By BENJAMIN CARRILLO — campus@theaggie.org

Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan called the May 23 Senate meeting to order at 6:21 p.m. After roll call, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.  

First on the agenda, the Bike Barn presented their quarterly report, discussing some of the issues affecting the Bike Barn in recent times. 

Teddy Mates-Munchin, the business manager for the Bike Barn, asked during the presentation if any lawsuit could arise from the Bike Barn publicly supporting Palestine.

“Would you pay for your own lawyer in that situation?” Senator Jacob Klein said. “Or would you expect that to come out of reserves?”

“I’m not sure why it’s only an issue of a lawsuit when it’s Palestinian rights in question,” Senator Yara Kadaan said. “Through a quick scroll through the Bike Barn’s page on Instagram, I see a post supporting Pride Month. And yet there’s no issue of a lawsuit there?” 

Next, the Senate approved Vanessa Sandoval, a third-year environmental science and management major, to be the internal affairs commission chair. With the previous chair, Thuyanh Truong, stepping down, she delivered a speech with her goodbyes and her time working with the senators.

“So much time I have spent here has been spent reflecting on the past, but I think now as I’m leaving I can say that I enjoyed my time here and that I feel as if I have made an impact with my time on the Senate,” Truong said. 

Afterward, there was a quarterly report presentation by the Whole Earth Festival (WEF) The presentation went through the highs and lows of the festival, which took place from May 10 to 12.

Senate President Pro Tempore Trinity Chow then gave her quarterly report and talked about the highs and lows of being a president pro tempore the last two quarters. The senators and chairmen all applauded Chow once she finished and thanked her for not only being a great president pro tempore but also for her kindness and care for the table.

Then followed public comment, where three students, including a previous senator, discussed their opinions of the recently passed Student Resolution (SR) #10, which affirms support for UCD Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP) and the encampment going on in the Memorial Union Quad. 

“I’m not only hurt but scared about what this bill means and the nuance that ASUCD neglects to acknowledge,” one student said in their comment. “I’ve been stalked, harassed and bullied for my Jewish and Israeli identity.” 

Senator Katia Bouali said that no one should feel unsafe in this environment and most senators nodded in agreement.

A previous senator was the next to make a public comment. 

“Your commitment to democracy and transparency is disingenuous at best,” they said. “You all manage and vote for the budget you vote on. While you consider my ex-[Senate] table to be toxic, we would never usurp the democratic process.” 

Kadaan was the first to respond, saying that she didn’t want to give any validity to the undemocratic claims. 

Senator Bouali, Senator Nur Ambaw, Senator Gabriel Gaysinsky and Senator Jonathan Ng also answered this public comment, saying that there was no validity to the claim of undemocratic actions.

The senators then decided not to reconsider Constitutional Amendment #90 this meeting and postponed the voting to the next meeting. The table then passed the consent calendar, looked at the status of previous legislation and approved the meeting minutes.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:08 p.m.

Written by: Benjamin Carrillo — campus@theaggie.org 

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By SYDNEY AMESTOY — campus@theaggie.org   

The ASUCD Senate held a town hall session in the CoHo on May 16, giving students the opportunity to ask the table questions. The session was called to order at 6:20 p.m.

However, there were no questions presented from any member of the public, so senators and chairs were asked to give a brief report on their work from the quarter to those in attendance. The session was closed at 6:40 p.m., and the Senate moved to the Mee Room to call the Senate meeting to order.

The meeting was called to order at 6:56 p.m.

Next, the Senate addressed an emergency Senate Resolution, SR #10, authored by Senator Yara Kadaan. SR #10 asks the Senate to affirm the protest and demands of the Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (Davis PULP). 

“Things are developing very quickly both here on campus and in Gaza, Palestine and neighboring countries in terms of the aggression […] in the genocide that they are facing,” Kadaan said. “There is no time for us to wait, the negotiating team from the encampment is already in talks with the administration. We don’t have time to sit back and watch this happen or mull it over more, things are moving very quickly out there and we have to be caught up to it to the best of our ability.”

A vote was held to consider SR #10 as emergency legislation, which would require it to be addressed during that meeting. In the initial vote, there were seven yes’s, four no’s and two abstainments. The resolution would need a two-thirds majority to be considered an emergency, which wasn’t met in the initial vote and would push the debate on the resolution to next week’s meeting.

Internal Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan then moved the Senate to consider other legislation.

