SB #54, #55, #56 and #57 passed unanimously
By JENNIFER MA — campus@theaggie.org
The Senate meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. on Feb. 24 by Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez, who recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.
The quarterly Town Hall began, and the public asked the senators questions.
A member of the public asked Senator Owen Krauss about his goals for making UC Davis a more LGBTQ+ inclusive environment.
Krauss said he is working on ASUCD’s first Pride Festival at UC Davis, which is scheduled for June 2022.
The Town Hall took a new format this quarter, where senators individually chatted with members of the public. According to the senators, this is in hopes of making Town Hall meetings less intimidating, as it allows members of the public to ask questions without speaking in front of everyone.
Following the Town Hall, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion gave a presentation regarding its impact reports for the past year.
The Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee followed up with confirmations of committee members.
Chairperson of the Gender and Sexuality Commission Ashley Chan then provided the commission’s quarterly report. The report went over new additions to the commission, legislation that was seen, winter quarter events, internal projects and spring projects.
Chan also discussed Christian Baldini, the orchestra conductor at UC Davis, who was temporarily removed without pay in 2017 after substantiated allegations of sexual harassment. Chan stated that Baldini cannot be tried for the same offense twice, and since he was previously put on probation, no further action can be taken unless more information about the original case comes to light.
The Academic Affairs Commission also provided its quarterly report. Most notably, this quarter, the commission has been working to implement wellness days as a part of the quarter system schedule. This would “allow students to utilize a Wellness Day if they are not feeling mentally prepared to attend a lecture.” A survey asking for student input is currently open.
Next, the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission gave its quarterly report. The report mentioned collaborative events and internal projects as well the commission’s future plans.
The Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students then followed with its quarterly report. Housing week, which will take place between Feb. 28 to March 4, was the primary highlight. The week will have events every day that cover everything from personal finance advice and insurance advice to finding housemates or a home for next year.
Next, senators provided their elected officer reports, detailing what they did during the week.
In Public Announcements, Senator Ambar Mishra brought up implementing wellness days in the quarter system and urged the student body to complete the aforementioned survey.
In Public Discussion, Krauss touched on the current crisis in the Ukraine. He urged the table to work with him to write a letter to the chancellor and UC Regents about education visas to help Ukranians.
Martinez Hernandez then gave a presentation about ASUCD Payroll and emphasized the importance of senators logging hours for their work.
The Senate table then moved on to legislation. SR #23 is a resolution in support of the movement to make the UC Davis mascot a cow and SR #24 demands an institutional commitment to the end of fossil fuel usage on UC Davis campuses by 2030. Both resolutions were tabled and are to be on the following Senate meeting’s agenda.
SB #48 allocates $2,015.77 to the Office of ASUCD Senator Dennis Liang for marketing materials for a Senate project and task force. It failed to gain approval from the Internal Affairs Commission and has been tabled indefinitely.
Lastly, SB #54 structures the composition of the Office of the International Student Representative. SB #55 allocates $4,966.75 to the Exploratory Board on an ASUCD Pride Festival for the Pride Festival. SB #56 allocates $1,000.00 to The Pantry for the purpose of purchasing. The last Senate Bill to be introduced was SB #57, which requires the ASUCD Volunteer Award Committee to distribute the ASUCD Volunteer Award twice during an academic year. All four bills passed unanimously.
Martinez Hernandez adjourned the meeting at 12:04 a.m.
Written by: Jennifer Ma — campus@theaggie.org
