The California Aggie: Introduce yourself to us — what is your name, your year, your major and your pronouns?

Amanjot Gandhoke: My name is Amanjot Gandhoke, I’m a third-year managerial economics, major, double minor in poli sci and tech management and my pronouns are he/him.

TCA: And are you affiliated with a slate?

AG: I am, I’m affiliated with the Thrive slate.

TCA: Why did you choose to run with the Thrive slate?

AG: I ran with Thive last quarter as well, and the primary reason was because many of the individuals I’ve been super familiar with. Michael Gofman, [is in] my fraternity, so there’s just individuals who I’m pretty comfortable with.

TCA: You mentioned that you ran previously for Senate, and we’re curious why you’ve chosen to represent it again.

AG: Last quarter, I think I was shy of a few votes by the end of it all. And so I’m going to share with you guys last time as well, that if I really do want to see any sort of change being done at this university, it’s going to require me being in some sort of position of authority and power. And it’s that same mindset coming in this quarter as well. Many of the things that I’m trying to do I’m still pushing for again this quarter in many of the platforms that I have. It shows that pursuit of knowing that the changes I’m looking to employ better and better this university — in order to actually have this implemented, I’m going to need to be trying to become a senator in order to have that position of authority to really push those platforms.

TCA: And what are your platforms?

AG: Primarily, I have three platforms. The first one is to vouch for student safety, and that’s going to be by bringing back Tipsy Taxi. Not only is this going to make people who are intoxicated safer, but also individuals on the road. Something I shared in my last statement was that I’ve lost a few people in my life because of drunk driving accidents, both behind the wheel and those who were just innocently walking down the road. I don’t want to lose a friend while I’m going to UC Davis, so I’m looking to bring that back.

The second thing is [the creation of] a career day specifically for ag majors. This university, [is] obviously world-renowned for being an agricultural university. I think that in some ways, we have kind of leaned away from that. I would like to see us lean toward that. Being in AGR, which is an agricultural fraternity, being a field day coordinator for the College of Ag, I see the value that comes with the ag industry, as well as those who are looking to major in ag, and I really want to push through some opportunities for those individuals. 

The third thing is being a model figure and leader for my community, which is the Sikh community. And it goes beyond there as well — it’s not just individuals who are Sikhs, but basically individuals and communities that are marginalized as well as undervoiced on our campus. I’m looking to be a voice for those voiceless communities, and a figure that they can look up to and say, ‘Hey, no matter the background that we come from and the community that we’re a part of, we can still push for something higher’ and [a] position of some sort of authority.

TCA: What’s your understanding of the ASUCD fee referendum, and what’s your stance on it?

AG: So as far as my understanding goes, and this kind of goes into the discussion we had last time as well, we’re running a deficit currently about $500,000 I believe, and our budget is set around $15 million. In order to kind of get out of that deficit that we’re in, this referendum is really going to help push us out of that hole. And the referendum, as far as being proportional to tuition goes, it’s a few dollars that are really going to go a long way, as far as being able to maintain a lot of the units that ASUCD runs. So I’m completely for the referendum.

TCA: And then what specific actions have you taken personally to ensure the passage of the referendum?

AG: Absolutely. So as far as specific actions go, people realize that I’m running for ASUCD Senate, and many of the people in my circle aren’t very familiar with what ASUCD is about. The one thing that I’ve been really pushing toward is educating those people to show them why this increase in the fee for ASUCD is actually happening. People look at it as an increase in their tuition or just basically more money being burnt on things that maybe don’t directly benefit them. But they truly don’t understand that the units and just ASUCD as a whole, what that money can really do for them as well as individuals around them.

TCA: If elected, are there any units that you are considering adopting?

AG:  One of the primary units that I’ve worked with before and I’m looking to adopt is The Pantry. Are you saying like which unit I’m looking to help out as a senator? 

TCA: Yeah.

AG: So yeah, the primary one would be The Pantry. In my days in high school, we really didn’t have too much as far as promoting or personal growth goes. But one thing that I was a part of was FFA, which is Future Farmers of America. And this was an organization that really pushed my professional development, as well as went as an educational tool. I was really able to learn about food insecurity and food distribution and the pantries and organization. I set up a conference called the Word Conference with them as well last year, which is for food waste, insecurity and distribution. I [would] really like to work with them moving forward as well.

TCA: In the case that you weren’t elected this election cycle, would you get involved in ASUCD in other ways?

AG: Absolutely. I haven’t really looked into specific positions within ASUCD outside of Senate because this is just something that I’m really hoping to gain this quarter, but I would definitely love to be part of this organization.

TCA: What would you say you would do differently than current Senate members on the table right now?

