USAC recap – Feb. 4

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:

• Katie Sutton, a member of the USAC Facilities commission, asked the council to fund a renovation project for the front office of the Center for Accessible Education.

Special Presentations:

• UCPD Lt. Kevin Kilgore said there was a smaller turnout to the Roebling block party, which took place at the beginning of the winter quarter. He also said he will no longer serve as USAC’s university police representative, and that Community Services Division Lt. Scott Scheffler will be taking his place.

• Sutton presented updates on the CAE renovation project. She said the current design is unfriendly and lacks accessibility. On behalf of the commission, she requested $30,000 from the council for the project, based on a $22,000 estimate given by a contractor. Sutton said the contractor only took into account renovations, and the additional money requested would take into account associated or unexpected costs of the renovation.

• Facilities Commissioner Lily Shaw said they aim to be done with the project by spring quarter and hire a new director by the first week of spring.

Agenda:

• The council allocated a total of $30,000 from surplus to the CAE redesign. This was the last surplus allocation of the year.

• The council allocated a total of $375 from the capital contingency fund to the Financial Supports Commission.

• The council allocated a total of $7,450.83 from the contingency programming fund to non-USAC groups.

• The council allocated a total of $5,488.38 from the supplemental funds for service to the Community Services Commission and non-CSC groups.

• The council allocated a total of $2,000 from the Academic Affairs Commission Academic Success Referendum Fund to non-USAC groups.

• The council allocated a total of $4,625 from the Arts Restoring Community referendum fund to non-USAC groups.

• The council amended an AAC travel grant bylaw to call for students to be in good academic standing to receive the award and to require receipts for expenses to be reimbursed.

Reports:

• President Robert Watson said his office is organizing giveaways to increase engagement on social media.

• Internal Vice President Kimberly Bonifacio said the Campus Safety Alliance is meeting Wednesday at 5 p.m. She added True Bruin RAISE awards would be announced Friday via email to the recipients.

• External Vice President Johana Guerra Martinez said a student regent, Hayley Weddle, will be coming Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Student Activities Center and will take questions from students regarding the recruitment process. She also said the tuition hike vote was postponed and her office is going to continue to oppose the hike. She also said her office is helping students register to vote.

• General Representative 1, Eduardo Velazquez, said his office is releasing a survey to gather data on the UCPath user experience.

• General Representative 2, Orion Smedley, said his office is working on a budget for a pilot housing bus program that would take students from campus to the Los Angeles International Airport. He is also working on research on move-out, and said he plans to discuss it with the On-Campus Housing Council.

• General Representative 3, Brandon Broukhim, said his office is meeting with Westwood businesses about creating a space for student organization meetings and special events. He added he will report back to the council with more data once it is finalized.

• Academic Affairs Commissioner Naomi Riley said her office is hosting office hours regarding priority enrollment in a larger effort to have students with dependents have priority enrollment. Riley also said the Academic Senate increased the number of units incoming students can take at a community college for credit from 105 units to 180 units.

• Campus Events Commissioner Tara Steinmetz said her office will host a screening of “Hustlers” in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Tuesday. She added it will be screening “Midsommar” during week seven on the Hill.

• Community Service Commissioner Jonathan Wisner said the IMPACT Conference, a service conference for which students will go to Arizona State University, is happening this week.

• Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kelechi Iheanacho said she had a meeting Wednesday with a representative from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office to discuss bringing an exhibit to campus to talk about structural racism.

• Facilities Commissioner Lily Shaw said her office’s pop-up shop, Bruin Bazaar, is Wednesday and added that it is Valentine’s Day-themed. She added her office is starting a petition for OZZI reusable containers on the Hill. She also said her office and the General Representative 1 office are co-hosting a screening of the movie “Come As You Are” during week nine on the Hill.

• Financial Supports Commissioner Millen Srivastava said her office is working with Covel Commons to revamp the scholarship portal. She also said her office is releasing a petition to increase the meal swipe voucher cost and is discussing the matter with Associated Students UCLA. She added her office is hosting an apartment hunting workshop Feb. 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Bruin Viewpoint Room.

• Student Wellness Commissioner Mihika Sridhar said the BruiNecessities menstrual hygiene fair is Thursday. She added registration for Bruin Run/Walk is open. She also said Sexperts at UCLA is hosting a snacks and sex trivia event Tuesday for pride week.

• Transfer Student Representative Isabel Oraha said her office is circulating a petition to implement priority enrollment for students with dependents.

Note: The Daily Bruin reported in part from the USAC Livestream. The USAC livestream does not contain all of the public comment section.