USAC Recap – July 19

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government of UCLA’s undergraduate students. Council meetings are Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students.

Special Presentations

• Kristen McKinney, associate director of the UCLA Student Affairs Information and Research Office, gave a presentation to council members about the functions of her office, which collects information on student opinions, including a recent poll about students’ finance management as the cost of tuition increases.

Agenda

• This week’s contingency allocations passed unanimously.

Appointments

• Akhtar Masood, a fifth-year environmental science student, was appointed to the Campus Sustainability Committee with a vote of 8-0-0.
• Marbella Allen, a third-year political science student, was appointed to the Community Activities Committee with a vote of 8-0-0.

Officer Reports

• President Emily Resnick said she and other University of California student body presidents held a conference call to discuss how to better collaborate to combat budget cuts to the UC.
  Resnick also reminded council members that there are a number of appointments that still need to be filled.
• Joelle Gamble, external vice president, reported on her experience going to the recent UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco, where the regents voted on what is effectively a 9.6 percent tuition increase system-wide. Gamble said she talked to regents, and she noted that a $35,000 raise was approved for Patrick Lenz, vice president of Budget and Capital Resources for the UC Office of the President. Gamble said she would like to see more transparency and outreach from UCOP.
• Gamble also attended a meeting last week where the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted to extend the Westwood FlyAway bus service for six months, in spite of concerns about the lack of ridership. Gamble said USAC should work to get the word out to students about the service, a point on which other officers voiced agreement.
• Michelle Razavi, chief of staff for the Academic Affairs Commission, reported on a number of projects the commission is working on, including a plan to consolidate the textbook loan library. The commission is also working with the administration to unify WiFi on campus and help students better report service dead zones.