ASUC SENATE MEETING
January 23, 2013
First Week
This regular meeting of the ASUC Senate, commencing the Spring Semester, was called to order by
Justin Sayarath 7:08 p.m. in the Unit 1 All-Purpose Room. Mr. Sayarath said he would like to welcome
everyone back to a great new semester full of changes, such as the great room that they had to meet in.
Mr. Sayarath said that since this was a new session they'd begin with an optional Pledge of Allegiance. If
people wished to participate, he would ask them to please stand. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Mr. Sayarath said that to start off their session, they'll begin with the State of the Association Address by
Mr. Landgraf.
STATE OF THE ASSOCIATION ADDRESS, BY ASUC PRESIDENT LANDGRAF
Mr. Landgraf said he wanted to wish the Senators a good evening, and to welcome them to the first
meeting of 2013. This year actually marks the ASUC’s 131st year on campus, and it looked like it was
going to be another really exciting year, as they continue the transformations they were in the midst of.
Mr. Landgraf said they had quite an eventful fall, both for the campus and for the ASUC as a whole.
They had some great successes with Proposition 30; Measure R; getting 24-hour to Cesar Chavez; the
SURGE process finishing; Lower Sproul completing the design phases of the project; hiring a new Auxiliary Director, a Transition Implementation Manager, a Marketing Manager, and a LEAD Center
Director.
However, they also had challenges, frustrations, and growing pains. Their transition, although necessary
and important, has nevertheless been challenging and stretching. However, these growing pains will disappear as the transition ends.
For this semester, Mr. Landgraf said he had four major priorities for the ASUC that he thought will guide
most of their efforts for the Spring Semester. These are expansive goals that will encompass most of
what the Executive Officers will be working on.
The first goal is to direct the Lower Sproul redevelopment effort. This is a very expansive goal that will
encompass everything from surge, to Lower Sproul redevelopment, to vendor selection, and to many of
the changes that will be going on with the ASUC By-laws in terms of space allocation.
Mr. Landgraf said Lower Sproul redevelopment is finally kicking into high gear that spring, and the
ASUC will be very engaged in that development process. It will be the ASUC’s responsibility and duty
State of the Association Address, by ASUC Pres. Landgraf (cont'd)
-2-
to continue to keep students informed about the changes that are occurring with the process, to continue
to advocate for student needs and concerns during the development phase, and to continue to prepare for
the renewal of Lower Sproul. That means for the ASUC as an organization, to lay the groundwork with
new By-laws, new space allocation policies, new tenants for Lower Sproul, and new ideas to continue to
change the way students interact with Lower Sproul Plaza, both now and in two years, when the project is
completed.
The second large goal for the spring will be to prepare for the future of the ASUC as an organization.
Along those same lines, it was their responsibility to continue to improve the health of their organization
and their campus. It was the ASUC’s responsibility to expand the impact the ASUC has on this campus
and on the students, and that meant exploring new commercial options and new programs, like the Health
and Wellness Referendum, and finding new opportunities for the ASUC to impact the environment on
campus and the campus climate.
With the new Lower Sproul opening in 2015, Mr. Landgraf said it was his goal that the ASUC will be on
a strong financial footing, with developed relationships with donors, and strong ties to student and campus programs that directly impact student life.
His third main goal was to continue to fight for higher education and policy. Even with the passage of
Proposition 30, students have not won the war for higher education, and it was their responsibility to continue to lobby both to the Regents and to the State Legislature to prevent tuition increases. They need to
lobby the Legislature and the Governor to continue to allocate funds for Proposition 30, for both higher
education and for K-through-12 education in the State of California. They must make sure that the
Regents will continue to support the tuition freezes, and follow what was promised with the passage of
Prop. 30, and students must continue to encourage the Regents to reinvest in public education rather than
tuition increases.
In addition, with the passage of Measure R at the local level, Mr. Landgraf said the office will now
develop a redistricting proposal to present to the City Council in order to create the student district and
maximize student representation and policy decisions in the City of Berkeley. This was a very important
milestone for the ASUC, both for the campus, for students, and for the future of what the ASUC and the
City of Berkeley meant to UC Berkeley students.
His fourth and final goal is to continue to expand resources for students on campus. And while this is the
last goal, it was definitely of equal if not greater importance than the others. That’s because it's the
ASUC’s responsibility to maintain and expand the student resources on this campus, such as the Student
Services Technology Initiative.
In two years he wanted programs like ASUC Lecture Notes, Student Services Technology Initiatives, Cal
Central, and others, to be directly impacting student life on campus. He wanted the ASUC to be actively
developing and implementing programs for students and he wanted every student on campus to understand the tangible ways the ASUC impacts their education and their experiences at Cal.
Mr. Landgraf said he saw the ASUC as an organization that can be active in creating new programs for
success for students. He saw the ASUC being a testing ground for implementation of policies and programs that help students succeed and achieve things on this campus that are amazing. With such an
enormous volume of history behind them, they must charge ahead as an organization. Using the past as
State of the Association Address, by ASUC Pres. Landgraf (cont'd)
Report from the UCPD Liaison
-3-
their guide, they can continue to make efforts to improve their campus and their community. Mr.
Landgraf said he was excited to see what this Spring Semester has to offer. He wanted to thank the
Senators. (Applause)
Mr. Sayarath said they'd move forward with the agenda. Because they have guests that evening, they'd go
straight to Reports from Representatives to the ASUC.
REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES TO THE ASUC
Report from the UCPD Liaison
Sgt. Joey Williams said he’s been away for a little while, on vacation, and was just coming back. He
didn't have much to report on that evening. What he’d like to do was to remind Senators, in light of all
the recent school shootings, that the UCPD offers an active shooter training program for students, as well
as for faculty and staff. It was ongoing. They have a video online, but they also have in-person training,
if Senators were interested that. They could contact him at joeyw@berkeley.edu. They could do the inperson training with as few as five people or as many as everybody in the room. He just wanted to let
Senators now that the UCPD was currently doing this. It's been in existence for a long time and while it
was unfortunate, it was something they had to talk about. And in addition to the ongoing active shooter
training, they also offer RAD training. He asked if anybody has heard of that, and noted that nobody had.
It's basically a safety course, Rape Aggression Defense, predominantly for women, although they have
had some guys take it as well. It's something else the UCPD offers. If people were interested they could
contact Cici Ambrosio, at Gender Equity, for scheduling, and they could put together a group. They have
a big room that they use, with instructors who are certified throughout the State. They provide ongoing
training and they have a training currently scheduled. He’d get back to them on the date. This training is
also for anybody who has children or young relatives, such as cousins. Free training is offered to them as
well.
Sgt. Williams said that was all he had to report that evening. He really just wanted to come by and say
“hi,” since he was coming back from vacation. If people had any questions for him, he’d be happy to
answer them. Mr. Sayarath called for any questions.
Mr. Kadifa asked about the service that contacts other students by text messaging, and problems that
occurred when there was an issue on campus last semester. There was a gunman on campus in the fall,
and there was a problem with the messaging system in that it didn't actually reach all the students. He
asked if the UCPD has looked into that.
Sgt. Williams said they did. The problem wasn't necessarily the WarnMe system, but with the cell phone
service. There are certain areas on campus that don't have reception. Sgt. Williams said he was actually
one of the people who initiated this WarnMe alert because when the shooting happened, he was one of the
Report from the UCPD Liaison (cont'd)
Announcement by Ms. Rajasekar
-4-
first ones in there. And right away he had the WarnMe system activated. He was inside the building and
he actually never got his own text. Certain places on campus are called “dead zones.” This is something
the UCPD is working on with the cell phone companies, to get better service in certain buildings. As
soon as he walked out of the building on that day, he right away got five texts about the situation, letting
him know there was a shooter on campus, and that things were okay at that point and were safe. But the
system didn't help him when he was inside the building. So the problem was being addressed, and the
problem was with the cell phone service, not the actually WarnMe system.
Mr. Kadifa asked if the WarnMe system has been tested since then, or if they ever do mock tests. He
asked if that was something the UCPD has considered doing. Sgt. Williams said there has been talk about
that. They used to have the Office of Emergency Planning, but that was taken away from the UCPD and
given to somebody else, EH&S, he believed. But the UCPD does annual tests and also does monthly
tests; and people might have heard the big, public address announcements on campus. That’s one test that
goes on. It’s for when something happens, in case of an emergency, such as in the event of an active
shooter. That test was ongoing, and that campus emergency communication system is one of the things
that would be deployed, in addition to WarnMe. But currently, for WarnMe, he didn't think all areas of
campus are completely clear. Again, that was because of the cell phone companies. It was difficult since
there are different vendors on campus, and getting them to cover every area of campus was tough. Even
in Barrows, the basement was one of the worst places to be. He didn't care what service they have, or
what antennas are up. Because of the design of the building, messages probably won't go down there.
That was just something he didn't know how they could actually fix. But it was being looked at, because
it’s a safety concern for the police because their radios don't work down there either.
Mr. Sayarath called for any other questions and seeing none, said he would like to thank Sgt. Williams.
(Applause)
Announcement by Ms. Rajasekar
Ms. Rajasekar said she sent out an e-mail about this, about resigning from the Senate. Due to health reasons she was going to have to end her Senate term early. She’d give the Senate a little background about
why she was doing this. Obviously, she’s an EECS major and she was active and involved in the Senate.
She loved both. She’s always had health issues that she’s been trying to take care of. But because of all
the time she was putting into school work and the Senate, taking care of her health got a lot harder. She
tried to take a step back from both school and Senate, but she felt like she wasn't doing as much as she
could in the Senate and wasn't giving he position justice. And at the same time, she was doing really
badly in school. So she went home this December break and told her parents she’d probably have to drop
out of school so she could continue doing the Senate, because she really wanted to finish the job she was
doing. But then, as she was talking to them and explaining it to them, she realized she really should take
her health into consideration first before she tried to do other things, because she wouldn't be able to do a
good job at anything unless she was really taking care of herself first.
Ms. Rajasekar said this was one of the hardest decisions she’s ever had to make. Everyone has been so
supportive so far, and she wanted to thank them for that. The Senators there were some of the most
Announcement by Ms. Rajasekar (cont'd)
Report from the ASUC Auxiliary
-5-
inspiring, motivated people on the campus. She knew they were going to do an amazing job, like the
Execs, Justin, Connor, Natalie, and Shahryar, who have been working so hard as well. Working with all
of them has been such an honor.
Ms. Rajasekar said she’s learned so much that last semester, and couldn't even begin to explain how
much. People should feel free to talk to her about this, and she was totally open to talk about it. She
wanted to thank them. (Applause)
Mr. Sayarath said he thought he could speak for all of them and say it's been a pleasure working with Ms.
