Student governments will have a little extra elbow room going
into this academic year as the students’ association board of
directors passed a motion to re-allocate space within Kerckhoff
Hall.
The board met Sept. 30 for its monthly meeting.
A motion made by undergraduate representative Gustavo DeHaro was
passed to re-allocate Kerckhoff 313, formerly occupied by the
Associated Students UCLA Student Government Library, to both the
Undergraduate Students Association Council and the Graduate
Students Association.
The two student governments will have to decide on how to share
the space between themselves and submit a proposal for the space by
Oct. 13 for review by the ASUCLA Services Committee on Oct. 14.
DeHaro said that USAC President Jenny Wood and other members of
USAC had the interests of student groups in mind for the space
expansion, which could offer more space in Kerckhoff for student
groups.
The board discussed the option of removing GSA from the motion,
due to the fact that GSA had not expressed interest in sharing
spaces with USAC.
ASUCLA Student Union Director Jerry Mann said GSA was ready to
relinquish the one-third space ratio allotted by ASUCLA, but will
be interested in any new space that becomes available in the
future.
GSA President Jared Fox said GSA did not want to share the space
because USAC did not provide details about the price to operate the
new space. It also did not want to commit to paying for services
that were already available to GSA and graduate student groups,
such as computers, office supplies and equipment.
Traditionally, ASUCLA assigns space available for student
government use by allotting two-thirds to USAC and one-third to
GSA, in order to be consistent with the ratio of undergraduate to
graduate student populations.
With the new re-allocation, the space ratio between USAC and GSA
would be about three-fourths to one-fourth, respectively.
In the food-service sector, ASUCLA saw a drastic jump in sales
at Taco Bell, when compared to previous figures.
Taco Bell recently returned to campus after a yearlong absence
because ASUCLA decided not to renew its contract in fall quarter
2004.
ASUCLA Executive Director Bob Williams said the sales at Taco
Bell were 39 percent higher than the same time last year, when the
eatery was located at Campus Corner.
He added that there are plans to make the waiting area for Taco
Bell larger and more comfortable, due to the long lines experienced
by customers.
Also, Williams said the second phase of Cooperage construction,
which is currently planned to take place next summer, will include
a larger Taco Bell facility.
A healthy foods bar is also in the works, to replace Tropix on
the first floor of Ackerman Union. Williams said he expects the
project to go over the specified budget, though not enough to cause
significant financial concern later on.
ASUCLA plans to relocate smoothies to the Cooperage if the Jamba
Juice Lounge is not ready by the end of construction of the Healthy
Foods bar.
Also, there is still much work to take place at Campus Corner
which was recently demolished. Williams said a food cart was
presently located there, though it was not what is envisioned for
the area.
The board also discussed the financial status of ASUCLA and
reviewed information about Ackerman Union and ASUCLA’s
involvement in Welcome Week activities.
Williams said August was a good month for ASUCLA, though it was
not without its shortcomings.
The UCLA Store did not meet its budgetary goals, though Williams
anticipated the loss will be more than made up for with September
sales as students return from summer.
Williams said that utilities costs were beginning to come under
scrutiny, and that the high cost of energy would be cause for
concern later on in the academic year.
ASUCLA Chief Financial Officer Rich Delia spoke about several
other financial numbers regarding ASUCLA sales.
Delia said that ASUCLA projects a loss of $371,000 for the
2005-2006 fiscal year, $300,000 of which is slated to increase
student employee wages by 50 cents per hour, as specified by the
SAFE Referendum, which was passed by students in the spring-quarter
elections last year.
Also, ASUCLA currently has $9 million committed to the redesign
of the Bombshelter, the new Healthy Foods bar and the beginning of
the Cooperage redesign, Delia said.
Delia added that computer sales were ahead by 24 percent since
last year, and extra events in Ackerman Union have generated
$13,000.