Backlog of quarterly reports cleared as Senate catches up after not meeting for one third of Spring Quarter
The ASUCD Senate began its May 21 meeting with quarterly reports from the Campus Center for the Environment, Committee on Committees, Mental Health Initiative, TRVC, The California Aggie, the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission and Entertainment Council.
ECAC and the Scholarship Committee did not make quarterly reports, and the ECAC quarterly report was moved to June 4.
The Campus Center for the Environment reported that it had hired all its staff and appointed project coordinators and directors. Its presentation concluded by emphasizing the need for more paid positions.
The Committee on Committees reported that it had an adopted Senator.
The Mental Health Initiative reported about mental health month and the ongoing programs and online seminars being held to promote mental health during May.
The Transfer, Reentry and Veterans Committee also gave its quarterly report.
The California Aggie reported on the creation of a subcommittee meant to work with the UC Davis Media Board in order to completely revise the editor-in-chief (EIC) selection process to give The Aggie autonomy in choosing its own EIC — a standard practice at college papers throughout the nation. Currently, the Media Board, an administrative advisory board, retains the ability to hire and fire The Aggie’s EIC.
The Aggie’s current EIC Kaelyn Tuermer-Lee also reported on plans to relocate the paper’s distribution outside of non-essential businesses to ensure people still have access to print news.
New legislation was then introduced, including Senate Bill #63 to create a banner and A-frame for ASUCD and Senate Resolution #21, which takes a stance in solidarity with the Tibetan community and, among other things, recommends the dissolution of the UC’s partnership with the Chinese University system. These bills passed unanimously and without much discussion.
Emergency DREAMer legislation from Senators Shreya Deshpande and Juan Velasco also passed, allocating $9,800 in Senate reserves toward aid for DREAMer students in SB #66 and SB #67. This bill, along with a bill allocating $300 to the Mental Health Initiative last week, brought Senate reserves down to $81.
SR #17 also passed, demanding one-third of UC Davis tuition be refunded to all students.
“They have the money, trust me,” said Senator JB Martinez, the author of the resolution.
This bill also passed, with questions of where the one-third number came from. Martinez claimed that the choice was arbitrary but seemed fair.
SR #20 also passed, urging UC Davis to protect the ‘old’ version of Title IX, which was recently rolled back by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
The remainder of the resolutions and bills that passed governed procedure and included cleanup bills to make some language more consistent.
The five hour meeting concluded with open discussion of misconduct from Senators, the details of which are currently unavailable at this time.
Written by: Alex Weinstein — campus@theaggie.org
