USAC recap — Oct. 13

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

Agenda

• Student Regent Avi Oved introduced himself to the council, detailing his roles and duties. He also
  discussed middle income affordability, saying that he is working to inform
  middle class students of the resources available for them at each of the
  UC campuses. Oved encouraged councilmembers to attend the Oct. 26 UC Regents meetings at UCLA, where the Regents will be discussing the Statement of
  Principles Against Intolerance, which defines what constitutes hateful behavior.
  Lastly, he informed councilmembers of his efforts to establish an additional student
  advisor on the board of regents, who would not have a vote but would
  provide additional insight on academic affordability, among other issues.
• The council unanimously
  approved Genevieve Javidzad, a third-year English student, onto the
  Judicial Board.
• The council unanimously approved an
  allocation of $3,842 from the Contingency Programming Fund.
• The Academic Affairs Commission allocated $350 from the Academic Success Referendum Fund.
• The council unanimously
  approved the creation of an ad hoc committee, which will be responsible for increasing budget transparency. The
  committee consists of Academic Affairs Commissioner Trent Kajikawa,
  Financial Support Commissioner Ruhi Patil, Facilities Commissioner Ian
  Cocroft, Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron, Transfer Student
  Representative Ariel Rafalian, and General Representative Danny Siegel.
• The council unanimously
  approved a resolution in support of the UC Board of Regents’ Student
  Advisor proposal.
• Councilmembers discussed cultural appropriation on campus in response to last week’s “Kanye Western” themed raid, hosted by the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority.

Officer reports

• President Heather Rosen said
  she met with Tony Sandoval, director of the Community Programs Office,
  which houses student-run organizations that go into Los Angeles
  communities to address issues like youth education and social justice, to
  discuss ways for USAC and CPO to work together.
• Rosen said she met with the
  Community Service Commission to discuss food security, and added that a council-wide initiative on the issue will be discussed further during their
  retreat.
• Rosen added that she met with
  various campus leaders to discuss the Sigma Phi Epsilon incident and
  encouraged the council to attend a Nov. 5 diversity meeting with Jerry
  Kang, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Internal Vice President Heather
  Hourdequin said she is working on improving the student group funding application website.
• External Vice President Zach
  Helder said that he, Rosen and Hourdequin, along with members of his office,
  are meeting with Lark Park, a senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown to discuss UC student issues.
• Helder said his office is working
  on an internal project to advocate for workers’ rights with a focus on
  work study.
• Helder said his office will help draft a new national
  higher education act. He added that he is looking to convene a forum
  between UCLA alumni holding elected office and student leaders. He said
  his office will search for ways to prevent gun violence.
• Dameron said there is a day of service event on Nov. 7, where
  students can sign up to volunteer at different sites in the Los Angeles
  area. He added that CSC now has a fellowship for first-years that are
  looking to get more involved in the commission.
• Dameron also announced that
  this year’s Facing Project theme is mental health. The Facing Project is a
  CSC initiative that gives individuals the opportunity to share their
  personal stories.

Compiled by Rupan Bharanidaran, Bruin reporter.