Constitutional Amendment (CA) #90, which seeks to institutionalize the hiring committee for interim senators, was discussed first. After a short debate, CA #90 passed with a vote of eight yes’s, two no’s and three abstainments. 

The meeting then moved to the quarterly report from the ASUCD Judicial Council (JC).

JC plans to update some judicial codes as positions within the council have all become paid roles. They also announced that for the remainder of spring quarter, judicial council meetings would be every Thursday on the third floor of the MU, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

With the conclusion of the quarterly meeting, the Senate moved into the consideration of SB #90, which seeks to allocate $1,658.75 to the Student Health and Wellness Committee (SHAWC) for an earthquake emergency kit building event on May 31 on the MU patio. 

After brief debate regarding the possibility of not all supplies being used, SB #90 passed unanimously. 

The STEM Committee then gave its quarterly report. The committee has been trying to increase equity within STEM, sponsoring STEM-related events and posting opportunities for STEM students on their Instagram. 

As the quarterly reports concluded, the Senate moved into public discussion.

Various anonymous members of the public came to announce their disappointment in the tabling of SR #10 until next week. 

“[The Senate] tabling a piece of legislation because you want to be nitpicky and sit with it longer is not okay anymore,” one anonymous speaker said. “You have students out there [in the encampment] risking everything.”

Public speakers were given two to three minutes to voice their opinions and concerns to the table. Discussion between the public and the Senate remained focused on SR #10 and continuing the encampment in the MU Quad.

“I have been at Davis for two years, and I’ve been here way too many times, defending the fact that I deserve to be alive, that I deserve to be defended and my existence is valid,” another anonymous speaker said. “I’m sick of it. The people who said that we should table this bill for next week, you’re ignorant, you’re cowards. [Students are] sitting on the ground. They’re not showering for days. They’re skipping their classes. They’re skipping their midterms to defend the fact that Palestinians should not be genocided off the face of the earth.”

There was discussion regarding recent sweeps of other encampments by law enforcement at other schools, including recently at UC Irvine and UC Los Angeles, and the fear of something similar occurring at UC Davis.

According to Kadaan, the decision to send in law enforcement is made by the UC Regents and the UC Office of the President.

Discussion of SR #10 ultimately led to a motion to reconsider the resolution as emergency legislation, which passed unanimously.

The Senate then moved into a brief Senate discussion on the resolution.

After a call of hands to see how the table members would vote, a motion was made to pass SR #10. With a total of seven yes’s and two abstainments, SR #10 passed unanimously. 

The Senate then moved into a closed session at 10:12 p.m., with all members of the public leaving the meeting. 

Written by: Sydney Amestoy — campus@theaggie.org

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By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org  

Gaius Ilupeju, the two-time ASUCD Senator and current underrepresented students officer for the UC Student Association, ran unopposed and was elected ASUCD President during the spring 2024 election. The third-year political science, public service major ran on the Forward slate alongside Aaminah Mohammad as ASUCD Internal Vice President. They campaigned on an expansive platform of student advocacy which includes, among other priorities, the establishment of a tenant union, providing resources to student workers to unionize, expanding equitable access to parking and bringing back Tipsy Taxi. Set to take office in the coming months, Ilupeju sat down with The California Aggie to talk about his campaign, his priorities and his hopes for the upcoming term.

Below is a transcript of Ilupeju’s interview with The Aggie that has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q: How are you feeling now that the election results are out?

Ilupeju: I’m feeling great. I’m really excited to get to work with everyone [who] was just elected and to represent the student body to the best of my ability. I think that there’s a lot that we can accomplish in this next year, and I am really excited to do all that.

Q: Why did you run for ASUCD President? What motivated you?

Ilupeju: I ran for president because I was really unhappy with the current state of affairs. I’ve been there for the past three years, and we continue to face the same issues frequently. I just felt like, with the experience I had, I really needed to assert myself and put myself in the position of higher leadership to direct ASUCD where I think it needs to be headed. I think that this association has historically done plenty of amazing things for students, ranging from providing entertainment, fostering community [and] ensuring that university administrators make student-centric decisions. It’s really telling, when you look at this campus, how much ASUCD has contributed to every facet of student life and just improved the quality of living for students every decade. To me, it’s really difficult to see an organization that’s capable of so much doing so little in the past several years, especially in the areas that students care about. 

Q: Could you talk a little bit about your past with ASUCD, working in student government and your time as a senator?

