ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the April 7 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings.
Meeting called to order at 6:12 p.m.
Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president, absent
Bree Rombi, ASUCD vice president, present
Yena Bae, ASUCD senator, present
Miguel Espinoza, ASUCD senator, present, returned at 8:38 from a break scheduled to end at 8:35
Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz, ASUCD senator, present, returned at 8:38 from a break scheduled to end at 8:35
Andre Lee, ASUCD senator, present
Amy Martin, ASUCD senator, president pro tempore, present
Mayra Martín, ASUCD senator, present, returned at 8:38 from a break scheduled to end at 8:35
Tatiana Moana Bush, ASUCD senator, present, arrived late, left early
Darwin Moosavi, ASUCD senator, present
Matthew Provencher, ASUCD senator, present
Brendan Repicky, ASUCD senator, present, returned at 8:37 from a break scheduled to end at 8:35
Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD senator, present
Eli Yani, ASUCD senator, absent
Presentations
Business and Finance Commission presented plans for future audits.
Bryen Alperin said he was concerned that Tipsy Taxi is operating on a subsidy. He suggested that fares be increased during peak hours and that they require riders to have an AggieCard so the service is not abused. Sergio Caino, Internal Affairs Commission chair, said he was worried about enforcing the AggieCard. Dana Percoco, External Affairs Commission chair, suggested that those who do not attend UC Davis be charged more than those with AggieCards.
Leticia Cheng said AggieTV is looking to add a new business manager position and that they are seeking new ways to bring in income. Cheng also presented on Entertainment Council. She said that they are not staying within their budget each quarter and she suggested implementing a business manager.
Jamie Tuttle-Santana presented on AS Papers. He said that the unit is in the stages of re-development and that it does not currently have a business model. He hopes to look into the actual costs of funding the unit and survey public interest.
Parichay Johri said the Bike Barn needs more space for repairing bikes and should be renovated.
Brian Barnett presented on the Book Exchange, which currently requires a large subsidy to provide its service. Provencher asked if the Business and Finance Commission could look into only having the book exchange open for the first two weeks of the quarter.
Vladimir Rudovsky presented on Campus Copies and Classical Notes. Currently the unit does not have a subsidy and is a nonprofit unit. Rudovsky said a main problem is an out-of-date copy machine that often malfunctions. He hopes to find places to cut expenses through the audit.
Jared Hein said the Experimental College is looking into how to expand EC and provide incentives for students to join. Hein also said Project Compost is looking to reach out to more students.
Appointments and confirmations
Courtney Rogers was appointed to the External Affairs Commission.
Unit director reports
Lauren Jabusch from the Campus Center for the Environment said the committee is excited about the Spring Convergence event, where sustainability workshops will be free for UC Davis students. She also said that a program called Education for Sustainability is a free lecture series for UC Davis students, which offers two to four units. The Sustainability Summit will be on June 7.
Consideration of old legislation
Senate bill 55, authored by Yani, co-authored by Martin and Cano to amend the ASUCD bylaws and allow the ASUCD Senate to assign or remove an assignment of a piece of legislation from any subordinate body of the ASUCD Senate by a majority vote of the entire Senate passed unanimously.
Senate bill 57, authored by Christine Sifferman, co-authored and introduced by Lee to distinguish between present and absent abstentions passed unanimously.
Senate bill 58, authored by Megan Frantz, co-authored by Provencher and Thongsavat, introduced by Provencher, to amend AggieTV’s budget to include line items for AggieTV’s LipDub income and expenditures passed unanimously.
Senate bill 59, was authored by Internal Affairs Commission to clarify confirmation procedures. Will Quinn, Environmental Policy and Planning Commission chair, said he disagreed with the bill, and that senators should be able to ask individual questions to different prospective employees during confirmations. Provencher said he was worried that this bill wouldn’t allow senators to ask questions about things that were not on the prospective employee’s resume. After a lengthy discussion, the bill failed with a 4-7-1 vote. Bae, Lee, Martin, Moosavi, Provencher, Repicky and Sterling voted no.
Public discussion
Mark Champagne announced that he would like to establish a scholarship fund of $25,000 to be awarded to ASUCD hourly employees. He asked the senate to match his donation, which will be decided in bills that will be looked at next week.
Repicky said it bothered him when someone who is in favor of a bill objects to calling the bill to question. He said that he thinks people who have concerns about a bill should object to calling the bill to question, and that people should not use that time to show their support for the bill.
Public announcements
Diaz-Ordaz said that next week is Pride Week and all students are invited to take part in the activities and presentations.
Meeting adjourned at 11:54 p.m.
Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy.ucdavis.edu. HANNAH STRUMWASSER compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