Rajasekar. They wanted to see her around, in whatever capacity she could be around.
Mr. Sayarath said that now this resignation has been officially reported out to the Senate, and was in the
minutes, he had to move forward and extend an offer to the 21st person in the Senate election from two
semesters ago. Mr. Sayarath said he believed that was Nils Gilbertson. He’ll get in contact with Mr.
Gilbertson and let the Senate know how it works out. He asked if this process was okay with everybody.
Roll call was taken for attendance:
MEMBERS LEGALLY PRESENT:
Jason Bellet
Emily Chen
Mihir Deo
Chen-Chen Huo
Sidronio Jacobo
George Kadifa
Ryan Kang
Klein Lieu
Tom Lee
Rafi Lurie
Jeff Ma
Megan Majd
Nolan Pack
Deejay Pepito
Sadia Saifuddin
Daley Vertiz
Emily White
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Rosemary Hua
Jorge Pacheco
Report from the ASUC Auxiliary
Kelsey Finn said she wanted to wish them a happy New Year. She noted that the room they were meeting
in was better than the gym they ended up 2012 with.
Ms. Finn said she had some updates for the start of 2013, in no particular order. Event Services has
moved and is now in 102 Sproul. The tabling program has moved to the pod, which people might have
seen on Upper Sproul. It's positioned right by the windows of the Cal Student Store. Tabling starts at 8
Report from the ASUC Auxiliary (cont'd)
-6-
a.m., Monday through Friday. The pod itself is staffed, so Senators can send students directly to the pod.
Staff at the pod have a computer there with a little scanner. They scan students’ ID and give them two
chairs and a table, which the students bring back. It's all done right there, at the pod, and people didn't
have to reserve anything ahead of time. She’s heard it was going well, aside from the rain.
Ms. Finn said that as they know, MLK has been shut down. There are no more meeting spaces there.
The rest of the spaces that Event Services is scheduling include all of the outdoor space on campus; the
five activity rooms at Hearst Gym; and Anna Head. Mr. Sayarath will give the Senate an update on Anna
Head. When it opens, Event Services will be scheduling that.
As far as staffing went, as Mr. Landgraf mentioned, the Auxiliary hired the Director for Marketing and
External Relations, Tiffany Dreyer, who started on Tuesday. Ms. Dreyer is in 102 Sproul. She’s started
to meet with people, and Ms. Finn said she believed Ms. Dreyer will meet with Mr. Landgraf later that
week. Ms. Dreyer is excited and full of energy, and the Auxiliary was glad to have her.
Ms. Finn said that Jamie Riley still start as the LEAD Center Director on February 11. If people want his
e-mail address, they could reach out to him ahead of time. They should let Mr. Sayarath and Mr.
Landgraf know, and they could get back to them. Mr. Riley is excited and ready to go, and was thrilled to
be joining the ASUC Auxiliary.
Ms. Finn said the Commercial and Student Services Board had a great retreat that past weekend, on Saturday. She thought the Board was moving forward in a good direction as far as solidifying its fiscal
responsibility and relaying the direction for the Auxiliary going forward. Ms. Finn said she would
encourage Senators to reach out to Hedy Chen or Mr. Sayarath, if there are some committees they want to
be involved in, that they wanted to join. There's more work to be done that Spring Semester.
Ms. Finn said they're also moving forward with two CACSSF proposals from the Auxiliary, two LEAD
Center staff positions that will be going to CACSSF for funding. They also a CACSSF proposal for some
Art Studio funding, to do some programs in the Art Studio.
Ms. Finn said they've also been working closely with the Student Environmental Resource Committee on
its proposal, which she was excited about as well. She’s met on that with Mr. Pack.
As for other things that happened over the break, some student leaders, including Mr. Sayarath, met with
CollegiateLink to talk about the online funding form, and working to move forward in moving everything
to an online process. They hope to do that in the near future.
Ms. Finn said the Lower Sproul Web site group has continued to meet. The launch date for that Web site
is February 1. Right now they're just figuring out and gathering the text. The site is
lowersproul.berkeley.edu, and will be operational by February 1. People should keep an eye out for it.
Ms. Finn said the LEAD Center is in full swing with students. It's open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Friday. If Senators know students who need services or advice, she would ask them to please
send them to the LEAD Center.
Anthony Hall construction has been delayed. Senators have no doubt already heard that message. The
GA Business Office, Amanda Ridel and the staff who works with her, will be housed in the LEAD Center
Report from the ASUC Auxiliary (cont'd)
Approval of the Minutes
-7-
for all of Spring Semester. And the GA Officers themselves are in Hearst Gym as well. Mr. Sayarath
said that he would explain that to the Senate, as it was complicated.
Ms. Finn said that the Financial Services task team is working to complete the Fiscal Year ’14 budget,
since the University starts budgeting now for next year. So by the end of February or the beginning of
March, they'll actually know the Auxiliary’s FY’14 budget. Ms. Finn said that completed her report. She
said that the Cal Student Store Manager, Ms. Reese, was present and to give an update on the Bookstore.
Amanda Reese said the Bookstore has one location secured as far as the Store’s move was concerned.
The Bookstore will be out of its current location as of February 15. The one location they have secured is
directly across the street at 2470 Bancroft, the old Ned’s general merchandise space, where clothing and
gifts were sold. The Store will be taking over that location with a tentative start date of Tuesday, February 19, the day after President’s Day. They'll run some incentives and run some programs to try and tell
students now, while they're in the Store buying their textbooks, where the Store will be in about a month.
Ms. Reese said she just wanted to let the Senate know that the Store is now able to publish this information and get underway with their moving plans.
Mr. Sayarath called for any questions for Ms. Finn or Ms. Reese.
Ms. Saifuddin asked Ms. Finn about the possibility for Event Services and the I-House to work out some
kind of deal for Chevron Auditorium. The ASUC doesn't have Pauley anymore, so one of the big concerns is that they're not making any money. But student groups were also coming to the Senate asking
them to fund event spaces for large events. Fi-Comm last semester tried to subsidize half that cost for
space from Event Services that they couldn't give waivers for. She asked if they could have a conversation about making Chevron Auditorium available for student use, and how possible that might be. Maybe
they could cut a deal with folks at the I-House and possibly subsidize the cost to students. It's a large
auditorium. To even give $400 out of the Contingency Fund for space each time was a lot.
Ms. Finn said she thought Anna Head would help with that. But they can engage in a conversation with
Ms. Saifuddin, Mr. Sayarath, and Vivi Nordahl. Ms. Finn said she, Mr. Sayarath, Mr. Landgraf, and Ms.
Navab are working on a CACSSF proposal to get a pot of money during Lower Sproul redevelopment for
this purpose. They'll see how that goes. She thought there are some options, but she definitely thought it
would be good to reach out to Ms. Nordahl in helping Ms. Saifuddin at least initiate those conversations,
and see what options there are. Ms. Saifuddin said she would like to thank her.
Mr. Sayarath called for any other questions for Ms. Finn or Ms. Reese, and seeing none, said he would
like to thank them. Ms. Finn said she’d like to thank them. (Applause)
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
[Note: See the Appendix for three bills that were approved at the December 5 Senate meeting. ConReview’s amendments to the bills were unavailable at the time the December 5 minutes were printed.
Approval of the Minutes (cont'd)
New Business
-8-
The bills are SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process, passed under
Immediate Consideration; SB 205A, In Support of an ASUC Comptroller General; passed under the
Consent Calendar; and SB 228A, In Support of Consolidating the ASUC By-laws, passed under the
Consent Calendar.]
Mr. Sayarath called for any amendments to the minutes from the December 5 Senate meeting.
Seeing no amendments to the minutes, Mr. Sayarath called for a motion to approve. It was so moved and
seconded by Mr. Lieu and Ms. Chen. THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE
DECEMBER 5, 2012 SENATE MEETING PASSED WITH NO OBJECTION.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Sayarath referred the following bills to committee:
SB 1, In Support of Sigma Iota Rho Honors Society, to the Finance Committee (introduced at the December 5 Senate meeting)
SB 2, In Support of Laundry Love Project, to the Finance Committee (introduced at the December 5 Senate meeting)
SB 3, In Support of the California Patriot, to the Finance Committee (introduced at the December 5 Senate meeting)
SB 4, In Support of Laundry Love Project Café Night, to the Finance Committee
SB 5, Commemorating Oakland Police Sgt. Daniel Sakai and in Support of the Daniel Sakai CSO of the
Year Scholarship, to the Finance Committee
SB 6, In Support of the Crosstalk, to the Finance Committee
Mr. Sayarath said the Chair would entertain a motion to send the bills to committee. It was so moved and
seconded by Mr. Deo and Ms. Chen. THE MOTION TO APPROVE NEW BUSINESS PASSED WITH
NO OBJECTION.
Mr. Sayarath said that regarding committee meetings, committees will meet in Hearst Gym. The only
change for this semester is that the Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee will start at 8 p.m.
instead of 9 p.m. Sen. Pacheco urges it to set a room for meetings. Mr. Sayarath asked if Con-Review
would need more than an hour. Mr. Pack said it would depend on the week. Mr. Sayarath said that for
now, Con-Review will meet in the Blue Room, which he’d reserve for those meetings. The Finance
Committee will meet in the California Conference Room at 9 p.m. on Mondays, and the University and
External Affairs Committee will meet in the Senate lounge at 9 p.m. on Mondays.
Mr. Sayarath said that before they move forward, the other thing he wanted to ask was if anybody was
going to switch committees that semester, or if people were okay with the committees they were currently
in.
Approval of the Minutes (cont'd)
Approval of the Agenda
Report from the Student Advocate Office
-9-
Mr. Lieu asked if switching committees was a decision they needed to make at that time. Mr. Sayarath
said he would that to happen as early as possible. Again, he wanted to keep the same breakdown of parties within the committees. So if Senators wanted to talk about this within their parties during that coming week, then they could figure things out next week. He asked if that sounded okay, and hearing no
objection, said they would do that. For now, they'll continue with the same Chairs, the same Vice Chairs,
and the same committee makeups for this next week. But then next week, if people happen to switch
committees, then the committees will change chairs and vice chairs.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA (Jan. 30)
Mr. Sayarath said Chair would like to entertain a motion to approve the agenda for the January 30 meeting. It was so moved and seconded by Mr. Lieu and Mr. Bellet. THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE
AGENDA FOR THE JANUARY 30 MEETING PASSED WITH NO OBJECTION.
Mr. Sayarath said there was no CSSB report that evening, and the Senate would go into Executive Officer
reports.
