USAC recap – Oct. 10

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 livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! YouTube channel.

Special Presentations:

• Guy Adams, manager of Bruin Custom Print, a center for printing and bookbinding in Ackerman Union, encouraged students to use the store’s services. He said three Bruin Print stations were added onto campus Tuesday.

Agenda:

• The council made appointments with the Parking Advocacy Task Force, Committee on Disability, Sustainability Committee, John Wooden Center Board of Governors and the Student Activities Center Board of Governors.

• The council allocated $3,337 from the Contingency Programming Fund to non-USAC offices.

• The council also allocated $749 from the Student Wellness Programming Fund.

Officer Reports:

• USAC President Arielle Mokhtarzadeh said she attended a meeting on enrollment planning where they discussed projections of incoming first-year and transfer students. She added she met with the Westwood Village Improvement Association to discuss student involvement in the Westwood community.

• Internal Vice President Vivy Li said her office is working on holding a finals study hall in Ackerman Grand Ballroom at the end of the quarter.

• Student Wellness Commissioner Christina Lee said Active Minds, a campus organization that aims to educate students about the stigma surrounding mental health, will hold its first general meeting Tuesday. She also said Bruin Consent Coalition, an undergraduate organization that supports survivors of sexual assault, is holding a panel with the new UCLA Title IX coordinator Mohammed Cato on Friday.

• Facilities Commissioner Zahra Hajee said some students are having problems with the designated zones for ride-share apps such as Uber and Lyft. She said some students reported the zones are being implemented after 6 p.m. even though the zones are not supposed to be in effect then. She added the administration may appoint an advocacy task force to address students’ concerns over the zones.

• Financial Support Commissioner Aaron Boudaie said his office plans to expand the iClicker loan program, which allows students to borrow an iClicker for a quarter, with funding from the Academic Success Referendum Fund.

Old Business:

• The council discussed plans and funding to embed USAC meeting livestreams on MyUCLA and save them in a public archive. The cost associated with this move would be $4,800, Mokhtarzadeh said.
• Associated Students UCLA Director Roy Champawat said he thinks that while the council should maintain transparency by livestreaming council meetings, he thinks the videos should not harm council members’ personal privacy.

New Business

• Cultural Affairs Commissioner Malik Flournoy-Hooker proposed a discussion on whether council members can obtain debit cards. Champawat said he thinks providing council members with debit cards could be complicated because the council will need to have all its financial information accounted for to make sure it is appropriate with the council’s nonprofit status.

• The council reduced the cap for the Arts Restoring Community fund for cultural groups from $5,000 to $2,500. A member of the Cultural Affairs Commission said cultural groups have set their budgets too high in previous years.

• The council also discussed whether individuals who are not undergraduate students should be allowed to speak during council meetings’ public comment sessions. Administrative representative Debra Geller said she thinks the meetings should be a safe place where students can be heard without being attacked by outside groups with their own agendas.

• The council discussed making the Office Space Allocation Committee chair a two-year appointment to more consistently manage office space in Kerckhoff Hall. Hajee said she thinks the OSAC chair should be appointed by the Facilities Commission instead of the USAC Office of the President.