SB #73, #76, #71 and SR #29 passed unanimously 

By SYDNEY AMESTOY — campus@theaggie.org

The meeting was called into order by Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez at 6:14 p.m. on Thursday, March 22 who then read the land acknowledgement.

First on the agenda was a presentation by Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS), more specifically the bicycle program. The program’s role includes the impounding of abandoned bikes and the maintenance of bike racks on campus. The program has been unable to hold in-person auctions of impounded bikes and has instead held online auctions.

The presenters spoke about finding more ways to convince students to register their bicycles, as only 85 bikes have been returned to their owners this past year due to a lack of registration.

Perry Eggleston, the director of TAPs, then gave an overall report of the fiscal year and what it might mean for students. 

Transportation is currently in the process of paying off debts from construction during the pandemic. The 2023 fiscal year will see an increase in prices in all parking zones because of this, Eggleston said.

“We’re asking ourselves, how can we keep this program going and still provide the revenue we need, and not push against the most vulnerable students on campus,” Eggleston said. 

TAPS plans on introducing a new service to help students, in which those parked against the rules will instead receive an invoice that gives them until midnight to pay the daily rate rather than a $55 citation. There will also be the implementation of the UC Davis alumni-created parking app Japa, which uses sensors to accurately track empty parking spaces on the campus’s least-used lots, such as Lot 30. There will be an increase in L zone spaces — the most affordable to students — in Lot 30 as well as at the Sacramento Health campus.

Students can also expect some underutilized spaces to become C+ spaces, which can be used by students at a higher daily rate.

Following the TAPS presentation, came the confirmation of the new ACUSD controller, second-year Derrick Mayer, who was voted into the position unanimously by the Senate. 

The table then confirmed fourth-year Mackenzie Field as the new vice chairperson for regulations and finance for the ACUSD Internal Affairs Commission (IAC), who was also voted in unanimously.

Associated Student Dining Services, which runs the CoHo and CoHo South, then provided its quarterly report. 

Quarterly updates included the printing of paper and braille menus for all locations, the reopening of Ciao Pizza in the Memorial Union and new hours for all markets. However, there may be higher prices on some items in the coming future due to inflation. There are also talks of creating a new employee area and patio at CoHo, but these plans are still in the discussion stage.

Senators then gave reports of their proceedings, meetings and other activities for the past week.

There was no new legislation introduced at the meeting, so instead senators looked at legislation already passed through the IAC: SB #73 and SB #76.

SB #73 was introduced by Senator Dennis Liang and seeks to change the UC Davis official mascot from Gunrock the Mustang, to a cow of an undetermined name. The bill passed through the Internal Affairs Commission and was unanimously passed by the Senate. The measure will now be placed on the spring 2022 ballot.

“I know this has been a long and arduous process, I really want to commend [Senator Liang] and [his] team, I know it has been a really hard road to get this on the ballot,” Senator Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar said.

SB #76 seeks to create a director of communications role for the ACUSD executive branch out of preexisting positions, which would subsequently replace those positions in the official bylaws. It passed unanimously.

SR #29, a student resolution, addresses the UC Davis California National Primate Research Center. The authors of the bill seek ASUCD support in the condemnation of the center and its alleged abuses, as well as support towards demands to move UC Davis away from animal testing involving primates. The resolution passed unanimously. 

Finally, SB #71 was considered. In the bill, the donation drive committee, which recently came under the ASUCD legislative branch’s guidance rather than the executive branch, asks for $3,000 for operational fees. After deliberation, an agreement was reached that $1,700 would be paid up front out of the Senate reserves, and the additional money would be sourced from the special projects fund. If that additional money is not in the fund, or provided by the fund, then the committee could return to the next Senate meeting. 

“We should give them the money in full, and make sure the money comes from [the legislative branch],” Senator Owen Krauss said.

SB #71 was passed unanimously.

The meeting was then adjourned at 9:12 p.m. by Martinez Hernandez. The meeting ended a few minutes earlier than scheduled.

Written by: Sydney Amestoy — campus@theaggie.org

A majority of the ASUCD Senate called a special session on April 13, regarding Senators Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar’s and Sofia Saraj’s absences in regularly scheduled and special meetings  

By JENNIFER MA — campus@theaggie.org 

The Senate special session on April 13 was called to order at 8:20 a.m. by Internal Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez, who then recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement. 

Senator Harris Razaqi, who called for the special session, was absent without prior communication about his appearance at the meeting. 

The special session was called to discuss a violation of Section 902 of the ASUCD Bylaws.

“The ASUCD Senate expects voting and ex-officio members to attend all regularly scheduled and special meetings of the ASUCD Senate as specified in the ASUCD Bylaws,” it states. “The ASUCD Senate also expects all ASUCD Chairpersons and voting and alternate members of subordinate bodies of the ASUCD Senate to attend all regularly scheduled and special meetings of their respective body.”

