UC Davis students are looking to expand the Meatless Monday program from the three dining commons to all university dining services.

Meatless Monday, a national campaign, strives to educate students about food choices in relation to student health and students’ environmental footprints.

“The goal of promoting the national campaign is to raise awareness of health,” said Danielle Lee, sustainability manager of UC Davis Dining Services. “The campaign is about being conscious about health and the environment.”

The national campaign was started at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. The goal of the program is to encourage students to cut out meat once a week for the purpose of health and sustainability.

The Meatless Monday campaign aims to reduce the demand for resources, such as water, carbon dioxide and fossil fuels by choosing to not eat meat, Lee said.

The UC Davis Dining Services became a partner with the campaign in 2006. Meatless Monday is currently offered at all three of the UC Davis dining commons. The campaign expanded its marketing to the Silo Student Union two months ago.

Currently, 580 UC Davis students have pledged Meatless Monday. Students who join the campaign will receive a button to show their support, Lee said.

Meat is still being offered on the menu every day at the dining commons, and there are no fee increases for students due to the program, according to Lee.

UC Davis students have been petitioning to expand the campaign to other dining services on campus, such as the ASUCD Coffee House. By teaming up with peta2, a youth-oriented animal rights group, over 1,500 students have signed a petition urging the university to expand the campaign.

Currently, there are no plans to bring Meatless Monday to the Coffee House.

“The CoHo is an ASUCD unit, but we serve faculty, staff, and guests of the university as well,” said Sharon Coulson, director of the Coffee House. “We are a business; we serve to please the customers. Personally, I would support the cause, but professionally, it would be difficult for my workers to not serve meat. It could have a negative customer feedback.”

However, Coulson said that while the Coffee House has no current plans to adopt the program, she feels that the campaign would work well campus-wide.

“I do not think the program should be offered at just one unit,” Coulson said. “It should be campus wide with 100 percent support from ASUCD and Sodexo.”

Marta Holmberg, peta2 manager, said that adopting the program would be beneficial for all students on campus.

“Adopting a campus-wide Meatless Monday program would be a big win for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian students at UC Davis,” said Holmberg in a statement. “That’s because all students will get a valuable lesson in safeguarding their health while protecting the planet and saving animals’ lives at the same time.”

Lee said that she is pleased that information about the campaign has spread throughout campus.

“We did not meet our goal of 1,000 student pledges this year,” Lee said. “However, we still got the knowledge out. It’s about engaging students and awareness, which we have succeeded in.”

For more information about the Meatless Monday campaign, visit meatlessmonday.com

ALICIA KINDRED can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

In ASUCD senate meetings, senators debate how much money to allocate to certain projects. However, the monetary value listed on senate bills doesn’t always accurately reflect how much ASUCD is spending.

Since 2009-10, ASUCD has passed 28 capital spending bills. In a sample of 12, 11 of the bills had monetary discrepancies. Discrepancies ranged from $100 to $2,000, and the majority of allocations were actually less than the bill stated, according to numbers provided by Kathy Wilton, ASUCD office manager.

For example, Senate Bill 23 of this year, for a new table and chairs for the student government conference room, was slated to cost $1,017. ASUCD actually spent $316. In 2009-10, the senate allocated $4,000 to go toward a video podcasting system in Chemistry 194 and Sciences Lecture Hall. ASUCD spent $2,531.

After the ASUCD president signs a spending bill, Wilton is given a copy of the bill and creates an expenditure account. It is then up to the bill’s author to spend the money, said Mark Champagne, ASUCD business manager.

Champagne also said that a bill stays current until the end of the fiscal year, although the funds could be carried over to the next fiscal year if the author needs more time. Any unused funds roll back into the reserve accounts, and any overdrafts roll out of them. 

Spending more than stated

The sample revealed one case in which ASUCD spent more than senators discussed or voted on. In 2009-10, ASUCD spent $12,868 on equipment for the Bike Barn, even though Senate Bill 67 was for $11,081.

