The new ASUCD executive team and senators were sworn into office on March 16 at the last ASUCD meeting of Winter Quarter.
The ASUCD-filled evening kicked off at 6:00 p.m. in the ARC Ballroom. Former ASUCD President Alex Lee, former ASUCD Vice President Abhay Sandhu and former ASUCD Controller Joseph DeAngelo gave farewell speeches, reflecting on their time spent in student government and giving out copious thank-you’s to their staffs and supporters. Lee received both a personalized engraved clock and The Dictator’s Handbook as farewell presents from his staff.
Following the speeches from the outgoing executives, Josh Dalavai and Adilla Jamaludin, the new ASUCD president and vice president, respectively, were sworn into office. Dalavai and Jamaludin took their oaths of office in front of the audience.
After the executive farewell ceremony, the regular Senate meeting was called to order at 9:08 p.m. in the Mee Room of the Memorial Union. 11 out of 12 senators were present, with Senator Julie Jung absent from the meeting.
Prior to the official start of the meeting, the leaving senators gave brief farewell speeches to those present in the Mee Room. Many of them reflected on their time spent in ASUCD and the legacies they hoped to leave behind.
The first order of business in Senate was the swearing in of new and returning senators. Following the swearing in, Dalavai gave a presidential address to the senators and audience members that outlined changes the executives hope to implement in Senate as well as an overarching statement on the new presidential term.
“We have an open door policy […] through [Jamaludin] being the pro-tempore before, she has a really good grasp on what she’s doing right now with the present and has a lot of transferable skills from that,” Dalavai said. “She’s going to run a tight ship as far as meetings are organized. Please refer to us as a resource whenever things seem to bog down in bureaucracy, when things seem overly complicated or you’re just frustrated with how many processes you have to go through […] I want to see you all achieve the great ideas that you were elected on.”
The executives then asked if anybody had questions for them, and Senator Sam Chiang asked when Senate could expect a new controller. Dalavai replied that a listing would be posted soon for the position and that Senate could expect to see a new controller early in Spring Quarter.
Next, Senate held a President Pro-Tempore election. Senator Jose Antonio Meneses nominated Chiang. Chiang accepted the nomination and proceeded to occupy the traditional pro-tempore seat to the right of the vice president at the Senate table.
Afterwards, Maria Chang, the unit director for the Pantry, gave her quarterly unit director report. Chang mentioned that there was a lack of space with the Pantry’s current setup and, because of this, the unit has faced increased difficulty in keeping up with the growing demand. The Pantry reported to have around 100 to 110 students utilizing its food resources daily. Senator Simran Grewal asked if there was a lack of donation. Chang replied that there was no lack, but that, if there were more staff members and available space, the Pantry could reach out to private donors and hold a greater capacity of donations.
The meeting then proceeded to review old legislation. Senate Bill 62, a bill that clarifies the scope and structure of the Board of Unit Directing Students, was brought into consideration. Internal Affairs Commission Chair Nick Flores said that the bill was essentially a repeat of a few sections. Chiang motioned to overturn the veto on Senate Bill 62, which was passed with no objections.
With no more past or current legislation to review, the meeting opened up into public discussion. Experimental Community (EC) staff member Rebecca Young came to Senate to ask for assistance in getting a plot at the EC gardens. Young mentioned how difficult it was to make progress toward getting a place and, and she felt that her request got caught up in UC Davis Legal. She said that it would be more beneficial for the EC to designate plots prior to the peak growing season so that individuals do not miss the opportune gardening time. Meneses, the adoptive chair for the EC garden, said that Young was not the first person to bring up this complication and that he would look into expediting the process.
The senators then volunteered for their unit adoptions for all the ASUCD units.
After public announcements from Jamaluddin and Recorder Naeema Kaleem, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 pm.
Written by: Lindsay Floyd — campus@theaggie.org
