The Senate passed two emergency bills and reconsidered and passed four pieces of old legislation
By JENNIFER MA — campus@theaggie.org
At 6:10 p.m., Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez called the Nov. 4 Senate meeting to order and recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgment.
Shortly after, two members from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Student Defenders presented to the Senate table. They discussed their mission in providing support and legal advice for students and ensuring that students’ rights are protected in campus disciplinary proceedings.
This was followed by a presentation from Esmeralda Quintero-Cubillan from the UC Student Association (USCA). She discussed their year-long campaign priorities. These include pursuing a $1.5 million budget to provide menstrual hygiene products in bathrooms across the UC, increasing the Pell Grant, ensuring that students do not need to pick between attending class and voting and siphoning funds from policing in order to funnel them into campus-based resources.
Then, Annabel Marshall was confirmed as an interim senator with no objections.
“One of the main things for me is gaining an understanding of the Senate so that as I continue on […] I can have the insight of how the Senate works,” Marshall said.
Next, the point director and the unit director of the Whole Earth Festival (WEF) provided a quarterly report. Members of WEF have been repairing solar-powered floodlights, purchasing a solar generator, getting the EcoHub into better shape and interviewing applicants to assemble their staff.
“We’re basically operating under the assumption that WEF will be full scale in May,” Cozette Ellis, the director of WEF, said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Kabir Sahni then provided the recommendation for nominee Sadia Sadiq. Chairperson Radhika Gawde moved to confirm Sadiq as a Judicial Council member, and Senator Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar seconded the motion. Then, Sadiq took the Oath of Office and became a Judicial Council member.
Afterward, CoHo Unit Director Darin Schluep presented a quarterly report. Since the beginning of fall quarter, the CoHo opened with about 40% of its staff, only half of its service platforms and reduced hours of operation. Another change this year regarding staffing is the creation of employee “CoHorts” that are scheduled to work in only one or two platforms. This increases area expertise and helps minimize training.
The general manager of KDVS, Jaidyn Alvarez-Brigance, then provided KDVS’ quarterly report. The unit has opened 24/7 for live programming since the start of fall quarter, and it released a COVID-19 operation manual to fit the current UC Davis health policies. It is the first station to reopen and create a manual, so all other UC stations have used its manual as a guideline.
Following the reports from KDVS and the CoHo, the Student Health and Wellness Committee gave a report. Chairperson Sanjana Battula said they are working on projects like Wellness Wednesday, which provides help with test-taking anxiety and stress from the transition back to in-person classes, and Midterm Wellness, which promotes healthy sleep habits.
Next, one of the co-chairs presented the STEM Committee quarterly report. Its biggest project currently is making STEM a more approachable and social area that interests students; they plan to do this through the Science Fair.
In public announcements, EAVP Shruti Adusumilli highlighted the Lobby Corps event for UCSA on Nov. 13 and the Pepper Spray Anniversary event on Nov. 18.
The Senate then moved into public discussion. Research and Data Committee Chairperson Stephen Fujimoto discussed the issue of transparency of the Equitable Access program.
Martinez Hernandez also brought up concerns regarding high fees for athletics. Hernandez said she was frustrated that the entire student body had to pay for a pool that only roughly 700 student-athletes can use.
Chairperson Jared Lopez expanded on Martinez Hernandez’s sentiments.
“We do not want student-athletes defunded at all,” Lopez said. “[The university has] all the resources to fund it; they’re just putting it on students.”
The Senate then moved to swear Annabel Marshall in, as they forgot to have her take her Oath of Office earlier in the meeting.
The Senators then moved on to legislation. CA #75 is an emergency bill that restructures the makeup of the Elections Committee and extensively lays out what will happen in case of vacancies, recalls and endorsements to ensure impartiality. It passed unanimously.
SR #10 also passed unanimously. It calls for a thorough and independent review by the state auditor to determine whether UC Davis students have been treated fairly in exchange for their initiative fees since 2010.
SB #21, which dissolves the Herbicide Free Committee (HFC) due to low student interest, passed unanimously.
SB #22, a small edit to the ASUCD Bylaws regarding the Volunteer Award Committee, passed unanimously.
SB #23 creates a board instead of a committee to plan the Pride Festival. It will give them autonomy to seek help outside of ASUCD when planning. It passed unanimously.
SB #24 addresses actions that candidates can take during an election. It gets rid of platform flyers, creates changes to the EAVP and Executive tickets and changes the public candidate debate to a public forum.
Sahni moved to pass the bill as amended without the Executive ticket. With a 7-1 vote, this emergency legislation passed.
Martinez Hernandez adjourned the meeting at 11:18 p.m.
Written by: Jennifer Ma — campus@theaggie.org
