USAC recap – Feb. 11

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:

• A representative from the Office of the External Vice President said there is a Student Lobby Conference from March 21-23 hosted by the University of California Student Association. They also said that the office hopes to have at least 30 students from UCLA attend the conference and added that applications for attendance are available on the EVP’s Facebook page.

• A student representative of the Associated Students UCLA presented a check to USAC from its annual T-shirt design contest.

• An intern from the California Public Interest Research Group said its voter registration drive will finish on Tuesday and there will be a vote center in Ackerman Union for the primary election. Another intern said CALPIRG acquired over 1,000 pledges for the organization and 1,500 signatures to petition stopping the use of single-use plastics in Los Angeles County.

Special Presentations:

• Undergraduate representative Brittany Montaño and graduate representative Cassie Halls of the Transportation Services Advisory Board proposed creating a referendum for a universal transit pass. The pass will allow students to use their Bruin Card to use any public transportation to travel in Los Angeles.

• External Vice President Johana Guerra Martinez said she has not been compensated since her Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status expired on Jan. 21. She added she will only run staff meetings to fulfill her job as EVP until she is paid.

Agenda:

• The council allocated a total of $14,117.84 from Contingency Programming Fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.

• The council allocated a total of $3,412.56 from the Supplemental Fund for Service to Community Service Commission and non-CSC groups.

• The council allocated a total of $750 from the Student Wellness Commission council to one non-USAC group.

• The council allocated a total of $5,788 from the Academic Affairs Commission Academic Success Referendum Fund to non-USAC groups.

• The council approved the Office of the Internal Vice President’s Partnership Fund guidelines.

• The council approved the Cultural Affairs Commission’s CommUnity Fund guidelines.

• The council approved the letter of endorsement for priority enrollment for parenting guidelines.

• The council approved the 2020 spring election calendar.

• The council approved a bylaw change to give stipends to academic senators from certain student committees and updated verbiage in the appointment process for academic senators.

Reports:

• USAC President Robert Watson said his office decreased laundry costs to $1.75, down from $2.75 for a cycle of washing and drying. He added that the Gender Recognition Act Task Force is finishing its recommendations for making UCLA more gender-inclusive. He also said the report will be sent to council and other student organizations for review.

• Internal Vice President Kimberly Bonifacio said her office’s Partnership Fund is accepting applications for student organizations’ use. She added there is $12,000 available for the fund. She also said there will be a Grassroots Networking Fair on Wednesday from 8:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m.

• General Representative 1 Eduardo Velazquez said his office released a survey to assess UCPath’s impact on university employees.

• Facilities Commissioner Lily Shaw said her office released the OZZI petition to determine student interest in the program. OZZI is a reusable container service for to-go restaurants on the Hill. She added that ASUCLA agreed to follow the OZZI program if the Hill did. She also said there are two issues impeding the implementation of OZZI, which are student interest and the capacity for dishwashers to handle the added utensils.

• Financial Supports Commissioner Millen Srivastava said her office ordered a tent and supplies for the Reproductive Justice Health Center, and she added that the tent will open in week one of spring quarter. She added that the tent is in collaboration with the Student Wellness Commission, FEM News Magazine, the UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center, Bruin Belles Service Association, and other campus organizations. She also said her Meal Swipe Petition is still available to increase the value of meal swipes for meal vouchers on campus. She said her Bruin Card fee waiver program will begin Monday. She added that her office is hosting an Apartment Hunting Workshop on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in Royce Hall 156. She also said the Financial Supports Commission is hosting a Women in Financial Services breakout session at the UC Womxn’s Leadership Conference on March 8 and a networking booth for accessing financial resources on campus.

• Transfer Student Representative Isabel Oraha said the Students with Dependents Task Force signed on to the letter supporting priority enrollment for students with dependents. She also said her office will be going to different student groups who are interested in signing it. She also said the process of acquiring signatures for the letter will continue until Friday. She added they were invited by the Academic Senate to present their letter of support Friday.

• Student Wellness Commissioner Mihika Sridhar said BruiNeccessities in collaboration with Bruins for Accessible Resources are doing a three-week long Hygiene Drive from weeks six to eight. She said donation boxes will be outside of SWC’s office at Kerckhoff 308, the Resilience in the Student Experience Center by Lu Valle Commons, and Student Activities Center B54. She added that Bruin Run/Walk registration is open and 224 people have signed up thus far. She also said SWC’s EARTH committee has an upcycling event with the Medical Aid Initiative on Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. at Royce Hall 152.

• Community Service Commissioner Jonathan Wisner said his office’s directors of analytics will host a workshop series to teach about data and service. The first workshop about learning how to gather data for students’ service organizations was on Wednesday.

• Academic Affairs Commissioner Naomi Riley said her office released flyers for its Central American Counterspaces, an art gallery and spoken word event on Feb. 26 in collaboration with Unión Centroamericana de Estudiantes dedicated to highlighting UCLA’s Central American student community. Riley also said Vice Chancellor Michael Beck reached out to her, Bonifacio and Watson about starting a task force to investigate fires’ impact on the campus. She said Beck is considering initiating a system on when classes should be canceled based on the quality of air. Lastly, Riley said her office will be proposing to the Academic Senate about making textbooks and other academic materials more affordable for students.

• Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kelechi Iheanacho said her office’s interns launched The ReCAC, a video series on their Instagram highlighting what CAC does.

• International Student Representative Shahamah Tariq said her office will be hosting a UCLA alumni panel to help international students plan their postundergraduate careers, in areas such as acquiring visas to work abroad, on Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. at the Bruin Reception Room.