Law Student Government Central Board Minutes of the Meeting Regular Meeting No.

9 July 16, 2012, 8:30PM ATTENDANCE: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Benedict G. Nisperos, President Marie Louise N. Camino, Internals Vice President Julienne Marie A. Morada, Externals Vice President Anne Jaycelle C. Sacramento, Secretary Jose Antonio Rafael G. Santos, Treasurer Patrick Chris D. Carbonell, Public Relations Officer Ma. Christina S. Reyes, College Representative to the USC Diega D. Villanueva, Evening Representative Jelorie F. Gallego, Evening Representative Jian Paulo P. Boller, 4th Year Representative Paolo O. Celeridad, 4th Year Representative Gerard Emmanuel V. Tayao, 3rd Year Representative John Paul R. Rotap, 3rd Year Representative Hanna Keila H. Garcia, 2nd Year Representative Ranulfo J. Javelosa III, 2nd Year Representative Lazaro Kevin G. Pabiona, 1st Year Representative Carlo Augustine A. Roman, 1st Year Representative Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Absent Present Present Present Present Present

AGENDA: 1. Discussion on Lab Fee and Per Peso Charge 2. Report on the Registration Matters 3. Report on UP Manininda and USC Issue 4. Report on OLA-OSG 5. Updates MEETING HIGHLIGHTS: The meeting was called to order at 8:30 PM at Hap Chan in Katipunan with the LSG President presiding over the meeting. The newly-elected First Year Representatives were welcomed by the Central Board. After the warm welcome, the CB proceeded with the discussion of the agenda.

1. Discussion on Lab Fee and Per Peso Charge Mr. Nisperos narrated the events that led to the decision of the College Administration to impose charges on internet usage. In the February 2012 Student Faculty Dialogue, the LSG Central Board raised the concern about the slow and intermittent wi-fi connection within the college. The LSG CB intended to ask for additional routers in the College in order to have a wider accessibility of the wi-fi service and to ask for the improvement of the connection being provided. The Dean said that he plans to increase the bandwidth of the wi-fi connection within the college but will have to charge an additional fee on top of a limited free usage. A student pays about P260 internet fee per semester (as indicated in the Form5) under the Dilnet service. The usage is covered by the 20-hour free internet usage in the Library which can be used by using the pink card issued by the Library. The Dilnet is separate and different from the UP College of Law Wifi Connection. The UP College of Law has about 800 students and 300 faculty and staff. A number of studens have registered their laptops with the College for the issuance of passwords for wifi connection. There were reports that reached the Dean that some outsiders also use the wifi connection in the College through sharing of password. The College administration now plans to implement a new scheme for the use of the wifi in the College starting August 1. In a meeting last Monday, July 16, 2012, the Dean said that at present, the UP College of Law Wifi server works at 2-4Mbps. The College has already contracted for a provider that will upgrade the usage to 15 Mbps. The Dean added that the cost to maintain the present wifi system is about P300,000 and the cost for the upgraded system is about P900,000, both annually. The new system will be pay-per-use, where P10 will be charged for every hour of internet use. The system will have no restrictions on sites visited and on downloading. The Dean said that the upgraded connection will also allow access to legal resource sites. He added that this plan is intended to curtail the inefficient use of the wifi system within the college. He said that he would also like to address the concern on the slow and intermittent wifi connection especially during peak hours from 1-5 P.M.1 After Mr. Nisperos narrated the facts which resulted to the issue at hand, the members of the CB gave their comments, suggestions and opinions regarding the matter. Mr. Javellosa opined that the current internet service provider can accommodate the needs of the students. Ms. Villanueva added that by implementing the new scheme, the College Administration may incur additional losses since the students may opt to avail of the Dilnet services inside the library. Mr. Nisperos clarified that according to the Dean, his in imposing charges for the use of the wi-fi services is merely to subsidize or lessen the cost that the College will incur in view of the upgraded services. The Dean acknowledges the fact that the additional cost for upgrade
1

The narration is the same as that which was disseminated to the students.

