Minutes from the December 11, 2002 PAC meeting
Submitted by Abby Fuller
Announcements
April Gafford is teaching ground school in TH411 on Wed nights from 6:30-9:30. We have had 2 classes, but if you still want to join, talk to April.>[?
Comments from PAC members on the issue of PAC charity donations (please pardon the paraphrasing. AF and DH did their best!):
- Richard - Charity - is this how we want to spend our $?
- "Professional do-gooder" - we need to take our own time and not use our $.
We should spend PAC $ on PAC things. How do we currently use our funds? How to people get to bring stuff up? Should we fundraise if we want to donate to charities?
Suggestions: Plant trees; table in Malcolm X for fundraising; raise funds for wood for Habitat for Humanity, take it out to a HfH site, and spend 2 days working on it; raise funds for a cosmology (or other) club within PAC. I am willing to spearhead fundraising.
April - There's merit in discussing buying software, bringing in instructors for GRE, funding research. We should have a dialogue about this. The emails so far have been undermining the discussion. Take responsibility for how you represent your ideas.
Note: $500 were earmarked for this (fall) semester to donate to charities. This was voted on at the beginning of the (fall) semester in the first PAC meeting.
April (con't) - Isn't the sale of lab manuals a fundraiser? We should perhaps have a fundraiser just for the purpose of bringing people together We should talk about this in the future, perhaps.
Daryl - How many people read the newsletter and thought that they were invited (to the first PAC meeting)? Let's get into the classroom at the beginning of the semester and tell them about PAC.
Note: 90 people start in physics for the 1st 2 years. After two years, it's about 20 people. What can we do to keep more people in the major?
Andy - We (PAC) are not a charity. How did any one think that? Research where we earn and spend our $. PAC was started as a support group for students and physics majors. Who voted for the charitable contributions? We had a large majority (of PAC members) who wanted to donate to charities. There has been a huge effort made to include everyone in the process, including the decision making.
Zoe - (Contributions) raise awareness about charitable organizations in our PAC community. I feel it is good to give to the large community around us.
Mike - The decision (to contribute to charities) was made previously by vote. We should proceed this semester with our decision and re-evaluate the donations next semester. [Interjection from Richard - How do you feel PAC fulfills your needs? Would you regard the $500 as more valuable to you in some other way?] I believe stepping into the middle of a democratic process is less useful and that we should abide by the vote made at the beginning of the semester.
Ryn - (in response to the charge that many PAC members were not aware of the decision to make charitable donations) Meeting minutes are always distributed via the PAC newsletter and/or email. PAC meetings are open to all member of the P&A community. PAC was defined by and for the students each semester. The priorities of the students here now are most important to the organization. Charities, volunteer work and donations are all important ways to engage our community.
Hamid - If I were voting on this issue today, I would vote against it. The vote, however, has already been made. The vote was democratic and should not be reversed. I would support different uses for these PAC funds in the future.
Leah - Wanted to say that the organization "Save the Bay" would be a great place for PAC folks to get involved, volunteering or getting involved other ways.
Mark - Wants to acknowledge how much work goes into the lab manual production (lab manual sales are PAC's primary source of income). I do not support charities in general but do feel that the vote should stand. Would like to see $ spent to help students with the heavy physics workload. Interested in increasing participation and outreach to new/existing students without forcing participation. We should discuss further how to handle future votes, whether to allow objections, how to handle null votes, etc.
Nate - Thanks to the PAC community for the support. This community helps me maintain my interest in physics. People can find out about the organization through the department & online. I am a new student how chose from the beginning to be involved. Hope the charity donations would be narrowed down to three - our goal is to come from the heart, to give funds and give support to our outside community. Fund raising needs our time and needs someone to spearhead the effort.
Evan - What does the $500 allocated to charitable contribution contribute to the cost of individual lab manuals? ~900 manuals sold per semester, so about $0.50 per reader goes to charities. Are there restrictions on the nominations for the charities? (Response: None so far.)
Richard - Requests a vote of the PAC membership re. the charitable donations. Does not feel that democracy has been served.
Susan - A few final words. Respect amongst PAC members very important. PAC must supply a safe, secure and supportive environment for all of its members.