Senators Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar and Sofia Saraj were in violation of the bylaws because Bocardo-Aguilar was attending meetings virtually on Zoom instead of in person, and Saraj was absent from multiple meetings. Consequently, there may be a closed session in which Bocardo-Aguilar and Saraj could be removed from the Senate table.

Aurora Schunemann, a member of the public, said she opposed removing Bocardo-Aguilar from the Senate due to his contributions over the past two years, which include hybrid learning and support to individuals who are immunocompromised.  

Member of the public Kayla Garcia-Pebdani opposed Bocardo-Aguilar being removed as well, as he is the only Latinx representative on the Senate table.

Martinez Hernandez clarified that neither senators would be removed during the special session.

Member of the public Adriana Leal shared a personal experience regarding harassment, where Bocardo-Aguilar was a person for her to talk to. She said he made her feel safe and provided resources as well. 

Another member of the public, Michelle Andrews, said it was undemocratic to remove Bocardo-Aguilar from the Senate since the student body voted him in.

Maria Martinez also mentioned how the removal would be unfair since the Senate has previously done remote work over Zoom due to the pandemic.

Member of the public Andrew Jeremiah Muench echoed the sentiment of unfairness as only letting Senators attend in person would hurt commuters, the international student community and those who have health concerns. 

Member of the public Jackson Clark Mills said it was hypocritical to punish Bocardo-Aguilar for attending meetings on Zoom when the special session itself was over Zoom.

Member of the public Calvin Wong also had a problem with the special session. He claimed there was a lack of transparency and he only knew about it because he is enmeshed in ASUCD. There was no public post to alert the student body about the special session, and it was also late notice. 

External Affairs Vice President Saishruti Adusumilli encouraged the Senate table to take everyone’s comments seriously as this was the most engagement from the student body in around six months.

Bocardo-Aguilar then spoke on his own behalf, saying he was not in violation of the bylaws as the policy did not restrict attendance on Zoom.

Vice President Martinez Hernandez then restated she was just doing her job and that a special session must be called if there is a violation of the bylaws. 

Senator Radhika Gawde moved the conversation to focus on Senator Saraj as she missed the special session along with the previous two meetings with no communication.

Senator Owen Krauss echoed this sentiment, saying that he only wanted a closed session for Senator Saraj, not Senator Bocardo-Aguilar.

The Senate table then moved to Senate discussion, where Senator Gawde motioned to have a closed session for Senator Saraj. The motion was seconded. 

Senator Saraj was contacted for comment by The California Aggie, but had not responded as of April 26.

Martinez Hernandez adjourned the meeting at 9:45 a.m.

Written by: Jennifer Ma — campus@theaggie.org

The Student Farm saw two back to back break-ins at the end of spring break and right before spring quarter started with total losses estimated at a few hundred dollars

By JENNIFER MA — campus@theaggie.org 

In March, two burglaries occurred at the UC Davis Student Farm, according to Student Farm Director Katharina Ullmann.

On March 27, Ullmann said she discovered a broken lock and a stolen harvest cart at the Student Farm.

Two sheds had also been broken into that day and there was an attempted break-in at a third shed on March 28. This break-in involved the theft of raincoats and gloves, food items, walkie-talkies and harvest tools. The tools stolen were two knives used to harvest lettuce and other crops. 

These total losses are estimated to be around a few hundred dollars, according to Ullmann.

The Student Farm has had previous break-ins over the past two years, one of which was a break-in at a shed reported on Feb. 1, which most likely took place during remote instruction at the beginning of winter quarter 2022.

These break-ins and burglaries have not been exclusive to the Student Farm. Bainer Hall also experienced a series of burglaries throughout fall quarter 2019, which was covered by The Aggie.

According to News and Media Relations Specialist Andy Fell, there are many outbuildings around campus which are typically difficult to secure, especially when there are not many people on campus.

“We do advise anyone not to leave valuable items in sight or in unsecured locations,” Fell said via email.

Ullman, who reported both break-ins, currently does not have information concerning the recovery of the equipment nor how the police will investigate suspects, as the UC Davis Police Department (UCDPD) is managing the case. UCDPD did not respond to a request for comment as of April 21. 

Ullman, however, did share the steps being taken since the spring quarter break-ins to ensure there will not be a repeat occurrence. 

“We are working with our campus partners to determine stronger locking solutions,” Ullman said.

She stated that the most frustrating aspect of the situation is that it diverts the attention of Student Farm employees.

“It is unfortunate that the break-ins happened at the start of spring quarter, when we would much prefer to be focusing on our work and the students,” Ullman said.

Written by: Jennifer Ma — campus@theaggie.org