The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! channel on YouTube.
Public Comment:
- Brandon Broukhim, the vice chair of the ASUCLA Communications board, said he believed clauses in USAC bylaws were used to silence students and reporters at last week’s meeting.
- Richard White, USAC election board chair, said the new election code dictates that council members should abstain from amending any aspects of the election code if they want to run and added the election board application will be due Nov. 28.
- The vice chair of UCLA’s CALPIRG chapter Nicolas Riani said CALPIRG held a “No Bees No Thanksgiving” press conference Tuesday. He added that CALPIRG is working to get a conditional-voting registration site on campus since the 2018 midterm election saw unprecedented student voter turnout, which he attributes in part to CALPIRG’s voter registration efforts.
- A student said he thinks USAC is pointless because it is not clear what the board does.
Special Presentations:
- Student representatives from the Undocumented Student Program said the usage of the fund surplus allocated to USP was approved. They added the major change in the allocation was decreasing the amount of need-based grants and instead putting that money toward expanding the Mariposa Achievement Project, transportation scholarships, meal vouchers, books and printing.
Agenda:
- The council allocated a total of $8,843.00 from the contingency programming fund to both USAC and non-USAC groups.
- The council approved a bylaw change regarding the internal vice president’s Campus Safety Alliance. Student organizations interested in safety can now attend meetings and have voting power, which was not an option before.
- The council discussed a potential bylaw change regarding what they called an inaccurate definition of conflict of interest.
- The council discussed election code changes. Council members concluded they should carry out the charges as set forth in the bylaws or change the bylaws instead of using an ad-hoc committee to review election codes.
- The council also discussed courtesy guidelines. Council members said they thought it was important to use safe words and to prevent back-and-forth arguments during public comment. The council also discussed potentially setting specific media guidelines for council meetings.
Reports:
- President Claire Fieldman said her office will host a STEM research information workshop next Tuesday. She added her office will co-host this year’s Women’s Caucus Leadership Conference.
- Internal Vice President Robert Blake Watson said his office will organize food trucks on campus from Dec. 9 through Dec. 11. He added his office will host an off-campus living fair Jan. 20 in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. He also added the Good Clothes Good People and camp fire care package drives are receiving donations and supplies from students.
- External Vice President Jamie Kennerk said her office attended the UC Regents meeting with Student Affairs. She added the federal Department of Education released new guidelines for Title IX, which will have a 60-day public comment period.
- General Representative 2 Bella Martin said her office is working on including textbook prices in enrollment descriptions.
- General Representative 3 Eduardo Solis said his office is working to add the National Suicide Prevention lifeline to BruinCards.
- Transfer Representative Jessica Kim said her office is holding a hygiene kit drive for homeless veterans through Nov. 30.
- Campus Events Commissioner Alley Madison said her office is preparing for an advance screening of “Anna and the Apocalypse” on Nov. 29 at James Bridges Theater with a Q&A with director John McPhail and lead actor Christopher Leveaux. She added her office is adding a media gallery to their website. She also added Ultrabloom, a spring EDM festival that started last year, will be held May 3 at Sunset Recreation Center.
- Facilities Commissioner Julia Ho-Gonzalez said her office is circulating a survey about Bruin Safe Ride and Bruin Alert to gauge student awareness. She also added her office received funding from The Green Initiative Fund for moisture sensors.
- Financial Support Commissioner Jay Manzano said his office is organizing a lab coat drive from Dec. 4 to Dec. 14. He also added his office is working to make the math diagnostic test free for students in need.