Champagne said this kind of discrepancy typically occurs one of two ways: the shipping and tax are not included in the bill, or the price of an item increases from the initial quote.

In the case of the Bike Barn, the overrun was caused by $1,152 in contract support, $389 in additional printer receipt material and $350 for a data conversion.

“Contract support is when you need to contact the company in case the system goes down…” Champagne said in an e-mail. “This should probably have been taken out of the operating budget, but was included in one large invoice from the company, Tri-Technical Systems.”Digital recordings remain offline

With Senate Bill 11 in 2009-10, ASUCD allocated $244.66 to purchase equipment to record senate meetings and post the audio online.

“Creating podcasts of important ASUCD discussions and making them available on the ASUCD website will increase transparency of ASUCD proceedings and create a more informed student population,” the bill states.

Ultimately, $139 was spent on the project. However, these recordings haven’t made it online yet.

Ryan Meyerhoff, ASUCD webmaster, said he had no idea the equipment had been purchased all. No senators or members of the executive office ever asked him to put recordings online, he said.

“Conceivably it’d be really easy to upload the digital files, but I haven’t had any to upload,” Meyerhoff said.

ASUCD Vice President Bree Rombi obtained the equipment from her predecessor, Previn Witana, and recorded some meetings this year. She said she’s encountered technical difficulties though, and she’s not sure whether or not the senate will have to buy new software to advance the project. It may not be worth it, she said.

Vodcasting systems virtually unused thus far

The senate put $2,531 toward video podcasting systems in Chemistry 194 and Sciences Lecture Hall 123. Since its implementation in Winter 2011, one professor has utilized the lecture capture system – John Roth, professor of microbiology.

The ASUCD funds were used in addition to support from the Office of the Registrar, the UC Davis School of Law, Information and Educational Technology and Academic Technology Services, said Joe Kelley, senior development engineer at Academic Technology Services.

Kelley said he might need to work more closely with ASUCD to garner more faculty interest. But despite the fact that only one professor used the system, Kelley said that he wants to further the project, as student response in Roth’s class was significant.

“We are hoping to pilot another lecture capture system in the Fall Quarter that will be accessible to the ASUCD and others,” he said in an e-mail. “Lecture Capture will become more prevalent over the next few years.”

JANELLE BITKER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the May 26 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings.

Meeting called to order at 6:10 p.m.

Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president, present, arrived late, left early

Bree Rombi, ASUCD vice president, present

Yena Bae, ASUCD senator, present, left early at 10:17 p.m.

Miguel Espinoza, ASUCD senator, present

Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz, ASUCD senator, present

Andre Lee, ASUCD senator, arrived late at 7:23 p.m.

Amy Martin, ASUCD senator, president pro tempore, present

Mayra Martín, ASUCD senator, present

Tatiana Moana Bush, ASUCD senator, present

Darwin Moosavi, ASUCD senator, present

Matthew Provencher, ASUCD senator, present

Brendan Repicky, ASUCD senator, present

Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD senator, present

Appointments and confirmations

Bihter Ozedirne was confirmed as Lobby Corps director.

Brittany Pickwoad was confirmed to the Aggie Bound Outreach Commission.

Aaron Hsu, Joshua Coronado-Moses, Kabir Kapur, Michael Juarez and Eric Renslo were confirmed to Internal Affairs Commission.

Edd Montelongo was re-confirmed as Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission (ECAC) chair.

Suzanne Lewis was confirmed as director of the Experimental College.

Rosa Gonzales was confirmed as director of The Pantry.

Unit director reports

Lauren Jabusch from Campus Center for the Environment said that it are holding a sustainability summit today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and there will be a free lunch.

Aaron Giampietro from Lobby Corps said that the unit will be presenting the Legislature of the Year Award to Senator Ed Hernandez this Wednesday at the Activities and Recreation Center in Ballroom 1 at 6 p.m.

