The council unanimously approved weekly contingency allocations.
Councilmembers decided to work on drafting a poll that will ask students how they would like to see USAC discretionary funds used.
USAC members discussed ways to educate students about the vandalism found on a Vietnamese Student Union sign outside the student organization’s office in Kerckhoff Hall Tuesday, as well as other incidents of campus climate. David Bocarsly, USAC president, said councilmembers should attend VSU’s rally to be held Thursday at noon in Meyerhoff Park to show solidarity for the student group. Community service commissioner Anees Hasnain said she plans to meet with various administrators and leaders of student programs to talk about diversity and campus climate.
Officer Reports
Andrea Hester, internal vice president, said she plans to have USAC hold its weekly council meeting on the Hill on Jan. 22 and at the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars on Jan. 29.
Lana Habib El-Farra, external vice president, said her office will begin a campaign in winter quarter about issues relating to the UC Board of Regents. El-Farra also said she has started inviting student groups who receive travel advocacy grant funding to share their experiences with her office.
Kim Davis, academic affairs commissioner, said her office will hold a student voice empowerment forum on holistic admissions on Dec. 5 in Haines A18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Appointments
The council unanimously appointed Armen Hadjimanoukian, a second-year economics and international development studies student, to the Transportation Services Advisory Board.
The council unanimously appointed Porey Lin, a second-year political science and Russian student, to the Student Health Advisory Committee.
Special Presentations
Multiple representatives from VSU asked the council to stand in solidarity in regards to the incident of vandalism found on their group’s sign Tuesday.
Taylor Bazley, president of the Roosevelt Institute at UCLA, said the group has found more than 10 problems with USAC’s student government structure. Bazley added the group is working on finding potential solutions to restructure USAC and addressing issues such as underrepresentation of certain demographics on campus. Bazley also encouraged USAC members to attend the institute’s meetings on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Kerckhoff 152.
John Joanino from the Student Fee Advisory Committee gave the council an update on the committee, which gives recommendations to the chancellor about how to allocate student fees. Joanino said the committee is working on creating an application for certain groups on campus, such as the Student Activities Center Board of Governors, to apply for student fee compensation.