REPORTS
Report from the Student Advocate Office
Stacy Suh said she hoped they all had a wonderful, restful break. She wanted to welcome them back.
She had some follow-ups from last semester.
Ms. Suh said the Restorative Justice Center will kind of be implemented as planned. Training will happen on campus, and the first round of training actually already happened last weekend. There will be
another training, all day on February 8 and 9. If people are interested, they can participate or forward the
information to whoever may be interested. She’ll send out more information via e-mail on what the
training schedule and the training material look like.
Ms. Suh said that a lot of Senators towards the end of last semester contacted her personally about Reading Week policy infractions, specifically professors giving out final exams during Reading Week, or
having an assignment that was due during Dead Week that replaces a final. Ms. Suh said she had a pretty
good list of about 20 classes, with professors and departments that violated the policy, intentionally or
otherwise. She’ll follow-up with the appropriate Academic Senate committees and persons to make sure
that the policy enforcement regarding Reading Week is more consistent and effective for the coming
semester.
Report from the Student Advocate Office (cont'd)
Report from the President
- 10 -
With that said, Ms. Suh said that if students look at the syllabus, the final exam or the final paper due date
is usually included. What she thought Senators should do was to encourage people to look at their syllabi
and make sure that due dates don't fall during Reading Week, so the problem can be identified now. In
that way, the SAO could have a whole semester to correct the problem rather than have the last two
weeks to correct any problem, at a time that’s very hectic.
Ms. Suh said her last follow-up from last semester, and continuing on this semester, is Senator collaboration with the Student Advocate Office. Obviously the SAO deals with a lot of different problems, anything from academics to financial aid to conduct to grievance. But she felt that other services that the
SAO provides overlap with some of the platforms that Senators ran on. She’s worked with some Senators
before, last semester, and would really love to work even more closely with all of them this semester. So
she would really encourage them to talk to her at any time, or send her an e-mail.
Ms. Suh said the last item she had is that as usual, the SAO was hiring new caseworkers. Basically,
caseworkers are trained in all of the different areas of University policy that the office deals with, helping
students navigate through complex bureaucracies. The SAO will have its info session on Thursday, January 31, at 7 p.m., in 262 Dwinelle, and at February 4, at 7 p.m., at a location to be decided. She’ll send
out a follow-up e-mail for Senators to forward to all their constituents and whoever might be interested.
She thought this was a great opportunity for people to get involved, not only in the SAO, but also to learn
more about the ASUC as a whole. She said that concluded her report.
Mr. Sayarath called for any questions for Ms. Suh, and seeing none, said he would like to thank her.
(Applause)
Report from the President
Mr. Landgraf said he just had a couple of updates. Ms. Finn briefly mentioned CACSSF proposals. Mr.
Landgraf said they're trying to collect CACSSF proposals for the spring. They'll probably be due in three
or four weeks. If Senators have any interest in submitting a proposal to the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees, they should let him know. He’d be happy to sit down with people
and talk to them about this. He’s sat down with Mr. Pack and will talk with Ms. Saifuddin and discuss
the proposals they've put forward, and try to make sure that their proposals are in the best possible shape
for the Committee. If Senators had any interest in this, they should let him know and they could sit down
and chat and develop a proposal and a submission for CACSSF; and hopefully, they'll be able to get some
funding.
Regarding the online funding form for the spring, there was a Hackathon for students to present submissions, but none of them fit the bill perfectly. So after discussions with him, Mr. Sayarath, Ms. Navab, and
John Scroggs, the TIM Manager, they decided that to try CollegiateLink for now and see if they could
find a solution with CollegiateLink that will fit what the ASUC wants in an online funding form. They’ve
found that the current program that CollegiateLink has at that time does not fit all of the ASUC’s specifications perfectly, but they found that in the long run, it was best to have a CollegiateLink product because
Report from the President (cont'd)
- 11 -
they could develop that better over time, into something that would interface with the existing CalLink
software. Mr. Landgraf said that CollegiateLink did a demonstration over Winter Break with him and
Mr. Sayarath. They kind of talked about what the future was of CollegiateLink software and how the
ASUC could get upgrades on it. CollegiateLink said there will be a big upgrade coming in the fall, which
should be really good. The ASUC will be able to upgrade its software at that time and have a lot more
finance features. It would give the ASUC an online funding form, which would fit in perfectly with the
software.
Mr. Sayarath said they're developing an online funding form for the spring. While it wouldn't have all the
functionality the ASUC would like, with the upgrade in the fall, they'd have all the functionality they
hoped for in a funding form. At that point they'll be able to upgrade student group software. Mr.
Sayarath said this made the most sense for the ASUC. If anybody would like to discuss this with him,
he’d be more than happy to do so.
Regarding an update for Lower Sproul, Mr. Sayarath said the Lower Sproul owner/architect/contractor
OAC meetings to talk about all the details from projects so far. This week power was cut from Eshleman.
Daily utilities to the building were being cut, including water and gas. That should happen later on that
week. By the end of that week or early next week, all of the utilities should be cut off in Eshleman, and it
will be totally ready for demolition. They're starting abatement next week, with the removal of asbestos
and potential lead paint in the building. That will take a period of time because all the paint in the
building had to be checked. Anything with lead in it would have to be stripped off, which could take
some time. After that, people will see cloths cover the building, with the building being torn out in late
March. If Senators could let their constituents know about this, that would be appreciated. Mr. Sayarath
said he sent out a campus-wide e-mail a couple of days ago that Senators should have received.
Mr. Sayarath said that some of the updates for Lower Sproul construction happened over Winter Break,
such as the bus stops moving, etc. There may be some other disruptions like that, and Mr. Sayarath said
he’ll communicate them to the Senate as soon as he knew them, so students can plan for them. Senators
could communicate them to their constituents.
Mr. Sayarath said they had a Lower Sproul retail vendor presentation that morning and narrowed down
the names. Their two top choices for the Lower Sproul retail vendor are Cassidy Turley and Chartwells.
These are two very well-known retail managers that could help the Auxiliary develop Lower Sproul retail
and dining options. Mr. Sayarath said the ASUC made its specifications very clear to the two companies,
and what the ASUC wants in that area. They said they don't want to chain restaurants, expensive food, or
food that wasn't health conscious, and they put together quite a few stringent requirements for the retail
managers. The CSSB’s Business Development Committee helped develop those requirements. Mr.
Sayarath said he’d give the Senate a summary on Thursday. They just heard from Chartwells that day.
He’ll send out a summary of the presentations and will let the Senate know as the Board approaches the
final decision. He would love to have Senators as part of the final process, so if any of them would like to
sit down with him and discuss the two retail management options, they should let him know.
Mr. Sayarath said that Calapalooza is on Thursday. Jas Hora and the EVP’s office have been working
really, really hard on it. If people can believe it, over 500 student groups have signed up for Calapalooza.
Mr. Sayarath said the office will try to allow as many to participate as possible. They have tables for 150
Report from the President (cont'd)
- 12 -
groups. They'll try to find a way to have as many groups as possible come out. It should be crazy and
hectic. It will be on Dwinelle and Wheeler Plazas. That entire area will be blanketed by tables from 2:00
to 5 p.m. on Thursday. Mr. Sayarath said he would love to see Senators there. If they want to go check
out more student groups, most of them should there.
Regarding fee referendums coming up for the Spring Semester, Mr. Sayarath said they did a lot of work
over Winter Break for the health and wellness fee referendum. They felt that it actually made sense.
They talked to Capital Projects and they did some design considerations and found a fee model that actually works. So they're moving forward with the health and wellness fee referendum. He’ll have all the
specific details for Senators next week. The Senate will hear a presentation by Mike Weinberger, Recreational Sports Director, and Claudia Covello, Executive Director of University Health Services. They’ll
explain the exact details of the referendum and what the exact timing and costs will look like. But as of
right now, Mr. Sayarath said this referendum was going forward. People are really, really excited about
it. They'll have a marketing manager in his office and on the Graduate Assembly side as well. This will
be a really neat initiative. It would fund two wellness centers and rec centers. One rec center would be
located near the current gymnasium, by the Tang Center parking lot, with another rec center potentially at
Memorial Stadium as well. Those details haven't been finalized as yet, but right now, those are the two
facilities that would be created with this referendum. This was really exciting, and as he hears details,
and as things become solidified, he’d let the Senate know.
Regarding the AC Transit referendum, Mr. Sayarath said that was also on board. They just finished the
first draft of referendum language. They'll send that to the UC Office of the President on February 1. As
soon as UCOP responds, Mr. Sayarath said he’ll send that to Senators and they could vet it and make sure
they're happy with it.
Mr. Sayarath said they discussed extensively with AC Transit the contract and the specific requirements
the ASUC would like. The ASUC got several concessions out of AC Transit and several improvements
in service, in terms of specific digital signs and route guarantees. So if AC Transit tries to change a route,
they'd have to communicate that with students. And if the students didn't like the proposal, they could
void the contract. That was exciting, and the improvements were really exciting. So it was worthwhile to
renegotiate that contract. Mr. Sayarath said he’d send Senators the language of the contract once certain
amendments are finalized. They're in the process of finalizing this with AC Transit lawyers and campus
lawyers. He’d send Senators a copy as soon as there’s a final version.
Regarding the search committee for the UCPD chief, Mr. Sayarath said there were some delays over the
Winter Break in the selection process, so the committee hasn't met yet. The campus had some delays
with schedules. So the first UCPD search committee meeting will be on Friday. If any Senators have
specific requirements they would like to communicate, things that the search committee should look for
in the UCPD chief, they should let him know. The things that have been expressed to the Selection
Committee that are most important are safety for students and an emphasis on improving student safety
and improving the UCPD’s relationship with students, rather than focusing on protest actions or demonstration actions. Mr. Sayarath said that students feel like the UCPD has, in general, a very poor reputation
on the campus because of actions that have happened in the past. He wouldn't go into details at that time,
but Senators know what he was talking about. So students want the incoming chief to have an emphasis
and make an impact on Southside safety specifically, because so many students don't feel safe on the
Southside area. Students think it's really important that the UCPD chief devote more officers, or
Report from the President (cont'd)
Report from the Academic Affairs Vice President
- 13 -
whatever was necessary, to make sure that students feel safe on the Southside. If students don't feel safe
on their own campus, that was a problem. So they're going to stress that the chief needs to change something and needs to really improve relationships with students and start from scratch, because what they
have right now wasn't working.
Regarding Anna Head, Mr. Sayarath said that as Ms. Finn mentioned, construction there is delayed.
