On Wednesday, May 26, ASUCR held their ninth meeting of the quarter.
The California Public Interest Group kicked off the meeting by providing their year in review presentation. This year, the student-run and student-funded advocacy group has worked to create positive social change through campaigns and activism. CALPIRG has chapters across the UC system, and this year, CALPIRG at UCR managed to recruit 470 volunteers, 180 interns and educated over 7,600 students on their efforts through class presentations, events and social media. This year, CALPIRG also worked on their Plastic Free Seas campaign and did advocacy work at the California Climate Action Summit. Next year, they plan to continue advocating for a 100% renewable energy campaign and will implement a new Hunger and Homelessness campaign to advocate for food insecurity and housing issues on campus.
CALPIRG’s lead campaign this year was the 100% renewable energy campaign. CALPIRG is continuing its efforts after passing SB100 in 2018, a bill that commits California to 100% renewable electricity by 2045.
CHASS Senator Alyssa Marchan then presented a statement by the senate in support of UCR’s Underground Scholars Initiative. Currently, USI is facing an issue with the allocation of an Andrew Mellon grant by the UC Berkeley Underground Scholars chapter of $118,500 to hire a program director and fund further resources. USI is currently facing the issue of not knowing where to house the funds as the Office of Student Affairs denied their request due to the lack of space, staffing and sustainability for the program long term, according to Jazmin Garcia, an executive member of USI.
In their letter, ASUCR urged the Office of Student Affairs to support and house the funding awarded to USI stating, “As a campus that is ranked No. 1 in social mobility and prides itself on diversity, it’s critical that we support and enrich our campus community members.”
During New Business, President Pro Tempore Orlando Cabalo presented SR-S21-012 Support Student Workers Resolution. The resolution aims to support student employees on campus, support a campus-wide minimum wage that is tied to inflation and support the efforts of the over 17,000 UC student researchers in their effort to unionize through social media and other forms of communication. The resolution passed with a vote of 17-0-0.
The senate also voted to implement the position of the International Student Director. The position will allow for greater representation and advocacy for the international students population at UCR at a legislative level. The new director will also engage in matters that affect international students and create a greater sense of community, as well as developing plans to voice the concerns of international students and to celebrate the diversity on campus. The new bylaw outlines the responsibilities of the International Student Director and states that the bylaw shall take effect during fall quarter.
During the State of the Association meeting, the Executive Cabinet presented their final reports for the 2020-2021 school year. Vice President of External Affairs Vincent Rasso thanked the senate and his team for their contributions throughout the year.
Vice President of Sustainability Vanessa Gomez Alvarado presented an update on the ECO-2-GO reusable food container project for the UCR dining halls. She stated that the program has not been the most successful in the past few months as students have not been handling the containers correctly but is hopeful that next year students will understand the project better.
ASUCR will hold their final meeting of the year next Wednesday, June 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Correction: SB100 was mistakenly stated to have been passed this year, but the bill was passed in 2018. This article reflects that change.
