ASUCD Vice President Bradley Bottoms presided over the meeting on Feb. 13. He called the meeting to order at 6:12 p.m.

The senators then attended a meeting and Bottoms called the meeting back to order at 7:26 p.m.

The meeting resumed with a presentation from Joshua Herskovitz regarding the points of parliamentary procedure. He went through all points of parliamentary procedure so those participating in senate meetings could abide by each point. He also went over point of clarification, point of personal privilege, right of rebuttal, point of order and point of information. Many of the senators had not had presentation regarding the parliamentary procedures.

SR 10 passed as a formal endorsement of AB 1433. This resolution would amend the education code to require that all Part 1 violent crimes as defined by the FBI that are received by campus police would also have to be received by local police. This would ensure that the UC Davis campus police are still the primary agency of law enforcement on the UC Davis campus.

SR 11 was passed in support of CA AB 1456. The resolution would assemble a focus group to research the possibility of a Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pilot Program in all state universities and community colleges. The program would allow students to pay a certain percentage of their annual adjusted income without being charged an upfront cost for higher education.

Shinna Kim, the unit director from The Pantry presented to give the fall quarterly update. Kim said that The Pantry collaborated with CalFresh, a program that offers food stamps to those living in Yolo County. This service will hopefully be available at The Pantry sometime next quarter for UC Davis students who are eligible for food stamps. The Pantry also applied for the Go Green grant. The Pantry would obtain $1,500 to facilitate the process of bringing fresh produce from the student farm to the unit. The Pantry has now increased its open hours from three hours to four hours a day. She also said that The Pantry is encouraging more donations other than non-perishable food items including hygiene products and snack foods that do not require cooking preparation. According to Kim, the number of students using The Pantry has decreased from 500 students a week to approximately 150.

Next, Noelle Patterson, the unit director from Project Compost, presented to report its current status as an ASUCD unit as well. She said that the unit is outreaching around the campus and community to gain additional volunteer support. Through two of its interns, the unit is creating a garden space at the Experimental College garden space. The unit is also having a trip for students on March 1 to Zamora. Students will visit a compost facility that receives a large portion of compost from UC Davis. Project Compost is also looking to reach out to fraternity chapters and apartment complexes near campus and work with them to compost leftover food.

Ballot Measure 1 was then discussed. The measure encompasses the future of The California Aggie as an independent, student-run newspaper. The senators reviewed certain aspects of the referendum and determined that they were not able to make any changes because it was too late.

SR 12 was also passed in support of CA SB 841. The legislation proposes the possible development of a medical school at UC Merced. It would allot $1.8 million every fiscal year to the Regents for the expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education. The legislation would also appropriate $1 million for the two-year planning period to establish the medical school at UC Merced.

An urgent resolution SR X was then passed. The resolution was drafted in response to a letter sent to both UCLA and USC that contained racial slurs and discrimination primarily towards Native American women. The resolution includes multiple accounts of racial discrimination at mostly UCLA, but also UC Davis. It urged Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and UC President Janet Napolitano to take action in combating such accounts of racial discrimination at other UC campuses.

SB 33 was passed. This bill concerns the Administrative Advisory Committee in regards to University Affairs at UC Davis.

SB 41 and 47 both passed. These pieces of legislation work to increase transparency for the specifics of senate meetings and processes. According to the author’s comments for SB 47, “this would address a lot of issues in student government, the notion of the ivory tower.”

SB 43 passed to include the Business Manager in the interviewing committee for the Controller to increase oversight of the hiring committee for ASUCD.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1 a.m.

UC Davis administration approved a new sustainable environmental design (SED) major within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Science under the Department of Human Ecology on Jan. 30.

The SED major will allow students to learn about sustainable and green designs and will allow them to pursue various careers within city and regional planning, architecture, real estate, education and several other fields.

“[It] will further UC Davis’ goal of providing cutting-edge sustainability education to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century,” said Patsy Eubanks Owens, chair of the Department of Human Ecology, in a press release.

The major was called for by the landscape architecture (LDA) program’s 2004 Strategic Plan and its 2009-14 Academic Plan, according to the Undergraduate Major Proposal for SED.

“There was a concern for people with an interest in sustainable environmental design who would go to landscape architecture but would not get in,” said Sharla Cheney, undergraduate adviser for landscape architecture and environmental design.