Capital Projects just notified the ASUC of that last week. The main reason is because of weather, and all
the rain. As a result, they've had to have the entire building tarped for this time because a lot of it is exposed wood. They can't get water inside the structure because it would start to rot. It was really frustrating for students, but as of now, there wasn't anything they could do. They could just hope for dry weather
for a little while to get back to construction on Anna Head.
Mr. Sayarath said the other thing about Anna Head was that termites were discovered in the walls.
Workers had to replace a lot of the structural beams because of that, and had to make sure the structure
was earthquake safe. Students are pushing Capital Projects as fast as possible. As soon as they can, it
will be completed. He thought the estimate for completion of Anna Head at that time was mid-. He’ll let
the Senate know if there are any changes on that. Mr. Sayarath called for any questions.
Mr. Bellet said that to recap the issues for Calapalooza on Thursday, he asked if there are 500 groups that
want to be part of Calapalooza and only 150 tables. Mr. Landgraf said Event Services’ tabling program
only has 75 tables. The students decided to split the tables, so there will be two groups per table. So 150
groups will be guaranteed a table. They'll send an e-mail to the rest of the groups, saying they'd love to
have them participate, but a table for them couldn't be guaranteed. Groups could bring their own tables
and chairs, or come and not use a table or chairs. But there will be space for them and they were welcomed to participate. But at minimum, 150 groups will be coming to the event, and he’d guess there will
be a lot more than that.
Mr. Bellet asked what the deciding factor was for who got the tables. Mr. Landgraf said it was firstcome, first-served. Whoever signed up first got a table. That was the only way they could think of that
was fair. They couldn't just distinguish among groups in terms of who got a table and who didn't. That
wouldn't have been fair.
Mr. Sayarath called for any other questions, and seeing none, said they would move on. (Applause)
Report from the Academic Affairs Vice President
Ms. Gavello said she hoped people had a good break. She e-mailed people the updates. People could feel
free to follow along as she gave her report or to check them later.
So far this semester they're focusing on planning, goal-setting, and executing their events. Their second
office retreat will be on February 2. They'll go rock climbing and will explore a rock-climbing place in
Berkeley. Just looking back on the end of the semester, ThinkPlace.berkeley.edu was a success. She
Report from the Academic Affairs Vice President (cont'd)
- 14 -
wanted to thank everyone who posted the status and thank Mr. Sayarath for the video. It was a lot of fun.
She thought the results were good, and she’s heard a lot of good things. Hopefully, they'll revamp it for
the Spring Semester. If Senators heard from friends or had any ideas on how to make it better, she would
love to hear them.
Ms. Gavello said the Golden Apple Award Web site is up. This is an award her office is putting on. It
hasn't been put on for the past few years, but they're bringing it back. It awards an outstanding professor
for their excellent work for the year. Voting will start on January 18 and the award will be officially
given in April.
AAVP grants will open in the first week of February. The office was looking forward to publicizing them
once again on Sproul, using last semester’s fliers, to conserve paper. They still have fliers from last
semester.
Ms. Gavello said she’ll be meeting with the Chancellor on Thursday, along with Mr. Landgraf and her
Deputy of Academic Policy. The Chancellor graciously offered to give $1 million to undocumented students. Ms. Gavello said the office was looking to take a portion of that in order to fund the RISE Scholarship, which goes through the AAVP’s office. They're trying to get funding for up and coming years. The
RISE Scholarship was put forth by the Senate but was never given any secure funding that was substantial
enough. So the office was looking to take a small portion of that $1 million and have this Scholarship
continue for the next ten or so years.
Ms. Gavello said she’s teaching the Library DE-Cal, on the Commission on the Future of the Library.
She would love to get some really qualified and interested students to engage, who aren't just looking for
an extra unit. If Senators know of anyone who has complained to them about the libraries or anyone who
was just interested in talking, debating, thinking, anyone clever and creative, she would ask them to send
them her way. She would love to meet with them for coffee and convince them to take this DE-Cal. She
really wanted tangible results to come from it. So she’d really like some passionate students in it. The
DE-Cal has been going really well and has been approved by the History Department. She’s getting the
curriculum figured out, as well as the speakers. Class will begin on February 4, the week after next. If
Senators have any friends looking for units, they should feel free to point them her way. That concluded
her report. Mr. Sayarath called for any questions and seeing none, said he would like to thank Ms.
Gavello. (Applause)
--------------Begin written report from Academic Affairs VP Gavello
Weekly Exec Report
AAVP Office
Winter Break Updates
Planning, goal-setting, and executing
Office Retreat February 2nd
Rock-climbing/exploring
Report from the Academic Affairs Vice President (cont'd)
Report from the External Affairs Vice President
- 15 -
--------------Written report from the Academic Affairs Vice President (cont'd)
Thinkplace.berkeley.edu
Success
Re-vamping it for the Spring Semester
The Golden Apple Award Website is up!
http://goldenapple.berkeley.edu
Voting will start January 28th for April award
AAVP Grants will be opening on the 1st or the 2nd of February
Publicize once again on Sproul using last semesters flyers
Meeting with the Chancellor tomorrow with my deputy of academic policy
He has donated 1 million to AB 540 students. We are looking to take a small portion of that funding in
order to secure funds for undocumented students through the AAVP Office for years to come
The Commission on the Future of the Library DeCal has officially been approved by the History
Department
Begin class on February 4th
I NEED RECOMMENDATIONS FROM YOU ALL!
Please e-mail them to me at aavp@asuc.org
End written report from Academic Affairs VP Gavello
---------------
Report from the External Affairs Vice President
Shahryar Abbasi said he would like to welcome everybody back. It was good to see them all. He’d
report on some things the office has been working on. They have a lot of conferences coming up.
Mr. Abbasi said that as they all probably knew, the Governor released his budget a few weeks ago, and
gave higher education priority in the budget. Higher education was actually the first item in the table of
contents, even though it didn't fall first in alphabetical order. So possibly the Governor was doing that for
a reason. Or, Mr. Abbasi said he might be reading too much into that. The Governor also met with UCSA
leadership and with student leaders the day after the budget came out, showing that after Prop. 30, he was
giving students a priority in discussions about the fiscal situation in California, which was great.
Mr. Abbasi said a lot of the work the office will do will be around harnessing the energy that they had last
semester. They registered over 8,600 students to vote there. The UCSA total from around the State was
Report from the External Affairs Vice President (cont'd)
- 16 -
over 55,000 students. And there were more in the CSU System and the CCCS. They'll go to legislators
with the message that students clearly had to be a priority. As some Senators might have heard, Republicans in the State Legislature even put out a bill to freeze tuition for seven years. So there's a lot of support for higher education on both sides of the aisle, which is the only approach they can take that breaks
the deadlock.
Regarding lobby visits, Mr. Abbasi said they have scheduled a few lobby visits with members in the local
area, specifically with Sen. Hancock and Assemblywoman Skinner and their staffers. The office will also
reach out to the larger San Francisco area as well, and schedule visits with people from the East Bay as
well as people from Central and Northern California, where schools aren't as organized and don't have
organized teams to go out and meet legislators. In these lobby visits, Mr. Abbasi said they'll discuss how
these members of the State Senate and House, some who are new and some who have been in the State
for a while, will prioritize higher education. He’ll keep the Senate posted on that.
Mr. Abbasi said there is also a UC caucus forming, the University of California Caucus, forming with
UCOP. There hasn't been student representation on that, and Mr. Abbasi said they're working on that.
Basically, they're working with members of the State Senate and the Assembly to get people who are
interested in seeing the University of California continue to flourish, people who have been to a UC or
who have interest. They'll meet with UCOP and have ongoing discussions.
Mr. Abbasi said that at the State level, the scope for higher education was looking far better than it has
ever been. The Governor, as they knew, announced that the State was no longer in a deficit, according to
his projected plans. Mr. Abbasi said he had to say that was definitely quite surprising. But they did that
with no accounting gimmicks this time. The UCSA, the CSSA, as well as the community college student
associations, are trying to capitalize on that.
Mr. Abbasi said that brings him to the Study Lobby Conference, the first weekend of March. That should
also be when the March In March happens, which some Senators might have gone to last year. It was a
really great event, with over 10,000 students there. They marched to the State Capitol to demand a stop
to the tuition increases. This year that will happen on March 2 and 3. On Saturday and Sunday they'll
have the Student Lobby Conference. The office will aim to send 30-40 people to that Conference,
depending on the budget situation. Mr. Abbasi said he knew the Senate told him that he couldn't come to
them for money anymore, so the office was trying to find other ways to get the money for that.
The March In March is not really an EAVP event, but a California event. So maybe he could ask the
Senate for some help with that. He would ask them to please help with that, because they have another
convention, the United States Student Association Legislative Conference in DC. Again, the office
couldn't send as many students as most campuses do. They'll try to get students to pay what they can.
But obviously, it was pricey. If any Senators or their community members want to apply that attend, Mr.
Abbasi said they're aiming to have eight to ten spots for people to go to DC to lobby at the national levels.
That will be pretty interesting. It's a really good experience. There are a lot of critical issues around student debt, which is escalating tremendously, as Senators knew. The USSA has made that a priority in its
agenda. To have Berkeley’s representation there would be very, very effective in getting what they want
across to legislators.
Mr. Abbasi said that brought him to Local. Redistricting is now open, and the process has officially
started. There's a meeting on Thursday about this. It was posted on Facebook and any Senators should
Report from the External Affairs Vice President (cont'd)
Report from the Executive Vice President
- 17 -
attend if they were interested. Plans are due by March 15. If any of them have a member of their community who has a plan they want to submit, Senators should let the office know. The office was working
to submit a student majority district plan and was getting that going. He’d keep the Senate posted on that.
This was very exciting, and was something that was very tangible that the office hoped to have done, with
a district ready by the end of the year.
Regarding sustainability, Mr. Abbasi said people were putting up sustainability and health tips in residence halls. Since the Senate was meeting in Unit 1, they should see those notices.
Regarding safety, Mr. Abbasi said the office wasn't renewing the contract for the safety application. The
office will take the app that Mr. Landgraf developed last semester and try to integrate a safety component
into it. Mr. Landgraf is super busy, so Mr. Abbasi said he didn't know if Mr. Landgraf could program
that. But maybe an engineer in the Senate could that, perhaps Mr. Lieu; or they could find someone else.
Mr. Abbasi said that Berkeley CRIBZ was pretty exciting. They're aiming to launch at the end of February so that it was something students could use when they start to look for an apartment. It's a comprehensive Web site that allows students to look up reviews and listings for all apartments in the City of
Berkeley. It was so much easier than Craig’s List or other scattered sites. It will include official reviews
by students, with pictures as well. This project has been ongoing, since Noah Stern’s Chief-of-Staff,
Kelly McDonnell, opened it. Mr. Abbasi said the office hopes to get the site out there.