AG: I know one of the primary things, which is what you guys have seen and many students have as well, is current senators running on platforms and then eventually not capitalizing on them in their time in Senate. The way that I try to set up my platforms is ideas that are attainable — I wasn’t trying to expand a parking garage and build a bunch of parking or anything of that sort. I know these goals are something that are more than accomplishable. These are goals that can really help the overall quality of life of every student here at Davis. So I’m hoping to actually be able to follow through with these promises that I’m looking to make as well as other things as well outside of that platform.

TCA: What do you think is the biggest issue on campus right now?

AG: One of the biggest things that I saw [while] running last quarter was that people have no idea what ASUCD is; along with that, there was an election happening when I was running. And just establishing a greater relation with the student body, whether that be with better publicity of who we are, or figuring out ways to actually reach out to them. I really do see that a huge problem is just having that transparency with our student body.

TCA: How would you kind of rectify that problem? How would you have a greater outreach?

AG: Personally, I do realize that there are office hours that senators have where people can kind of drop in and whatnot. I haven’t given that specific thought quite yet, but I’d like to do something more than just that. I don’t know if that’s all that part of an effective way of being able to communicate with individuals. It’s just more of a way of a couple people being able to come in and talk one-on-one, but I’d like to develop a greater way of being able to reach out to more people on my time in office, and have them kind of realize what I’m personally trying to do, as well as what us as a Senate are trying to do as well.

TCA: Do you have any questions for us or any additional thoughts or comments?

AG: I asked you guys this last time and I wanted to see if this kind of changed with the new wave of Senators that have came through — you guys have sat through a bunch of these interviews with a bunch of individuals who have given promises, whether they capitalize on those promises or not, I personally don’t know. But you guys might have more insight. Have you seen any sort of an improvement since last time within this past quarter of current senators actually fulfilling those promises that they made?

TCA: Well, you know, everyone that ran in fall, a lot of them run on platforms like, ‘We’re going to build a new parking structure, and we’re going to do all this and more blue lights.’ And we haven’t seen any of [that].

Also, a lot of the times, even though the platforms are pretty lofty, and like 95% of the time they don’t get accomplished, I just have to say that Shondreya is putting on that gala, which I think is pretty impressive, and she ran on that gala.

AG: A follow-up question will be: What are some of the things you guys have not heard from individuals that you would like to see changed? We come in with our own kind of wave of things and platforms we’re trying to work on, but maybe some things that you guys haven’t really heard of that you think might need more attention.

TCA: I think right now, we’re all just pretty focused on the fee referendum since it’s going to affect us, obviously. So we just want every prospective senator that comes in to have a really good understanding of it and [to] use their own campaign to also campaign for the referendum.

Also, I’ve heard so many senators run on the platform of ‘We will live-stream Senate meetings,’ and it’s so easy and nobody’s ever accomplished that, which I feel like would take an hour to coordinate.

AG: Is that something you guys would look into if they were being live-streamed? Would you actually watch the meetings?

TCA: I think it’d be helpful for us since we report on Senate every week. Then we could go back and watch it.

AG: It’s surprising that people have been promising that for a while, and seems pretty easy, so I would assume it’d be something they’d do.

The California Aggie: If you could introduce yourself — your name, your year, your major and your pronouns. 

Derek Foster: My name is Derek Foster. I’m a managerial economics major. My pronouns are he/him/his. I grew up in Chico, just a little bit north of here. I’m a transfer student, actually, I went to Menlo College in the Bay Area. After two years there, I came back to UC Davis, out of the city and back to the small town vibe. I love it here at Davis. It’s really where I feel like I belong, it’s a great place. I’m a fourth-year, and I’m going to be graduating next winter. And I really wanted to get involved with ASUCD because I felt like I can do a lot of good in my last year. I want to give back to the campus that’s given so much to me, and I thought that ASUCD was the best way to do that.

TCA: And are you running with a slate? 

DF: I’m running with Thrive.

TCA: What are your platforms and how do you plan to accomplish them?