cannot be recovered from the imposition of service charges. The implementation of such scheme is to control the internet usage and to lessen the cost on the part of the College. Ms. Garcia clarified if the students can have a trial period for the new scheme to assess the service. However, Ms. Camino pointed out that the College already has a contract pertaining to the upgraded service with the current internet provider. Mr. Nisperos added that the Dean knows that there is a demand for an improved internet service. He added that the Dean knows that with the current demographics of the students within the College, they will be able and willing to pay for service charges. But the students should be consulted regarding the matter. Ms. Morada referred to the situation last academic year where the library imposed charging fee for the students laptops and asked how the LSG handled such issue. Ms. Camino informed the CB that the charging fees were removed by the library because of the requests of the students. She then manifested that she is wondering why the same was charged again this academic year despite the resolution during the SFD that charging fees will not be imposed anymore. Mr. Boller commented that the College Administration mentioned that the use of our College of the Law Center Funds might be construed as possible malversation. Thus, to prevent such issues, the College decided to minimize the amount that it is getting from the Law Center. Mr. Nisperos, however, said that the use of Law Center Funds by the College has always been practiced by previous Deans. After all the comments were exhausted, the CB proceeded to discuss the steps that it should take to address the issue. During the meeting with the Dean in the morning of 16 July 2012, Mr. Nisperos suggested that if the College is bent to implement the system, then it should provide students with a certain number of hours of free internet usage. The Dean said that he will have to think about it. Mr. Boller suggested if it is possible to just charge the students for internet usage during peak hours. Mr. Carbonell added that the CB conduct a survey to know if there really is a demand for internet. However, Mr. Nisperos said that he asked the Dean for grace period while this is to be consulted with the students but the Dean wants to implement the new scheme ASAP since the cost that will be shouldered by the College Administration will be lessened so long as there are students who will avail of such service. Mr. Nisperos asked two students for their comments regarding the new scheme. These students suggested that there should be a clear payment scheme for those students who will avail of the internet service for the semester. Mr. Rotap pointed out that the LSG needs to look out for those students who will abuse the new internet service provider. Mr. Boller suggested the implementation of internet usage caps. Mr. Javelosa added that the library may provide additional LAN cables for those who want to use the free Dilnet internet services of UP using their laptops. Before the end of the discussion, Ms. Sacramento asked how the two (2) students learnt about the new scheme. Mr. Nisperos said that he asked them after he talked with the Dean.

Ms. Reyes thereafter requested the CB not to divulge any information until after the meeting so that the members of the CB will have a consistent statement regarding these matters. Actions taken and to be taken: Mr. Nisperos will prepare a bulletin to be sent to the students through their batch representatives as soon as possible. The bulletin will ask for comments about the proposed system of wifi use. The batch representatives will compile the comments of the students which will be used in negotiating the terms of the new scheme with the Dean. A freedom wall will likewise be prepared to get the comments of the students. A meeting with the Dean will be scheduled for the purpose of negotiating the terms of the new scheme. 2. Report on the Registration Matters Mr. Nisperos said that the information disseminated that the LSG will not issue a report to students was wrong. He then narrated how the voting was done. The first question asked was whether or not the LSG will release a report on the registration. The CB voted FOR THE RELEASE of the report. The second question was regarding the form and content of the report. The CB members agreed to submit a report on registration to the College Administration. The CB decided to prepare a detailed report on what happened during the registration and the cause of the problems encountered by the students. The CB likewise decided to attach a proposal to the report so as to solve the registration problems. These proposals were based on the comments gathered by the batch representatives from the students as well as on the discussion of the CB. The report and proposal will be presented and discussed with the Dean and College Secretary. After the negotiations with the College Administration, the CB will prepare a report together with the registration procedure agreed upon by the College Administration and the CB. However, an issue was raised regarding the content of the report. The CB recognized the possible effect to the students if the CB will prepare a report pointing out every mistake committed by the College Administration. But then, it is also recognized by the CB that the students are aware of these shortcomings. In fact, the comments of the students were the main source of the content of the report submitted to the College Administration. Hence, the CB decided to prepare a contextualized report on the matter, presenting all the circumstances surrounding the issue and the approved proposal for registration this coming second semester, which will be presented to the students. Ms. Camino has already started preparing the report for the College Administration. The report contains three parts: (1) timeline from February 2012 until the second week of July; (2) proposal for the new registration system; and (3) comments from the students. An issue was raised regarding the release of the timeline of events of the registration process, i.e. whether or not the CB will publish the exact same timeline or the condensed version only.