Regarding AC Transit, Mr. Abbasi said the ASUC has had good negotiations with them. They're working
on the final details and getting into a lot of cool things. As Senators may know, in downtown Berkeley,
on Shattuck, AC Transit has a monitor at a bus stop, and the ASUC is trying to get a few of those monitors at different stops at Berkeley. If Senators or their constituents have any ideas on additional AC
Transit services that could benefit students, they should let him or Mr. Landgraf know. They could discuss the ideas at their next meeting with ACT. But right now, they were pretty much finalizing everything. Mr. Abbasi said that concluded his report. Mr. Sayarath called for any questions, and seeing none,
said he would like to thank Mr. Abbasi. (Applause)
Report from the Executive Vice President
Mr. Sayarath said that in Internal, the office started its fellowship program. He was really excited about
that, and hopefully it will develop a new set of student leaders for next year, in whatever Executive
offices there are. Also, the Intern DE-Cal is set to be done next Tuesday. There are some caveats about
this, since they have a new faculty sponsor, who’s a little bit stricter than last year in terms of requirements for the DE-Cal. So if Senators take the DE-Cal, there may be a little more work than what they
thought. If they planned to take the DE-Cal, he would ask them to please let him know as soon as possible. He asked for a show of hands of those who were going to take the DE-Cal. It wouldn't be too much
work, and they'd talk about it. People should talk to him after the meeting if they want to take it.
Report from the Executive Vice President (cont'd)
- 18 -
Mr. Sayarath said that for the online finance form, as Mr. Landgraf mentioned, the ASUC will move to
CollegiateLink. That will be a little more complicated because it's not owned by the ASUC, and the
ASUC will be asking the company to build out a lot of things. But hopefully they can get it done before
the semester ends.
Regarding Perspectives, Mr. Sayarath said they're starting to meet with the groups, which are having regular practices. For a sneak peek, they have an aerial artist, who does acrobatic stuff in the air, which
should be really exciting. They're trying to incorporate more communities into the showcase than last
year, not necessarily in the showcase, but in other ways. So if anybody was interested in getting involved
in this, he would ask them to please let him know.
For Student Resources, as Ms. Finn mentioned, the tabling program has switched up a little bit. People
can't call and make a reservation and instead, just had to go to the pod on Sproul and simply rent a table
and two chairs. And they're getting more tables and chairs, depending on the need. Mr. Sayarath said
he’ll evaluate that as they go forward.
Mr. Sayarath said the poster printer is being moved over to the Secretariat, which will now manage that
program. If a student group needs to print posters, they can go to the Secretariat, which will be a lot
cheaper for groups. Mr. Sayarath said he didn't know when that will happen, but it should be sometime in
the next month or so. He was really excited about that. People could use different types of paper and can
print in full color. It will be great.
Mr. Sayarath said the plan to move equipment over to Event Services is pending a proposal from Vivi
Nordahl. He’ll let the Senate know what the details are on that.
In Student Spaces, a lot was going on. If they didn't know already, Briana Mullen has taken Saba Anees’
job as Lower Sproul Communications Coordinator. That means that Ms. Mullen is the Chair of the
Lower Sproul Working Group and a voting member on the Programming Committee as well, he believed.
So Ms. Mullen now has knowledge of not only surge, but the entire Lower Sproul project. Mr. Sayarath
said he was really excited about that because now there's someone to take this on after a bunch of them
leave next year. So if people have any questions concerning Lower Sproul, or if there are any media
inquiries about Lower Sproul, they should let Ms. Mullen know.
As Mr. Landgraf mentioned, Anna Head and Anthony Hall renovations are behind schedule, which was
kind of a problem. So Mr. Sayarath said that interest that for the past month he’s been dealing with emails about they will put the GA. The GA will now be in Suite 2 of Hearst Gym, in a few cubicles that
student groups have been moved out of, due to the re-allocation process they had last semester. The GA
will also control the California Conference Room, because the GA needs that meeting space. However,
Fi-Comm will still be able to use it. If Senators need to use that room, they should touch base with the
GA, which can reserve it for them.
Also regarding Student Spaces, a lot of stuff has been lost over the past month by movers and by the
campus. So Mr. Sayarath said he was working with the ASUC attorney to figure out what that meant and
how to get that money to the students, and fix all that.
Regarding the meditation space, Mr. Sayarath said he found an alternative space for that, in Stephens
Hall. If anybody had community members who were interested in meditation, he would ask them to
please have them contact him, because he still needed to scope out the room and figure out the details.
Report from the Executive Vice President (cont'd)
- 19 -
Mr. Sayarath said they have also started to talk about signage for the new building. He wouldn't belabor
that discussion, but it was very detailed. It's basically where signs should go in the new building. That
was his report. There was probably a lot more stuff he had going on and he’d keep the Senate updated on
that. He called for any questions.
Ms. Pepito asked which committee he met with about the signage for Lower Sproul. Mr. Sayarath said it
was a random request, not a meeting. It was a request to meet from Tom, from Capital Projects, and Mr.
Sayarath said he, Ms. Navab, and Sharay Pinero, simply met with him to figure out where the signage
would go. They just decided to have it in every single meeting room, every elevator bay, and every
entrance to the building.
Ms. Pepito asked if they talked about doing the signage electronically. Mr. Sayarath said it will all be
electronic, according to the budget. Mr. Landgraf said the Auxiliary’s new Marketing Director came
from Sacramento State, which has all electronic signage. She knows all the software and will be able to
install it. Mr. Sayarath said an ideal situation would be to have interaction between the event
management system and the all the signage in the entire building. Mr. Landgraf said they could also use
it for event notifications.
Mr. Lee asked if the IT tech crew that was running the e-mail was still continuing service. Mr. Sayarath
said it wasn't, and that was only for the integration. If people have any questions, they could go to the
bCal Web site and the bmail Web site, which has a help desk.
Mr. Bellet asked if the signs they were talking about were outside the doors to rooms. Mr. Sayarath said
that was correct. It's signage for everything. Mr. Bellet asked if this would apply to anything that would
require a sign. Mr. Landgraf said it involved major signs, such as outside rooms. Mr. Bellet asked if they
were like room reservation signs. Ms. Pepito said that was correct. Mr. Sayarath said they were like the
little plastic boards outside ASUC meeting rooms. But they would be digital. And hopefully, it will also
cycle through with advertisements for student groups. But that was for people to figure out in 2015.
Ms. Pepito asked if they ever figured out the bigger sign they were thinking about, that was supposed to
advertise student group events. There was an issue because it couldn't be posted outside the building. So
people in the ASUC were talking about doing it between the Plexiglas. Mr. Sayarath said they needed to
talk about that. They'll talk about it in the Working Group on Thursday.
Ms. Pepito asked if he had an update on the bear statue. Mr. Sayarath said he didn't do anything for the
bear over the break. Alyosha Verzhbinsky is supposed to get him a site study, and Mr. Sayarath said he
was waiting on that.
Ms. Saifuddin asked if he knew when the meditation space will be ready so she could let her community
members know. Mr. Sayarath said that’s what they need to talk about. He needed to check out the room.
If Ms. Saifuddin wanted to come with him, he would ask her to please do so. Ms. Saifuddin said that
would be great.
Mr. Sayarath said that now that Tom Spivey is gone from the Auxiliary, he is the point person for the Cal
Lodge. So all finance stuff from the Cal Lodge will come to him and all requests for improvements to the
Lodge will also come through him. He’ll start to get all that information and start to share that with the
Senate. There were a lot of things.
Standing Committee Reports
- 20 -
Standing Committee Reports
Mr. Sayarath asked if any committees met.
Reporting for the Finance Committee, Ms. Saifuddin said they'll meet on Monday. She and Amir Chini
have worked for the last few weeks on allocating funding. They're having at least a projected allocation
for what they want student organizations to get. They essentially went through every single student
organization and looked at what they do, what they used in previous years, and reduced or increased their
budgets based on that. Obviously they'll still go through the entire spring budget process, but she thought
what she and Mr. Chini did will give them a really good idea in terms of what number has been used
before and what might be a good number that Fi-Comm can be flexible with. This is so Fi-Comm
wouldn't start from scratch.
Ms. Saifuddin said she thought it was important to continue to have Deficit Task Force meetings because
they need to figure out whether they want a Contingency increase or if they want to keep it at $24,000.
She thought their funding will be a little more specific because they'll have to fund event spaces and
because they don't have any more waivers to give out. So they'll see what that looks like and she’d keep
the Senate updated. She would ask them to please let their communities know about spring budgeting. If
people have any questions, they should let her know.
Reporting for the Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee, Mr. Pack said that they will have to
start Solicitor General interviews soon. Attorney General Hinh Tran already has a lot of recommendations. So filling the position will be a much more streamlined process compared to last time. Also,
Comptroller General interviews will have to be done that spring as well. Mr. Pack said his recommendation was to have same committee fill the two positions. And if the Senate was okay with it, they could
just choose members from Con-Review to be on that committee. That’s so they wouldn't have to go
through the acrobatics of scheduling a bunch of different people trying to schedule a meeting. The
appointments have to go through Con-Review any way, so it made sense to have Con-Review oversee
these selections.
Mr. Sayarath asked if they'd need to do a Selection Committee. Mr. Pack said they would.
Mr. Sayarath said that now that Sen. Pack has brought this to his attention, the Senate had to select members for the Selection Committees for the Solicitor General and the Comptroller General.
Mr. Sayarath asked if Mr. Pack knew the breakdown of people for these Selection Committees. Mr. Pack
said both Committees are comprised of five ASUC Senators, with preference given to Con-Review members.
Mr. Sayarath said five Senators were needed to sit on these committees, with preference given to ConReview members.
Ms. White asked why preference was given to Con-Review members. Mr. Pack said there had to be five
members on the Committees, but Con-Review has more than five members. The selection process will
happen during Con-Review meetings.
Standing Committee Reports (cont'd)
Special Committee Reports
ASUC Representatives Reports
- 21 -
Mr. Pack said he would serve on the Selection Committees, and said Mr. Pacheco would as well. Mr.
Sayarath asked who else was interested, and said he would nominate the following members: Ms. Pepito,
Ms. White, Ms. Chen, Mr. Pack, and Mr. Pacheco.
Mr. Sayarath said the Chair would entertain a motion to approve the members of the Solicitor General
and Comptroller General Selection Committees. It was so moved and seconded by Mr. Pack Ms. Majd.
THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE SELECTION COMMITTEES FOR THE SOLICITOR GENERAL
AND THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL PASSED WITH NO OBJECTION: MS. PEPITO, MS.
WHITE, MS. CHEN, MR. PACK, AND MR. PACHECO.
Mr. Sayarath said there was no Old Business.
Special Committee Reports
Mr. Sayarath said he had a report on the Elections Council Chair. He met with Jina Yoo and they're now
meeting regularly, because elections are coming up soon. They're trying to get everything squared away.
It's a lot of work. Ms. Yoo will introduce a bill or two within the next week. He wasn't exactly sure what
the bills were about, and were probably about online voting and possibly the polls. But people should
keep this on their radar. They're trying to pick her staff at that time. If Senators knew of any people who
were interested in elections or in creating elections, he would ask them to please let him know, or let Ms.
Yoo know.
ASUC Representatives Reports
Ms. Saifuddin said this committee wasn't on the list on the agenda, but she was sure they all knew that
there's a committee that’s been meeting since last semester, working on a mandate that came down from
UCOP about making all UC campuses tobacco free. She has a policy draft. If people wanted to see it,
she could send it out to the Senate listserve. She thought the next meeting will be in the next week or
two. She’ll let people know what happens with this. But as of right now there's a draft, which people
should look for. If they want to edit it or make any changes, they should let her know.
Mr. Pack the Re-entry and Transfer Students Association meeting time is to be determined, but he is
meeting with them on Friday to talk about what their semester will look like. The group has been in contact with both himself and Sen. Pacheco, who are the reps to that group.
Mr. Pack said that Sen. Pacheco would probably say this if he was present, but the Berkeley Student Cooperative confirmed Jim Gray, J.D., to be its new Executive Director. Mr. Gray is an expert in real
ASUC Representatives Reports (cont'd)
Elected Officials Announcements
- 22 -
estate management and will help the BSC provide expanded offerings in terms of housing. So the campus will probably see an expansion of co-ops, which was really exciting.
For the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability, Mr. Pack said a new staff Co-Chair was
selected, David Scrimger, who works in Environmental Health and Safety. They're working on planning
this Advisory Committee’s Sustainability Summit, which will happen that year on the Monday of Earth
Week. They're trying to get a keynote speaker.
Mr. Pack said the ASUC Sustainability Team is going through a sort of realignment. They'll have to
reconvene a selection committee for the ASUC Sustainability Team Director. There's a lot of movement
in this organization at that time and Mr. Pack said he would keep the Senate posted.
For the Queer Alliance and Resource Center, Queer au Lait, the queer welcome event, will happen on
Thursday at the MCC at 7:00. There will also be a QARC open house at the same time. They're next
door to each other at Hearst Annex. If people were interested in attending and meeting members of the
community, that will be going on.
Mr. Pack said ECO, Environmental Clubs and Organizations, has sort of made a formal partnership with
SERC, the Student Environmental Resource Center. There will now be a program that’s run out of
SERC, with ECO’s primary responsible being to host and facilitate town halls. People are excited about
this relationship, because SERC now has a permanent space. So SERC and ECO together will be able to
go into that.
Mr. Sayarath asked if Katherine Walsh was no longer on CACS. Mr. Pack said she’s still on the
Committee, but is no longer Co-Chair.
Mr. Sayarath called for any other reports from ASUC representatives, and hearing none, said they would
go to Elected Officials Announcements.
Elected Officials Announcements
Mr. Sayarath said that since this was the start of a new semester, he would ask people to go around the
table and say a quick sentence about what they did over the break and a quick sentence on what their goal
will be for the semester, as well as any announcements they have. He asked if that was okay.
Mr. Lieu said that over the break he visited family. His father was in the intensive care unit over Christmas. He’s fine now, but Mr. Lieu said he was in ICU with his father translating for him. What he was
looking forward to for that semester was to graduate. Senate-wise, he hoped to work with Shahryar
Abbasi to make sure the ASUC’s lobbying efforts go very cleanly.
Ms. Pepito said the break felt like it was so long ago. She spent time with family and went snowboarding.
That was her highlight. As for her goals for that semester, they were to stay alive and to stay healthy.
Elected Officials Announcements (cont'd)
- 23 -
Ms. Saifuddin said she had a kick-ass break. She went to three weddings; went camping for a few days;
hosted two parties; went to Dubai; and now she’s back. Her goal for the year is to open the UC Berkeley
Food Pantry, which was a CACSSF proposal. If people wanted to help her with that, she would ask them
to please let her know. She was really excited about it. It should be really awesome.
Ms. Majd said she really didn't do anything for the break, although she did turn 21. Mr. Bellet came to
her little birthday party. She had a couple of people over and it was fun to bring in her 21st birthday. She
went to Disneyland and Big Bear. She also slept a lot. As for her goals for that semester, her personal
goal will be to read for her classes. She really needed to do her reading, which she never did. As for her
Senate goals, her Web site for a sexual assault resource should be coming out in the next month, which
was exciting. She’s also having a self-defense seminar workshop in two or three weeks.
Ms. White said she went to New Orleans with her family. It was really cool, and she’d suggest they all
go. It's a very neat place. Her goals are to keep up her grades and have successful event planning in her
office.
Mr. Jacobo said he didn't do anything that break except to sleep during the day and go out at night. For
this semester he wanted to do well academically and help to move Finance Committee meetings every
Monday. Other than that, he was just happy to finish his last term.
Mr. Vertiz said he slept a lot over the break. He got his driver’s license, which was long overdue, since
he’s 21-years-old. That was productive. In terms of goals, he was really excited to graduate, but he will
definitely use the rest of this Senate term to do a lot of community stuff. He was excited about that.
Mr. Ma said that over Winter Break, the highlight was to work as an on-site coordinator for a week at a
leadership institute, LeaderShape. This semester, my goal is to connect students with industry and careers,
and to really help students find jobs.
Mr. Lee said he went snowboarding, and broke his snowboard, and almost broke himself. He jumped and
the snowboard fell apart while he was in the air. It was fun. And then he went to Hong Kong for a week
and saw a lot of Berkeley friends there. He was with his grandmother, who was really lonely. For the
Senate that semester, Mr. Lee said he really wanted to make sure that the communities stay as close
together after his term was over. That’s what he wanted to work on. And away from Senate stuff, he
wanted to get an internship this summer, hopefully.
Mr. Kang said that over the break he watched a lot of TV, he snowboarded a lot, and tried to find an
internship, unsuccessfully. So that’s what he was doing right know, looking for one. He went to two info
sessions right before the Senate meeting, although they weren't too great. That year he hoped to plan a
successful event in late April for the Christian community, and to string those communities together.
Mr. Lurie said he had a pretty mellow break. He was in San Diego, in his house, on the couch, for four of
the five weeks. He went to LA for a week and was with his friends up there, which was really nice. That
semester he was going to declare his major, which will be exciting. Senate-wise, he would just continue
to work with a think tank, as his office has been doing, and hopefully implementing something solid
before the end of the semester.
Elected Officials Announcements (cont'd)
- 24 -
Mr. Bellet said he had a pretty relaxing Winter Break. His little brother turned 7, which was pretty
amazing, because Mr. Bellet said that when he left for college, he was four and a half. It was really weird
to see his brother actually growing up every time he went back home. Mr. Bellet said he went to Hawaii
with his best friend, which was really fun, although he didn't get any color whatsoever. But that was fine.
As for this semester, Mr. Bellet said that as for his goals for that semester, he would also give something
of a report as well. There is an event coming up, “My Favorite Enemy.” A lot of Senators are involved,
Ms. Saifuddin and Mr. Kadifa, as well as Ms. Gavello and Mr. Sayarath. It was really exciting. The
event will bring a band to campus that has Norwegian, Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian, and American performers, performing on stage together. Mr. Bellet said they're tying this in with the Olive Tree Initiative,
to really make this an event about bringing communities together on campus. Hopefully, it will be part of
an entire peace month, with speakers and other events about how to deal with difficult issues on the campus, like the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and how they can address that as a student body. He was really
looking forward to the event. Mr. Bellet said he would love to end his Senate term having gotten an
internship for credit. Tom Devlin, in the Career Center, is amazing, so Mr. Bellet said he thought Senators had a good shot at getting credit.
Ms. Chen said it was good to see everybody and good to be back. For her break, she went back and saw
her parents for about three weeks. She also went to Taiwan for a week, to see relatives. What she did for
most of the break was to play basketball; and she realized how much she missed it. Throughout that
semester, aside from the Senate and academics, one of her personal goals was to play more basketball,
and hopefully fit some time in for that. And Senate-wise, hopefully before the end of the summer, she’ll
launch an international orientation online for incoming freshmen for the Fall Semester.
Mr. Deo said that for the break he went to Tahoe. He also went to Belize, got malaria, and then went to
the hospital. People shouldn't worry, as it wasn't contagious. He was in the hospital for four or five days,
but it was chill, though. He got malaria five days after he got back from Belize. As for goals for the Senate, he has a grading thing going on where he wanted to get people’s final papers back, which would be
shifted to a student’s grade breakdown, for when people get their final grade on BearFACTS. This was
something he really wanted to push. He’ll work on this with Christina Maslach and bring this out to the
community. And speaking of that, there is an event on Thursday that his office is hosting, with other
groups on campus, to address the issue of rape in India. A lot of events have recently transpired that have
really brought this issue to the national spotlight. People will meet on Sproul from 9:00 to 10 p.m. and
have a candlelight vigil, and end at the Campanile, holding signs for the victims and thinking about how
to move forward and stay in solidarity with those victims. If people wanted to come out to that, they
should feel free to do so. There are already over 100 coming out to that, and Senators should feel free to
join them.
Mr. Kadifa said he went skiing over the break in Colorado, which was fun. He spent a lot of time procrastinating in doing his grad school applications, although he made some progress. His main goal for the
semester was to finish up police administration accountability. That’s what he doing outside the meeting
that evening, for the last hour. Hopefully, that is something he could leave Cal with, which would be
cool. Mr. Kadifa said he also wanted to throw out a question. The Senate heard about the active shooter
training, which was basically an hour, for a presentation. He asked if people were down for that. It
would be held at 6:00 before the Senate meeting. If that happened, he asked if people would be down to
go. It was basically how to deal with an active shooter on campus. The police will bring guns, talk about
people’s experiences, and how to deal with that situation. Senators could go through it and then
Elected Officials Announcements (cont'd)
- 25 -
disseminate that knowledge to the rest of the campus. People showed interest, so he would set that up.
Mr. Kadifa said he was graduating that semester, and that prospect excited and terrified him.