DF: So my first point on my platform is that I’m running as a financially experienced Senate candidate. I believe that the biggest troubles right now facing the ADUCD are of course their financial woes. If we don’t get the fee referendum passed, we’re going to be having to cut a lot of units. And we have to prepare for two things. Essentially, what happens is the fee referendum does pass, if it’s successful, then that would be the optimal route to go. But the work wouldn’t end there, it will just start. We’d have to then allocate those funds back to the units that have been having their funds reduced because of financial woes. And then, unfortunately, we have to prepare for what happens in the referendum doesn’t pass. What are we going to do then? ASUCD needs somebody that is financially experienced. I’ve worked at a bank for six months. I’ve been in the Finance and Investment Club. I’m a managerial economics major now, but I used to be a finance major when I was at Menlo College. I have a lot of experience in those, and I think that ASUCD needs that experience. Also, just the second point on my platform would be I really want to improve how UC Davis helps students launch their careers, particularly with internships. In the Finance and Investment Club, we have a structure that we help students from the time they’re sophomores, essentially getting into programs for sophomores, then [getting them into] a junior internship and then eventually launched into that career. That comes with a lot of resume work, reaching out to alumni — having them review all our resumes, cover letters, mock interviews, all the things that UC Davis does provide outside or clubs, but it’s not nearly as special. I would say that UC Davis really needs to go one of two routes: provide more funding to our professional clubs that would allow them to bring in more members to really, and then support those members based on their internship needs, or try and hire more specialized students to help kids go through, say, ‘Okay, this is my major, this is the field I want to go into,’ and have a student working there that has been in that field, has gotten an internship in that field, and understands what it takes.

TCA: You’ve discussed the fee referendum — what, specifically, have you done to ensure its passage?

DF: What I’ve done is when I’ve talked to people, I tell them, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do. This is why we need the fee referendum.’ And, unfortunately, I’ve gotten some pushback on that. I think a lot of people don’t want to pay more, and I have to explain to them, ‘Hey, this [fee] hasn’t been raised in 40 years. There are increased costs, minimum wage is going up. I understand no one wants to pay more in student fees, but in order to have the things that we have, we’ve got to find a way to pay for it. And they tend to come around after that. So I think just really spreading the word, making sure that people know — not just saying vote for the fee referendum, because everyone just says that — you got to explain why, you got to really take the time. 

TCA: Given that your platform is largely finance focused, why do you feel that you need to be a senator to accomplish your goals as opposed to being ASUCD Controller?

DF: Yeah, so I feel that in the Senate is the best way to do that. Because the Senate has control over the budget. I think that me being able to be a voice in the room to convince other senators. If someone maybe comes into the Senate and wants to pitch an idea that maybe isn’t very good, I need to be able to talk to the other senators. I think that’s the best way, to be in the room with the legislative body to make sure that we have a voice. 

TCA: What is your understanding of the ASUCD budget? 

DF: We’ve got 30 units, I believe. Some of the units that receive less funding would be The food Pantry. The Aggie is another one of our units that we fund, and the fee that supports The Aggie, I believe, is running out, so that’s going to be another cost that we’ve got to be able to pick up, and right now we wouldn’t be able to pay for it. Something’s got to change.

TCA: As a Senator, which units would you be interested in adopting?

DF: I would say that Unitrans is a big one that I’m concerned with, even though they’re semi-autonomous. I would like to deal with Unitarians just because I believe it’s been one of our most complicated units of high cost, high amount of assets, independent cash reserves, things that I would like to really be involved with the budget to the tune of five-and-a-half million dollars.

TCA: What do you think are the most pressing issues on campus that students are currently facing, and what would you do about it, if elected?

DF: Food insecurity is a big one. Not only do I think it’s an important issue, but it’s a dire issue. There are a lot of issues on campus, but very few [are] as important as being able to feed the students that came here. With the fee referendum passing, with more money that we have, we can help get The Pantry to a bigger place, help them be able to store more food and overall give them the things that they need, essentially. I would be willing to go and talk to them, listen to what they need. And I think it’s an extremely important issue here at UC Davis.

TCA: Why did you choose to run with Thrive?

DF: I felt that the Thrive slate was the most moderate slate, and I felt that they encompass what the whole of UC Davis, as a student body, feels. I’ve known people in Thrive before — they’re people that I’ve gotten along with well — and I thought it was the most natural fit for me. 

TCA: Have you been to a Senate meeting? 

DF: I have not been to a Senate meeting yet. Unfortunately, this quarter I have a class at the exact same time, and it is intermediate macroeconomic theory — not the class I would want to skip to be able to get there. I do plan on getting to one, and I do plan on going to one Thursday of next week, if I can talk to my professor. 

TCA: Being a transfer student, do you think that there is a lack of attention that UC Davis puts toward transfers? And if so, how would you rectify this? 

DF: The biggest one that I’ve seen is I like to compare the transfer student programs to, essentially, what the freshmen are going through, because both groups are coming in. And I see that freshmen are a lot more cohesive, and a lot of that is not just students living together in the dorms, but I think they’re really encouraged to go out and go into the clubs and meet new people and being surrounded by other people that are a lot like them. Transfer students have transfer housing as well where they all live together, but I don’t think that it’s as encouraged to go get into clubs to meet people — I only started doing that in my third quarter here at Davis, really getting out. I’d like to go talk to people and say, ‘The best thing you can do to try and find people that you really like to be with, and that’s your best way of succeeding here at Davis.’

