USAC recap – Sept. 30

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government of UCLA’s undergraduate students. Council meetings take place every week on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students. Watch a live stream of the meeting on the USAC Live! YouTube channel.

Agenda

• USAC approved contingency programming allocations with an 8-0-2 vote.
• USAC unanimously voted to approve the composition of the USAC Budget Review Committee.
• USAC added a fee referendum to the special election ballot to extend mandatory student fees for The Green Initiative Fund. The referendum would indefinitely extend the current $4 quarterly fee, which will increase with inflation and is scheduled to end in spring 2018.

Special Presentations

• Organizers of the USAC Open House presented about the event, which will take place Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m in the councilmembers’ Kerckhoff Hall offices.
• The BruinsVote! committee, under the external vice president’s office, presented to the council about its progress in registering students to vote in the November general election. Committee members said that about 400 students registered on UCLA Volunteer Day.

Officer Reports

• USAC President Devin Murphy said he talked with Jacquie Gilliam, executive director of development and scholarships in UCLA External Affairs, about the USAC endowment and ways to continue fundraising. Murphy said he and Budget Review Director Justine Pascual are considering reforms for the Student Organizations Operational Fund to ensure that funding is consistent. He added that he talked with University of California President Janet Napolitano about shared governance and possible fee increases for students because of the lack of sufficient state funding for the University. He also said he plans to hold an event in February to honor Freedom Riders at UCLA.
• Internal Vice President Avinoam Baral said he is preparing for the Off-Campus Living Fair this quarter. He added that members of his office helped flier and educate students this week about application deadlines for the Student Organizations Operational Fund, as well as other funds and committees in USAC.
• External Vice President Conrad Contreras said his BruinsVote! committee is working to register student voters.
• Academic Affairs Commissioner Allyson Bach said faculty members will vote on a diversity-related requirement proposal from Oct. 24-31. She added that her office will help put on a dinner for faculty and students to talk about the requirement on Oct. 28.
• Facilities Commissioner Carlos Quintanilla said his office is continuing to work on installing sustainable water refilling stations in Powell Library. He said a campus architect has approved two stations, and their installation will be completed by the time of students’ return from winter break.
• Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich talked about the USAC-wide All of Us mental health awareness and advocacy campaign, which launched this week. She also said the Mental Health Awareness Week will take place first week.

Appointments

• Jener Sakiri, a third-year political science student, was unanimously appointed to the­ ASUCLA Communications Board ­for one year.
• Jeffrey Ventura, a third-year political science student, was unanimously appointed to the­­ Campus Programs Committee for one year.
• Alexia Gonzalez,­­ a second-year undeclared student, was unanimously appointed to the Student Fee Advisory Committee ­for two years.
• Angela Yip,­­ a second-year political science student, was unanimously appointed to the Student Fee Advisory Committee ­for two years.
• Joseph Perez,­ a second-year human biology and society student, was unanimously appointed to the­ Student Health Advisory Committee ­for two years.
• Jasmine Jafari, a third-year transfer student majoring in psychology, was appointed to the­­ Student Health Advisory Committee ­for two years with a vote of 7-0-3.

Compiled by Julia Raven, Bruin senior staff.