The first female international student to serve on the table was confirmed as one of the interim senators
The Oct. 8 ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Vice President Emily Barneond. Senator Fong and Commission Chair Alec Pitts were absent.
The meeting moved into the Senate President Pro Tempore Election. Senator Boudaie nominated Senator Gandhoke, and Senator Ibarra-Rodriguez nominated himself. Senator Gandhoke was confirmed as Senate President Pro Tempore in a 4-3-2 roll call vote. Senator Fong was absent and Senator Malik abstained.
“Senator Gandhoke has shown the table that he is articulate, passionate and ready to push past party politics in favor of the student body and our association,” Boudaie said. “I would like to nominate Senator Gandhoke.”
During the Healthy UC Davis presentation, Hoda Soltani, the organization’s project manager, revealed the addition of a diversity and inclusion committee to its priority areas.
President Kyle Krueger introduced three interim senator candidates for confirmation.
The first candidate, Annoushqa Bobde, is a third-year applied mathematics major. Bobde is the second international student to serve on the ASUCD Senate table, and the first female international student.
“I want to represent and advocate for the international student community because I believe there are certain steps that we can take to make the transition from in-person to virtual instruction,” Bobde said. “I myself have faced the problems posed by the different time zones, and I am currently in India with my family. I have had to wake up at 3 a.m. and 1 a.m. for classes and exams.”
Bobde worked for the Picnic Day committee and wants to serve as a liaison between ASUCD and the STEM-major student community. Bobde was confirmed as an Interim Senator.
The second candidate, Erika Valle, is a fourth-year political science major. As a transfer student from Sacramento City College, Valle wants to serve as a connection between ASUCD and the transfer student community.
Valle interned with the Yolo County Democratic Party and the UC Sacramento program. She addressed internet and technology accessibility issues as a goal for her term. Valle was confirmed as an Interim Senator.
The third and final candidate, Michelle Lester, is a second-year communications major. Kreuger described Lester as “the best communicator out of all the applicants.” Lester was a marketing intern for the Aggie Reuse Store, an ASUCD unit. She wants to ignite more student outreach to get more students involved in ASUCD. Lester was confirmed as an Interim Senator.
The meeting then moved into unit and committee adoptions, in which all the senators expressed interest in the different ASUCD units and committees to adopt, after which unit directors can approve the adoption.
Senator Elizalde expressed interest in adopting The Pantry and ASUCD Gardens, along with Senator Youedon, who also was interested in adopting Campus Center for the Environment/Project Composit, Reactive Media, Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students, The California Aggie and Unitrans.
Senator Gandhoke indicated interest in adopting the Coffee House, Picnic Day, The California Aggie and the Pantry.
Senator Rodriguez-Ibarra expressed interest in adopting Picnic Day, The Pantry and Unitrans, and Malik did so for Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students, Refrigerator Services and The Pantry.
Senator Boudaie said she wanted to adopt the Bike Barn, Coffee House, Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students, KDVS, Office of External Affairs Vice President, The California Aggie and Unitrans.
Senator Carduny expressed interest in adopting the Bike Barn and the Coffee House and Senator Velasco did so for Coffee House, Office of External Affairs Vice President, Picnic Day and The Pantry.
Senator Lester indicated wanting to adopt the Campus Center for the Environment/Project Composit and Creative Media and Senator Valle did so for the Entertainment Council and Office of External Affairs Vice President.
Finally, Senator Bobde expressed interest in adopting Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students, KDVS and Picnic Day.
The Gender and Sexuality commission leader, Elena DeNecochea, nominated Jane Casto to replace her on the committee. Casto addressed her efforts to maintain community despite virtual operations.
Vice President Barneond moved the meeting into Picnic Day confirmation. Caitlyn Liu, a fourth-year English and communications double major, applied to be the Picnic Day chair. She has been on the picnic day committee since freshman year.
“Right now we are working with a plan A and a plan B. Plan A is a small on-campus livestream without guests,” Liu said. “Our plan B is how we can implement a virtual Picnic Day. The goal behind the virtual Picnic Day is to maintain the relationships that Picnic Day has made with on-campus partners, departments, off-campus partners, sponsors.”
The meeting moved into Judicial Council confirmation for one available seat. The table confirmed Mikka Vapor, a fourth-year international relations and economics double major.
Vapor was confirmed with a unanimous vote.
Senator Youedon introduced Senate Bill #2, designed to create an Aggie mentors program. Senator Velasco introduced Senate Bill #3 to start a STEM committee within ASUCD.
President Krueger passed Senate Bill #1.
The meeting adjourned at 9:48 p.m.
Written by: Hannah Blome — campus@theaggie.org
Correction: The original version of this article used the spelling ‘Lui’ instead of ‘Liu,’ did not clarify that Senators can only formally adopt units after they are approved or confirmed by the units’ directors and did not capitalize “Picnic Day.” The article has been updated to correct these errors.
