USAC recap – Feb. 19

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 the Bruin Viewpoint Room and are open to all students. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! channel on YouTube.

Public Comment:

• Oscar Macias, chairperson of the USAC Student Initiated Outreach Committee, said his committee’s Beyond the Score campaign will host a town hall to discuss the use of SAT scores in University of California admissions Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in the Student Activities Center.

• Nico Gist, California Public Interest Research Group student chair for UCLA, said CALPIRG will lobby in Sacramento for banning bee-killing pesticides, requiring cleaner cars and buses, reaching zero waste and ending food insecurity.

Special Presentations:

• USAC Election Board Chair Richard White presented on the election code, the election calendar and new penalty guidelines. Changes to the calendar include extending student voting hours on MyUCLA to begin at 7 a.m. during election week.

Agenda:

• The council approved a resolution giving full support to The Agora housing project.

• The council allocated $19,143.93 from the Contingency Programming Fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.

• The council allocated $4,349.63 to the Supplemental Fund for Service.

• The council appointed Eduardo Velasquez to the UCLA Community Programs Office’s Campus Retention Committee; Justin Suarez and Michelle Fausto to the Undergraduate Council of the Academic Senate; Cori Mallory and Soo Hyon Lee to the Academic Senate Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools; and Emily Simson and Zeyna Faucette to the Academic Senate Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

• The council allocated $9,870 to the judicial board budget from the USAC Daily Bruin advertising budget and $3,130 from council discretionary funds.

• The council voted to distribute $10,000 from discretionary funds evenly among the office of the president, the internal vice president’s office, the general representatives’ offices, the financial supports commission and the facilities commission, for staff compensation and other purposes.

• The council allocated $17,361 from the USAC endowment to CPO.

• The council allocated $1,030 from discretionary funds to the Academic Affairs Commission’s Travel Grant Mini Fund.

• The council allocated $23,673.95 to the Arts Restoring Community Fund under the Cultural Affairs Commission to fund arts and cultural groups for winter quarter.

• The council approved changes to the guidelines of The Green Initiative Fund.

• The council allocated $2,500 from discretionary funds to the Office of the Internal Vice President for tables and chairs for the spring Enormous Activities Fair.

• The council agreed to draft a resolution responding to a recent hate crime against the LGBTQ community on campus to bring to the upcoming UC Regents meeting March 13-14.

Reports:

• USAC President Claire Fieldman said her office will host the South Campus Research Fair Feb. 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Bruin Reception Room. She added her office and the Bruin Consent Coalition will host a town hall on Title IX on Wednesday to discuss issues related to sexual violence.

• Internal Vice President Robert Blake Watson said his office will host the True Bruin RAISE project scholarship dinner Feb. 28. He said the 10 winning students will receive $75 each in awards, but added all nominees for the scholarship will be invited. He added his office will host a spring Enormous Activities Fair April 9.

• General Representative 1 Ayesha Haleem said her office will host a international student town hall Friday to draft the bylaws for the USAC international student representative office. The office was established during the 2018 USAC election.

• General Representative 3 Eduardo Solis said his office launched a campaign called “We Love You, Undocu” to raise money for tuition and supplies for undocumented students on campus.

• Academic Affairs Commissioner Nidirah Stephens said her office is working on the Beyond the Score campaign. She added her office is making progress on establishing the “For the People” scholarship.

• Community Service Commissioner Bethanie Atinuke Sonola said her office will offer the Robert S. Michaels Leadership in Service Award.

• Student Wellness Commissioner George Louis Faour said his office will be holding the Stress Less Fair on Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bruin Plaza.