UC Regents members review possible tuition increase, sexual harassment

On Nov. 16 and 17, UC Regents met at the San Francisco Mission Bay Conference Center to discuss pressing issues with regard to faculty, students and staff.

On Nov. 16, UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley students from Fossil Free UC, a UC systemwide, student-led organization, asked the regents to divest from fossil fuels. Students from UC Berkeley presented a letter to the board of regents which was signed by more than 650 faculty members from across the UC system, urging members to take action against the use of fossil fuels like other universities have.

“By choosing not to lead with us, Regent Sherman, you are spreading a diseased lie about the impact of the oil industry, on the climate and on people,” said Sam Weinstein, a UC Santa Cruz student. “This issue is not going away, and we are not going away.”

Students stated this topic was especially relevant in light of Donald Trump winning the presidential election, as he has denied climate change and global warming and also appointed a climate change skeptic to direct the Environmental Protection Agency.

Jasmine Marshall Armstrong, a doctoral candidate at UC Merced, also addressed the presidential election and the impact it had on students the night Donald Trump was won the presidency.

Armstrong stated that many members of the UC system, especially LGBT+ students, students of color and undocumented students are fearful of hate crimes and deliberate violence. Armstrong herself received a death threat from a white nationalist due to her support of minority groups.

“We all need to feel safe, valued and protected,” Armstrong said. “I ask you to live up to our motto of ‘let there be light.’ Let California be the light in this moment of darkness.”

The UC Board of Regents also addressed and approved a policy change requiring board members to comply with ethical conduct and sexual harassment policy in private as well as public life. This policy change comes after controversial issues pertaining to sexual harassment, including an incident in which Regent Norman Pattiz asked a female colleague if he could touch her breasts during the public airing of a recording, as well as an incident in which Pattiz was accused of saying to a female “If I wasn’t married I’d be chasing you down the hallway.”

The new policy will require regents to complete sexual harassment prevention training.

Pattiz, who sits on the Governance and Compensation Committee and was present at the meeting, said he had already begun the mandated sexual harassment training.

The board voted on reducing the number of standing committees from 10 to six and will also allow committee meetings to be held concurrently. Committee chair Regent Russell Gould stated these changes would allow each committee to be more engaged and effective during meetings.

The six renamed and standing committees are Academic and Student Affairs, Compliance and Audit, Finance and Capital Strategies, Governance and Compensation, Health Services and Public Engagement and Development.

The regents also discussed potential tuition increases.

UC chief financial officer Nathan Brostrom pointed out the existing gap between the $7 billion received from UC tuition and state funding and the $30 billion operational budget. Brostrom proposed an increase in tuition of about $300. He addressed the system’s preliminary 2017 to 2018 budget, which included growth of undergraduate and graduate student enrollment, resulting in mandatory cost increases.

“There was discussion of potential tuition increases, but we don’t know at this point in time,” said Regent Hadi Makarechian.

Makarechian presented a report by the Finance and Capital Strategies Committee explaining that further consideration of tuition hikes would occur in January.

The regents approved a three year financial sustainability plan, which includes cost-saving alternative revenues.

This discussion lead to protests on the second day of meetings, where more than 50 students protested tuition hikes outside the conference center, marching around the driveway and insisting that the regents not only freeze tuition but also to roll back existing fees.

Students moved into the meeting room and spoke over regents numerous times in the ensuing discussion. Vice Chair Bonnie Reiss gave several warnings, threatening police intervention if there were continued disruptions. Students entered at 10:30 a.m., and left the meeting room and continued to protest outside by 1 p.m.

The meeting adjourned around 3 p.m. on Nov. 17.

Written by: Demi Caceres  — campus@theaggie.org

Results show lowest turnout in four years

Over the past few years, the number of students voting in the Fall Quarter ASUCD elections has steadily decreased. 2,287 ballots were cast during the recent fall 2016 election, which coincided with the 2016 presidential election. While the past few Winter Quarter elections have ranged from 730 to 4,441 votes, recent Fall Quarter elections have not seen an increase. Out of an undergraduate population of 28,324 students, less than eight percent of students voted in the Fall Quarter 2016 election.

ASUCD holds two elections every year: one in Fall Quarter and one in Winter Quarter. Six senators are elected during each, and the ASUCD president and vice president also run for office during Winter Quarter. Students can also vote on ballot measures, which are amendments to the ASUCD Constitution or Bylaws.

Fall Quarter elections tend to have lower voter turnouts than Winter Quarter elections.