Consideration of old legislation

Senate Bill 100, authored by Diaz-Ordaz, co-authored by K. Ramirez, N. Ramirez and Vergara, introduced by Diaz-Ordaz, to allocate $600 from Senate Reserves to fund the first annual S.P.E.A.K. Scholarship during AB 540 Awareness Week, put on by Scholars Promoting Education, Awareness and Knowledge (S.P.E.A.K.). Moosavi said that he was concerned that the money for this scholarship was coming from the wrong place and that the bill would only be helping two students. Diaz-Ordaz said that he felt that if they could retain even one student, he hoped the senate would think the bill would be worth funding. Sterling said that she supported the ideals behind this bill, but as a senator she did not think the bill was a sustainable use of senate reserves. Provencher said that he would rather see it put in an endowment fund so it could gain interest, not just given out as a one-time thing. The bill failed in a 4-7 vote. Sterling, Repicky, Provencher, Moosavi, Martin, Lee and Bae voted no.

Senate Resolution 19 authored by Brian Barnett, co-authored by Bryen Alperin, Alison Tanner, Thongsavat, Vasudeva and Belser, introduced by Lee, to support the Special Transportation Services/Tipsy Taxi ASUCD Executive Office Special Task Force to overturn Section 3023(d) of the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users” of 2005. The bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 105, authored by Cano, to restructure the Student-Police Relations Committee. Moosavi said that they should put the committee under the Campus Safety Commission. After a long conversation, the senate decided to talk about the larger issue at another time and focus on the bill at hand. The bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 103, authored by Sergio Cano, co-authored by Ryan Meyerhoff, introduced by Cano, to prohibit the Elections Committee members from obtaining a Nominating Petition and Notice of Candidacy. The bill was tabled.

Senate Bill 106, authored by Cano to expand oversight of the ASUCD Elections Committee, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 107 authored by Cano to address listserv usage in the Election Codes, passed unanimously.

Public discussion

Repicky applauded Moosavi and Will Quinn, Environmental Policy and Planning Commission chair, for their hard work in removing plastic bags from the UC Davis Bookstore.

Bae said that she thinks having consistency in interviews that are two days long is very important. She said she didn’t think it was fair to hold completely different interviews for all applicants.

Brian said that he was disappointed to hear about issues with Business and Finance interviews and that he would bring it up with the commission.

Provencher said that there have been talks about actions taken by a court justice. Provencher said he would like to impeach the court justice to determine whether or not they acted in a manner that was appropriate.

Meeting adjourned at 10:49 p.m.

Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy.ucdavis.edu. HANNAH STRUMWASSER compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

University of California students are accusing administrators of infiltrating their protests, leading to questions about First Amendment rights within the public university setting.

At a UC Davis protest on March 2, students discovered a police officer – Joanne Zekany – dressed in plain clothes, communicating with administrators and other police officers about the protesters’ plans. Later, public record requests confirmed the existence of a team of administrators and staff charged with monitoring protests.

Other documents reveal that UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz have their own ways of responding to and surveying student activism. UC Berkeley Student Affairs administrators and staff monitor demonstrations and have a group named The Crisis Team. While both campuses utilize video and photo surveillance at events, UC Santa Cruz went one step further last spring by spending $6,000 to hire a private investigator.

Officials say these actions are consistent with the University of California’s policy on Speech and Advocacy, in which campuses are to protect free expression, speech and assembly, as well as maintain normal university business and ensure safety.

How to go about doing this is up to each campus, said Eric Heng, policy and program analyst at the UC Office of the President. Some campuses establish an official team, while others act depending on the circumstance. Heng also said that UC President Mark Yudof and UCOP don’t organize these efforts.

Students discover the UC Davis Student Activism Team

After filing a California Public Records Act request, a group of students received over 280 pages of public documents, which proved that UC Davis Student Affairs administrators and staff had formed a Student Activism Team in August of 2010.

According to a document dated Nov. 1, 2010 and detailing the team’s protocol, the team is to provide a presence at campus protests, monitor the situation and update a team coordinator until the protest is over. The team is not to stop any action or stop police response. Documents also show e-mail correspondences between team members and police about planned and unfolding campus activity.

