Senator Jacob Klein also addressed “misinformation” printed in The Aggie regarding his conduct during a vice chair confirmation the previous week
By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org
ASUCD Internal Vice President (IVP) Aaminah Mohammad called the Oct. 31 meeting to order at 6:12 p.m. before reading the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.
The senate first moved to fill the four remaining seats on the Housing and Transportation and Advocacy Committee (HTAC). Christina Smith, the HTAC chair and fourth-year political science — public service major, noted that it was a “very competitive round” for applicants and added that the chosen confirmees were all impressive applicants.
Talha Shafik, a fourth-year data science major, was unanimously confirmed as the vice chair, joined by HTAC members Chad Pugliese, a second-year community and regional development (CRD) major, Jasmine Stowers, a second-year CRD major, and Will Brooks, a fourth-year political science major, who were also confirmed without objection.
The Gender and Sexuality Commission Vice Chair Catalina Silva-Oliveira, a first-year communications major, and Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee Member Nitika Sathiya, a first-year civil engineering major, were also confirmed at the meeting.
External Affairs Commission (EAC) Chair Henry Rosenbach then gave his quarterly report and said that he was working with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment on securing opportunities for UC Davis students through its network, as well as forming a Rally Committee. Rosenbach, the only EAC member at this time, also informed the table that he had posted vacancies to fill the commission’s seven open seats.
Afterward, Senate Pro Tempore Asif Ahmed asked if any senators would be interested in joining the new Ethical Spending Committee (ESC) created by SB#6. Senator Mia Cohen, who had voted against making the committee a permanent entity at the previous week’s meeting, then asked to join the ESC.
“I would love to work with other senators and other committee members to see how we can spend ASUCD’s money in a way that’s ethically right, and I’d love to learn about other people’s viewpoints,” Cohen said. “Also, I think having my input would be nice, because I represent a different community on campus.”
Her appointment was immediately approved by Ahmed.
The senate then heard a presentation from the Cross Cultural Center (CCC) Director Joseph Martinez, M.A., who talked about ways to spur ASUCD-CCC cooperation and show gratitude for ASUCD’s continued support. His presentation, which included outreach information, was praised by the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission Chair Reem Suleiman and ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju.
After a break and ex-officio reports, the meeting moved to introduction of new legislation, namely SB#8 to expand the number of protected classes against bias.
Moving onto new legislation, the senate discussed and unanimously passed CA#92 to place a constitutional amendment to include the right to privacy in the ASUCD Student Bill of Rights on the upcoming ASUCD fall ballot.
“You have the right to privacy,” the amendment reads, in part. “Your personal information’s confidentiality, including contact information, academic records, medical history, financial data and all other sensitive information, shall be protected. The University and ASUCD shall not disclose your personal information without your explicit consent, except when required by law or in accordance with other existing University policies. If your privacy rights have been infringed, ASUCD and the University are required to take any necessary and appropriate action to respect your privacy.”
The table considered weakening the wording in certain sections of the amendment from “shall” to “should” or “may” based on the recommendation of the Office of the Campus Counsel, but ultimately decided to keep the stronger wording.
The senate also discussed SB#9, which would have placed a survey on the fall 2024 ASUCD ballot to gauge student interest on a possible Student Equity Fee Referendum that might charge students $60 annually. However, the legislation was ultimately withdrawn due to concerns from the UC Davis Office of Student Affairs that students filling out their ballots would be confused and think they were voting on passing such a referendum instead of simply giving their thoughts on the bill. Ilupeju indicated that the survey might be released to students via email in the near future instead.
During open comment, Senator Jacob Klein addressed an “inaccurate” description printed in The California Aggie on his conduct during the confirmation of Emily Setiobudi, a third-year clinical nutrition major, as the vice chair of the ECAC during the Oct. 24 senate meeting.
He quoted the article, which read, “Senator Jacob Klein raised his concern over the appointment due to the politics of the constituency. His concern was widely dismissed by the table.”
Klein proceeded to explain his side of the situation.
“Let me clarify what actually happened,” Klein said. “I asked the [ECAC] vice chair candidate the following question: ‘What do you think the biggest issue facing our campus is when it comes to ethnic and cultural affairs, and how do you plan to work to address it?’ [Setiobudi] provided a great answer that included comments about how many students remain apolitical and how ECAC should hold workshops on cultural appropriation, among other things.”
“I did not raise my ‘concern over the appointment due to the politics of the constituency,’” Klein said. “This is because, A) I did not have any concerns about the nominee and B) my constituency did not play a role in this conversation whatsoever, whatever that may be. Second of all, I have spoken to almost half of the senate table that was present at this meeting, [and they] have all agreed that my concern was not ‘widely dismissed by the table’ and that the author indeed misrepresented what actually happened.”
“In other words,” Klein said, “[The] interpretation of my interaction with the ECAC vice chair was categorically false and seriously misleading.”
Klein said that he had clarified the issue with The Aggie’s managing editor, Alyssa Crevoiserat, earlier that day and that his “goal is not to interfere with personnel matters as they pertain to a particular journalist, but more so to emphasize the need for truth and accurate reporting.”
Additionally, The Aggie has added an editor’s note to the end of the article, recognizing the mistake: “Due to sound difficulties and the absence of microphones for every speaker, there was an error reporting a statement made by Senator Klein in an earlier version of this article. He later shared a statement with The Aggie that is included in this article.”
Chris Ponce, The Aggie’s editor-in-chief, and Crevoiserat provided a comment.
“The California Aggie values truth and accuracy in the articles we publish, and we will always accept criticism and make adjustments when necessary,” the statement reads. “The work of journalists is not always perfect, and we take accountability when there are mistakes. We affirm that the reporting of our staff is made in good faith and prioritizes the needs of the student population and the Davis community.”
In a separate comment, Suleiman expressed “behemoth disapproval” of Cohen’s appointment to the Ethical Spending Committee.
“Senator Cohen did not vote in favor of the formation of the [ESC] and that there were other candidates that were interested in sitting on that committee that were, in my opinion, more qualified to be there and had been part of the process of [creating] the ESC,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman expanded on her thoughts, saying that the issue of ethical spending should not be viewed as a political one.
“I also have a really major concern with the ESC turning into this figurehead space for people to have meaningless conversations about ‘political issues,’ when it’s really dealing with human rights issues that do not have two sides to them. If an individual is concerned with their own personal learning and growth, I suggest reading a book.”
The meeting was adjourned soon afterward at 8:43 p.m.
Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org