TCA: There have been a lot of accusations in the past of toxicity and gridlock in ASUCD. How do you plan to work with everyone at the table, including and especially those you disagree with?

DF: I think that the best way to get around differences is to not go for the personal shots — the ugly stuff is what I like to call it. It just doesn’t help anybody. What we’re meant to do at ASUCD, and what the Senate is for, is to put students’ interests first, and going on personal attacks, going after people, does not serve students. And we need to be laser-focused on our goal of making sure everything we do is to advance the interests of students, and attacking each other doesn’t achieve that. And another way that I would say, going back to that, would be just putting facts first. My opinions in the Senate aren’t as important as the facts that back them up, and just going out and saying, ‘This is what I think this, is what I feel we should be doing’ is a lot different than saying ‘We have this amount of money, these clubs have said they needed it or these units have said that they need it. What do we want to do for them?’ At no point in that Is there any, ‘I don’t like you, your views are wrong, etc.’

TCA: Do you have any final thoughts?

DF: I would just go over the last little bit of my platform, my biggest pet peeve here in Davis is just seeing bikes that are abandoned. I think most of us bike around campus, and when I’m going to park my bike around Wellman, and you’re a little late for class and you just see flat tires, parts missing, abandoned, you’ll see them there all quarter. One of the big things I want to do is get going and getting those things out of there. It’s my biggest pet peeve, it bothers me every time I see it — abandoned bikes taking up spots.

TCA: Do you know who removes bikes on campus when they’re left abandoned?

DF: I was under the impression it was TAPS.

The California Aggie: Could you introduce yourself — your name, your year, your major and your pronouns?

Lucas Fong: My name [is] Lucas Fong. I’m a sophomore. My major is economics, and my pronouns are he and him.

TCA: What slate are you running on and why?

LF: I’m running on the slate of Thrive because I feel like — with having the introduction of ASUCD given to me by Andre Spinoglio and Mahan Carduny, obviously that had a slight influence — Thrive kind of encapsulates more of my vision for what I would do with ASUCD. I think they attack issues on campus. We’re all here, we’re all running for the same reasons: To be the voice of the people and try to resolve issues on campus. What I think Thrive does better than Based is they more spearhead the issues case by case, rather than having a broad spectrum taken you into account. Also, I think that Thrive does a good job of just having equal opportunity [and] equity between different groups on campus.

TCA: What are your specific platforms and how do you plan to accomplish them?

LF: I think the cool part about the whole platform thing, and if and when you get elected to Senator or Senate, is that your platforms can grow. You’re part of the team. So, a lot of these things, a lot of these issues can grow, but where mine stand right now are — the three things I want to tackle — are utilization and exposure [to] different resources on campus. Whether that be academic or mental health seminars and all things entertainment wise — all the above. Secondly, I’d like to work with SJA. I dealt with something since birth, RSV, respiratory syncytial virus. Basically, I have an extremely weak system, and I get sick faster, more severe and much longer than other people. That being said, my freshman year, when I went back home for Thanksgiving, I couldn’t return because I caught adenovirus. And that virus that takes usually two weeks to recover took me two months. And because of that, I’ve been put in a very awkward situation in the past year dealing with professors, advisors, different members of the student judicial administration on campus. And my terms of continuation, however not transparent, the professors weren’t working with me in depth. Reaching out to them, even in person, to come to a clear understanding of what I need to do and steps going forward, and cooperation was just not there. The last piece of my platform would be more recognition and public outreach for different groups on campus, different groups and clubs. I think that the amount of incredible things that each organization does on campus, I feel like the only people who really ever end up hearing about these things are the people in those organizations. I think in just getting that name like UC Davis out there for different philanthropic efforts, achievements and stuff like that, I think that would help our campus grow and get us that extra level of prestige. 

TCA: Why do you feel as though you need to be a senator to accomplish your goals?

LF: Well, because I’ve [had] previous experience with school leadership. And to a much lesser note, my entire three years of middle school I was on the ASB team and I was president for that. And in high school. I was on ASB the entire time, too. I know what it is to be on the executive board of the school from a student standpoint. I know that having that voice to really accomplish the goals that you want is only possible if you’re put in a position of power and influence.

TCA: Have you been to a Senate meeting?

LF: I have not, unfortunately. I have class during it.

TCA: If elected, what units would you be interested in adopting?