The team of volunteers contacts police when something unlawful occurs, such as students blocking traffic or occupying a building. UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said police officers do not typically engage in photo or video surveillance. Never have videos been taken for the purposes of identifying protesters or for surveillance purposes, she said, but arrests may have been filmed in the past.

“It’s a protective measure for both the police and the arrested … if you were arrested and then said that the police officer shoved you down or something, we could go back to the video and see what happened,” Spicuzza said.

How long the police department holds on to the videotapes depends on the Statute of Limitations. If a lawsuit occurred, the tapes would stay with the case reports, Spicuzza said.

Griselda Castro, UC Davis Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and team leader, has said that the team is making strides to become more transparent. The Student Activism Team roster is online, last updated on April 25. Team members are also to wear nametags at all future campus protests.

But that isn’t good enough, said Sarah Augusto, graduate student in sociology.

“If they wanted to be transparent as they say they do, they’d put student activists on the team, they’d open a dialogue with students and they would have said their intentions in the very beginning,” she said in an April interview.

UC Santa Cruz announces the Demonstration Advisory Group

On April 4, UC Santa Cruz Executive Vice Chancellor Alison Galloway publicly announced the formation of a team to reexamine the administration’s approaches to campus protests.

The new Demonstration Advisory Group is made up of students, faculty, staff and administrators. DAG will look at current policies, discuss potential changes and solicit opinions from the wider campus community.

“DAG aims at producing a better outcome for everyone involved and to improve the life of our campus,” Galloway said in her announcement.

But some sort of demonstration response program has been in the planning stages for years, according to Academic Senate documents.

Chancellor George Blumenthal convened a Demonstration Planning Team in August of 2006, and on March 1, 2007, the team issued a comprehensive report recommending the university to undertake a variety of monitoring methods. These included forming a team similar to DAG, training observers to be present at protests, communicating with protesters as well as police and assigning individuals to photograph and videotape demonstrations.

This sort of surveillance occurred on May 18 and 19 of last year, when the UC Santa Cruz Police Department hired private investigator Scott H. Newby to document a campus protest. Tom Pazo, a senior who filed a public records request, received two documents this spring – an invoice and receipt that show that UC Santa Cruz contracted Newby for 24 hours at $100 per hour. Including time allotted for postproduction and Newby’s travel to and from San Jose, the university paid a total of $6,000.

UC Santa Cruz Spokesperson Jim Burns said that the university documents demonstrations in the event of unlawful activity. He said it was necessary to hire someone as opposed to assigning the job to someone within the university police department due to the expected magnitude of the event.

This is an issue of transparency, Pazo said. The hiring of Newby likely would have never been publicly known if it weren’t for his public records request.

“That’s serious business to hire a professional investigator to photograph students,” Pazo said. “Even revealing the fact that they did it doesn’t reveal the reason why they did it.”

Pazo said he has little faith in DAG to make positive change on campus, based on the lack of communication between students and administrators.

“Regularly, the administration attends demonstrations, but there’s never a dialogue,” he said. “They treat their role as overseers; the committee is another superfluous entity.”

Similar communication, surveillance at UC Berkeley

E-mails between UC Berkeley administrators obtained through a public records act request show correspondences similar to those between UC Davis Student Activism Team members.

Leading up to campus demonstrations in November of 2009, many officials exchanged plans of action and intelligence – gathered from Twitter, blogs and Facebook groups – over e-mail. A small group of officials were referred to as The Crisis Team.

But UC Berkeley Spokesperson Janet Gilmore said the campus does not have a team comparable to the UC Davis Student Activism Team. Instead, representatives from the Dean of Students Office and the campus police department work with student leaders in planning for events – this includes booking venues and offering advice.

But based on the documents and observations, UC Berkeley administrators are responding similarly to those at UC Davis, said Laura Zelko, a student at UC Berkeley. The universities share a rhetoric aimed at co-opting students into being okay with the surveillance methods.

“Their line is that, up to a certain point, they’re there to help us protest – to help us best be involved in our campus,” she said. “At a certain point, when protests aren’t going their way, then they’re concerned about our safety.”