Ms. Camino manifested that the report to the College Administration need not to be disseminated to the students since a separate report will be prepared for them and the content of the report to the College Administration contains negotiations. The proposal that will be presented by the CB will come from the suggestions and comments of the students. If the details of the negotiations will be presented to the students, this might cause greater confusion because the matters that will be raised there are not final and are still subject to the approval of both the College Administration and the CB. Mr. Nisperos said that he talked to Ms. Camino about the release of the timeline because he wanted to submit the same report to the students and the college administration for them to know what the CB reported to the admin. This is in the context that the students should be informed of the action of the CB regarding the matter. Mr. Boller pointed out that this should not be an issue anymore because the CB agreed that a separate report will be prepared for the students. It was again emphasized that the preparation of a separate report for the students is not intended to cover the mistakes of the College Administration. Instead, its purpose is to protect the students from the possible backlash of the administration. Mr. Nisperos informed the CB that based on his talks with the College Secretary, the College will be using the CRS for the second semester registration. The subjects, schedules and professors for the second semester are already prepared by the OCS and will be submitted to the CRS in the coming weeks. With regard to electives, most of them are still review subjects. However, the Dean is considering other non-review electives for non-graduating students. Actions taken and to be taken: Ms. Camino asked the College Secretary for a meeting to clarify the system of registration of the College for the second semester. However, the Office of the University Registrar just had a meeting regarding registration. The College Secretary manifested that she doesnt know what exactly will be discussed during the meeting. Hence, a meeting will be scheduled after registration procedure of the university is clarified with the OUR. Ms. Camino will finalize the report within the week which will be submitted to the College Administration. A separate report will be prepared for the students which will contain a contextualized report and registration procedure approved by the College Administration based on the proposal submitted by the CB. The report will be submitted to the College Administration next week and will thereafter be published to the students. 3. Report on UP Manininda and USC Issue Background: Mr. Nisperos, Ms. Camino, Mr. Javelosa and Ms. Reyes attended the USC GA held at the Ipil Dorm last week. During the GA, the CSWCD representative criticized the LSG for allegedly sitting on the case of the displacement of UP Manininda within the College. Mr. Nisperos, during the USC meeting clarified the stand of the LSG, enumerated the steps taken by the LSG regarding the said issue. Mr. Nisperos said that the LSG has rigorously fought for

theplight of the Manininda in the College through constant dialogue with the Dean and other officials in the College. Mr. Nisperos said that since the CSWCD representative is criticizing the LSG without basis and without even asking for the LSGs response to the issue before making his allegations, he demanded for a formal apology from the said CSWCD representative. After clarifying the issue, Mr. Nisperos personally requested the representative from CSWCD to discuss and clarify further the issues. Mr. Nisperos, Ms. Camino and the CSWCD representative went outside the Ipil Dorm to further reiterate the position of LSG. Actions taken and to be taken: The petition signed by the students was already submitted to the Office of the Dean. It was noted that the Dean has already received the petition. 4. Report on OLA-OSG The Implementing Rules and Regulations for OSG externship is being finalized by the College Administration and OSG. For OSG externship, the Dean said that the OSG should give the give the grade of externs and the act of giving these students a passing grade should only be made ministerial. However, the Director manifested her desire to still PSM the externs. With regard to the conflict of OLA classroom component schedule, the Director manifested her willingness to conduct a separate class for those who cannot attend the classroom component. Thereafter, Ms. Sacramento and Ms. Morada narrated what happened last Saturday during the classroom component. The Director was looking for the list of those students who requested to be excused from class due to conflict of schedule. The list was supposed to be with Mr. Celeridad. However, he was in his Labor Law Review class and the list was not with him. He gave the partial list (5 students) to Yen, which was submitted to the Director during class. Ms. Sacramento mentioned that the list should have been submitted to the Director before class. She emphasized that the list was prepared more than 2 weeks ago. There was enough time for the submission of the list. However, this was not done. She added that the incident last Saturday made it seem that the LSG is representing the concerns of the students without even knowing them and their specific concerns. The LSG already submitted the list of those affected and the proposed classroom component schedule to those students affected. The issue on case load was likewise discussed during class. However, this issue was not raised by the LSG nor the students. Mr. Nisperos clarified that there were only three (3) issues raised to the Dean: (1) conflict of schedule of OLA component, (2) treatment of the Director to the summer externs, and (3) OSG completion. Mr. Nisperos said that the Dean has confirmed that OGCC externships will be available next semester.

