USAC recap – August 11

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every other Tuesday at 5 p.m. during the summer and are open to all students. Summer meetings will take place virtually on Zoom; links for the meetings can be found on the Internal Vice President’s Facebook page. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! channel on YouTube.

Public Comment:

• Arsh Gupta, a third-year applied mathematics and economics student and a student representative on the Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors, said the Summer From the Union website is up and running with links for employment opportunities for students. He added ASUCLA is also working with UCLA Student Affairs to provide space for the Black Resource Center. He said the Ackerman Union lease for Wolfgang Puck is ending and may be replaced by California Pizza Kitchen. Gupta also said ASUCLA is finalizing plans to provide the New Wescom 0% loan to help students, staff, alumni and faculty purchase technology at the UCLA store starting in October.

Special Presentations:

• Kate Halkett, James Knutila, Anthony Stella and Michelle Reardon, staff of UCLA Strategic Communications, presented UCLA’s COVID-19 Messaging Strategy to the council. The “I Wear it For” strategy uses social media to urge students to protect their community by wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
• Alexander Berry, a third-year history student and the new director of the USAC Congressional Advisory Board, gave an introduction about the board and how it can benefit USAC. Berry said CAB is recruiting representatives from mother organizations and advocacy groups active in campus politics to advise USAC on its policies. He added that CAB can partner with USAC offices to advocate for and promote shared goals.

Agenda:

• The council allocated a total of $1,000 from the Contingency Programming Fund to a non-USAC group.
• The council appointed Roz Kohan, a third-year political science and Iranian studies student, as a justice to the 2020-2021 Judicial Board.
• The council appointed Aviv Assayag, a third-year political science student, as a justice to the 2020-2021 Judicial Board.
• The council appointed Mayank Killedar, a second-year public affairs and business economics student, as a justice to the 2020-2021 Judicial Board.
• The council appointed Ashley Joya, a fourth-year psychobiology student, to the Community Service Mini Fund committee.
• The council appointed Jakob von Morgenland, a fourth-year neuroscience student, to the CS Mini Fund committee.

Reports:

• USAC President Naomi Riley said her office has reached out to the mother organizations to discuss their potential participation in the Congressional Advisory Board. She added her office is working with the Infectious Disease Control working group to discuss measures to limit COVID-19 transmission when students return to campus.
• External Vice President Aidan Arasasingham said his office has been working on key fall priorities, including efforts to expand voting among UCLA students, access to the census and support for Proposition 16, which would remove the ban on affirmative action involving race-based or sex-based preferences from the California Constitution.
• Community Service Commissioner Jonathan Wisner said his office is moving forward with planning for Volunteer Day in the fall.
• International Student Representative Bakur Madini said his office held an International Student Town Hall in Dashew Center at UCLA to connect with international students and discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on enrollment and their ability to attend classes. He also said his office advises students to stay in their home countries if they don’t need to come to the US to attend in-person classes.