Ilupeju: I served two terms as a senator, and that started my freshman year. It’s the longest that any person has served as an elected member of ASUCD since the adoption of a new constitution in 1995. In both terms, I was mainly focused on improving our engagement with marginalized communities and increasing the amount of basic needs services we provide. In my first term, I really championed pushing out a basic needs survey to determine where we could set up satellite pantries in other areas of campus. That same year, we were battling [COVID-19], and there was a resurgence in January. I worked with that Senate table to facilitate conversations with administration, primarily by sending out letters to make sure that students got an extension on virtual learning. During my second term, I was realizing that we provide so many services for students, but because our outreach and engagement with them is pretty bad, […] a lot of [them] go unused. At the end of the day, it’s just a misuse of student fees if you aren’t able to provide necessary services [and] make sure that they’re accessible and visible. Once I termed out, I became more focused on my role in the UC Student Association, where I serve as the underrepresented students officer. I tried my best to learn all the ways that relationships [between students and administrators] could be used to produce positive outcomes for students here on the UC Davis campus.

Q: Have you started to think about how you want to improve ASUCD outreach and how you want to engage with students next year during your tenure?

Ilupeju: I think that we have to take steps to improve our general marketing, communications and marketing strategy. We’ve already started that by hiring a new creative director who is going to work on marketing full time, and I’m excited to work with him. Also, changing how elected officials interface [with the] student body and kind of report on what we’re doing. We need to do more, and we need to hold more events that are visible to ensure that we’re really reaching as many people as we can. We need to improve the way we interact with other student organizations, so they know that they can receive financial and logistical support from ASUCD. That comes with introducing a new culture here where people keep engagement and outreach at the forefront of everything we do. I also think that it means setting up future student leaders for success. Finding ways to explain how we make use of student fees better so we can regain student trust is paramount, because we have a lot of money at our disposal, and it all comes from student fees. We don’t do a great job of explaining how we use it or how we intend to use it once students graduate. We’re doing all these amazing projects, some of them that won’t be finished until students are out of here. I think that if [they] were aware of how we were spending their money, they would really be happy with some of these investments we’ve made. 

Q: You ran with the Forward slate, and a lot of your platforms and campaign promises focused toward advocacy for students. They include: creating a tenant’s union, expanding satellite pantry locations and looking into having free laundry for first-years, among other things. Could you talk about how you and the rest of the slate came together to focus on what you wanted to do next year?

Ilupeju: I would say the foundation of everything that we decided to run on was conversations with our peers, particularly student leaders. A lot of these student leaders represent communities who talk about certain issues like improving housing: something that’s on everyone’s mind. Access to basic needs is something that people care about. So it was really having discussions between ourselves to see what was possible through ASUCD and also what students care about. I think it’s a mixture of these two that created the platforms we decided to run on.

Q: Do you think that during your year-long tenure you will realistically be able to implement or start all of these projects?

Ilupeju: Right now, we’re in discussion about when we would want some of these things to be accomplished. We know that our platforms are a bit ambitious, and sometimes you plan as best as you can but unexpected things happen, and the university works notoriously slow. So we, first of all, plan on hiring a lot of student workers and volunteers to help make this happen, but we’re also prioritizing the things we think […] are most important. We know that some of these things take multiple years, and so we’re very much fine with setting up future student leaders to follow up with some of these goals, but making sure that we’ve at least attempted to initiate them during the academic year.

Q: How do you feel about the current presidential administration under Francisco Ojeda? It’s been marked by impeachments and a lot of notable, if controversial, developments. As the year is coming to a close, have you been able to reflect on his time in office?

Ilupeju: I feel like the Ojeda Administration faced a lot of troubles because a lot of different difficulties converged to produce an overall unsatisfactory year for a lot of people, including the executive office. I have no doubt that they genuinely wanted to provide strong leadership and advocate for students to the best of their abilities. But I do think that a lot of different events happened, a lot of them unforeseen, [which] led to an overall unsatisfactory year for many students. I think that the best that we can do after their tenure is to look critically at all the things that went wrong and work as best as we can to prevent them and ensure that this never happens again and [that] we don’t repeat some of the mistakes that were made.

Q: What do you want our readers, the voters of ASUCD and the student population as a whole to know about you and your platform moving forward? Is there something that you think they should know about next year?

Ilupeju: They should know that fixing the issues on this campus and making sure that everyone’s voice is heard is a mission that we all have to commit ourselves to. That includes people within and outside ASUCD. Unless we build a sense of community and foster a culture of accountability, none of the things that we all want will happen at all. I want the readers to know that community oriented advocacy truly is the way forward for us all.

Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org

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By MADISON PETERS — campus@theaggie.org

Internal Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan called the May 9 Senate meeting to order at 6:17 p.m. She then took roll call and read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

The first item on the agenda was the confirmation of three new Internal Affair Commission (IAC) chairpeople.

Next were the confirmations for the ASUCD Housing and Transportation Advocacy Committee (HTAC). The new members proposed their various ideas on how to improve transportation accessibility and safety on campus and throughout Davis as a whole.

One new HTAC committee member proposed their Safety Cycling Project (SCP), which would involve an increase in education and traffic monitoring of cycling on campus.

“In [the] UC Davis Report in 2019 and 2022, [there was] a 43% increase in accidents involving a bike,” the member said. “One of the things I want to [implement] is once [a student] gets accepted into UC Davis, a crash course should happen about what you are getting into with biking and the rules. A very common idea happening in Canada and Washington that made a difference is cement barriers in the biking lanes. It lowered speeding and made biking more accessible and more encouraged because [people] feel safe.”

Annie Kanjamala, a third-year environmental policy and planning major, was then confirmed as the new chairperson of the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission (EPPC).

Kelly Abey, the ex-chair of EPPC, then gave her farewell speech.

“I’ve been a part of EPPC for the last three years,” Abey said. “This commission has evolved a lot over these years, and I found it very fascinating to see people come in and out of positions. I wanted to thank everyone who has been on EPPC this year and my fellow commission chairs for being very supportive.”

Next on the agenda was a presentation by Jenny Vaccari, a representative for Ombuds. Ombuds is a conflict resolution resource offered at many UCs aimed at confidential and informal problem solving, according to their website.

The Mental Health Initiative (MHI) then gave their quarterly report and discussed their Mental Health Awareness Month activities, which will be happening throughout the month of May.

After this report, the senators shifted their agenda to reconsider SB #86, which would allocate $10,816.04 to the Planet Her 3 event created by Senator Antonio.

The bill is imperative for the success of the event, but will likely drain the Senate reserves, according to Antonio.

Antonio then spoke on the importance of the bill for the Planet Her event.

“I know that this is a big sum of money, and I know that this will drain the reserve to almost nothing, but this is a really large event,” Antonio said. “We are trying our best here and this is really the lowest we can go, [so] we really hope for your support. This is likely going to be the last ASUCD event of the year, and it’s going to be one that really impacts student life in a positive way.”

Other senators expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of the decorations, and the overall cost of some of the items.

After much deliberation, the bill was passed with some amendments including canceling one of the two planned photobooths, which cut down about $789.

Next, Campus Information Technology (IT) gave their quarterly report which included details about their new ticketing system and plans to have more access points on campus to improve eduroam wifi.

Sonora Slater, editor-in-chief of The California Aggie, then gave The Aggie’s quarterly report. Issues regarding certain aspects of funding were discussed, since The Aggie budget is soon to be reviewed.

The senators read both the quarterly reports for the Coho and Unitrans.

Public comment was then opened before they moved on to the status of old legislation.

SR #8, which vows to uphold free speech on campus and condemn the delayed response by UC Los Angeles campus authorities and law enforcement after the violent attacks on pro-Palestinian protestors the night of April 30 and morning of May 1, was then passed and signed by ASUCD President Francisco Ojeda.

Additionally, SB #88, which will establish the ASUCD yearbook managing editor as a non-voting, ex-officio member of the IAC, was passed and sent to Ojeda.

The consideration of old legislation was then discussed.

SB #89, a bill that would allocate $2295.48 to the Office of Senator Binh Do in collaboration with Aggie Sports Analytics was passed. This money will fund the ASUCD Business Case Competition, a conference that will be held on June 5 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

After a brief five-minute break, SB #84 was considered. This bill, submitted by Gaius Ilupeju, would amend the 2023 to 2024 ASUCD budget to transfer $5,924.27 from a portion of the Entertainment Council’s (EC) budget towards the External Affairs Vice President Special Projects Line Item.

ASUCD Controller Allyson Francisco opposed the immediate passing of this bill since it had not yet been reviewed by the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission (ECAC).

The Senators voted on tabling the bill to be voted on again on May 23, and then moved into open forum.

Senator Jonathan Ng started by talking about the success of Lawntopia, but brought up controversy surrounding rude comments made by another senator about the event.

