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Davis

Davis, California

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Committees provide quarterly reports, senators passed multiple bills, resolutions

Unitrans, Whole Earth Committee and Fair Trade Committees provided quarterly reports, and the Senate table passed SB #68, #69, #71 and #72, along with SR #27 and #28

 

By ISABELLA KRZESNIAK campus@theaggie.org

 

Internal Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez called the meeting to order on Thursday, April 14 at 6:10 p.m. and recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

Andrew Lee, who previously worked in the External Affairs Commission, was nominated for the controller position. After deliberation among senators, his nomination was rejected.

Lee was contacted for comment and provided a brief statement via email for The California Aggie regarding the confirmation process.

“I regret the decision of the Senate not to confirm my nomination for the position of Controller,” part of Lee’s statement reads.

J.T. Eden, an Internal Affairs commissioner, was confirmed as the commission chair, replacing Kabir Sahni.

Michael Logoteta, who had previously been involved in ASUCD’s Executive Office, was confirmed as the Donation Drive chairperson.

Jeff Flynn, the Unitrans general manager, provided the transit system’s quarterly report. Unitrans aimed to expand service during winter and spring quarters to pre pandemic levels, but this was hindered by a surge in the omicron COVID-19 variant, according to Flynn. He discussed the implementation of the V Express and V Limited services to West Village during winter quarter. Flynn anticipates the system’s driver shortage will continue through fall 2022. In response, Unitrans is ramping up recruitment efforts, he said. 

Flynn spoke about the university hiring process through UC Path and said that Unitrans employees have experienced confusion about the procedure.

“People get impatient during the hiring process and just get lost,” Flynn said. “It’s just really complicated, and I don’t quite know why.”

Three of six electric buses as part of the Capital Program have arrived. Additionally, Unitrans is soliciting feedback for service change proposals for the 2022-2023 school year, which include modifications to the V, P and Q lines. All proposals are available online.

Fair Trade Committee (FTC) Organizer Itzel Gallardo provided the organization’s quarterly report. The committee is seeking to hire new members and a chair for next year, as many members are graduating this spring. The committee will finish a guide for the role of chair in order to ensure a smooth transition. In addition, FTC will finalize its 2022-2023 budget.

Unit Directors Cozette Ellis and Nancy Marshall gave a quarterly report for the Whole Earth Committee. Ellis and Marshall expressed the need to work with ASUCD in order to expand recruiting efforts for the event. They discussed how cultural appropriation was an issue at the event in the past. In response, the committee has sent a statement to potential attendees to set a standard of mutual respect. They also expressed frustration with the Unit Relocation and Space Allocation Committee (URSAC), which, according to Ellis, has not been cooperative or attentive to the Whole Earth Committee’s needs. 

“From our perspective as unit directors, it’s one of the most important committees for us,” Ellis said. “And now, we’re facing making the festival happen when it hasn’t happened at full scale for two years, and then immediately after, moving our unit into a completely new space.”

Officers provided their weekly reports and Election Committee members were confirmed remotely. 

SB #71, which allocates money to the Donation Drive Committee, was proposed as new legislation and was passed.

Senator Harris Razaqi drafted the emergency bill SB #72 in response to concerns expressed by the unit directors of the Whole Earth Committee. The bill modifies the structure of URSAC. The bill was passed unanimously.

SB #68, authored by a member of the public, Calvin Wong, was passed unanimously. The bill places the Elimination of the Intercollegiate Athletics Portion of the Campus Expansion Initiative Fee (CEI) Referendum on the Spring 2022 ballot which, if passed, would eliminate the portion of student fees that funds athletic scholarships.

SB #69, also authored by Wong, was passed unanimously. Similarly, this bill places the Elimination of the Intercollegiate Athletics Portion of the Student Activities and Services Initiative (SASI), a ballot measure that would eliminate student fees that fund team travel and sports equipment, among other things.

SR #27 recognizes challenges some students face regarding their mental health and pushes faculty to take these into consideration. The resolution was passed unanimously.

SR #28 urges the City of Davis to increase housing availability and affordability. This resolution was passed unanimously.

Past meeting minutes were approved. 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:29 p.m.

 

Written by: Isabella Krzesniak — campus@theaggie.org

 

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