ASUCD senators voted to create a special election reform committee
By RACHEL SHEY — campus@theaggie.org
On Thursday, Sept. 30, the ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Internal Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez. All senators were present.
Senator Kabir Sahni was confirmed as the President Pro Tempore; he will preside over the senate in the absence of the vice president.
Chair of Club Finance Council (CFC) Joe Martinez gave a presentation about student organizations on campus, reminding everyone about the involvement fair and AggieLife. The CFC is working on allocating their funds to UC Davis clubs through grant applications.
“Students do better in classes if they are involved on campus,” Martinez said. “We are all working together to find that outreach.”
Hernandez gave a presentation about using Slack as ASUCD’s primary mode of communication. She gave a quick demo of Slack’s features and presented a few etiquette rules.
Then, Vinal Chand was confirmed as the associate vice president of external communications. Chand stated that he hopes to organize “more in-person events, start with tabling, get the word out, get more people to know about ASUCD, whatever the initiative may be [and] to create events so that everyone can get to know one another.”
President Ryan Manriquez announced that the official date for Sunset Fest will be Nov. 5 at the UC Davis Health Stadium.
The senate meeting then moved on to evaluating past legislation. Senate Bill #1 was passed, including a judicial stipend of $75 a week for the judicial chair, paying TSR and ISR for 10 hours a week starting Winter Quarter and reducing the hours for the Bike Barn by 30 minutes. The operating budget is $1,920,713.
Senate Resolution #1, the first ASUCD resolution to outline the “overarching goals, priorities and business strategies of ASUCD” was tabled. Senator Kristin Mifsud suggested withdrawing the resolution and making it more concise. Sahni expressed concern that the resolution was too hastily written and appears to have no clear purpose. Internal Affairs Commission Chairperson Radhika Gawde said that it should be rewritten to communicate the administrative priorities more clearly. Manriquez motioned to table the resolution and guaranteed that he would “make it right for next time.”
Senate Bill #3, creating a special committee on elections reform, was passed. The committee “will work to study and analyze matters regarding elections, including Article VII of the Constitution,” according to the text of the bill.
The previous minutes were approved and the meeting was adjourned at 11:34 p.m.
Written by: Rachel Shey — campus@theaggie.org