LDA is an intensive and selective program that only allows up to 36 applicants to declare it as a major each year. SED allows students without an aptitude for art, drafting and design interested in sustainable planning to pursue a degree.

“More want to take LDA than we can accommodate,” said Stephen Wheeler, an LDA professor.

Wheeler teaches one of the major’s core classes, LDA 3: Sustainable Development and Theory Practice. Many of SED’s core classes come from landscape architecture. Certain classes from civil and environmental engineering (ECI), community and regional development, plant science and environmental science and policy are included in the pre-approved electives that can be taken for the major.

Several LDA classes were changed to accommodate the new major, and three new classes, LDA 140: Green Building, Design and Materials, LDA 141: Community Participation in Design, and LDA 142: Applying Sustainability Strategies will be offered starting next year.

LDA 142 is a capstone course that students will take in the quarter before graduation. In it,  SED students will use the knowledge they have attained through their education to work on a real-world project.

“It provides students with a project to show future employers,” Cheney said.

New sustainable programs have sprung up over the past few years, including the sustainable agriculture and food systems major, a sustainability within the built environment minor within ECI, which were both established in 2011.

“SED is the first major focused on an urban environment,” Cheney said.

As of Feb. 12, four students have officially declared the major.

Gavin Pauley, second-year SED major, was the first to declare.

Pauley, originally a student in sustainable agriculture, became interested in UC Berkeley’s sustainable environmental design major. After hearing that UC Davis had just started offering SED, he switched his major as soon as possible.

“It’s the perfect medium between sustainable policy and agriculture theory,” Cheney said.

LDA 3, the class Wheeler teaches, spurred Pauley’s interest in sustainability and sustainable development. Wheeler was also Pauley’s faculty sponsor in an internship in which he took part over the past summer, living in a sustainable community in Costa Rica.

“Living a sustainable lifestyle is a big part of it,” Pauley said, referring to his education.

The program, though only two weeks old, has garnered a lot of attention.

“We hope to get 20-30 students in the first year,” Owens said.

Unlike LDA, SED is an open major that does not require an intensive application.

“We will at least meet the 20 to 30 student goal,” Cheney said.

Students interested in the major can contact Sharla Cheney, who is the major adviser for both LDA and SED, to schedule an appointment at scheney@ucdavis.edu.

The Davis Dance Marathon will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the ARC Ballroom. It costs $1 to register, and all the proceeds go to the UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento.

Alagu Chidambaram, a committee member for the Davis Dance Marathon, said registration is only a dollar, but participants are encouraged to do more fundraising,

“It’s called DonorDrive, and it’s essentially an online fundraising page that sends fundraising request emails out to friends and family,” Chidambaram said. “All that money also goes directly to the hospital.”

The money the hospital receives goes toward equipment for the children and toward creating a more homey atmosphere, said Caroline Balagot, a Davis Dance Marathon committee member.

“The proceeds are also used for child life, such as having playrooms and things that make the children feel like they’re not in a hospital,” Balagot said. “It helps the children recover faster.”

There is an incentive program to encourage people to fundraise so the more they donate the more they get, according to committee member Hannah Guletz.

“$10 will get you a Panda Express meal, $25 will get you 3 raffle tickets and a meal, and $50 will get you a dancer survival package, 5 raffle tickets and a meal,” Guletz said in an email interview.

According to Chidambaram, there will be a yoga instructor, a salsa instructor and other student clubs performing throughout the night.

“We have performers coming in throughout the night,” Chidambaram said. “The a cappella teams are coming, we have a couple of the dance organizations on campus coming. We try to involve more of the campus community by including a lot of other clubs on campus.”
The Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan club will be the opening performance at 6 p.m.

“We will be performing for 15 or 20 minutes, so about two or three songs,” said Henry Knight, president of the Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan club. “Taiko drumming is an old art form so it’s very difficult to drum modern, but we do have a few songs that have fun beats. We’re trying to incorporate more dancing.”

According to Guletz, the Golden Turtle Lion Dance Association, Jadoo and the Liquid Hotplates will also be performing during the event.

Balagot said the theme this year is “dancing through the decades.”

