The tenth Associated Students of UCR (ASUCR) Senate meeting took place on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. All senators were present, excluding President Pro Tempore Abby Choy, who was excused, Senators Rayhan Khan, Natalie Trutalli and Grace Su, who were excused, and Senator Leila Haidar, who was absent. The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m.
Before the agenda was approved, a friendly amendment was made to add External Affairs to Ex-Officio reports. The motion to approve the agenda with the amendments was made by CNAS Senator Kaden Ho and seconded by Senator Naia Pizarro and passed 13-0-0.
Next on the agenda was approving the previous week’s meeting minutes. A motion to approve Senate Meeting Minutes #9 was made by Senator Pizarro and seconded by Senator Crystal Toral and passed 13-0-0.
During Public Forum, Senate Intern Sofia Jimenez announced an event that she is organizing on Feb. 7 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The event is blind date thrifting where students get to trade clothes with other students. She then directed to the Senate to reach out if they are interested in assisting, and then to the public to show up if they want to.
Next was Ex-Officio Reports which began with approval of ECAB Meeting Minutes #1. ASUCR President Ankita Ahluwalia explained the various initiatives that were covered during the meeting. A brief recap includes: meeting with financial aid, working with alumni relations, Global Fair planning, preparing for the Senior Barbeque, setting up R’Gear and Highlander Action Committee working on the rent a bike initiative and getting scooters banned. The motion to approve the minutes were made by Senator Pizarro and seconded by CNAS Senator Ho and passed 12-0-0.
Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA) Ángel Rentería then delivered a statement on the recent UC Regents Meeting. He explained how eight UCR students went to UC San Francisco to attend the meeting, something that hasn’t been done since 2019, and that he was disheartened by what he witnessed. He claimed that an abundance of police force was used against students peacefully protesting for a ceasefire in Palestine and that during that protest, 13 students were arrested. He continued explaining how the amount of people let in for open sessions were limited, and that most of them had to wait outside of the chamber, and delivered a personal anecdote where he had to be escorted by a police officer to go to the bathroom, as students were not allowed to do so by themselves.
One of the things covered at the Regents Meeting was Opportunity for All (OFA), which was a campaign to allow for undocumented students in the UC system to be able to get hired on campus. VPEA Rentería explained how the Regents had set a self-imposed deadline of November of 2023 that they missed, and that during this meeting postponed implementing their policy for one year. He reports that only six regents voted in favor of passing OFA and that UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox has been silent during these meetings. VPEA Rentería said that Wilcox needs to recognize his responsibility to serve undocumented students along with the rest of the student population. He ended his statement with the claim that External Affairs is always here to support the undocumented community and that they are going to organize with Providing Opportunities, Dreams and Education in Riverside (PODER) and Undocumented Student Programs, and offer them the resources to help uplift their voices, and the voices of other marginalized communities.
There was nothing on the agenda for New Business.
Committee Reports brought with it three different documents. The first was Finance Meeting Minutes #2 which was read aloud by CNAS Senator Ho. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Senator Anjana Narasimhan and seconded by CHASS Senator Philson Ho and passed 12-0-0.
Legislative Review Committee proposed SB-W23-001 Updating Chapter XIII: President Pro Tempore & Legislative Review Committee. This legislation is a bylaw update to remove the PPT from the Senate Internship Program as the creation of the Senate Intern Director causes redundancy. A motion to approve the bylaw update was made by CHASS Senator Ho and seconded by Senator Pizarro and passed 12-0-0.
Green Campus Action Plan proposed Green Grant W24 #1: Lab Coat Recycling along with its Budget Sheet. Senator Narasimhan explained that the grant is to be used to recycle lab coats, collecting them at the end of winter quarter and at the beginning of spring quarter. This would allow for a stable way to reuse lab coats, and make it more accessible for students as lab coats are expensive. A motion to approve the Green Grant was made by CNAS Senator Ho and seconded by CHASS Senator Ho and passed 12-0-0.
No one came to the podium for public comment.
During Senator Reports, Senator Narasimhan announced that the Global Fair is planned for Feb. 24, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and that in March she is planning to put on a unity event where she is going to host professors from all fields. Senator Pizarro announced that she has been working with the SOE senator to plan their Town Hall for Feb. 21, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Highlander Union Building (HUB).
During Roundtable and Announcements, Senator Teesha Sreeram announced that the Campus Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) office is hosting their “being healthy week” next week.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Senator Pizarro and seconded by Senator Kevin Nguyen. The vote passed 12-0-0 and the meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m.
An earlier edition of this article misspelled the name of Senator Natalie Trutalli, she is Natalie Trutalli, not Natali Trutalli. The earlier edition also misstated the attendance of Senators Trutalli and Haidar, Senator Trutalli was excused and Senator Haidar was absent.
Update: In an amendment to the ASUCR meeting minutes made after Senate Meeting #10, Senator Haidar was also marked excused.