“The only incident that happened involved a member of this table [who] I will not mention by name, but they were extremely rude to the EC director and EC volunteers,” Ng said. “When asked to obey instructions by ASUCD personnel, their partner called EC volunteers ‘bitches.’ I just want everyone to be aware that this event happened, and I condemn it as disgusting behavior, especially from someone who is supposed to be representing ASUCD.”

Francisco then went on to call for better security measures at future EC events.

Ng agreed on the need for more security measures and pledged to improve these concerns at the next EC event.

Finally, the meeting was adjourned at 10:02 p.m.

Written by: Madison Peters — campus@theaggie.org

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By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org 

Senator Trinity Chow called the May 2 Senate meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. After roll call, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

The Senate then heard a series of unit quarterly reports. The Pantry Unit Director Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar, a fourth-year political science major, began and spoke of The Pantry’s recent move, as well as the start of in-house data science collection and analysis.

Following Boardo-Aguilar was Student Health and Wellness Committee Chair Julia Miller, a third-year human development major. The committee only recently became an ASUCD unit, and Miller detailed continued efforts to distribute safe-sex products on campus and a survey on substance use to help the committee better understand how to serve the needs of the student population.

Miller closed by critiquing the Senate and asked them to attend the meetings of their adopted units.

“[It] is your job to overlook the legislative branch,” Miller said. “Please do that.”

Next was the report from the Sexual Assault Awareness and Advocacy Committee (SAAAC) Chair Rashita Chauhan, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major. Among other developments, she spoke of SAAAC’s plans to table at Lawntopia and an upcoming event in collaboration with the EDM club. 

Chauhan, after thanking the Senate for increasing SAAAC’s prospective budget for the next academic year, expressed her belief that ASUCD committee members were not being paid for as many hours as they deserved, nor given enough respect.

“[Committees] are strongly underappreciated in this association,” Chauhan said. “Committees are consistent. It’s just different from being a senator.”

Building off of Miller’s points on adopted senators, she expressed her own frustrations with the Senate. She acknowledged that Senator Jacob Klein had made an effort to attend all events but noted that senators often failed to check in with their committee chairs or stay up to date with their events and activities. 

The last quarterly report was from the Student Advocate Office (SAO), delivered by current Student Advocate Travis Haskin, a fourth-year Native American studies and political science double major. He raised concerns over a rise in Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA) cases involving AI, which have resulted in the SAO hiring more staff to compensate.

“[The rise in AI cases is] an alarming indicator for what is happening within the student community,” Haskin said. 

Haskin said that the SAO is hoping to work directly with professors and academic departments to ensure students, who he says are often violating the rules when they use translation engines or grammar checkers, are fully aware of what constitutes academic dishonesty in regards to using AI-supported platforms.

Afterwards, Controller Allyson Francisco announced details on the upcoming budget hearings and owned up to a pair of errors in the prospective budget, which she promised would be rectified. The Senate then took a 30-minute recess.

After the break, the Senate quickly confirmed an External Affairs Commission (EAC) member not in attendance before moving forward two emergency pieces of legislation, SB #88 and SR #8, for consideration. 

SB #86, authorized by ASUCD Historian Kayla Lunde, a third-year environmental policy, analysis and planning major and yearbook managing editor, would establish the managing editor position as a non-voting member of the Internal Affairs Commission.

Lunde joined via Zoom to give insight into the bill, explaining that the legislation would help distinguish her two roles and help to institutionalize the yearbook, which was only revived last year. The bill passed 8-3-2, Yes-No-Abstain.

Next, the Senate discussed emergency resolution SR #8 to “uphold the principles of free speech and expression, and condemn the delayed and insufficient response from campus administration and local law enforcement to protect students from violence on the evening of April 30, 2024 and morning of May 1, 2024 at the University of California, Los Angeles.”

The resolution, co-authored by Senators Jonathan Ng and Binh Do, directly addresses the attack of a pro-Palestianian encampment by pro-Israel counter-protesters who deployed fireworks and caused several injuries, according to reporting from The Daily Bruin.

The Senate spent over an hour looking through the resolution and editing it line by line, with Ng and Do’s acknowledgment that the bill was written quickly and pushed forward in order to address the attacks in a timely fashion.

One proposed amendment clause discussed the attack of a Jewish student which occurred before the encampment attack that evening. Numerous senators expressed concerns that its inclusion and placement at the start of the resolution aligned with a narrative of victim blaming and justification for that night’s encampment.

