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USAC committee suggests changes to address food security, student safety

(Anthony Tran/Daily Bruin) The USAC Constitutional Review Committee recommended Monday the council create a new position of food security director and increase its role in ensuring student safety.

By Rupan Bharanidaran

April 26, 2016 12:38 a.m.

An undergraduate student government committee recommended Monday the council create a new position of food security director and increase its role in ensuring student safety, among other changes.

The USAC Constitutional Review Committee, which suggests changes to USAC’s bylaws, issued the recommendations. Bylaws are the rules that stipulate the duties and responsibilities of each council member.

The committee suggested the USAC president have the authority to appoint two undergraduate students as campus food safety directors.

The directors would work with the UCLA Food Security Work Group, a task force consisting of student leaders and staff, to address food security issues on campus, said Ian Cocroft, Facilities commissioner and a member of the committee. He added they would also manage the Student Food Cooperative store, a proposed student-run grocery store, and their stipends would be paid out of funds the UC Office of the President provides for food security.

Members of the committee also recommended institutionalizing additional responsibilities for some council members.

Internal Vice President Heather Hourdequin asked bylaws be changed to hold her office responsible for addressing UCLA student safety. Hourdequin added she wants to create an investigative committee to research issues that affect students’ safety, such as online threats made against UCLA students. The committee would then bring the threats to the attention of campus authorities, Hourdequin said.

Hourdequin said she thinks the bylaws previously did not address safety concerns, outside her role as chair of the Campus Safety Alliance. The group consists of student leaders, faculty and staff who discuss student security and campus issues, such as sexual assault.

She added previous internal vice presidents, including UC Student Regent Avi Oved, worked on safety issues. During his term, Oved worked on Circle of 6, a mobile app that aims to help students reach their emergency contacts.

The committee also recommended the Academic Affairs commissioner address academic inequities in primary and secondary schools.

Academic Affairs Commissioner Trent Kajikawa said he thinks the council should implement the bylaw change to ensure the commission continues work he’s done to address academic inequities. Earlier this year, Kajikawa’s office hosted the Fight for Education Week to bring attention to difficulties minority students face in attaining education, he added.

“Our office touches on outdated policies that unfairly prioritize privileged students,” he said. “We want to have far-reaching and long-lasting change.”

The committee rejected a request by the Community Service Commission to appoint four students to the Community Activities Committee, which provides funding for student-led community service projects. Currently, the bylaws state the USAC president has the authority to make the appointments.

Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron said he requested the bylaw change because past USAC presidents have been slow to appoint members to Community Activities Committee, thus delaying funding allocations for community service groups. He added he thinks the Community Service commissioner would make quicker and more well-informed appointments because the Community Service Commission is more directly involved with the committee.

Cocroft said the committee rejected the change and decided it would be a conflict of interest for the Community Service commissioner to make the appointment, because the committee approves funding for the commission’s projects.

Dameron said he doesn’t think the proposed change constitutes a conflict of interest, because the commissioner does not solely work with Community Service Commission groups.

“The (Community Service Commission) is a only a fraction of the groups that apply for (Community Activities Committee) funds, and I work with groups outside of (the committee) as well,” he said. “I see quicker appointments as a bigger priority.”

Cocroft said the committee will introduce the recommendations to council members at their meeting Tuesday, and the council will vote on the recommendations at its meeting Monday.

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Rupan Bharanidaran | Alumnus
Bharanidaran was the News editor from 2017-2018. He was previously a news reporter for the campus politics beat, covering student government and the UCLA administration.
Bharanidaran was the News editor from 2017-2018. He was previously a news reporter for the campus politics beat, covering student government and the UCLA administration.
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