USAC adjusts bylaws, elections rules

At Tuesday’s Undergraduate Students Association Council meeting, council passed various bylaw and Elections Code changes that they hope will improve their services to students.

USAC unanimously voted to change the job description of the Academic Affairs commissioner, added constraints on who can receive honorariums and changed how agenda items are submitted. In addition, they revised the Elections Code to make an informational voter guide for USAC elections and made it mandatory to notify the elections chair if a councilmember wants to make changes to the Elections Code.

The first bylaw change added new services to the job description of the Academic Affairs commissioner. Through programming, the Academic Affairs Commission must now help first-year and transfer students in their academic adjustment to UCLA, and assist undergraduates in connecting with graduate students and learn about career options.

Academic Affairs Commissioner Nat Schuster said that, though the commission has money for programing, it has historically not focused on programing.

“I wanted to put it in the job description so future Academic Affairs commissioners are not going to neglect programing responsibilities that have been neglected in the past,” said Schuster.

Though the bylaw change was unanimously approved, some councilmembers said they are worried the new job description might make the AAC office too structured.

“I do hope this doesn’t make this a programing office as apposed to an advocacy office,” said Gregory Cendana, USAC internal vice president.

The second bylaw change regarded honorariums, which are fees that can be paid to any speaker for their service. The new bylaw states that monetary honorariums may not be awarded to UC students, staff, or faculty. Schuster, who proposed the bylaw, said, looking through old USAC files, he found years of abuse of student fees, because there was not much oversight of who received an honorarium.

“The problem with honorariums is that they are an easy way for students to give money to their peers, and that makes irresponsible spending of student fees too easy,” he said.

USAC President Marwa Kaisey said the bylaw change is meant to stop this.

“The bylaw change was intended … to make sure we are spending our money wisely and to make sure funds are used legitimately,” she said.

In addition, the bylaw change encourages honorariums to be awarded as Associated Students UCLA gift certificates, which Cendana said he believes is intended to return money to students.

A third clause says honorariums may not be awarded to a recipient of a stipend from student fees within the last three years. People that get stipends include USAC officers, USAC appointees, and some student group leaders.

Kaisey said this was a chance for students to give back to their school.

“These people should come back to speak to current UCLA students without payment. They should be invested in the future of UCLA students, and this bylaw change will allow for the funds that had been used in honorariums to go toward future programming for our students,” Kaisey said.

Another bylaw clause stated councilmembers must use a more detailed request form to get an item on the agenda, which officers say they hope will make meetings more efficient. The request must include a summary and desired outcome for the item. Cendana said this way members will know explicitly what they would be discussing.

“My intention is to give people a little more info so councilmembers can be more efficient and effective, because they will know background info and have time to think about the topic and prepare for it,” he said.

Changes were also made to the election code, which was passed with a 8-0-4 vote with four people abstaining because they thought the language was confusing. During USAC elections in the spring, the Elections Board will create a voter guide giving students information on where and when debates will be held, information on what each office does, and statements submitted by candidates.

“(This is) necessary because there is not a lot of voter turnout,” said Sandybeth Carrillo, E-Board chairwoman and former Daily Bruin staff member. “Its a great way to introduce what student government is and help students make important decisions of who they want to represent them,” she said.

General Representative Samer Araabi said council had met with the Elections Board chair last year and discussed implementing a voter guide.

“We came up with a voter information guide so that students can pick it up with all the candidate information and information on different issues, etc. Across the board, everyone felt it was a good idea,” he said.

They also added a new bylaw that states that if a councilmember wants to change the Elections Code, he or she must first submit it to the elections chair, who will present it to the council along with his or her opinion. This change is in direct response to last year when one councilmember was making revisions to the Elections Code and not telling the elections chair, Carrillo said.