LF: I had four in mind. The first one I would like to address would be the Creative Media — it’s a long name, but that one. Two of my platforms have to do a lot with publicity and marketing. And working with that team hand in hand, we would find a much more efficient and effective way to communicate the things I want to communicate on campus that would really reach the students in a way that it’s just not doing right now. I’d also like to work with Picnic Day and the Whole Earth festival. I guess I’m kind of lumping these two together, but these are two of the greatest events that UC Davis throws. And picnic day I — if I’m not mistaken, it’s like the largest campus-wide event on the west coast. Potentially the US? I don’t know if I’m overstepping my bounds there? Those are two events that raise a lot of money and do a lot for our campus to put it on the map. And to keep those things there and to kind of escalate it to what I know it could be, I think would be really cool to see happen in the next four years. And obviously I don’t want to intrude, but I would like to work with the Cal Aggie as well, because their influence and just presence on campus, it’s undeniable. It’s something that people genuinely pay attention to, something I’ve never really seen from my past experiences. And I know that you guys are trying to become an independent group on campus?

TCA: We’re an independent publication.

LF: Okay, yeah. So I want to work with you guys to make sure you guys are still here. To be there as a support system for what you guys need, because you guys are the number one non-biased source of information on campus. And I think that’s very wonderful.

TCA: What do you think the number one issue facing our campus is?

LF: The underutilization of campus resources. Being in the Greek life community, there’s a lot of things that go unsaid, such as sexual assault, as hard as it is to hear. Over-intoxication, the use of substances that will alter your brain capacity, stuff like that, to where it kind of rewires your brain. I’ve seen a lot of good people go down dark paths because they didn’t have an outlet to properly express themselves, didn’t have a person to talk to, didn’t have that tutor, that free tutor that we offer on campus to help them grind for their midterm.

TCA: In terms of the upcoming fee referendum, what is your stance?

LF: This is long overdue. We’re paying the same student fee of $8 as the people who attended this school in 1979 did. The cost of living has gone up here drastically, cost of attendance has gone up drastically, but the student fee [hasn’t]. ASUCD employs like over 1,000-ish people on campus. You see our campus expanding every single day with different construction sites and different organizations, places opening, you’re going to need a source of income from somewhere. And the fact that we’re still paying the same price as the people did in 1979 is unbelievable.

TCA: Many people feel that ASUCD has little-to-no impact on the day-to-day lives or experience here at UC Davis. How do you plan to rectify this and plan to make ASUCD more impactful for students?

LF: I think a big part of why people don’t acknowledge that ASUCD really has an impact on campus is because they don’t know what we do. I was a culprit of it myself freshman year. Obviously, I know the inner workings of the school, but I didn’t know the logistics, the details. But they’re dealing with a $15 million budget. That’s not something that can be dealt with by the random Joe and Schmo hammering away at tambourines. Whether it’s letting a senator take over the IG for the day, or something like that, to really detail what they actually do.

The California Aggie: Can you introduce yourself — your name, your year, your major and your pronouns?

Laura Elizalde: My name is Laura Elizalde, or Paloma Elizalde. I am a third-year political science student and I am an environmental science minor. She/her.

TCA: Are you running on a slate? 

LE: Yes. I’m running with the BASED slate. 

TCA: Why did you choose BASED?

LE: First of all, their values aligned with mine. I think that also just looking at the people who had ran under BASED previous years were the same people whose platforms I sort of believed in myself and who I personally voted for. I think it just made sense to run with a slate that I support. If I don’t see myself being in support of my fellow peers who are running under BASED, how could I expect other people to buy into our vision as well.

TCA: What were some of those values that aligned with your values?

LE: [BASED’s] whole thing is BASED in action, community and advocacy. For me, the based in advocacy portion was the biggest sector. When I first came to campus, I was originally an environmental policy major. And over the course of taking classes on campus, I realized that I was more passionate about the people aspect of that. It came down to the environmental justice and the environmental racism aspect of it, which sort of led me to go more into the policy sector. This last quarter, I was interning in Sacramento with the Association of California School Administrators. Through that, as well as being a part of different orgs on campus, I realized that my true passion lies in advocacy, and that’s really what I see myself doing for the rest of my life. With that being said, BASED is a slate that really focuses on voicing concerns from all communities and advocating on behalf of all the student body, which I truly believe in.

TCA: What are your platforms and how do you plan on accomplishing them?

LE: I’m running on three platforms. The first one is mental health. I’m a first-generation student and just through my experience as a first gen., and just sort of having to navigate the system on my own and learning as I go, I realized that in order for us students to succeed, we need to support them not only inside the classroom but also outside the classroom. We hold students up to such a high standard, and to want them to succeed in the academic and personal level I think it’s really important that we provide the adequate resources to do so. The mental health portion came also just [through] being part of different orgs on campus. I realized that oftentimes, you sort of use these orgs and the community to support one another, which I think is great. But I think that we can only do so much for one another. There comes a point in time where we need someone above us that can provide those resources. To do that, I hope to work with the Mental Health Initiative and drop legislation that essentially increases the number of counselors on campus. With this referendum that’s going to be on the ballot — and fingers crossed that that passes — that will increase the amount of resources that we have in terms of money, [and] I hope to really advocate for that to go to mental health and have more resources for students that also acknowledge diversity in students’ needs. 