Alex Yao, UC Berkeley Police spokesperson, said the main concern of police is safety of the protesters and the public. Yao said the police department openly invites students to work with them to ensure a demonstration can occur, so long as it doesn’t violate university policy, rules of conduct or state laws. And in an effort to make sure those rules and laws are followed, the campus police take videos and photographs at protests.

The resultant documents are then used to potentially identify people who broke the law or violated policy. Police will sometimes share information about people who have committed crimes in the past in preparation of an event, in case those same individuals are present again.

“If someone breaks the law or a policy then they should be held accountable for it. Individuals have the right to express their opinions but they do not have the right to do so in breaking the law or violating other peoples’ rights,” Yao said. “If there is someone not in violation of law or policies then they should not be concerned.”

But university policy – like Time, Place and Manner regulations – makes it difficult to even recognize First Amendment rights, Zelko said. Under these rules, a student can’t place a cardboard sign against a building, amplified sound can only be used at two specific campus locations from 12 to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. and only recognized organizations can have a table on campus – as long as it’s no larger than three feet by six feet.

“It’s a very good move in assuring that free speech was not going to actually be free at the university; that it’d be based on a student group’s ability to legitimize themselves with a sponsorship and the right sized tables,” she said. “[Free speech] gets lost in the details of what you’re not allowed to do.”

UC Irvine and beyond

Similar monitoring and surveillance occurs at UC Irvine, according to John Brunning, a recent UC Irvine graduate. Brunning has filed three requests for public records – the first one was to find out why he was arrested at a particular protest, and it yielded 350 pages of documents. One thing that stood out was that police held briefings before protests, discussing the identities and photos of activists expected to be present.

This is consistent with UC Berkeley’s protocol, as stated by Yao. And although Brunning had seen police snapping photos at demonstrations in the past, he found the extent to which the photography is used shocking.

“They had a briefing about me and were showing photos of me,” he said. “I ended up being arrested at that protest a few hours later. It seemed like, to me, they were basically planning to arrest me.”

Documents also show correspondences between police and members of the Dean of Students Office. Rameen Talesh, UC Irvine dean of students and assistant vice chancellor of Student Affairs, did not respond to questions regarding the campus surveillance policies. However, he said his offices work hard to keep people safe and respond to concerns in a timely manner.

“We take very seriously the rights of all members of our community and the public to use our campus to its full educational potential,” Talesh said in an e-mail.

Some universities take a more hands-on approach. At UC Riverside, students are required to register a demonstration with the dean of students beforehand. At UCLA, Student Affairs representatives and the campus police maintain regular discussions with student groups about upcoming events.

But regardless of the way each university chooses to respond to protests, officials at every UC campus echoed the same sentiments – their actions are in the interest of student safety, protecting free speech and allowing university business to continue as normal.

Students continue to dig for information

Students across the UC system are in the process of filing public records act requests. Some students want teams disbanded, others demand transparency.

University officials maintain that regulations and precautions are necessary, in part for student safety. Laura Zelko, student at UC Berkeley, doesn’t find this argument justified.

“This is our prerogative as protesters to put ourselves in situations that we wouldn’t usually to make a point or get a demand,” she said. “That is what civil disobedience is for, and to do it safely is not possible.”

But realistically, Zelko doesn’t see this argument ending. Furthermore, she doesn’t see the monitoring, surveillance or police response changing.

“In their position as administrators trying to maintain control and legitimatize themselves against a group of people speaking out against them, it makes sense,” she said. “I would love to say that I think they shouldn’t, but I don’t think that’s even a possibility. There’s always going to be surveillance and infiltration … We can ask them not to, but I don’t think they’ll ever stop.”??

JANELLE BITKER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Senator Andre Lee and Vice President Bree Rombi have created a bill that will allow Shields Library to install more power outlets for students.

After a full vote from the senate last Thursday, the project will begin this summer and will be ready for the fall of 2011.