Lastly, Mr. Nisperos pointed out that the CB members are at the disadvantaged position regarding the OLA issue. Actions taken and to be taken: A meeting with the Dean is scheduled on Friday to further clarify the issues. Ms. Sacramento is tasked to prepare separate containers for incoming, outgoing and other LSG files. Deadline is this weekend. All CB members are likewise required to leave all LSG documents inside the LSG Room. 5. Updates a. Second Year Representatives i. Freshmen Week Date: July 24-28, 2012 Sponsors of Activities: a. Monday Winlaw b. Tuesday LDMU c. Wednesday MYLE d. Thursday Portia Sorority e. Friday BOC and DLS Other organizations may tie-up organizations

with

the

above-enumerated

ii. Freshie Night Date: July 28, 2012 Time: 5:00-8:00/9:00 pm Rules: a. Block performance 4 minutes + 1 minute set up b. Ms. Freshman performance 5 minutes + 1 minutes set up Deadlines and tasking: a. First Year Representatives will coordinate the media that will be used by the freshmen block (e.g. AVPs, music, etc) b. Media should be submitted by 12:00 nn on July 28, 2012 c. Best Block and Ms. Freshman awards - c/o Ms. Garcia and Mr. Javelosa - for Best Block: 1st prize: P2,000; 2nd price: P1,000; 3rd prize: P500 d. Special Awards from Organizations - Deadline is on July 22, 2012 - Participating organizations as of 16 July 2012: MYLE, Portia and Sigma Rho e. Sponsorship Program - Feeding program Sigma Rho

iii. Report on Batch Assembly Attendance: 40 45 students attended

Matters discussed: a. fund-raising for Jill Hernandez b. Launch of batch core group c. Delinquency rules discussed by Mr. Nisperos

iv. Gender Forum Venue: OK Feedback of Prof. Guanzon: She wont attend if sexual harassment is not included Suggested Topic: Sexual Rights as Human Rights Meeting schedule: Meeting with USC Councilor Pat Bringas on Friday, July 20, 2012

b. Third Year Representatives i. Report on Batch Assembly Attendees: 13 students attended, including Mr. Rotap, Mr. Tayao, and Ms. Camino Matters Discussed: a. Mock Bar Proposal discussed by Mr. Nisperos - Main concerns raised by the batch: anonymity;

administration of the mock bar; may be used by the College administration to prevent the students who are not prepared to take the bar

Suggestions: Delay the implementation since not all bar subjects have already been taken by the students and they have not taken review subjects yet; have a third party administer the mock bar to address the issue on anonymity

b. Batch Forum - Possible topics: environmental issues (tie-up with ELS) or about the new executive order on mining - Comment: The Fourth Year Representatives manifested that the topic for their batch forum is Mining c. Academic policies and appeals process discussed by Ms. Camino d. Batch party - Tasks: formation of the ad hoc committee by next

week; and determination of logistics issues

e. Batch Scholar - Status: on the air - Tasks: Information dissemination and get approval of the batch

f.

Batch core group - Members: Officers of each block - Issues: Block A has only 1 officer - Meeting schedule: The core group will meet before August 9, 2012

c. Fourth Year Representatives i. GradComm Update Yearbook and photographs options: a. Repro can provide yearbook a few weeks after graduation b. Finalize Studio by Wednesday or Friday Graduation Ball a. Packages of possible venue already sent by Tina Dialogue with the Dean a. The batch is requesting if they can have a dialogue with the Dean b. Dean is amenable to it but he is busy

d. Evening Representatives i. Report on Evening Week Tasks: The Evening Representatives will plan for the activities on said week Participation of ALSP: ALSP is asking for details

ii. Call Me Maybe Video Deadline: July 20

e. Law Representative i. USC-LSG Partnership in PopLaw Deadline of proposal within the week

ii. Report on Fraternity Violence Task force has already been instituted OVCSA records were collected. However, their latest record is last 2006. Steps to be taken: a. Policy review b. Formulation of policy: The policy that will be developed in the UP College of Law will be implemented in the whole university

iii. Other activities:

