USAC recap – Aug. 31

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings usually take place every Monday at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 during summer. Watch a live-stream of the meeting on Aug. 31 on the USAC Live! YouTube channel.

Agenda items

• The council unanimously appointed Esmeralda Jesus Lopez, a rising third-year computational and systems biology student, onto the Community Activities Committee.
• The council unanimously appointed Ahmad Azzawi, a rising fourth-year sociology student, onto the Community Activities Committee.
• The council unanimously appointed Hammie Truong, a rising second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, onto the Community Activities Committee.
• The council appointed Michael Vaysman, a rising third-year economics student, as a Judicial Board justice in a 9-2-0 vote.
• The council unanimously appointed Gustavo Francesco Sosa, a rising third-year political science student, as a Judicial Board justice.
• The council unanimously approved an allocation of $2,015 from the Contingency Programming Fund.
• The council unanimously approved an allocation of $450 from the Discretionary Fund which will go toward the purchase of USAC flyers which will be used to recruit interns.

Officer reporters

• President Heather Rosen said that she met with the Department of Political Science Chair Jeffrey Lewis and they are working to create a resume system similar to LinkedIn, but it will be more interactive and allow users to link videos. Rosen said that she discussed with the Vice Chancellor of Academic Personnel Carole Goldberg her experience on the Academic Senate and the pattern of campus climate at UCLA. Rosen said that she spoke with Debra Simmons, Associated Students UCLA student government accounting manager, and said that councilmembers’ stipends will not be affected by President Napolitano’s mandate to increase UC employees’ wages. Rosen said that she met with Lindsay Bubar, a political consultant, and talked about the presence of women in politics.
• External Vice President Zach Helder said that he is preparing for a trip to Washington D.C. this Sunday where his delegation will talk to politicians about student loan debt, expanding the pell grant and middle-income affordability. Helder said he is also working on a project to get freshmen students during move-in to register to vote.
• Ashly Mohankumar, the proxy for Academic Affairs Commissioner Trent Kajikawa, said Kajikawa is trying to meet with as many academic administrators before the year starts. The rising third-year psychobiology student said that Kajikawa is planning to improve the BruinWalk website so that it is more student-friendly.
• Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron said that after students come back to the Hill from volunteering on Volunteer Day, the CSC and UCLA Residential Life will hold a joint event at Sunset Village. Students will be able to view the football game against Arizona and community service organizations will be present to recruit and promote their organizations.
• Student Wellness Commissioner Marvin Chen said that Healthcoming will be on October 5, an event which will introduce health-related concepts to students. Chen said that he is working with Internal Vice President Heather Hourdequin in planning Campus Safety Week. Chen said he talked to Tracy George, a health educator for student wellness at Yale University, to learn about student wellness at Yale. Chen said that George goes to different residential colleges to plan health-related events, and that students at UCLA, including himself, are the ones who plan these events at our campus.

Compiled by Nicholas Yu, Bruin senior staff.