“I’m very hesitant to add language to this bill that could even imply some justification for this [attack] happening,” Senator Yara Kaadan said. “It was very much racialized”

“When you have two very polarizing movements and things get violent, we have to be very, very particular about how we’re going to phrase this,” Senator Nur Ambaw said. “I’m just not very comfortable with the way it is being phrased right now.”

Senator Klein, who was vocal in either adapting or relocating the clause rather than deleting it altogether, said that the clause was not added with any malice and that it helped establish a chronology of the events.

The amendment was eventually voted on after senators acknowledged that everyone had decided how to vote and was removed.

After looking over final edits and resolving some issues over the sourcing of several pieces of information within the resolution, it was passed unanimously.

During open comment, Senator Chow announced that Senator Leah Jung, who was not present at the meeting, had previously handed in her resignation, effective immediately. Chow expressed the desire that those wishing to resign in the future would give greater notice.

Senator Chow adjourned the meeting at 11:06 p.m.

Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org

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By JORDAN POLTORAK — campus@theaggie.org

The April 25 meeting was called to order at 6:23 p.m. by Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan following a roll call and land acknowledgment.

Senators Jacob Klein and Gabriel Gaysinsky presented a training on antisemitism to the Senate. The presentation was broken into three segments which included explaining Jewish identity, defining antisemitism and addressing common misconceptions regarding antisemitism. 

“[Antisemitism is] a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews,” Gaysinsky said. “Jews make up only three percent of California’s population but make up 8.6% of hate crimes. Nationwide, Jewish people are two percent of the population yet are the target of 60 percent of religious hate crimes.” 

Gaysinsky asked for examples of left-wing and right-wing antisemitism.

 “In the spaces I’m in, as a left-wing person, I have to educate people on left-wing antisemitism, because there is so much misinformation about Israel and Palestine,” Senator Yara Kaadan said. “People unknowingly engage in antisemitic rhetoric. People across the political spectrum are not immune to bigotry including antisemitism.” 

Gaysinsky then discussed misconceptions regarding antisemitism. 

“[It is] uniquely pervasive, because it is seen as punching up and punching down at the same time,” Gaysinsky said. “We are seen as both oppressors of non-white people as an entire community and also diluting and replacing the white race at the same time. If you’re confused, good, so am I.”

“Not everything about an entire community can fit in 20 slides,” Klein said. “This is meant to serve as a continuous dialogue, and we are always open to talk about this.” 

External Affairs Vice President Celene Aridin then read public comments regarding budget concerns and criticism of lack of transfer student representation in the Senate. 

Senator Dani Antonio responded. 

“The OTSR [Office of the Transfer Student Representative] is doing valuable work,” Antonio said. “They have been planning events, reaching out to transfers and lobbying. Transfers do see it. In terms of representation, the OTSR has hosted events surrounding that, to get more people on the table who are transfers to have that representation.”

Then, ASUCD Elections Officer Sriya Batchu made an announcement that the election turnout was 17.3% at the time of the meeting. 

“These are the highest numbers since COVID,” Batchu said. “I would love to get the numbers as high as we can — help us end off strong.”

Next, Jonah Messinger, the advertising sales representative for Unitrans, presented his proposal for a “Moo-vin Moo-seum.” The bus chosen for this would feature a bus wrap advertising ASUCD and the artwork inside the bus. 

“The possibilities are unlimited for this project,” Messinger said. “All of the growth and expansion of this project will be tied to ASUCD. It directly engages students and people are going to want to be engaged. The Unitrans buses provide high visibility for ASUCD to show what they provide for the Davis community.”

Aridin responded. 

“Besides art, play KDVS in the background as a way to plug in some of our units,” Aridin said. “To incorporate [The] Pantry and Basic Needs, put resources on the bus. These things will make it iconic. Think big, because this is something worth the investment.” 

The new legislation introduced was SB #84, which transfers $5,000 from the Entertainment Council to Black and Arab student organizations. These funds would be used for the Empowered Arab Sisterhood Banquet and Black Student Union’s end-of-year BBQ. 

Lastly, the table moved into an open forum where Kaadan asked what to do if an ASUCD worker had been wrongfully terminated for political beliefs. The 30-minute ASUCD lawyer was suggested. 

The past meeting minutes were approved, and the meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.