TCA: How were you thinking of being able to support an increase in the number of counselors?

LE: Working with the Mental Health Initiative. Because of this referendum that’s on the ballot — that I think we’re all really pushing to be passed — I think that if we had more money allocated to the initiative we could potentially hire [more counselors]. My idea is having a commission that specializes in mental health. I know that we currently have a commission that deals with student health and wellness. But I think that having one that just pertains to mental health would allow us to establish our own ASUCD counselors that work alongside the counselors that are offered to the mental health center. But just in the sense of not having it go through them for insurance purposes, having it [be] something that’s available to all students. 

LE: My second piece of my platform is sexual assault awareness. Currently, I am a committee member of the Sexual Assault Awareness Advocacy Committee. I’m also a part of Greek life. I feel like being a part of both these communities I’m able to see that there’s efforts being pushed on both ends. Not to say they’re not, to some extent, effective, but not as effective as they need to be. For me, it’s about consolidating our efforts and making sure that the resources we currently are providing are sensitive to survivors as well as more efficient. I hope to work with SAAC. My main idea is to provide self defense classes for all students. Although I recognize that this is a very sensitive topic, and a lot of times self defense classes aren’t received as such a positive thing [with questions like] why aren’t you addressing the root cause? I just want to say for the record I do plan to prioritize academic methods to targeting the root cause of the issue. But I think that in the meantime while those become effective, we need to empower our communities in other ways.

My last one’s diversity and representation. This part just comes because I identify as Chicana/Latina and I pertain prominently to that community. I serve on a club on campus CLCA, which is the Chicanx Latinx Collegiate Association, which was actually cofounded by me and a couple of friends last year. Aside from being on the SAAC community, I didn’t have a lot of exposure to ASUCD or what happens within ASUCD. I think that’s the case for a lot of the students within my community. As I started to reach out to different communities just through this election process, I realized that that’s not just the case for my particular Latinx community but, in fact, the majority of communities on campus feel that way. Students didn’t even know about the referendum when I talked to them, and oftentimes people interpret that as like, ‘Oh, it’s because these communities don’t care,’ where I see it as because these communities don’t know how to either voice their concerns or how to get in touch with people who can voice their concerns. The whole BASED slate is behind the idea of having more outreach and having senators be in the communities more often rather than expecting the community to come to us since at the end of the day, we’re working to represent them. 

TCA: If elected, what specific ways do you feel you as a senator could better serve the Chicanx/Latinx community? 

LE: I think just the fact that I have such a close relationship with them [is important]. I consider myself a leader within that community and just knowing that I do have that direct line with them and that comfort with them where I know that they’re willing to come and voice their concerns to me. Just last Wednesday, we had a panel where a bunch of different orgs come together within the Chicanx community. We all keep each other updated on what the events are up to that month. But this last Wednesday, specifically, we were starting to talk about issues that we think are going on in our community. That’s just one way that I think that I could easily voice their concerns.

TCA: Have you put any thought into what units you might want to adopt as senator?

LE: I think the Mental Health Initiative is obviously a big one because of my platform. I’d also say the ethnic and cultural affairs would make sense for me to work with as well just because of the fact that I really do want to increase the diversity and voice concerns from all students. I want to continue working with the SAAC committee. I think that it just is a good fit for me. 

TCA: Are you supportive of the fee referendum?

LE: I’m fully in support of the fee referendum. I think that my entire slate is on board with that. I know that my entire slate is on board with that. Without it, we’re going to have to start cutting a lot of the units that are providing services to students. Someone jokingly said if this fee referendum doesn’t pass, Senate would be like [a]Senate of nothing, which, although it was said as a joke, I think that it’s completely true. Without these units, Senate is meaningless.

TCA: In what specific ways have you been getting the word out about the fee referendum?

LE: Whenever we go [campaign] and give our platforms, we also talk about the fee referendum. As much as I can do with my social media outreach, I’ve been posting on my stories and whatnot, making sure that my friends are well informed so that they can spread the word about that.

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

The California Aggie:  Introduce yourself — tell us your name, your year your major and your pronouns.

Shreya Deshpande: Hi, everybody, my name is Shreya. I use they/them pronouns. I’m a fourth-year cognitive science and physiology double [major].

TCA: And are you running on a slate?

SD: I am, I’m running with BASED.

TCA: And why did you choose BASED?

