USAC recap – Sept. 22

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

Agenda

  • The council unanimously approved an allocation of $2,055 from the Contingency Programming Fund.

Officer reports

  • President Heather Rosen said she attended Rehearsal for Bruin Life, a two-hour program where students talked about their experience as Bruins. Rosen also added that the UC Council of Presidents chose not to endorse Senate Bill 376 but will not formally take a position on it. The bill would force the University of California to only hire contractors who will receive the same benefits and pay as UC workers who do similar work.
  • External Vice President Zach Helder said that on the surface he supports the pro-worker purpose of SB 376, but said he is against the fact that it will cost the UC $60 million as it is not funded by the state. Helder said that that money would come from enrollment money and would raise tuition costs. Helder said he wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Daily News and said he will fax a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown as the bill is on his desk.
  • Helder added that he followed up with contacts from Washington D.C., and discussed student debt with them. Helder said there is a possibility of an affordability bill which will be introduced by Republicans in Congress in a few weeks.
  • Student Wellness Commissioner Marvin Chen said that he attended the Food Security Work Group meeting Friday. He said that the task force is waiting for the UC Office of the President to allocate $75,000 to UCLA after UC President Janet Napolitano launched the Global Food Initiative in July 2014. Marvin said a portion of the funds would go toward USAC to create a student-run grocery store.

Compiled by Nicholas Yu, Bruin senior staff.

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