Written by: Jordan Poltorak — campus@theaggie.org

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By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org   

ASUCD President Francisco Ojeda’s year-long term has been nothing if not historic. The third-year political science and Spanish double major made history as the first AB540 President of the association and the first to be impeached by the Senate, who accused him of failing to carry out his constitutional duties. Ojeda announced during his State of the Association speech on April 4 that he would not be running for re-election and would leave ASUCD at the end of his term and the current academic year. He agreed to sit down with The Aggie to talk about his administration, what he’s learned and what’s next.

Below is a transcript of Ojeda’s interview with The Aggie that has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q: So, how are you feeling today? How are budget hearings going? How’s the association today?

Ojeda: It’s good. It has been a long wait for many people to see the budget, and it has taken us a lot of time but, thankfully, has been able to be released before the deadline. I served as [a] senator during the last budget hearing, and that was heavy and [required] long days […] we’re hoping this is easier on everyone.

Q: Let’s talk about your term as a whole. Have you been reflecting a lot?

Ojeda: Definitely. I feel like there’s some small conversations with people, with friends, that have made me think of my year more with the election this time around. It has been a year since I was out there in the quad, in the Silo, talking to students about my goals and putting myself out there. It has been a crazy and wild year in all aspects. I don’t want to sound egotistical, but there has been so much stuff happening. We had an Opportunity for All crash and the regents postponed that. We are able to accept [undocumented students], but we are not able to give them work. That was one of the unfortunate things.

Q: How do you feel your term went as a whole? I mean, it’s not over just yet, but you’re getting close to the end.

Ojeda: What, five, six more weeks? It was crazy at this point [during] week four [of] last quarter. It was stressful. I’m not gonna shy away from mentioning the impeachment. It stopped me from doing my work, and I’ll admit to that.

Q: During the impeachment, could you talk about specific things that you weren’t able to do?

Ojeda: Progress got stopped. I just felt like managing this whole position is already hard, but when you have to defend your position and also keep doing this work, I do believe it hinders my progress. I would like to apologize to the students for that particular time period [when] I wasn’t at my best. It’s like, damn, I finally get what this position demands from me, but I’m about to term out, you know? It’s definitely bittersweet the way you have all these skills, but you’re terming out, and it is what it is. You have conversations with the chancellor and different stakeholders; you need to know how to do it. And when I came [into power] in September and during the summer, I didn’t know that. I learned that along the way.

Q: Now that you’re kind of closing out this term, you feel like you’re getting the grasp of it, getting the hang of it. So why not run for reelection and keep going?

Ojeda: Well, although I have done things that haven’t been done, like being the first AB540 ASUCD president or other stuff, I’m a person too. I’m an individual person. And although some people have forgotten about that during this year, [I’m] looking [to go] into my [fourth-]year more relaxed. Like I said, this is a very demanding position. I do not envy any student government president. But, every time I was doing my work, every time I was starting a project, I wasn’t thinking about setting up any political reelection. I feel like it is very healthy for me to understand that. I had a year. I believe I accomplished things I wanted to accomplish.

Q: You mentioned that you accomplished some things that you were planning to and you accomplished some things along the way that you weren’t expecting. Could you be more specific?

Ojeda: The budget is one of the unexpected things. I hope [that] after budget hearings, the units and all the ASUCD bodies are able to say that they feel well set up for next year. And that’s one of the things I was surprised about. We always talk about how there’s no money around, and I was surprised that out of first impressions, people seem pleased about their budget. [Something] that were always on [my] watch was The Pantry’s transition to what was formerly known as Gunrock Gaming. There’s a bigger premiere lounge coming up which we hope to have balloons and stuff. I don’t know if it’s gonna be under my term or for the next president in fall.

Q: You mentioned the upcoming ASUCD president. By default, it will be Gaius Ilupeju. What are some messages of advice you have?

Ojeda: First of all, I know Gaius. He served as senator way before I came into Senate. I feel like ASUCD and the UC Davis students are going to be happy with his work. He knows ASUCD. I have some more advice for him that I’ll share with him privately, but I think he’s well set up. I have no doubt he’ll do an amazing job. I have a lot of faith in him and what he represents.

Q: This is kind of taking a step back a little bit, but looking at ASUCD as a whole, what do you think it can improve on? What do you think are its biggest failures and weaknesses?

Ojeda: Let’s start with the downsides. Outreach is something we don’t seem to get right. I feel like this academic year we have slightly improved, and I hope this election reflects it. We didn’t have a Sunset Fest this year, and for that I’d like to apologize to the students. We did fail. Hopefully, that’s improving for next year. 