SD: I currently am the vice president of ASUCD and I ran with BASED. And beyond just having run with them before, I really believe in the values and the demeanor with which previous candidates have carried themselves. I’m not sure if y’all have seen our slogan, but we’re based in action, advocacy and community, and so we’re really focused on uplifting voices of underrepresented or marginalized voices on campus, but also broadening out that discussion to see what creates those conditions. We were talking about environmental sustainability and how that affects different people on campus, and obviously social justice, but also student workers’ rights. So, BASED has sort of been in this vein for as long as I’ve been in ASUCD the past two years, and so I really aligned with their values and their work ethic and their presence in a ASUCD as a whole.

TCA: What are your specific platforms, and how do you plan to accomplish them?

SD: My specific platforms are fighting for student workers’ rights, mental health and better ASUCD funding. As we all know, the referendum is upon us, and I want to ensure its successful passage as a candidate for Senate. As a senator, I would be able to vote on the budget during budget hearings in spring. I think that that’s where a lot of that power and that ability for me as a senator would come in, is to be able to ensure that units that want their budget for specific reasons are properly allocated. And I’d be able to advocate with the units. 

Mental health is something that I ran on before, while coming in as well as vice president. I’ve been working a lot with the Student Health and Wellness Center. And I’ve been on the Basic Needs Advisory Committee for mental health. And I think the projects that they’re pursuing right now are incredible ways that ASUCD can support them through that; for example, they’re working through orientation videos and making sure that student health and wellness is, like, right off the bat when you come into college as a non-traditional student, transfer or first-year are aware of mental health resources we have on campus.

 [For] student workers rights, there’s going to be a constitutional amendment to add in the Student Workers’ Rights Commission. It was previously on the ballot in a special election last quarter. It didn’t pass last quarter, but I think that that was more due to elections mishaps rather than students really knowing what the purpose of what the amendment was. The reason that I want to support student workers rights is, as undergraduate workers, we’re not allowed to be unionized, and we have no voice.  Especially given all the things that are going down with UCPath because ASUCD was the biggest event that took like the biggest hit — so 85% of all of our employees either got delayed paychecks, missing paychecks, incomplete amounts or only got their pay raise — and so it was really messed up. And after having negotiations with our campus administration, folks in the financial office and associate vice chancellor were basically like, ‘Suck it up, we’re sorry UCPath is like this, tough luck.’ What I really want to do — having my experiences as vice president, having these connections that I’ve already built — is [be] able to go back to them and say, ‘We used to have all of the financial autonomy to be able to pay our own employees, and you’re just making it that much harder for us. These are the only sort of tangible ways, because we can’t unionize and organize as undergraduates — I see this commission [as acting] in lieu of a union [and] can concentrate their efforts on focusing on undergraduate student workers’ rights and mental health.

TCA: Can you talk about some of your proudest accomplishments as vice president?

SD: Wow, well, getting the language for the referendum all the way up and down from here to UCOP and back, that was a really proud accomplishment that we had. Working with Amelia George, who’s part of the Student Health and Wellness Center — she’s a staffer — they’re working with her on launching the project for orientation, for mental health to be at orientations, specifically, and launching a video series that’s been in my capacity as vice president and doing that through ASUCD. 

Also, one of my biggest accomplishments, honestly, is reducing the length of Senate meeting times. I’ve heard in the past they’ve gone to like 2 or 3 a.m., and, thankfully, I’ve gotten everybody out before 11:30 [p.m.] at the latest. I’m definitely very proud of that. And I’m honestly mostly proud because I have been able to establish really close relationships with a lot of the unit directors, committee directors, commission chairs and sort of rooting ASUCD not in the politics but more in the interpersonal liquidation with student government, the units that they’re supposed to be directly working with and serving, unlike the greater campus community. Being able to know everybody on a first-name basis and then know what each of the units are going through, not obviously exhaustively, but to be able to have that trust and relationship building with them has been one of my most proudest moments.

TCA: Are you graduating in the spring?

SD: I am.

TCA: So you’ll only be here one more quarter?

SD: I am graduating in spring, yeah.

TCA: Why would someone vote for you — who will only be here one quarter — as opposed to a younger candidate?

SD: That’s definitely a very valid question. And the answer is: I can’t convince people to vote for me just on age basis. Because I’m graduating, [that] is very, very fair. But at the same time, I think the knowledge and expertise having come from understanding being on the table, every Senate meeting, going through the budget and talking to all of the unit directors, I think it’s more of the experience that plays a bigger role as to why I would be a good senator. Knowing, again, the relationships that we have, the ins and outs, being on the Senate table, I think, will give me a voice, even if it’s just for one quarter. And then whoever will be the new executive team, we’ll be training them anyway and completely trusting [them] to make good decisions about the senators that they decide to put in as interim after my time. That’s not something that I can really control, but I hope that it’s more experience-related that I have going for me.