“The best explanation I can give is a combination of official elections marketing […] and the candidates campaigning themselves,” said current ASUCD President Alex Lee.

While an elections committee or party can ask students to do their civic duty and vote, much like in a general election, Lee said that candidates and their campaigns ultimately drive voter turnout.

“Voter turnout is primarily driven by the candidates,” Lee said. “We have declining voter turnout in the nation, too.”

ASUCD Election Committee Chair Sevan Nahabedian agreed with Lee’s concerns regarding voter turnout.

“Voter turnout is highest when we have more candidates running,” Nahabedian said in an e-mail interview. “Candidates and slates inform their communities about elections and students participate because the benefits of voting are clear — my friend, colleague, brother or sister [or] teammate will be elected.”

While marketing for ASUCD happens year-round, candidates are officially given five weeks to declare candidacy but can begin campaigning unofficially at their discretion. Anastasia Ruttkay, a fourth-year international relations major, recorded the second highest number of votes to win her Senate seat during the fall 2016 election. Ruttkay found it was best to campaign under the BASED slate and use both social media and personal connections to form relationships with students.

“It’s extremely important to campaign in person,” Ruttkay said in e-mail interview. “This not only helps establish credibility, but it allows you to engage with the students you will be serving.”

Both Ruttkay and Lee agreed that making a campaign personal drives voter incentive. Lee, a veteran of ASUCD campaigns, stressed the importance of a candidate’s campaign and marketing.

“In my four years at ASUCD, the level of campaigning has decreased,” Lee said. “The less people you engage, the less voters you have.”

Ruttkay noted that the reach of ASUCD needs to be extended.

“Most students did not know about ASUCD or the voting process,” Ruttkay said. “I had to walk a lot of students through the responsibilities of an ASUCD Senator and how to vote online.”

Ruttkay believes that students will not vote if they share no interest in the election, do not know how to vote or if no candidate represents their interests.

According to Nahabedian, students may simply be unaware of the role of senators on campus. ASUCD controls a budget of over $11.8 million, and operates many units including Unitrans, The Pantry, Tipsy Taxi and Entertainment Council. The senate also approves the budget at the end of every academic year and oversees the development of ASUCD policies.

“I think it is a real problem if the average student does not know that they have elected leaders who [should] represent the entire student body,” Nahabedian said.

ASUCD voter turnout was likely impacted by the 2016 United States presidential election as well. Lee predicted that voter turnout would increase with the presidential elections, but was proven wrong.

“Election day was the first day of voting for ASUCD elections which caused a lot of students’ attention to be drawn from ASUCD elections and go to the national election,” Nahabedian said.

According to Ruttkay, senate candidates did not campaign as hard out of respect for the community after the presidential election, as many students were angered or upset by its results.

“I personally feel like the presidential election took away from ASUCD elections because candidates, like myself and my colleagues in BASED, did not feel [that] campaigning post-election day was appropriate to our campus climate,” Ruttkay said.

ASUCD’s marketing for elections was also affected by the presidential election.

“We were planning to do an Instagram challenge to bolster our marketing efforts but chose against doing so because of the mood on campus following the national election,” Nahabedian said.

ASUCD hopes to increase voter turnout in the future through a combination of institutional efforts as well as increased engagement by the candidates.

“There definitely needs to be more institutional knowledge about voting and what they’re voting for, […] once people understand that, it helps,” Lee said. “But that is a harder route than, ‘My friend is running, please vote for them’.”  

Written by: Jayashri Padmanabhan — campus@theaggie.org

Fall campaign engages students in activities surrounding CoHo history

Throughout this quarter, the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) has been promoting its history in a campaign titled Students Serving Students Since 1968.

CoHo director Darin Schluep and front of house manager Lauren Woods had been planning the campaign since Spring Quarter of 2016 in partnership with ASUCD Creative Media and launched it at the beginning of fall.

According to Woods, the campaign was initiated due to the CoHo’s struggle to share its story with current employees and students.

“The Coffee House is here for the students, [so the campaign is] to help people not only appreciate what the Coffee House has to offer, but [also] what the Coffee House stands for,” Woods said. “Part of understanding that is knowing the history and having the students take more pride and ownership of that as well.”

CoHo cashier Raphie Del Mese, a fourth-year international relations major, believes the campaign has been a good way of promoting the CoHo’s history.

