The Aggie Compass Basic Needs presented the new AggieEats food truck and the Environmental Policy Planning Commission shared the results of the Cool Campus Challenge
By LILY FREEMAN — campus@theaggie.org
Vice President JT Eden called the May 18 town hall meeting to order at 6:20 p.m. in the CoHo. He read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.
The town hall meeting provided members of the public with the opportunity to ask the Senate questions and senators volunteered to answer them.
Several people asked about the senators’ thoughts regarding the upcoming 2023 ASUCD budget hearings, which were set to take place the weekend of May 20 to 21.
Another question referenced a disconnect between the student body and ASUCD, highlighting the low voter turnouts in recent elections and asking the senators about how they plan to alleviate this issue.
Senator Jacob Klein responded.
“That is a really great question and is a project that I have been working on with Senator Alamilla and a few others,” Klein said. “We are working on proposing a bill that will create a requirement for senators to table in person, on the ground. My goal is to have this bill passed by the end of this quarter so that students have this in-person outreach for students to learn more about ASUCD.”
Following the town hall, the senators moved to the Mee Room inside of the Memorial Union to have their Senate meeting. After roll call, Leslie Kemp, the director of the Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center, gave a presentation outlining the organization’s accomplishments and goals for the future.
Kemp specifically discussed a new program created by the organization: the AggieEats food truck.
“It is a pay-what-you-can food truck, where the food comes from the dining commons fresh; students come up to the truck, scan the QR code and decide what they are going to pay,” Kemp said. “Nobody sees what you pay. Once you pay, go up to the window, and show them that you paid, and tell them what you want. They’ll give you as much as you want, regardless of how much you were able to pay.”
Kemp explained that the truck is available to all students.
“If you have money today, pay,” Kemp said. “If you don’t have money next week, don’t pay.”
They went on to explain their goals of partnering with organizations around campus to include the AggieEats food truck in on-campus events. The senators then discussed the potential for partnerships between ASUCD and the food truck in the future.
Following this presentation, Daphne Crother, a third-year political science major, was confirmed as the vice chair of the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission.
Next, Senator Erek Leshyn presented the Aggie Mentors Committee (AMC) quarterly report.
Leshyn highlighted recent accomplishments of the AMC, such as hiring four new staff members to the committee. Leshyn also said that their primary goal for the upcoming year is increasing membership in the AggieMentors program through improving its social media strategies.
Annette Gutierrez, the unit director of the Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students Committee (HAUS), then presented the committee’s quarterly report.
Gutierrez first outlined recent HAUS accomplishments, such as a successful Housing Week, Housing Fair and increase of its social media presence. She then went on to discuss goals for HAUS in the future, such as improving their Housing Week, in terms of student involvement and creating regular workshops and social events throughout the year.
Following HAUS, Ashley Chan, the chair of the Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC), presented the GASC quarterly report.
Chan said that recent accomplishments of GASC include its recently held “Know Your Rights and Options: Title IX and Sexual Violence,” event, explaining the success of the panels and activities that were involved. Chan said that one challenge GASC faces is a lack of senator involvement with the committee, emphasizing that there is still time this quarter for the senators to attend a GASC meeting.
The Environmental Policy and Planning Commission (EPPC) gave the final quarterly report of the meeting. Kelly Abey, the chair of the committee, presented it.
A recent accomplishment of the EPPC was the Cool Campus Challenge, which Abey said was a sustainability challenge between UC Davis and UC Berkeley.
“UC Davis won by an absolute landslide,” Abey said. “We had 145 participants on the UC Davis side and 40 participants on the UC Berkeley side.”
Following quarterly reports, the Senate moved on to consider legislation.
Emergency SB #108, which allocates $9,950 to the Aggie Aid program for grants and housing subsidies, was passed unanimously.
Emergency SB #109, which allocates $1,700 to the ASUCD Senate for purchasing food for the 2023 budget hearings and week eight to 10 meetings, was passed with 10 voting in favor, one voting in opposition and one abstaining.
SB #107, which allocates $349.50 to the Office of ASUCD Senator Gaius Ilupeju for the purchase of 30 pepper spray armband alarms that will be donated to the Davis Community Meals and Housing, was tabled.
Senate Resolution #6, which is a resolution to oppose UC Davis signing a new pouring rights contract with PepsiCo, was passed unanimously.
The senators then approved past meeting minutes, and Eden adjourned the meeting at 11:23 p.m.
Written by: Lily Freeman — campus@theaggie.org