Mr. Pack said he mostly spent the break getting coffee with people in Los Angeles that he hadn't talked to
for a while, and going to museums and art galleries that he hasn't been to since moving to Berkeley. It
was pretty relaxing. Other than that, he did a lot of work on his honor's thesis. He was discovering that
writing 60 pages was not at all the same as writing three 20-page papers. As far as stuff for Senate, his
overarching goal is to start as few new projects as possible so that he can finish the things he started last
semester. So he’ll finish up his work with the Student Environmental Resource Center; the ASUC Sustainability Team; ECO, and environmental community stuff; finishing the By-laws reform with Con-Review; finishing the fair-trade university, which was about halfway done at that time, and will hopefully be
done by the end of spring; working with the RTSA to help that organization transition leadership for next
year; follow-up with Measure S and seeing what’s going on with the Compassionate Sidewalk Plan that
was moving through the Berkeley City Council. It's an alternative to Measure S, and will hopefully have
the City take a more compassionate approach towards addressing the issue of homelessness. And then for
Advocacy Agenda stuff, he wanted to see how much they could really push forward with the Administration to work on. And he might take Mr. Landgraf up on his offer to meet with the Chancellor so they
could talk about some of the stuff. Chancellor Birgeneau was very good about LGBT issues. Mr. Pack
said his personal goal was to finish his honor's thesis in time to present it at Cal Day without having a
nervous breakdown.
Ms. Chen said the Spring DE-Cal Expo is on Friday, the second one since last fall. She’d pass out fliers,
and she hoped Senators show up and check out the DE-Cals that will be offered that spring.
Mr. Ma said a student came up to him and asked him to make an announcement about the Entrepreneurial
Society of Berkeley. The group saw that a lot of students ware selling textbooks and stuff, on Facebook
groups, which was unorganized; on Amazon, which took money from students and wasn't local; and on
Craig's List, which was unsafe. So they sought to make a solution, and created BuyNearMe
(buynear.me). BuyNearMe is a student-driven marketplace for Cal local trading. College-based trading
promotes more communal accountability and transparency, creating a safer, more relevant, and more
trustworthy environment. Students can utilize other classmates and their college community for buying
and selling stuff rather than rely on Ned’s or other businesses. This also promotes sustainability through
the trading of used goods. BuyNearMe promotes student safety by having students log in through their
Facebook accounts, and then having them verify their Berkeley e-mails. Currently, Stanford already has
something like this, at supost.com. Mr. Ma said the group hopes Senators can spread the word and make
this a staple for Cal. He had fliers to pass around.
Mr. Sayarath said that concluded the meeting and said the Chair would entertain a motion to adjourn. It
was so moved and seconded and passed with no objection.
Roll call was taken for attendance. Members present were:
Jason Bellet
Emily Chen
Mihir Deo
Chen-Chen Huo
Sidronio Jacobo
George Kadifa
Ryan Kang
Klein Lieu
Tom Lee
Rafi Lurie
Jeff Ma
Megan Majd
Nolan Pack
Deejay Pepito
Sadia Saifuddin
Daley Vertiz
Emily White
- 26 Mr. Sayarath said he wanted to thank everyone, and to thank them for sharing.
This meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m.
These minutes respectfully submitted by,
Steven I. Litwak
Recording Secretary
APPENDIX
Bills passed at the December 5, 2012 Senate meeting
that were not included in the December 5 minutes
The following bills were approved at the December 5, 2012 Senate meeting but were not included in the
December 5 minutes because the amended versions out of committee were unavailable at the time the
minutes were printed:
SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process
SB 205A, In Support of an ASUC Comptroller General
SB 228A, In Support of Consolidating the ASUC By-laws
The text of the bills follows.
The following Resolution, SB 196, as amended in committee and on the floor, was approved at the
December 5 Senate meeting under Items for Immediate Consideration and was authored by Mr. Bellet,
Mr. Kadifa, Mr. Vertiz, former Senator Waseem Salahi, former Senator Rachel Horning, former Senator
Noah Ickowitz, and Eric Raby:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS
WHEREAS, Title IV, Article 1.2 currently states:
“Equal Protection
“These By-laws are intended to ensure that each candidate is afforded an opportunity for
election equal to that of any other candidate for that office…”; and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 6, Points A and B of the ASUC Constitution entitled “Campaign
Finance” currently read:
“A. Executive Officer candidates and/or their parties which act in coordination with the
candidate are allowed to spend up to $1,000 on their ASUC campaign. Senate
candidates and/or their parties which act in coordination with the candidate are allowed
to spend up to $200 on their ASUC campaign
“B. These provisions must be administered by a member of the Elections Council.”; and
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - ii RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
WHEREAS, the above clause allows Parties to spend money on behalf of the candidate; however, neither
the above clause, nor the By-laws, articulate a transparent methodology for anybody to
administer these expenditures; and
WHEREAS, the above Constitutional clauses set a precedent for limiting spending during campaigns, but
do not articulate a cap on party spending; and
WHEREAS, Title IV Section 5.3 of the Elections By-laws currently reads:
“5.3 Creation of a New Party
“Any student who wishes to create a new party can become the Party Signatory of that
party by being the first person to do one of the following.
“1. Submit in person to the Attorney General, a written Party Registration Form. One
copy of this form will be kept with the Attorney General, and a second copy must
be made available to the registrant upon request.
“2. Submit to the ASUC Senate a written Party Registration Form. Upon receipt of
this form, the chair shall announce receipt of the form, which will then be entered
into the minutes.”; and
WHEREAS, Title IV, Section 5.8, Number 1 of the By-laws currently reads:
“5.8 Party Registration and Transfer of Party Signatory Forms
“1. The Party Registration Form shall include the party name, the date submitted, the
name and signature of the Party Signatory, and the signature of the Attorney
General or Chair of the ASUC Senate (whichever receives the form).”; and
WHEREAS, the Elections By-laws (Title IV) currently enumerates the process for founding parties, but
does not articulate a cap on party spending; and
WHEREAS, a Party, as defined in Article V Section 5.1, “is any group of two or more persons who
mutually agree to use the same party name”; and
WHEREAS, Party formation is an established method of organizing around common interests, and as
such, is a democratic principle that cannot and should not be undermined, may, without any
limitations in an ASUC elections campaign, begin to undermine that very same democratic
principle; and
WHEREAS, a Party, under the current By-laws, may collect unlimited amounts of money from unknown
sources of funding including, but not limited to, its own membership dues, local business
contributions, corporate sponsorships, etc.; and
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - iii RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
WHEREAS, a Party, under the current By-laws, may spend unlimited amounts of money on any materials
or services related or unrelated to the ASUC elections; and
WHEREAS, Parties, by virtue of their function, invariably benefit the candidates running under them
since Party names are attached to these candidates on the Voter’s Guide, campaign
materials, and voting ballots; put another way, a party, with or without explicitly mentioning
a candidate’s name, ultimately advocate on behalf of said candidate; thus, unlimited
utterances of party name creates unlimited (direct and indirect) references to party
candidates; and
WHEREAS, these unchecked activities ultimately undermine the “Equal Protection” clause articulated
above, because it places candidates who do not run with a Party at a severe economic
disadvantage; these independent candidates face greater restrictions than candidates who
belong to parties that may spend unlimited amounts of money; thus the current structure
provides an unfair advantage unto said candidates running with parties whose current
finances go unchecked by the public and/or the ASUC due to the disproportionate access
they have to campaign resources; and
WHEREAS, the mere presentation of receipts to a member of the Elections Council does not eliminate
chances of underreporting or misrepresentation of expenditures; and
WHEREAS, United States Federal Laws regarding campaigns, titled Federal Election Campaign Laws,
compiled by the Federal Election Commission already sets a precedent for the motivations
inhered within this bill, particularly the following clauses which read:
“The treasurer of a political committee shall
keep an account of—
(1) all contributions received by or on behalf of such political committee;
(2) the name and address of any person who makes any contribution in excess of $50,
together with the date and amount of such contribution by any person
…
(g)…
(4)
The Secretary of the Senate shall make the designations, statements, and reports
received under this subsection available for public inspection and copying…and
shall preserve such designations, statements, and reports....
…
(h) Campaign depositories; designations, maintenance of accounts, etc.; petty cash fund for
disbursements; record of disbursements.
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - iv RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
(1) …Each political committee shall maintain at least one checking account and such other
accounts as the committee determines at a depository designated by such committee. All
receipts received by such committee shall be deposited in such accounts. No
disbursements may be made (other than petty cash disbursements under paragraph (2))
by such committee except by check drawn on such accounts in accordance with this
section.”[1]; and
WHEREAS, the federal law cited above need not be fully emulated, but rather serves as proof that this
idea is historically grounded and therefore warrants thoughtful and objective analysis in its
implementation in the ASUC system; and
WHEREAS, the ASUC recognizes that not all political parties exist to solely elect candidates, but often
spend their resources advocating for other political issues on and off campus;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that any new restrictions or regulations brought into effect by the
enactment of this bill are only valid from the point of enactment forward, and cannot be
retroactively applied prior to the enactment of this bill.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Section 7.14 added to Title I, Article VII come into effect by
February 6, 2013 if the ASUC Senate fails to pass an alternative By-law for the Standing
Committee on Election Finance by that date.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that there be a Section 7.14 added to Title I, Article VII to read:
“7.14 Standing Committee on Election Finances
1. Voting members: Three (3) Senators, one from the party with a majority in the
Senate, one from the second largest voting bloc, Attorney General, Elections
Council Chair and another from the remaining third parties/independents. One
party chair from each registered campus political party will be made a non-voting
ex-officio member of this committee. Decisions made by the committee will
require a majority vote.
(a) members who are declared candidates for ASUC elections are not eligible to
serve on the committee.
2. Functions
(a) To conduct an audit of the finances of any registered political party or
independent candidate whose aggregate expenditures total greater than
$1,000 according to candidate disclosure forms;
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - v RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
(b) If a candidate or political party fails to meet the $1,000 threshold, an audit
can also be triggered by a majority vote of the Standing Committee on
Elections Finances;
(c) Such an audit cannot be conducted prior to the completion of the Filing
Period (Title IV, Article VI, Section 6.3), and must be completed prior to the
reading of the Elections into the Senate Minutes (Title IV, Article XV,
Section 15.1);
(d) To only request documentation relating to the current school year at the time
(e.g., 2012-2013);
(e) To must make the results of the audit publicly available;
(f) Failure to comply with the requests for documentation shall be referred to the
Judicial Council under Article XVIIII, Section 19.5;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Article V, Section 5.8, Number 1 be amended to read:
“5.8
Registration and Transfer of Party Signatory Forms
1. The Party Registration Form shall include the party name, the date submitted, the
name and signature of the Party Signatory, and the signature of the Attorney
General or Chair of the ASUC Senate (whichever receives the form). The Form
must also include a statement agreeing to the provisions enumerated in Article
XVIIII, and Title I, Article VII, Section 7.14. The signature must also prove an
understanding of the necessary Sanctions that could result of a violation of any of
these provisions, as articulated in Article XVIIII, Section 19.5.”
