The Associated Students of UCR’s seventh meeting was called to order by Executive Vice President Myra Usmani on Wednesday, Jan. 11th, 2023 in the ASUCR Senate Chamber at 7:00 P.M. All senators were present, excluding CHASS senator Andrew Bui, CHASS senator Alex Lu, CHASS senator Ahman Greene, and BCOE senator Chloe Au. In addition to the senators, the Executive Cabinet was present as well. Motion to add Green Grant #15 and #17 to the agenda by CNAS senator Shukan Shah. Motions to approve the current meeting’s agenda were called for by CNAS senator Brenden Cano. Motions to open and approve the previous week’s meeting minutes took place and passed with a vote count of 14-0-0.
A public forum then began with an introduction from Orlando Cabalo who serves as the Communications Manager at the Student Debt Crisis Center. He discussed a new position that is open for hire with the center which provides a stipend of $1000 for 10 hours of work per week. Cabalo explained that this is a great opportunity to learn more about student advocacy and civic justice.
Ex-officio reports then took place and saw Vice President of Campus Internal Affairs Jeanine Nassar taking the stand. She notified the panel and galley of an upcoming event hosted by Internal Affairs called a Brain Fuel Event. It will take place on Tuesday, Jan 17th from 1-2 P.M. at HUB 379. Jamba Juice will be passed out at the event. Another event is also planned with the CARE Office to plant seeds.
Vice President of Finance Christian Martinez also took the stand and briefly announced that Finance meetings will be held openly every week on Tuesdays from 11-12 P.M. In addition, Martinez is working on setting up Financial Literacy workshops for the campus later in the quarter.
Following Martinez, Chief Justice of the Judicial Council, Alexandria Arias approached the stand to deliver a number of announcements. This included discussing an anonymous form filled out by senators which required more substantial and thorough feedback for what they look for in an elections director. She also mentioned that she was notified of a clerical error regarding a piece of legislation which was not uploaded despite its passage by the Legislative Review Committee and its presence in the meeting minutes.
EVP Usmani confirmed with Arias that the clerical error she discussed was done by last year’s senate. She ensured that the issue will be addressed and was supported in this notion by President Mufida Assaf.
President Assaf followed the Chief Justice and briefly talked regarding the project she is working on with her Chief of Staff. She also encouraged the senate and student body to work with each other.
Committee reports then took place and saw the approval of two Green Grants. Green Grant #15 discusses Rose Hack, a sustainability program that functions as a hackathon. It involves workshops to teach students on how they can be more sustainable. This legislation requests for $4000 in funding to go towards food for the event, which will primarily veg and vegan options. Green Grant #17 is a large-scale initiative that aims to add Bike Pumps in the HUB area in order to promote sustainable modes of transportation. The addition has been approved already and the grant asks for $6000 in the funding for the project. Both grants were approved with a vote count of 14-0-0.
One senate bill was discussed as part of Legislative Review Committee reports. President Pro-Tempore Aalani Richardson discussed SB-W23-001 First Year Fellowship Program Updates which is a bill that amends the first year fellowship program and establishes a clearer difference between it and the senate internship program. Primary author and Executive Fellow, Layla Hader discussed the bill further by taking the stand and explained how it would allow for fellows to have a greater role in ASUCR, as it currently depends on the position of executive officer. The bill was approved 13-0-1.
To conclude the meeting, SPP senator Sean Nguyen announced a Financial Wellness workshop event that will allow students to know what they owe in student loans. Furthermore, BCOE senator Alexander Hunt announced an event with GCAP that will be a Movie Night taking place at the Bell Tower on Jan. 17. The meeting was then adjourned at 7:21 P.M.