“The bill we wrote was for the purchase of 30 outlet strips which are for the 30 tables in the Main Reading Room,” Rombi said. “Each outlet strip has 6 plugs on it, which means that each person sitting at a table will be able to plug in one device of their choice.”

The Main Reading Room is currently the largest single study space on campus and will be the only place to receive more outlets for the project.

“Andre and Bree have been amazing throughout the whole process,” said Helen Henry, associate university librarian for administrative services and technology. “The library is a place where students should feel good about studying and right now with the limited outlet space, we have students moving tables instead of staying in one place; this is something we want to change.”

Over the past four years the library has received many complaints and suggestions through the suggestion box to replace the old outlets in the Main Reading Room.

“These days almost every student has a laptop or some type of tech item. With tables that seat six people, there is usually only one open outlet. This has to change if we don’t want students running around the library to find a new study spot,” Lee said.

The project is important to all of those involved because it is about putting the students first. The library has been waiting to install new outlets but couldn’t move forward until they checked for full capacity to add the outlets.

“This is a really straightforward project that just needed time and money to complete. It’s easy because without more outlets students during crunch time for midterms and finals can’t get their laptops charged when they are trying to study in the facility,” Lee said.

ASUCD has passed a bill to pay for the material costs, which will be approximately $4,000. The library will be paying for the labor costs, which will be about $3,000. ASUCD is also currently talking with Fred Wood and Student Affairs to secure additional funding that will help defray the cost.

Lee is excited to see his project finished and feels that it will help students.

“This project is about convenience and taking away stress. College students will now be able to sit down and get their work done for hours at a time like they are supposed to,” Lee said.

RACHEL LEVY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

A group of students and community members gathered last Wednesday in support of the Domes, a cooperative living community on campus, which is slated to be closed July 31 due to safety issues.

The supporters of the Domes, or “Domies,” have been working with the administration to find an alternative option for the Domes. Students and community members gathered Wednesday to ask for a public statement from the university saying that they will allow the community to stay on the site.

“Today we’re celebrating the Domes community and we’re here to acknowledge all the hard work that’s gone into creating a future vision for the Domes,” said Janaki Jagannath, Domes resident and senior international agriculture development major. “We’re looking for a public or written statement of a commitment to keep Domies on the land over the summer.”

Last year, Student Housing deemed the Domes structures unsafe, and the university said that they would be closing the cooperative housing community in the fall. In response, Domes supporters worked with the Solar Community Housing Association, a community housing group in Davis. In collaboration, they produced a proposal for the Domes in which SCHA would lease the Domes property from the university for 5 years. SCHA would help with the repairs needed for the current structures while the next generation of Domes are built.

The proposal was presented to Student Housing last month, and while administrators said that they liked the proposal, there have been no formal agreements yet.

On Wednesday, a group of over 60 students and community members presented over 1,000 letters of support urging the administration to save the Domes. The group marched to Mrak Hall to deliver wheelbarrows full of the letters to Vice Chancellor Fred Wood and other administrators.

Supporters invited students and administrators to stay and learn more about the Domes and hear from speakers from the cooperative community. Wood responded to the letters with optimism and support.

“I think that the SCHA proposal is a very good one. It’s very thoughtful and it’s got the right pieces in it,” Wood said.

Wood also told the Domes supporters that the university has no plans to build anything else on the site of the Domes, and that they would like to find a way to keep the Domies on the land.

“I want to absolutely assure you that there is no plan to bulldoze that site,” Wood said. “There’s no plan for that site at all. As long as we are pursuing these good, viable alternatives, with SCHA or alternatives with academic uses, there will be no bulldozing.”

Danielle Fodor, a former Domes resident, said that she hoped the administration would recognize the Domes as an essential part of UC Davis and do all that they can to keep the community alive.

“We’re asking for a public commitment to this community. To tell this community that you value them, that you value the kinds of things that these creative people have come up with,” Fodor said.

In the end, Wood said that he would verbally commit to continue working on alternate plans for the Domes community, and that he hoped to continue collaborating with the community members.

HANNAH STRUMWASSER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.