their committee. Scraps of paper to write down the top three choices were given to each Senator, and subsequently collected.

List of Senators Absent from the June 6, 2002 Meeting

-- Shield

-- Ludwig

-- Harper

-- Kafrissen

-- Finnegan

-- Ly

-- Zagaeski