USAC staying active over summer

Undergraduate student government reconvenes this week to plan
programming and campaigns for the year and work at the campus level
for national and statewide student advocacy goals.

Representatives from UCLA attended the United States Student
Association annual national student congress in Wisconsin last
week, taking part in the discussion of action agenda items for
student advocacy groups and collegiate student governments for the
coming year.

USSA is calling for higher appropriations for higher education
in the federal budget and reauthorization of the Higher Education
Act, and is already beginning to focus on the 2006 mid-term
elections, said Jeannie Biniek, Undergraduate Students Association
Council external vice president.

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which USSA has been
working on for over two years, finally began to move through the
House of Representatives this summer. The Higher Education Act
includes federal financial aid programs, graduate fellowships and
childcare assistance for students.

Four UCLA delegates were also elected for positions on the USSA
Board of Directors. Jenny Wood, USAC president, was elected vice
chair of the women’s caucus, and Biniek was named grassroots
liaison of the executive committee.

Tina Park was elected chair of the golden pacific geographic
region, which includes California, and Roy Samaan was elected chair
of the national queer students of color caucus.

Park is currently an undergraduate representative on the
Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors, and Samaan serves
on the Student Fee Advisory Committee.

Next week, UCLA delegates will attend the University of
California Students Association congress to determine system-wide
goals. USAC is also beginning to plan and discuss its
campus-specific action agenda, to be finalized later this month,
Wood said.

USAC is also working with representatives from the Graduate
Students Association to come up with initiatives they want to
undertake collectively, Wood said.

As a whole, the council is working on planning Welcome Week, a
series of events that takes place zero week of fall quarter, and
also healthcare reform initiatives they plan to present in the
fall.

In the president’s office, Wood and her staff are
continuing their research on the Expected Cumulative Progress
requirement for College students. Repealing ECP, which requires
students to take 13 units per quarter and meet cumulative unit
requirements that increase with the number of quarters in
attendance, was a goal of last year’s council that went
unfulfilled.

Wood also expects to make her remaining presidential
appointments at the council meeting on Aug. 16. The ongoing
approval process, in which the president nominates a candidate who
must be confirmed by a majority vote of the council, was tied up
during the first round of appointments in June, when the council
majority repeatedly voted down the president’s recommended
candidates for multiple offices.

Vacancies still exist on important campus committees and
advisory bodies including the Undergraduate Student Association
Finance Committee and Judicial Board.

In the office of the external vice president, Biniek is drawing
up plans for a “get out the vote” workshop to be held
at UCLA in the fall. The conference will train UC, California State
University and community college student leaders to mobilize their
students for the November special election.

The EVP office has also drafted the return-to-aid campaign for
UCSA, which outlines UC system-wide efforts to reinstate the 33
percent level for student fees going into the financial aid
pool.

General representative Brian Neesby and his staff are examining
potential changes to USAC bylaws and the elections code, which may
come before council for approval later this year.

With few students on campus over the summer, most of the
commissions and offices are creating plans and schedules for
programs and for projects they will undertake during the academic
year.

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