USAC recap – March 10

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every week on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students. Watch a live stream of the meeting on the USAC Live! YouTube channel.

Agenda

• The council unanimously approved “A Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism,” which called for diversity training and an end to anti-Semitism on campus and around the world. More than 100 students made public comments about the resolution and several members of the press from outside UCLA also covered this portion of the meeting.

• Community Service Commissioner Cynthia Wong and Finance Committee Chair Cindy Wang presented a proposal for a student programming referendum tentatively called the “USAC Discretionary Funds Referendum.” The referendum aims to address the increasing number of student organizations applying for funds and to stabilize funding at the beginning of the academic year, when surplus funds haven’t been allocated yet.

• Internal Vice President Heather Hourdequin initiated a discussion of the USAC Live! video archive and whether council should restore footage of their Feb. 10 meeting. The controversial video features some councilmembers questioning a student applying to a position on the judicial board about whether her affiliations with the Jewish community on campus would prevent her from keeping a neutral stance. Council voted 8-1-3 to restore the footage to its YouTube channel. Hourdequin also proposed the Constitutional Review Committee discuss and draft bylaw changes to address whether council should archive videos at all and under what circumstances a video can be removed. The discussion will take place early next quarter.

• Council unanimously passed “A Resolution Calling for a Bike Safe Westwood Boulevard” after one small change in wording.

• USAC voted 12-0-0 to approve bylaw changes to the Facilities Commissioner’s responsibilities to focus on sustainability and move a stipended presidential appointment to be under the commissioner’s power.

• Election Board Chair Shagun Kabra proposed incentivizing voting to increase voter turnout in the spring USAC elections. He asked for $2,000 in discretionary funding to carry out the proposal, but Council asked him to finalize his plan and ask for a smaller amount of money. The discretionary fund request was tabled until March 31.

• Kabra also presented an amended election calendar that moved candidate orientation to April 3 and the endorsement hearing to April 19 because of difficulties reserving the Ackerman Grand Ballroom for these events. Council approved the new calendar unanimously.

• Council unanimously approved an allocation of $3,400 from the Contingency Programing fund.

• USAC voted 11-0-1 to approve an allocation of $1,100 from the Capital Contingency fund.

Officer Reports

• Hourdequin said her office is working on a proposal to increase lighting in Westwood and has been surveying the streets to see where lights are needed. She said she wants to talk with UCLA Police Department spokesperson Nancy Greenstein about improving lighting by installing more powerful light bulbs in lamps that already exist.

• External Vice President Conrad Contreras said he had a conversation about a proposal to create a University of California Office of the President representative position that would recruit students to work with UCOP. Contreras criticized the proposal because it would pit those students against the UC Students Association. He added that he decided to endorse Assembly Bill 200, which increases the number of Cal Grants in the 2017-18 academic year. He also mentioned Senate Bill 1210, which would increase undocumented student access to student loans. Finally, Contreras said the Student Lobby Conference application is due Friday.

• General Representative 1 Manjot Singh said his office is working to facilitate education opportunities that emphasize the commonalities between different religions.

• Academic Affairs Commissioner Allyson Bach said the deadline to fill out the MyUCLA survey is this Friday.

• Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich said the Porn Panel went really well and the panelists talked about consent and safer sex practices. She said she met with the UC Presidential Task Force on Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence on Friday and Saturday. They discussed increasing student representation on the task force and smaller committees. SWC will host a screening of “Hunting Ground” on Monday, March 30 at 6 p.m. in the James West Alumni Center. She said the event will also feature a panel with the film’s director and activists. Badalich said the task force was also in support of a sexual violence and gender-based violence resource center on UCLA’s campus, which would be confidential and privileged. Badalich said she plans to bring a resolution in support of resource centers for every university in U.S. during spring quarter.

• General Representative 2 Sofia Moreno Haq said she was working with Act for Equality to host a Transgender Awareness Week. She said she is working with the other general representatives to come up with guidelines for the general representative offices. She also announced that College Day will be held on April 25.

• General Representative 3 Fabienne Roth said she was excited to be working with Act for Equality on Transgender Awareness Week and promoting the civil rights of transgender people across the U.S.

Compiled by Katie Shepherd, Bruin senior staff.