“Reading the timeline as a worker is fun because we have our own traditions, but seeing how it has evolved is kind of fun […] to learn about the history,” Del Mese said. “It’s such a big part of campus — it’s easy to go [to the CoHo] and not realize that there’s actual history.”

Creative Media played a substantial role in marketing the campaign, with techniques such as showcasing the CoHo’s history with a timeline hanging outside of Swirlz Bakery.

The project also encourages students to learn more about the CoHo’s history through “Throwback Thursdays,” in which community members can share then-and-now photos of themselves at the CoHo on Facebook and Instagram. Students can also answer weekly trivia questions outside of Ciao for the chance to win a $10 CoHo gift card and were also encouraged to attend the throwback pricing day on Dec. 1, during which low prices on select items such as coffee were offered.

Sophie Maquiling, a third-year design major Creative Media Marketing co-director and project manager, worked closely with CoHo administrators to make the campaign possible. Maquiling said that teams used old photographs, t-shirt designs and newspaper clippings to generate a timeline that properly embodied the students’ influence on the CoHo.

“We really want an emphasis on the Coffee House’s history and the student impact, […] so we wanted to show the student body what impact the Coffee House has had on student life and on the life of people who have worked [here] and graduated,” Maquiling said.

Woods pointed out the CoHo’s success in staying true to its intentions with only nine career managers on staff since 1968, regardless of its expansion.

“We are the largest student-run organization in the country, so the fact that it started as student-run and and is still student-run, I think is pretty remarkable,” Woods said. “Even though we’ve gotten bigger and [are] offering more food and serving more people than ever, we still keep the original purpose of the Coffee House intact.”

For the future, CoHo and Creative Media administrators hope to engage more students by better publicizing the campaign and increasing the campaign’s social media presence. Maquiling and Woods said plans to hold campaign centered around sustainability and student employment are in the works for Winter and Spring Quarters as well.

Written by: Jeanna Totah — campus@theaggie.org

UC Davis looks for partner to provide coffee, interactive programs, opportunities for students

UC Davis Dining Services has teamed up with the UC Health System to develop a new coffee agreement. This coffee agreement will establish a new coffee provider after the current contract with food company Sodexo expires on June 30.

Sodexo has maintained a contract with UC Davis for the past 46 years.

Kraig Brady, director of Hospitality and Dining Services, believes that UC Davis needs to move forward and develop an independent coffee agreement. UC Davis announced earlier this year it was installing university management in place of Sodexo.

“Having a vendor partner that will provide a quality coffee program and support our students and other academic programs is very important to our campus,” Brady said. “It’s important that we seek out such a partner and test the market on what opportunities are available to UC Davis.”

The agreement requires that the chosen contractor provide coffee for campus locations such as the Silo and ARC Starbucks, and for Sacramento locations such as the UC Davis Medical Center.

The Coffee House (CoHo) is independently run and is not influenced by the contract. The university, however, is asking bidders to leave open the opportunity for ASUCD and the CoHo to take advantage of the coffee price that is being negotiated.

The UC Davis campus combined with the UC Davis Sacramento location use about 32,000 pounds of beans a year, enough for 1 million 8-ounce cups of coffee. This requires the agreement to also request for its average annual amount of beans used: 10,000 lbs for the UC Davis Dining Services and 22,000 lbs for the UC Davis Medical Center and retail and catering services.

The university is looking for a partner that will provide not only coffee but also direct engagement with the students. This includes, but is not limited to, annual internship opportunities and/or work-study programs, scholarships, investment in student-led sustainability initiatives and financial and product support for the ASUCD Student Pantry.

The coffee partner will also engage with the new coffee center on campus by supporting the coffee sciences program through funding of industry training, facilities and research.

Arthur Lysov, a third-year computer science major, said he drinks coffee on campus not only because he enjoys it, but also because he feels it keeps him focused. He hopes the new coffee provider continues to do that with its coffee.

“It is important for us to have a good brand of coffee on campus so we can […] boost our focus,” Lysov said. “More than anything we need it to help us through our essays, midterms and sleepless nights spent studying.”

Harshdeep Kaur, a fourth-year neurology, physiology and behavior major, start every one of her days on campus with a cup of coffee.

“Having a good coffee partner is essential to a college campus because college students are heavily dependent on coffee on a everyday basis,” Kaur said. “Coffee is pretty important to me.”

Bids for the coffee contract are coming in for review by the Coffee Partnership Committee, which hopes to make a decision by Jan. 1.

Written by: Demi Caceres — campus@theaggie.org