USAC recap – May 16

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

Special presentations

• Members from the Office Space Allocation Committee presented on new office and locker allocations. They said OSAC did not allocate space to organizations that previously had space but did not make use of them.
• A representative from DevX, a campus organization that builds web applications, presented a project called Bruin Speak, a platform that allows UCLA students to voice opinions and complaints.

New business

• The council discussed how to improve conversations about Islamophobia and sexual assault, and ensure student well-being is at the forefront of these conversations.
• Administrative Representative Debra Geller said freedom of speech is protected on campus and speakers could be arrested by UCPD if they violate University of California laws.

Agenda

• The council postponed voting on Financial Supports Commissioner Aaron Boudaie’s bylaw change regarding the Financial Supports commission and Parking Advocacy Taskforce to next week.
• The council also postponed appointment decisions to next week so council members can become more familiar with appointees.
• The council approved $10,643 in funding 23 student group events.

Officer and member reports

• Several council members said they are still accepting staff applications for their offices.
• USAC President Arielle Yael Mokhtarzadeh said she will shorten the application period for director appointments for different campus communities. She added she will create a website that has all applications for appointment directors.
• Vivy Li, internal vice president, said she is planning summer meetings for council members. She added she plans to create pamphlets to reach out to freshmen during student orientation and inform them about USAC.
• Chloe Pan, external vice president, spoke about how the recent tuition increase detrimentally affected UC students.
• Divya Sharma, academic affairs commissioner, said he talked to administrators working on CCLE about implementing more BruinCast classes online and making CCLE more accessible.
• Christina Lee, student wellness commissioner, said she is collaborating with Campus Events Commissioner Nedda Saidian to create a fitness concert event in Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Wednesday.
• Zahra Hajee, facilities commissioner, said she met with administrators to discuss her bystander intervention training program.
• Boudaie said he is creating a Parking Advocacy Taskforce, one of his platforms, to address parking issues.
• Saidian said she collaborated with Bruin Political Union to host a POLITIFEST event May 22 in Carnesale Commons. The event will feature Ana Kasparian from the Young Turks and will be a town hall discussion on safe spaces and political issues. She added the CEC 23rd Annual Shorttakes Film Festival will be May 23.
• Malik Flournoy-Hooker, cultural affairs commissioner, said the annual JazzReggae Festival is May 29, and there will be art gallery events every Wednesday.
• Nicole Corona Diaz, general representative 1, said she will attend a meeting on starting propositions for a sanctuary campus Thursday, May 18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Charles E. Young Research Library.
• Kayla He, general representative 2, said she has met with the Dashew Center for International Students & Scholars to advocate for the International Student Leadership Coalition.
• Justin Jackson, general representative 3, said he is looking at how Greek life organizations use their funding and whether their funds can be allocated to other student groups.
• Sayron Stokes, transfer student representative, said she is holding an event that will educate people on how to be an ally for people on campus.