The Senate also heard quarterly reports, in which Unitrans announced significant progress on driver staffing 

By KAYA DO-KHANH — campus@theaggie.org

On Thursday, Oct. 27, at 6:15 p.m., Vice President JT Eden called the Senate meeting to order and recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement. 

The Senate then moved through Gender and Sexuality Commission confirmations without any objections.

The senators moved to public comments and then to quarterly reports. Eden gave a report from the Personnel Committee, which reviews the personnel policies of ASUCD and proposes changes to those policies, including those regarding employee compensation. 

The report included a list of recent accomplishments, one being that the senators are starting to gather volunteer tracking data after passing a bill to incentivize participation in hour tracking. The senators are hoping to receive a high number of responses. The Personnel Committee’s goals for the rest of the year are to propose new career-staff positions and create clear internal hiring guidelines to prevent unpaid labor.  

The Volunteer Award Committee, which gives out an award to ASUCD volunteers twice a year, and the Scholarship Award Committee, which gives out a scholarship to undergraduate students twice a year, gave their quarterly reports. 

Next, the Senate transitioned to elected officer reports, during which they gave updates on their weekly schedules and progress on various projects. 

General Manager Jeff Flynn then gave a quarterly report for Unitrans. In terms of cleaning and safe riding updates, the plastic barriers between riders and drivers installed during the pandemic remain in place, and they have a once-daily sanitizing procedure on all vehicles. 

Additionally, Flynn said that for the first time in two years, Unitrans took down their driver vacancy from the ASUCD vacancy listing. For full service, 175 drivers are needed, and as of Oct. 2022, there are 120 active drivers, 50 active trainees and 25 hires-in-process. There are plans to slowly restore services as the year progresses. As for ridership, fall 2022 has shown the highest ridership since March 2020, with 18,000 weekday customers on average. 

They then moved on to the status of previous legislation, which includes two Senate bills, SB #12 and SB #14, which were vetoed at the Oct. 20 Senate meeting by President Radhika Gawde.

Next, they introduced new legislation CA #79, which is a constitutional amendment which, in the case of a recall vote, would allow for the student body to vote on a replacement candidate at the same time as the recall vote. 

With the consideration of the consent calendar, SB #19, which allows the ASUCD Controller to call a meeting of the Board of Unit Directing Students to elect a chair, and SB #32, which amends the hiring and interviewing process for the Judicial Council Chairperson and members, passed unanimously.

Moving to the consideration of old legislation, there was a motion to endorse the Approval of the 2022 Guide to Placing a Student Fee Initiative on the Ballot that passed unanimously. 

SB #20, which ​​allocates hourly pay for the Student Advocate Office’s (SAO) Chief of Staff, was tabled. 

CA #80, which places a vote on the fall election ballot to ensure continuity in elections administration, and CA #81, which places a vote on the fall election ballot to allow for immediate enactment of student fee initiatives, passed unanimously.

            The senators approved past meeting minutes and moved on to open forum. 

The senators brought up the cancellation of the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event at UC Davis in discussion. One of the senators said that some students have expressed wishes for TPUSA at UC Davis to be removed as a Registered Student Organization on campus. Another senator stated that because ASUCD Senate is federally funded, they must carefully adhere to the First Amendment right to free speech. According to the senators, if there was proof that TPUSA had violated California or federal law, there is a possibility that the campus organization would be disbanded. 

Eden adjourned the meeting at 8:42 p.m.

Written by: Kaya Do-Khanh — campus@theaggie.org

The three-dimensional, interactive map allows users to explore the layout of various campus destinations with auditory guidance 

By KAYA DO-KHANH — campus@theaggie.org

An interactive, audio-tactile map of the UC Davis campus is now available for use at the Memorial Union student drop-in center. The three-dimensional printed map was created for students and visitors with visual impairments to be able to explore buildings, roads and other campus destinations, according to a recent press release. 

