Friday, March 29

USAC recap – Jan. 4




During the Undergraduate Students Association Council meeting Jan. 4, Orlando Luna, an administrative representative and advisor at UCLA’s Student Organizations, Leadership and Engagement, encouraged students and student groups to avoid in-person meetings during the upcoming shift to virtual learning. Luna added that SOLE may help student groups receive refunds for fees or deposits that they require because of rescheduling.

Public Comment:

  • Radha Patel, the chair of the UCLA chapter of California Public Interest Research Group Students, said the organization is advocating for a 75% reduction in plastic pollution in California. She also said CALPIRG is working to increase textbook affordability and voter turnout in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.
  • Sachi Cooper, a fourth-year geography student and the 2020-2021 USAC Facilities commissioner, said students should volunteer for the LA Homeless Count in Westwood, which will help determine how much funding is available for social services for people experiencing homelessness in the area. The count will take place from Jan. 25 to Jan 27.
  • Quinn O’Connor, a co-founder of the Disabled Student Union and a fourth-year theater student, said DSU is concerned about the rising number of UCLA student COVID-19 infections amid the upcoming switch to in-person learning. O’Connor also said DSU’s campaign to achieve a more permanent hybrid option has received more than 30,000 signatures.

Allocations:

  • The council allocated $144 to the UCLA Undergraduate Economics Society for its website.
  • The council allocated $1,768 to the World Arts and Cultures Undergraduate Society, an organization that aims to provide an open line of communication between world arts and cultures undergraduate students and faculty for WACSmash 2022.
  • The council allocated $716 to the UMMA Volunteer Project, a volunteer source for a UCLA free health clinic that serves the South Los Angeles community, for UVP Founder’s Day.
  • The council allocated $490 to the Asian Pacific Coalition for a virtual winter retreat.
  • The council allocated $500 to Unmanned Aerial Systems at UCLA, an undergraduate aerial robotics team, for club t-shirts.
  • The council allocated $750 for the Rocket Project at UCLA, a student engineering team on campus.
  • The council allocated $600 to GlobeMed, an organization sponsoring projects that improve nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene in high-need areas around the world, for a retreat.
  • The council allocated $300 to the Association of Chinese Americans for a Lunar New Year Festival.
  • The council allocated $200 to the Expressive Movement Initiative, an organization that aims to introduce the art of creative movement and therapeutic dance to children with developmental disabilities, for EMI’s weekly classes.
  • The council allocated $500 to Samahang Pilipino, a space for Pilipino students at UCLA to meet and learn about their Pilipino/Pilipino American identities, for the group’s 2022 winter board.
  • The council allocated $750 to the Association of Chinese Americans for Chinese American Culture Night.
  • The council allocated $500 to the Bruin Actuarial Society, an organization associated with the Actuarial Program at UCLA, for a 2022 winter retreat.
  • The council allocated $250 to the Body Image Task Force, an organization aiming to help students cultivate healthy and positive body images, for the Southern Scale Smash.
  • The council allocated $150 to Fashion and Student Trends at UCLA, an on-campus fashion club, for the FAST designer runway.
  • The council allocated $500 to Student Wellness Commission Student Education and Research of Contemporary Health for an SWC SEARCH member.
  • The council allocated $750 to LA Blueprint, an organization collaborating with nonprofits to develop mobile and web applications, for an LA Blueprint winter retreat.

 

Resolutions:

  • The council approved a resolution calling for a direct UCLA/Westwood purple line stop on the Sepulveda transit corridor. The resolution affirms USAC’s support for transit options stopping at UCLA.

 

Agenda:

  • The council approved the creation of a commuter student scholarship with total funding of $5,000. It costs a total of $5,000 with 100 scholarships of $50.

Reports:

  • President Breeze Velazquez said her office will have a COVID-19 town hall next Thursday around 5 p.m. She also said that students who are not able to receive their COVID-19 test prior to the Jan. 18 deadline may request a deferral from the Ashe Health Center.
  • Internal Vice President Cassandra Gatica said her office has been working on the True Bruin Respect, Accountability, Integrity, Service and Excellence scholarship, which is open for nominations until Jan. 14. She added that the ceremony for the scholarship will be conducted virtually rather than in person.
  • External Vice President Sarah Wang said the UC Students of Color conference has been moved online in light of the pandemic. She also said she is working to help guarantee undocumented students’ representation on the UC Regents board in the form of a student advocate.
  • General Representative 1 Hailey Valles said in a written statement that her office is planning on having events supporting diversity and inclusion in STEM alongside professionals.
  • General Representative 2 Passa Pungchai said in a written statement that her office is assisting students in their response to the increasing cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant in LA, focusing on communicating public health protocols. She added that her office is reaching out to engineering students and the bioengineering department to help initiate a new 3D printing project for face shields.
  • Academic Affairs Commissioner Angelina Quint said her office asked the Academic Senate for hybrid options during winter quarter alongside immediate transparency about the future of online classes in the winter quarter. She added that the decision to record lectures after two weeks is up to individual department policies. She also said her office will be launching a social media campaign in partnership with the Center for Accessible Teaching and DSU to help students advocate for recorded material from their professors.
  • Campus Events Commissioner Maya Sanghavi said in a written report that her office canceled most of its programming for the first two weeks of the quarter.
  • Facilities Commissioner Jane Ni said in a written report that her office is advocating to the Center for Accessible Education for leniency with remote accommodations. She added that her office is working on a fall quarter transparency report.
  • Financial Supports Commissioner Emily Yu said in a written report that her office is discussing the possibility of using FSC funds to help purchase masks for student and housing workers with Student Government Accounting and General Representative 2. She added FSC’s Academic Materials Rental program is delayed until Jan. 18 because of virtual learning.
  • Student Wellness Commissioner Tayloneei Jackson said her office is working to raise awareness of the imposter phenomenon and share methods of how to work against it. She added the campaign is focusing on transfer students, students with dependents, and BIPOC students, among other groups who have had their belonging on campus questioned.
  • Transfer Student Representative Herman Luis Chavez said in a written report that his office has created graphics to help students understand changing COVID-19 protocols on campus.
News senior staff

Kodialam is a News senior staff reporter for the Bruin. They were previously the 2022-2023 features and student life editor and a 2021-2022 News reporter for national news and higher education and features and student life. They are a third-year communication and geography student.

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