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that there be an Article XVIIII added to Title IV of the Elections Bylaws.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Article XVIIII reads as follows:
ARTICLE XVIIII – PARTY SPENDING
19.1 Definition of Party Spending
Party Spending shall be defined as any transaction of money or exchange of like-kind
gifts valued at fair-market value made by a party, party signatory, or member of a
party, for materials that bear the party name and likeness, not including materials that
explicitly support a Senate or Executive candidate;
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - vi RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
a. Parties will register their likeness consisting of a font and a color scheme with
the Attorney General before the completion of the Filing Period (Title IV,
Article VI, Section 6.3). To be excluded from party spending, the materials’
likeness must be totally dissimilar and evidence of a clear "good faith" attempt
to separate ASUC election campaigns from any other campaigns must be
demonstrated to the Attorney General upon request.
b.
“Totally dissimilar” is defined as changing both the font and the color scheme.
c. Graphic design work, if donated, is not applicable to the Definition of Party
Spending.
d. Purchased or donated campaign materials that are not distributed during the
given academic year shall not be counted toward the party spending limit.
e.
Purchased or donated materials that are “totally dissimilar” and are associated
with a specific issue-based campaign or non-electoral community event shall
not be counted toward the party spending limit.
f. Starting the Monday two weeks prior to Spring Break until the final day of
voting, any material distributed that bears the party branding shall be counted
toward the party spending limit.
19.2 Disclosure of Sources of Funding
1. Parties must disclose and make available to the Standing Committee on Elections
Finances all documentation requested regarding sources of funding, including, but
not limited to, membership dues, individual contributions, business donations,
Political Action Committees (PAC), lobbies, corporate sponsorships, etc;
a. The Attorney General and/or the Elections Council Chair are responsible for
the handling of documentation in their capacity as members of the Standing
Committee on Elections Finances.
Appendix -- SB 196A, In Support of a More Transparent and Accessible Elections Process (cont'd) - vii RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS
PROCESS (cont'd)
19.3 Disclosure of Expenditures
1. Parties must disclose and make available to the Standing Committee on Elections
Finances all documentation requested regarding expenditures, including, but not
limited to, expenditures on behalf of individual candidates, and expenditures
outside of individual campaigns;
a. The Attorney General and/or the Elections Council Chair are responsible for
the handling of documentation in their capacity as members of the Standing
Committee on Elections Finances.
2. The Standing Committee on Elections Finances power of audit is not restricted to
documentation regarding Party Spending, as defined in Section 19.1;
19.4 Expenditure Limitations
Party Spending shall be limited to $2,625 per year per party;
19.5 Sanctions
1. The Attorney General shall pursue charges against Party signatories who allegedly
commit violations or fail to adhere to any of the rules above. The Attorney General
shall not counsel any party members;
2. Failure to adhere to any of the rules above including, but not limited to,
misrepresentation of funding sources, failure to report sources of funding, failure to
report expenditures, etc. will result in the following sanctions:
a. One censure to every Senate candidate on the party slate during that year’s
ASUC Elections, and one censure to every Executive candidate on the party
slate during that year’s ASUC Elections;
b. The violating party will automatically have a censure applied to candidates
running the following academic year in addition to the previous stated
disciplinary action. The sanctioned Party must prove an adherence to these
terms to lift disciplinary probation.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the following clause is added to Title I, Section 7.9.2.d.
“d.
By the twelfth meeting of the Spring Session, the Constitutional and Procedural Review
Committee shall adjust the party spending cap against the Consumer Price Index every
year. This increase shall not exceed the inflation rate specified in the Consumer Price
Index.”
____________
[1] For the sake of brevity, full documentation can be found at http://www.fec.gov/law/feca/feca.pdf (Pages 13-16)
Appendix -- SB 205A, In Support of an ASUC Comptroller General
- viii -
The following Resolution, SB 205, as amended in committee, was approved at the December 5 Senate
meeting under the Consent Calendar and was authored by Mr. Pack:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF AN ASUC COMPTROLLER GENERAL
WHEREAS, the Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee has conducted a semester-long review
of the ASUC By-laws, focusing on issues of transparency, accountability, and enforcement;
and
WHEREAS, the Committee has observed that the responsibility of tracking the accountability of elected
officials, appointed officials, and representatives is not clearly defined in any current
official’s job; and
WHEREAS, an accountability officer, hereafter the Comptroller General, would alleviate this concern;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC By-laws, Title 1, Administration, Article 7, be
amended as follows:
7.9 Standing Committee on Constitutional and Procedural Review
1. Voting members: Seven (7) Senators. The Attorney General, Solicitor General, and
Comptroller General shall be non-voting members.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC By-laws, Title 1, Administration, Article 9, be amended
as follows:
9.2 Comptroller General
1. The Senate shall appoint a temporary committee consisting of the five ASUC
Senators, with preference given to members of the Constitutional and Procedural
Review Committee, whom shall select and forward one (1) Comptroller General
nomination to the full Senate for approval by a two-thirds vote of the entire Senate.
Nominees for consideration by this committee shall be limited to and must include
those people nominated by at least one (1) elected officer. Following the formation
of the Comptroller General Selection Committee (hereafter CGSC), the Senate
shall be given at least one (1) week to submit nominations. The CGSC is not
required to accept nominations past the required one (1) week period, though it
may choose to do so.
2. The CGSC must be formed at the first regular meeting of the Fall Session.
3. The CGSC must submit its selection from the properly nominated nominees to the
Senate for approval by the third regular Senate meeting.
Appendix -- SB 205A, In Support of an ASUC Comptroller General
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RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF AN ASUC COMPTROLLER GENERAL (cont'd)
4. If the Senate fails to approve a Comptroller General by the third Regular meeting
of the Fall Session, the Executive Vice President shall appoint an interim
Comptroller General whose term will expire when the Senate approves a properly
nominated candidate for Comptroller General.
5. If the Senate does not confirm a Comptroller General by the sixth regular Senate
meeting of the Fall Session, they may not consider any official business not
pertaining to the appointment of officials that need to be appointed and/or
determining an election date, until such decisions are made. In a situation where
such decisions are not made past their deadlines, the Senate may, however, hold
regular meetings to hear reports and guest announcements, but they may not make
formal decisions, for instance, allocating money and approving appointments.
6. The Comptroller General may be removed from office for failing to do his/her
duties by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Senate.
7. The Comptroller General shall be responsible for maintaining a list of all ASUC
Appointed Officials and ASUC Representatives appointed by the Senate and/or
confirmed by a vote of the Senate. This list shall include at minimum the title,
name, phone number, and email address of each appointed official.
8. The Comptroller General shall be responsible for contacting all ASUC Appointed
Officials and ASUC Representatives on a weekly basis to collect their reports for
submission to the Senate. These reports shall be organized and compiled into a
Report Packet by the Comptroller General for submission to the Senate as part of
the Agenda Packet (Title 1, 5.20), with missing reports noted. The Report Packet
shall be included in the Senate Minutes.
9. The Comptroller General shall be responsible for maintaining a cumulative record
of weekly reports submitted by each ASUC Executive Officer, ASUC Appointed
Official, and ASUC Representative, noting unsubmitted and late reports for each
Executive, Appointed Official, and Representative.
10. The Comptroller General shall attend all meetings of the Constitutional and
Procedural Review Committee.
11. The term of office of the Comptroller General shall expire on the first day of the
Regular Fall Semester.
Appendix -- SB 228A, In Support Consolidating the ASUC By-laws
-x-
The following Resolution, SB 228, as amended in committee, was approved at the December 5 Senate
meeting under the Consent Calendar and was authored by Mr. Pacheco, Mr. Huo, Ms. Chen, Ms. Pepito,
Ms. White, and Mr. Pack:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF IN SUPPORT OF CONSOLIDATING THE ASUC BY-LAWS
WHEREAS, the 2012-2013 ASUC Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee and ASUC Senate
recognize the many deficiencies within our accumulation of policies and By-laws; including
but not limited to, redundancy, inconsistency, ineffectiveness, unenforceability and
contradictions; and
WHEREAS, the ASUC Senate instructed the ASUC Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee to
support transparency, accountability and enforcement in regards to holistic ASUC By-law
reforms through the enactment of Senate Bill 13, A Bill in Support of Transparency,
Accountability and Enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the ASUC Constitutional and Procedural Review Committee desires to be as transparent as
possible regarding the ASUC By-law reforms, and thus inform the ASUC Senate on the
recommendatory infrastructural framework the Committee will be following as guidelines;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the proposed ASUC By-law reforms structure will resemble
something analogous to the following consolidation:
ASUC By-laws
I. Administration & Internal Operations
A. Title 1: Administration
B. Title 6: Officers Student Status
C. Title 7: ASUC Archives
D. Title 12: ASUC Website
E.
Title 13: ASUC Outreach
F.
Title 16: External Affairs Commission
G. Title 18: Judicial Council
H. Title 24: Judicial Council Impeachment Procedures
I.
Title 20: Bookstore
II. Finance & Sponsorship
A. Title 2: Sponsorship
B. Title 3: Finance
Appendix -- SB 228A, In Support Consolidating the ASUC By-laws
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF IN SUPPORT OF CONSOLIDATING THE ASUC BY-LAWS
(cont'd)
III. Programs
A. Title 5: Space Allocation Program
B. Title 8: Advocacy Agenda
C. Title 9: Information Systems
D. Title 11: SUPERB
E.
Title 22: Perspectives
F.
Title 29: Innovative Design
G. Title 30: The Green Initiative Program
IV. Funding Sources
A. Title 14: Academic Opportunity Fund
B. Title 15: Fund for Intellectual Community
C. Title 19: Educational Enhancement Fund
D. Title 21: Multicultural Fund
E.
Title 26: Disabled Students Accommodation Fund
F.
Title 27: ASUC Public Service Fund
G. Title 28: Cal Lodge Fund
V. Scholarships & Awards
A. Title 17: ASUC Outstanding Student Recognition Program
B. Title 23: RISE Scholarship
C. Title 25: ASUC Recognition Awards for Oski Leadership Awards
VI. Elections
A. Title 4: Elections
VII. Graduate Assembly
A. Title 10: Graduate Assembly
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