The Dj will play two hours of ‘70s music, then two hours of ‘80s music and so on throughout the night,” Balagot said.

The committee members said they hope to raise $10,000 this year for the Children’s Hospital.

Registration is online at helpmakemiracles.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1655 or at the door the night of the event.

— JORDYN MAY

On Feb. 13, the UC Davis Center for Student Involvement held Campus Climate Dialogue: Reporting Hate and Bias on Campus in the Student Community Center multipurpose room. Sheri Atkinson, executive director of the Campus Resource Centers, and Milton Lang, Associate Vice Chancellor, hosted the event.

According to the UC Davis Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) website, a hate or bias crime incident is any non-criminal conduct that is motivated by hatred or bigotry and directed at an individual, residence or other group. A hate or bias crime is a criminal act that results in injury, whether physical or verbal. The reporting procedure allows victims and witnesses of incidents or crimes to let administration know that it happened.

Atkinson said that the dialogue was a follow-up to a meeting with Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and a small group of students regarding hate and bias-related incidents on campus on Dec. 9.

“The meeting will provide specific protocol for reporting hate and bias and will help people make a report,” Atkinson said. “We’re also hoping to get feedback in order to make the procedure student-friendly.”

Lang said the point of the meeting was to help students and staff gain a better understanding of the protocol to report instances of abuse. Lang said that similar incidences have been reported at UC Davis have also been reported at UCs and other college campuses.

“These issues are not isolated to UC Davis,” Lang said. “But what happens here and how we treat one another is our responsibility.”

The system for reporting crimes was updated after winter break ended. Staff members at the dialogue explained the renewed steps to report incidents and crimes, and allowed students in the audience to ask questions and give feedback on the system.

Director of SJA, Donald Dudley, went through the necessary steps to file a report. All reports go to and are reviewed by SJA, Dudley said.

“SJA is concerned with both the rights and concerns for students,” Dudley said.

The process to report an incident of hate or bias is done completely online from the SJA website. Students can provide a description of the incident and also have the option to say how they would like the University to respond.

“It was only last year that we transitioned in a system where we could receive complaints on the web,” Dudley said.

Dudley said that SJA receives 50 to 60 reports a year, and most regard issues with grading or roommate complaints.

According to Dudley, the University will make anonymous reporting of incidents possible, and that it will take as much action as possible and conduct an investigation with the given information. However, he said that the University will be able to take further action if the reporter is identified.

“If you choose to identify yourself, you will receive acknowledgement, an email and will be invited to talk about the incident in person,” Dudley said.

Another part of the updated system is a new marketing campaign geared towards spreading awareness on campus of how to file reports. During the event, students and members of  the audience were invited to comment on the marketing strategies and say what things they liked best and what they thought needed work.

“We’re trying to connect students with the resources available to them,” said Nefretiri Cooley-Broughton, director of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications.

Directors of many of the Campus Resource Centers were present at the meeting. These centers included the Center for Student Involvement, the Women’s Resources and Research Center, the Student Recruitment and Retention Center, Campus Community Advocacy Center, Student Judicial Affairs and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The resource centers were offered as places for students to go when they experience or witness physical or verbal abuse, along with reporting the experience through the system.

CAPS was listed as one of the places where students can go to receive confidentiality regarding their report.

“We can offer confidentiality and provide you with a social justice lens that is really about empowering you,” said Natacha Foo Kune, CAPS director of training.

Students asked questions regarding training on hate and bias for faculty and staff. There are currently several training programs and classes regarding cultural sensitivity and community exploration for faculty and staff. The programs have been available since 1995. New faculty and staff at UC Davis are required to take these training courses.

Rahim Reed, Associate Executive Vice Chancellor, said that recruitment for staff and faculty is based heavily on the applicants’ previous experience with cultural awareness and diversity.

“We quite frankly want people who have already had exposure with diverse communities,” Reed said. “We’re looking to recruit that kind of person.”

A public data system showing which faculty members have taken courses and which haven’t is being worked on and should be available fall 2014.

“We’re in a process of creating diversity profile projects for each of the 23 units that make up UC Davis,” Reed said. “It will show faculty staff and give information about who took the training and who didn’t take the training.”

Atkinson said a follow-up to this event and further campus climate dialogues will be held in the future. Specific dates have not been set.