TCA: Given your knowledge and experience working within ASUCD, is there anything in particular that you would change as a senator?

SD: I think last quarter, toward the end of Fall Quarter, Senator Maya Barak had brought up a bill to create an ASUCD drive — that basically would centralize all the resources for ASUCD, various units, committees, branches of government. So the unit director has their notes from their adopted senator, or they have like their logos from Creative Media, which has also been a really big issue, just like the branding and marketing aspect. And so they have all their information centralized onto one drive, which is what this bill was supposed to create. I’ve been working on institutionalizing that in my capacity right now, but I would definitely like try to make sure that I, as a senator, do my due diligence as adopted senator for various units and committees I decide to adopt, and to make that more of a practice on the Senate table too. Because I feel like, as of right now, as vice president, I’ve seen a lot of senators that half-a– their work. And I think that that’s really disappointing, especially when it comes to units and committees that they’re supposed to adopt and support and be that liaison between student government and the unit. And what this drive is going to do is sort of centralize where they put their meeting minutes and their interviews and all of that, so that transition is going to be easier. So I really, really want to institutionalize that.

TCA: What units would you like to adopt, should you be elected as senator?

SD: HAUS [Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students], primarily, because I think the leadership currently is lacking. It’s definitely a smaller unit, and I think that they could do so much as a unit that provides a basic needs housing. And they can do a lot more advocacy, they can pair up with the Office of External Affairs Vice President, the Mental Health Initiative and The Pantry to address basic needs on the UC Davis campus at a broader level. Also, Aggie Reuse, because their unit director decided to step down, and so I would like to pick up where they left off and talk to their current employees right now. And then I would love to be on COSAF, going through the budget process and the referendum, understanding that the Council on Student Affairs and Fees plays a really big role in allocating and determining a lot of parameters for fee referenda or how money can be spent. Also, I’m not going to be biased, but I do want to adopt The Aggie — I think y’all are really, really great, especially now that y’all are moving to A Street. Definitely want to help in any capacity that I can to like make connections with SSO and y’all smoother or anything like that. 

TCA: I’m sure that you, probably more than anyone, would have a really good understanding of what would need to happen in terms of budgeting if the fee referendum were to be passed, but if it weren’t, what sort of reality do you think the association would face? And why do you think it would be important that someone like yourself, who’s had extensive involvement with the association, be there?

SD: There’s the infographic or some[thing] floating around everywhere about what a “no” vote means to cut student jobs and all that. And I think it’s drastic, and it is definitely going to be a very drastic result. What we did last year is where I can pull my primary experience from, and it was really, really difficult last year to trim the fat — that literally met foregoing student wages and having to turn them into volunteers just to make the unit exist. This is what happened with Aggie Reuse. And if the fee referendum were to not pass, I think that’s where a lot of operational cuts would have to come from. We can see the Coffee House having reduced hours. And again, the knowledge and the relationships that I’ve built with all the units, it’s hard, it’s going to be hard to have that conversation. But what I think could be a really good solution, definitely short term, is just resource sharing in general. And overall, if there’s marketing charges, consolidating that, like, ‘What can you use, or what can I use that you have?’ or vice versa, to strengthen the relationships amongst the units and committees themselves. And I have definitely worked extremely closely with the controller’s office. Kevin [Rotenkolber], also, last week just got reconfirmed as a controller, so having already known him and worked with him, to work extensively with his office to make sure that he’s the money man. I’m not that financially savvy, I’m not an econ major or anything, but I’ve learned a lot from him. Weighing the pros and cons of each unit’s priorities — it would have to result in either units being cut entirely, which is going to be really difficult, or, again, trimming as much as we possibly can. And that potentially means losing student jobs or reducing hours. Being able to have the experience of building a budget before, it’s really important to have that discussion and that communication constantly with the units and committees before making their budget [or saying], ‘Your budget is slashed and you had absolutely no idea and now you’re in Senate fighting for it.’ I don’t want that scenario.

TCA: Is there anything that we haven’t asked you about that you want to add, or do you have any final thoughts?

SD: I feel like all of my questions are more logistical, like vice presidential. How are y’all feeling about this election? Has it garnered a lot more attention, and where can we be improving?

TCA: I personally think that the campaigning just to even vote in elections has been much higher than anything I’ve ever seen before, and I think that’s something that I wish I could see every single time there’s an election.

Also, just speaking from a BUDS [Board of Unit Directors] standpoint, I think we’re a lot more interconnected with our unit directors, and that’s also helped a lot more in terms of gathering the troops.