On the left side of the map, there is an index of campus locations in both print and braille. When an item on the index is pressed, the route to the destination can be traced on the map by following lights and a tone that rises in pitch as the user’s touch gets closer to the destination.

The map is designed for multiple touch points as users can touch anywhere on the map with both hands to feel around the map. If a user lifts all of their fingers except for one off of a building, the map announces information about that building, including the name, a description of the destination and how to get there.

“The map adds an accessible feel [to] the campus and gives an innovative opportunity to interact with the information, creating a more inclusive experience,” creator and Accessible Technology Coordinator Joshua Hori said via email. “While it’s meant for blind and low vision students, it has audio captions which are helpful for neurodiverse students. Everyone who has had a chance to try it out has gravitated towards the technology.”

In 2018, Student Affairs offered grants to employees for innovative projects that could benefit the workplace. Hori, who was working at the Student Disability Center (SDC) at the time, applied, and received a grant for this project. He then teamed up with Professor Susan Verba in the Design department, who created a course in which design students and visually impaired students created the prototype of the map and tested out tactile patterns for it. Some of the research from the course is available at the SDC.

“The map was created under Joshua’s vision while he was working at the SDC and we’re very fortunate to have it,” Jennifer Billeci, the director of the SDC, said via email. “It adds important accessibility for many individuals with disabilities. Further, it expands the understanding of multiple modes of communication for those without a disability.”

On Oct. 12, the Tactile Audio Campus (TAC) Map was presented at the annual Disability Awareness Symposium, which was put on by the Disability Issues Administrative Advisory Committee and the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. At the event, Touch Graphics, the company that created the prototype based on students’ design proposal, discussed its collaboration with UC Davis.

Billeci expressed hope that similar inter-department collaborations can take place at UC Davis in the future. 

“The SDC hopes to collaborate with other departments to design and implement new ways for students to interact with technology which is inclusive to the campus community,” Billeci said.

Written by: Kaya Do-Khanh — campus@theaggie.org

Senate sees ASUCD confirmations, quarterly reports and new legislation at Oct. 20 meeting 

By SYDNEY AMESTOY — campus@theaggie.org

Vice President JT Eden called the meeting to order at 6:12 p.m., then read the land acknowledgment statement and called roll for the senators.

The first things on the meeting’s agenda were various nominations for members and chairs of a few ASUCD committees. 

The first was the confirmation of Amanda Clark, who was unanimously confirmed as the new Judicial Council chairperson. Clark, a second-year political science public service major, already had experience being a part of the Judicial Council, ASUCD’s judicial branch that provides checks on the Senate. Her confirmation process consisted of a lengthy panel of questions from a few senators about her experience on the council and her goals for the council as chairperson. 

“I interviewed Amanda when she applied for Judicial Council the first time, and I think she was the most qualified candidate we had in that interview cycle,” ASUCD President Radhika Gawde said of Clark. “We were really impressed by her.” 

The Disability Rights Advocacy Committee (DRAC) then confirmed its four nominees, all recommended by former ASUCD President and current DRAC Chairperson Ryan Manriquez, who was present virtually. All four were confirmed simultaneously through a unanimous motion. 

The Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) then unanimously confirmed four new members, out of order in the schedule due to one of the nominees not being able to attend until thirty minutes into the meeting. 

Mariah Padilla, a fourth-year community and regional development major and a previous member of the Student Sustainability Career Fair Commission (SSCF), was then unanimously confirmed as the new SSCF chair, which is now a paid position. 

Yoanna Soliman, a graduate student in the Chemistry department, was then unanimously elected chair of the STEM committee, which oversees student outreach and equity in STEM programs. Soliman was previously a member of the committee. 

The unanimous confirmation of a new Academic Affairs Commission chairperson finished out the confirmations for the night and was followed by a round of public comments. 

Senator Aarushi Raghunathan began a discussion about the controversy surrounding Turning Point USA’s coming to campus on October 25.

