USAC recap – April 23

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

Public comment:

• Representatives from California Public Interest Research Group at UCLA said CALPIRG will host a “No Bees, No Spring” dinner at the Bruin Plate residential dining hall Wednesday and begin a pledge drive to sign up new CALPIRG members in the following week.

• Justin Jackson, a former USAC general representative, asked the council to force judicial board to hear his petition claiming the election calendar is illegitimate.

Agenda:

• The council allocated a total of $14,719 from the Contingency Programming Fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.

• The council allocated $500 from discretionary funds to the Bruin Advocacy Grant.

• The council allocated $3,035.88 from discretionary funds to Student Wellness Commission programming.

• The council allocated $28,464.33 from discretionary funds for the Arts Restoring Community Referendum Funding.

• The council allocated $10,000 from a budget for information technology expenses and an unused computer lab for programming.

• The council allocated $15,000 from discretionary funds to UCLA Recreation for the creation of a commuter lounge.

• The council approved resolutions in support of CALPIRG at UCLA’s “Save the Bees” and “Zero Hunger” campaigns.

• The council appointed Nahian Arfin, a second-year international development studies student, as the election board publicity director.

• The council approved an amendment to the election calendar to extend the student question submission period to 2 p.m. Wednesday and to move the candidate endorsement hearing to Wednesday at 6 p.m., the candidates’ debate to Thursday at 6 p.m. and the deadline by which student organizations must submit endorsement slips to Friday at 11:59 p.m.

• The council approved an amendment to the election board code so that organizations who want to officially endorse candidates will no longer be required to attend the candidate endorsement hearing.

Reports:

• Transfer student representative Jessica Kim said her office is partnering with Associated Students UCLA to host a casino night for students Thursday at 6 p.m. on Kerckhoff patio.

• Facilities Commissioner Julia Ho-Gonzalez said her office and UCLA Transportation will raffle free Bruin Bike Share program memberships on the Facilities Commissioner Facebook page. She added student organizations interested in renting office space in Kerckhoff Hall for the 2019-2020 school year must submit applications to the Office Space Allocation Committee by May 3 at 5 p.m.

• Student Wellness Commissioner George Louis Faour said his office will receive an order of crutches and other mobility aids Monday and begin implementing distribution centers for them across campus starting next week. He added Bruin Health Week begins Monday of week five.