New boba tea shop to open at MU
On Thursday, January 11 at 6:12 p.m., the ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order by Vice President Adilla Jamaludin. Business and Finance Commission Chair Shubhangi Gulati was absent.
First, ASUCD President Josh Dalavai gave an executive presentation. Notable topics included his transition out of office. During the transition, Controller Jin Zhang will remain for one to two weeks after Jamaludin and Dalavai depart. The new executive team will conduct interviews for the next controller. The pursuant weeks after Winter Quarter Elections will be dedicated to the transition of the new executive team.
Next, there was discussion on use of retail spaces in the MU East Wing. Space 2 will be filled by a boba tea shop, TeaOne. Space 3 will house the Student Disability Center and Space 4 will be occupied by the Global Food Initiative. The projected annual revenue from the rent collected from these spaces is upwards of $100,000, which will be invested into the services and units of the association.
There was a housing update that discussed Chancellor Gary May’s recently-released statement on Jan. 10 emphasizing the campus’ commitment to increasing student housing on campus. Details include 6,200 beds currently under development. Continually, there will be an increase to 8,500 beds from the Long Range Development Plan. The number includes 500 additional beds in Orchard Park and an additional 2,000 beds in West Village.
There was then talk of the business projects currently underway, including discussion about allocating funding to establish a new ASUCD career-track position that would focus on marketing. Zhang is currently advocating for the creation of this position in talks with Vice Chancellor Adela de la Torre and Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, Campus Community and Retention Services Sheri Atkinson.
Next, Judicial Council Chair Ryan Gardner gave a presentation and updates regarding the Judicial Council. The Judicial Branch is now fully functional as of recent. Gardner said the Judicial Council is “trying to build off [their] experiences” and they are “looking at the bylaws to learn more about them and understand.”
During public announcements, Jamaludin criticized the number of bills being authored.
“In my time in the association, I’ve never seen so few bills being authored by senators,” Jamaludin said. “This is a privilege you have, being able to make changes. You’re all ambitious and intelligent and represent a large portion of the student body. If you don’t have ideas, go out and ask people.”
Also during public announcements, Senator Michael Gofman said he is CoHo’s only adopted senator and is seeking people to help out with improvement ideas. Senator Marcos Rodriguez mentioned Housing Day that will occur on Feb. 1 and asked those present to share the event on their Facebook pages.
There was a moment of silence held for Blair Fox, a second-year economics major who passed away over Winter Break.
Next, Senate Bill #22 was introduced. This bill establishes a designee of the ASUCD President to be the chairperson of the Committee on Committees.
Ex-officio reports and elected officer reports were then conducted.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:15 p.m.
Written by: George Liao — campus@theaggie.org