“[President Gawde and I] are meeting with AVC Atkinson on this issue, as well as campus council, to inquire about how they came to this decision, and why they didn’t come up with a different decision,” Eden said about the executive branch’s plans to discuss the on-campus event.

It was also brought to the attention of the Senate that the position of Vice Controller was still vacant.

Next on the agenda was quarterly reports from some ASUCD units, committees and commissions.

Mariah Padilla gave the SSCF quarterly report first. SSCF is in charge of running the sustainability fair on campus and seeks to provide equitable access for students interested in sustainability as part of its mission statement. According to Padilla, the SSCF’s past quarter has been marked by numerous social media and in-person events for students. They are planning to hold a fall sustainability networking event in November at the Student Community Center. 

ASUCD Dining Services, in charge of the market and restaurants in the CoHo, presented a 32% growth this past quarter in their quarterly report. The report also stated that Dining Service was experiencing the effects of shipping delays and a staffing shortage. 

The Bike Barn’s quarterly report was then given by fourth-year Yael Berrol, the unit’s business manager. Berrol reported that the Bike Barn is currently looking to hire three or four new mechanics and that they have had a reported $16,000 in rentals so far this year as of the meeting. 

The Office of External Affairs then gave its report to the Senate, emphasizing its work with the UC Student Association to enact local and state policy for all UC campuses.

The Senate then saw a presentation by members of The Green Initiative (TGIF) who proposed to reinstate a student fee that would allow the program to continue operations. TGIF, which helps students access grants for sustainability research, was previously funded by an $8 student fee that was recently overturned. The new proposed fee, which would start out at $3.50 a student and increase by $0.50 each year, ultimately capping at $8 in 2034, would need to be passed for the program to continue. This proposition is the basis of SB #18. 

The Senate then moved to new legislation and unanimously passed SB #19 and SB #20 along to the IAC for further review. 

Previously mentioned SB #18 was then brought up for discussion with much deliberation. It passed unanimously and will be present on the fall ballot.

SB #12 sought to instate a formal end time of 10:30 p.m. for Senate meetings in the bylaws. 

Senator Martinez Hernandez voted no on the bill, saying that it was possibly misleading to the public, as Senate meetings often go over the predicted end time on the agenda, and could be possibly detrimental to the Senate in getting things done on the agenda on time. Senator Raghunathan also spoke on the bill.

“Just because we are ahead of time tonight does not mean that will continue,” said Senator Raghunathan. “I am a teen girl who has to walk home at night, so I think there should be some protection to keep meetings from running into 2 a.m. like last year.” 

The bill went to vote after a move to unanimously pass it was objected to. The bill passed 9-2 but was vetoed by President Gawde.

SB #14 aims to clarify the role of injunctions from the Judicial Council after the Council recently injuncted a student-voted measure. The bill led to a serious discussion about the role that the judicial branch serves within ASUCD, and whether this bill would infringe upon that.  

“It is [the judicial branch’s] job to keep us in check, the executive branch’s job to keep them in check and our job to keep the executive office in check, so I think that while we can agree to disagree with [the judicial branch’s] actions, I don’t see it as our job to tell them what they can or can’t do,” Senator Schnelbach said on the topic.

Ultimately, the bill passed at 5-4-2, but was vetoed by President Gawde.

SB #17 seeks to help facilitate debate in Senate meetings by placing more explicit facilitation rules directly in the bylaws. After President Gawde explained the rules of debate to the Senate, the bill passed unanimously. 

A guide on the process of placing a student fee on the ballot was put on hold until the next meeting due to a number of senators being unfamiliar with the material in question.

During open forum, it was decided that the quarterly Town Hall meeting would be moved to week 6, with a location to be announced at a later date. 

With that, Vice President Eden adjourned the meeting at 10:48 p.m., slightly ahead of schedule. 

Written by: Sydney Amestoy — campus@theaggie.org