Associated Students UCLA is a multimillion-dollar organization that provides student services and activities that the university does not fund. It oversees the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Graduate Students Association, Communications Board, campus services and enterprises. Board of Directors meetings are monthly and open to the public.
Store
- The UCLA Store sold $48,000 more BearWear items and more computers in August than expected, though areas such as new textbooks did not perform as well as expected.
- The textbook store will introduce additional staff members called “TEXTperts” in the fall, who will stand near the queue and help students decide how to purchase their textbooks.
Food
- Food service sales were lower than expected near the end of the summer, mainly because of renovations and closures of several campus eateries, including LuValle Commons and Rx.
- ASUCLA board members talked with the USAC Facilities commissioner about adding a composting program to their facilities. Executive director Robert Williams said the association has considered composting several times before, but chose not to for various reasons. He added that the association may change its practice now because packaging suppliers are more accustomed to making compostable products.
Construction
- The 180-foot supply tunnel connecting Ackerman Union to a new loading dock behind the engineering buildings opened recently, but crews are still working to open the patio outside of Carl’s Jr. on A-level.
- Construction of Kikka Sushi in Ackerman Union has experienced some delays because of university construction requirements, Williams said. He added that Tsunami will stay open until the new restaurant is available for students.
- ASUCLA expects to open the Music Cafe near the Inverted Fountain soon, after some information technology problems are resolved, Williams said.
Finances
- The UCLA Student Union is working with Chancellor Gene Block’s wife, Carol Block, to arrange for her and Gene Block to give copies of student artwork in the Student Union as gifts to dignitaries while traveling.
- The ASUCLA Finance Committee met with members of the Communications Board to discuss whether it would be possible to outsource the production of the BruinLife yearbook. They discussed the details of the contract, but did not make any decisions because not all members of the Communications Board have been appointed yet.
Compiled by Sam Hoff, Bruin senior staff.
Dear ASUCLA,
I strongly urge the creation of a resource center for Student Organizations.
At my Undergraduate Institution, the University of Washington, we have a very established organization that has done tremendous work in the field of cost reduction .
The SORC, or Student Organization Resource Center, is located in the HUB, or Husky Union Building. It provides a centralized place for organizations to seek resources, and it reduces costs tremendously by reducing waste and energy expenditures on the backs of students running organizations. I know as an officer in many RSOs that I am eternally grateful for the existence of that institution and was a little sad when I arrived here and realized that an equivalent center doesn’t exist. Certainly, there are 5 pages/day of free prints in the LGBT Resource Center. Certainly, there are 75 copies/quarter available in the Community Programs Computer Lab, with some 20 computers and 2 printers. Likewise, graduate students get 250 prints/quarter in the Graduate Student Resource Center (which is amazing, and I love GSA for creating it, and I thank GSA everyday in my daily gratitude writings). Various departments have printing allowances for students.
But I think that more can always be done. There are ways to reduce costs through vertical integration of services (capitalism 101) and horizontal integration, and I would love to see the equivalent of a SORC be funded for UCLA.
http://depts.washington.edu/thehub/the-sorc/
Best,
Matthew P. FitzGerald,
J.D. Candidate UCLA Law Class of 2017