ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10
p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the Jan. 24 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD President is not required to attend Senate meetings.
Meeting called to order at 6:15 p.m.
Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD President, present
Yena Bae, ASUCD Vice President, present
Beatriz Anguiano, ASUCD Senator, present
Bradley Bottoms, ASUCD Senator, present
Liam Burke, ASUCD Senator, present
Armando Figueroa, ASUCD Senator, present
Don Gilbert, ASUCD Senator, absent
Joyce Han, ASUCD Senator, present
Maxwell Kappes, ASUCD Senator, present
Kabir Kapur, ASUCD Senator, Pro Tempore, present
Paul Min, ASUCD Senator, present
Felicia Ong, ASUCD Senator, present
Alyson Sagala, ASUCD Senator, present
Tal Topf, ASUCD Senator, present
Melanie Maemura, ASUCD Controller, present
Unit Director Reports
A representative working on the Picnic Day event said that all applications have been sent out for the events, and the next step is to finalize the events. A fire marshal will be coming to the meeting next week to discuss safety issues.
Josh Gelfat, director of City and County Affairs, said that Housing Day is on Feb. 14.
A representative from Aggie Threads said that last quarter there were poor capital investments and that the printer was not working all. The representative said they had been barely getting by all year trying to figure out what to do with the printer. The printer was purchased for $30,000. It was upgraded last year but still had issues. A technician fixed a lot of issues, and so far it has been working. They are looking at alternative printers in case this one breaks again. They are in debt by about $1,500.
Presentations
The Campus Safety Coordinator said that they just finished meeting with the Freedom of Expression Committee and drew up a document stating issues with rules and regulations regarding protest on campus. They are working on trying to get blue lights back on campus. The blue lights were removed a year ago because administration thought they were being misused. There are also blueprints for new bike circles on campus.
Bottoms gave a report on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), an organization that gives accreditations for schools and colleges, and how they are coming to UC Davis. Bottoms said that this is the group of people who determine whether a degree means anything, and gives legitimacy to education.
Consideration of Old Legislation
Senate Resolution 6, authored by Patrick Sheehan, requested student influence and transparency in decisions concerning Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA). The resolution passed with a 9-3-0 vote. Bottoms, Topf and Ong voted against the resolution.
Senate Bill 36, authored by Carly Sandstrom, to allocate $1544.62 to purchase an ASUCD E-Z UP tent. The bill passed in a 9-2-1 vote. Kappes and Anguiano voted against. Figueroa abstained. Cano asked how the senate would justify buying these tents to the students.
Kappes proposed buying a tent from outside, cheaper sources. Cano said that he does not encourage that, and recommends two tents because Campus Recreation has a lot of tents and they are a big entity on campus and it reflects how you host events on campus. Multiple tents allow ASUCD more flexibility for multiple events at once, etc. Sandstrom said that the tent is not just for tabling purposes.
Senate Bill 50, authored by Internal Affairs Commission Chair Sergio Cano, to prohibit Commission Chairpersons from introducing legislation, passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 54, authored by Ong, to allocate $128.29 for the purchase of 12 donation jars to benefit fundraising efforts for the ASUCD Scholarship, passed with a 9-3-0 vote.
Senate Resolution 4, authored by Han, to thank Allison Chilcott of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on the occasion of her departure, passed unanimously.
Senate Resolution 5, authored by Hackney, to support California Senate Bill 8, introduced by California State Senator Leland Yee, that makes higher education more transparent, passed unanimously.
Public Discussion
Justin Goss presented Senate Resolution 6, and said that it is less aggressive and more factually astute, compared to its previous resolution, Senate Resolution 2. He said that the veto reasons were addressed, and he would like the opportunity to advocate on behalf of the students who cannot vote on these resolutions.
Sheehan said that he would like to turn ICA or create a situation in which the ICA administration comes and presents to them just like unit directors do.
Cano said that he preferred the language of the previous bill.
Meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m.
Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy.ucdavis.edu.
JESSICA GRILLI compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
