The Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors outlined
plans for a reorganization of ASUCLA’s restaurants, which
will see the return of Taco Bell by the start of fall quarter and
the introduction of a Jamba Juice lounge and a Whole Foods salad
bar during winter quarter of the coming school year.
The salad bar will provide freshly baked bread, salads and soups
to customers.
The board will also increase wages for all ASUCLA employees by
50 cents on Aug. 1, along with a higher range of starting salaries
for employees during the coming school year.
In addition, the board announced plans for a new training
program for ASUCLA employees that will begin this coming year.
The board also unanimously voted to increase the stipend paid to
board members to match the increase in registration fees over the
past two years.
The board confirmed that students can expect to see the return
of Taco Bell by the start of fall quarter, perhaps as early as
Sept. 1.
“An agreement with Taco Bell will be reached before school
starts, at all costs,” said Bob Williams, the executive
director of ASUCLA.
“After the Coalition of Immokalee Workers reached an
agreement with Taco Bell, the board has discussed the situation
many times. We have drafted a new contract with Taco Bell, and we
are trying to finalize an agreement as fast as we can,”
Williams said.
In addition to the board’s unanimous agreement to bring
back Taco Bell in previous meetings, there has not been any
opposition from outside organizations, Williams said.
“The board has even been in communication with student
activist groups, and we have not had any problems at this
point,” he said.
During the discussion, Rich Delia, the chief financial officer
of ASUCLA, said the board, which will continue to work with the
CIW, might also consider including a cancellation provision in the
new contract.
However, Williams said that at this early stage it was not
possible to concretely comment on any of the details, as some
negotiations are still pending and final agreements are yet to be
reached.
“Our discussions are progressing, and we are pretty
confident,” Williams said. “We still have to organize
signage, and there are minor construction projects that are
pending, but my satisfaction so far is pretty high.”
ASUCLA’s plans also include the establishment of a Whole
Foods bar and a Jamba Juice lounge, which when completed will be
the most expensive Jamba Juice venture undertaken anywhere to
date.
“We know there is a lot of demand for Jamba Juice, and we
are trying to create more social spaces for students. Instead of
another coffeehouse, we thought of adding a juice bar,”
Williams said.
The introduction of these new restaurants will see a complete
reorganization of ASUCLA restaurants and a remodeling of the
Cooperage area.
“It is our effort to provide as much variety as
possible,” Williams said.
Taco Bell will be installed instead of Cooperage Pizza, and the
Jamba Juice lounge will be built where the X-Cape Arcade currently
stands.
Williams tentatively expects the whole remodeling process to be
completed by winter quarter of the coming year.
The cost of the venture, estimated to be around $20,000, will be
funded by the income generated by the SAFE referendum, Williams
said.
“A lot of this development is coordinated with the Food
Service Master Plan that was budgeted by the proposal of the SAFE
referendum,” Williams said.
SAFE was voted on by graduate and undergraduate students in
April 2005. It passed with 59.4 percent approval by the general
student population and includes a $12 increase in student union
fees from the 2006-2007 school year, with a subsequent increase of
$12 every year until the 2009-2010 school year.
The board also announced that it has decided to start a training
program for potential ASUCLA employees during the coming year.
The first stage of the program, which will be multilingual, will
give applicants a greater understanding of the structure of
ASUCLA’s various organizations and how they operate, Williams
said.
The first stage will begin in winter quarter of the coming year,
and around $25,000 will be devoted to the organization of the
program.
ASUCLA, like most student-run organizations, has faced the
problem of retaining student employees who generally have higher
turnover rates than full-time workers, Williams said.
Despite this problem, Williams defended the high degree of
student involvement in ASUCLA.
“The enthusiasm of student workers and their ability to
work part-time shifts is vital, as we tend to experience spurts in
business activity”, he said.
Williams said the revised pay structure and the training program
will go some way in lowering the turnover rates of student
employees and attracting more applicants.
In regard to the board’s stipend increase, undergraduate
board member Gustavo DeHaro said it was approved in order to
encourage more students the become members of the board of
directors.
“As of now, if a student is trying to finance his
education by himself, it is not possible with a board member
position,” DeHaro said.
The stipend will be increased by about 20 percent to match the
increases in tuition and registration fees of the past two
years.
The board does not have to raise a motion to approve stipend
increases that are under 10 percent every year, DeHaro said. The
pay cut that DeHaro and the rest of the members took last year by
not increasing stipends has left them further behind in the face of
increasing fees.
“We did not increase stipends last year as a token of good
faith to the student body,” DeHaro said. “We thought it
would be unfair to increase the stipend and then ask the student
body to vote for the fee. But we are now behind by almost 20
percent, and that is why we are revisiting the situation,”
DeHaro said.
“With this increase, we are up to date with registration
fees now,” he added.
The stipend increase will be funded by the various sales
revenues that ASUCLA generates, DeHaro said.