USAC Recap ““ March 13

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government of UCLA’s undergraduate students. Council meetings are Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students.

Agenda

“¢bull; During public comments, more than 30 students expressed support for the resolution condemning a hate crime that occurred at a Westwood apartment on Feb. 27. Several students expressed concern about diversity and campus safety. Several students also expressed concern that the resolution had not been passed earlier.
“¢bull; During public comments, president of Hillel at UCLA, Sarah Baron, mentioned an incident of anti-Semitic hate graffiti on an Olive Tree Initiative sign that occurred on Feb. 1. In light of the recent hate crimes, Baron said she felt it was important to bring up the incident.
“¢bull; The Resolution Condemning Hate Crimes at UCLA and in Support of the Latina/o Community’s Demands was passed unanimously after editing and discussion. The resolution condemns the hate crime committed in Westwood on Feb. 27 and outlines USAC intentions to foster diversity on campus, including supporting the adoption of “Communities and Conflict in the Modern World” as a general education requirement, working with student groups to create a safe campus climate and supporting the demands presented to the UCLA administration by student groups Thursday.
“¢bull; The council approved a referendum for a student fee increase to be placed on the upcoming spring election ballot by a vote of 11-1-0. If passed, the referendum would increase quarterly fees by $3 starting next fall.
“¢bull; Contingency allocations were approved unanimously.
“¢bull; Spring Undergraduate Students Association/Board of Directors Programming Fund allocations were approved unanimously.

Appointments

“¢bull; Third-year anthropology student Eena Singh was appointed Election Board chairperson by a vote of 10-1-1.
“¢bull; Fourth-year ecology and evolutionary biology student Kyley Scheier was unanimously appointed to the John Wooden Center Board of Governors.

Officer Reports

“¢bull; President Emily Resnick said she will be meeting with Rachel Corell of the UCLA Volunteer Center to discuss how USAC can be more involved with the center. Resnick said there will be a panel discussion Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the De Neve Plaza Room about the California Master Plan for Higher Education and the future of the UC.
“¢bull; Kristina Sidrak, internal vice president, said that CALPIRG at UCLA is collaborating with the Center for Community Learning in organizing a voter registration drive. Sidrak also said she is looking for more volunteers from USAC to help with her office’s “Enough is Enough” week during the second week of spring quarter. The week’s events will focus on taking action to end campus violence.
“¢bull; Joelle Gamble, external vice president, said that applications for UNITE, a committee on campus climate with members from the UC campuses, are due at the end of the month. Gamble said that her office is working with CALPIRG to ban plastic grocery bags. Gamble said her office is still looking for people to participate in the death penalty debate, which will be held in April in cooperation with Amnesty International at UCLA.
“¢bull; Raquel Saxe, academic affairs commissioner, said her office is working for the adoption of “Communities and Conflict in the Modern World” as a general education requirement. Saxe said the Faculty Executive Committee will vote on the adoption of this requirement at its meeting this Friday.

Special Presentations

“¢bull; Representatives from Amnesty International at UCLA and the Baha’i Association at UCLA said these two organizations will coordinate a screening of the documentary “Education Under Fire” on April 18 to educate the campus community about the Iranian government denying higher education to members of the Baha’i faith.

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