July 17 Martial law event July 17-20 Exhibit July 20 Lordei concert July 20 Pre-SONA - USC July 23 SONA

July 27 Post-SONA forum - The USC is still looking for speakers

iv. Screening of Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa f. Public Relations Officer (PRO) i. RH Agenda

LSG agreed that we will have minimal participation LSG will sign it

ii. Bulletin Deadline for inclusion for the next bulletin: on Saturday, July 21, 2012 Release: LSG Bulletin will be released every Monday

iii. Website Update: still under repair Information needed: LSG picture

iv. Philippine Model Congress Schedule: July 28

v. Sports Fest / Courts of Law g. Treasurer i. Report on Finances Status: Depleting Funds a. Starting Balance: 106,000 b. Current Balance: P66,000 c. Receivables: almost P80,000 The CB members are requested to help in sending out the Solicitation letters to the Professors copies of solicitation letters will be provided on Tuesday with each CB member having an assigned professor to solicit from. Schedule: November 2012

ii. Other fund-raising activities Activities: Sale of school supplies Schedule of tambay hours need to be fixed for this activity

iii. Keys for First Year Representatives Will be given this week

h. Secretary i. Student Lounge Renovation Update Ms. Reyes will help in contacting an Interior Designer or ID Student Deadlines: a. September 2012 finalize design for renovation of student lounge b. December 2012 renovation

ii. Report on other Student Lounge and Utilities Committee tasks Liquid hand soap inside comfort rooms already available Medicines already available Bulletin Board post LSG Meeting Minutes on the bulletin board near the library Use of bulletin board of Organizations a. The small bulletin board near the stairs on the second floor will be assigned to the Student Tribunal b. Only UPCLOSE, MYLE (implied), and SJV reserved bulletin board spaces. Deadline for space reservation is on July 28, 2012. Calling cards c/o Ms. Reyes Task/s for this week: prepare Call for utilities repair from students

iii. LSG Wish list already sent to Ms. Villanueva iv. Online Academic Library under repair Batch representatives are requested to give a copy of their syllabi to Ms. Sacramento to be uploaded in our Academic Library

v. Online Central Board updates under repair i. External Vice President i. SONA Special thanks to PAC

ii. Katarungan iii. ALSP ALSP is asking for LSGs stand on the lowering of the age of criminal liability to 12 years old (c/o PAC) Katarungan asked if LSG needs help LSG needs audience for its activity

iv. League of College Councils Projects: a. Sunken Garden Rehabilitation

b. Pinay and Proud The LSG decided not to participate in this activity j. Internal Vice President i. Catalogue Committee Discussion on budget will be scheduled

ii. On Registration report k. President i. PNPA PopLaw Students are invited to attend their libreng pakain on Friday, 4:30 pm Part of agenda

ii. Ateneo Lex

Schedule: July 21, 2012, 9:00am 12:00nn Activities: Ateneo Lex will visit and will be introduced to UP College of law CB members who will attend: Mr. Nisperos, Mr. Javelosa, Mr. Rotap, Mr.
Celeridad, Mr. Pabiona and Ms. Sacramento

iii. RH Agenda Already discussed

iv. Reminders on CB Rules and Policies Please be mindful of your absences. Do not forget the internal rules on confidentiality.

v. Personal schedule Mr. Nisperos will be out of the country on August 22-29, 2012

vi. Proposed Constructive Workshop l. The CB members acknowledged that there is a need for a constructive workshop to improve their working relationship. A Constructive workshop will be scheduled on August 2012.

Other matters i.

invited ii. Forum on Climate Change students are invited to attend the forum

The Office of the President proposed an event where UP Law students are

ADJOURNMENT There being no other matters to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 PM.

Prepared by: Anne Jaycelle C. Sacramento, Secretary Noted by: Benedict G. Nisperos, President