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:
- Nox Yang, a second-year sociology student, said she had read that $2 million had disappeared from the public record and asked how the Student Initiated Outreach Center and Campus Retention Committee had used the money.
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Joshua Avila, a third-year political science student, said he was concerned about $2.7 million that are missing. He said USAC has a right to demand reports from the Community Programs Office and hopes USAC will take the matter seriously.
Special Presentations:
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The council approved Samad Afzal as election board vice chair. Afzal was previously the director of investigations and the sole remaining member of the board after all of the other members resigned in November.
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The council amended the election code on a number of sections:
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These changes included a process for dissolving the election board if all of its members are removed or resigned.
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It also included a measure requiring election board chairs to submit all associated email and social media passwords, or a university administrator would be authorized to place a hold on their MyUCLA account.
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It also reduced the number of student signatures required for advisory votes to add items to the USAC ballot from 10% to 5% of the student body.
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It also gave the election board chair the option to add physical polling places in addition to online voting.
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The council now fully banned campaigning in all areas governed by UCLA Residential Life, including university apartments, residential halls and associated facilities. However, this does not preclude candidates from holding meetings in residential halls or university apartments, if all residents give consent.
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It also increased the campaign budget from $450 to $500.
Agenda:
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The council unanimously approved a resolution calling on the University of California and UCLA to divest from alleged investments and partnerships with groups tied to the repression of the Uighurs. The Uighurs are a minority ethnic group in Xinjiang, China.
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The council allocated a total of $3233.31 from the Contingency Capital Fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.
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The council allocated a total of $8,250.92 from the Contingency Programming Fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.
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The Supplemental Fund for Service allocated a total of $1186.82 to USAC and non-USAC groups.
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The Bruin Advocacy Grant allocated a total of $5250.
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Academic Success Referendum Fund allocated a total of $2000 to non-USAC groups.
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The Academic Affairs Commission allocated a total of $810 to non-USAC groups.
Reports:
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A proxy for President Robert Watson said Watson’s office is planning programming on the Hill, including a State of the Union address screening in February and events with Refillery L.A.
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Internal Vice President Kimberly Bonifacio said her office hosted an Off Campus Living Fair on Tuesday. She added that there would be a program Wednesday to talk about experiences with the Transfer Student Representative Office in De Neve Plaza from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m..
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General Representative 2 Orion Smedley said his office is working on algorithms to make the USAC expense list more accessible. He added these algorithms will help the public visualize the dataset.
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General Representative 3 Brandon Broukhim said his office has been working on changing the election code with the election board chair and the chief justice of the judicial board.
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Academic Affairs Commissioner Naomi Riley said her office has lots of iClickers because it overestimated on iClicker orders for the quarter. She added that she met with Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck about various safety issues, including the Bruins Safe app, the BruinAlert messaging system, and a training module for disaster and emergency responses.
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Campus Events Commissioner Tara Steinmetz said her office will hold Campus Movie Fest from Jan. 28 until Feb. 6. She added that on Feb. 6 there will be a screening in Ackerman Union of the student films produced. She also said that on Monday, in James Bridges Theater, there will be a screening of “The Farewell.”
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Facilities Commissioner Lily Shaw said her office will be holding The Green Initiative Fund hearings tomorrow for the main fund, with 25 applicants and up to $10,000 in grants.
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Financial Supports Commissioner Millen Srivastava said her office received 250 applications for international scholar scholarships and gave out all 150 lab coats and goggles. She added the BruinCard replacement program is running.
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Student Wellness Commissioner Mihika Sridhar said her office held I Love My Body Week, a body positivity campaign, last week and had a good turnout for events.
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Transfer Student Representative Isabel Oraha said her office is holding Bruin Transfer Pride Week this week with the Transfer Student Center. She added there will be an event called Talk About Your Experience with the internal vice president.
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International Student Representative Shahamah Tariq said her office is planning the Spring Festival during the Thursday of week four in Bruin Plaza.