It hasn’t been an easy year for students. We have seen the protests [on] campuses, and I want all the students to know that we have. I want students to know that we have brought those issues to the stakeholders on campuses. ASUCD is the whole undergraduate body, but, you know, we have a smaller family, which is our employees, and I hope they feel appreciated. And what better way to do that than [through] their wages, because we know prices are going up. We hope these budget hearings reflect that ASUCD wouldn’t be here without its employees. We also need to respect them and give them their respect. We know the minimum wage is going up. I feel like ASUCD has a responsibility to [pay] higher than that, to respect our students.

Q: Let’s move forward and address the impeachments. I mean, undoubtedly it marked your tenure. How do you feel about them now that a few months have passed? 

Ojeda: I do not owe an apology to the Senate. I don’t believe they owe me an apology. I feel like they said their piece. I feel like I wasn’t allowed to say my piece at the time. And when it comes to student government, it’s not functional. I hope future senators understand that it’s part of their role to make it functional, to create a good work environment. I aim to do that. This year, I couldn’t.

Q: What has having this role meant for you in your personal life?

Ojeda: There’s some times where you’re just walking and you look at the CoHo and you look at The Pantry or Unitrans, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I might have put my two cents there when I said this during this meeting.’ I wouldn’t say I cry, but definitely some tears come out when I see students happy with ASUCD services. I get to be the first ASUCD AB540 president, and that’s a big thing. And actually, sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have been the first, because it has come with its difficulties, and I hope and I pray I’m not the last AB540 student. I feel like AB540 students’ opinions are not on the high table there, and we saw it with Opportunity for All crashing the way it did. 

Q: You know what’s next for you, do you? I mean, you’re not going to be president next year– 

Ojeda: Thank God. 

Q: –do you think you’ll still be somewhat associated with ASUCD? 

Ojeda: Yeah, well, they say you can never run out of, just run away from, ASUCD. I hope that’s not true. I do need a break from the third floor [the home of ASUCD administrative offices]. I currently don’t have plans to stick around in any position in ASUCD.

Q: Is there something you want to say and get off your chest, for our readers to know?

Ojeda: I feel like during this time, please take care of your mental health. School, grades and all the other criteria [used] to rate us as professionals do not define you as a person. Please engage with ASUCD. We have Unitrans. You might have voted in the elections if you didn’t vote in fall elections. Elections might seem silly, but elected people like me, elected people like this year’s senators — If you want [things] to change, if you want to keep [them] the same, you know, you gotta keep an eye [on] the candidates. 

Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org

The post An interview with ASUCD President Francisco Ojeda as his term comes to an end appeared first on The Aggie.

By SYDNEY AMESTOY — campus@theaggie.org

The results of the ASUCD spring election have officially been released on the ASUCD website.

For the ASUCD executive ticket, Gaius Ilupeju (for President) and Aaminah Mohammad (for Internal Vice President) won under the Forward slate.

The External Affairs Vice President position was filled by Zephyr Schnelbach, who ran under the Forward slate as well. 

Six new senators have been elected:

Dhilena Wickramasinghe with the “Bitch” slate

Amrita Julka with the “Bitch” slate

Mia Cohen with the “Empower” slate 

Asif Raiyan Ahmed with the “Forward” slate

Audrey Jacobs was elected Student Advocate. They ran as an independent.

Muhammad Rafay Waqar was elected the International Student Representative, running with the Forward slate.

  Safa Mohammad was elected Transfer Student Representative, also running under the Forward slate. 

Both measures on the ballot, Constitutional Amendment #89, which introduces an official measurement of accountability to the ASUCD code of ethics, and The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), which reinstates a student fee that pays toward student-led sustainability projects, passed. 

Notably, TGIF, which has been on previous ballots, passed with over a 20% turnout, meeting the threshold required to make its passing valid. 

Written by: Sydney Amestoy — campus@theaggie.org

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By BENJAMIN CARRILLO — campus@theaggie.org  

Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan called the April 18 meeting to order at 6:18 p.m. After roll call, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement. 

Next, the table confirmed three new commissioners for the Gender and Sexuality Commission. 

The table then moved on to discussing new legislation. 

This started with Senator Jonathan Ng, on behalf of Senator Binh Do, introducing SB #83, where the bill was moved to treat the bill like an emergency. Specifically, the bill would give the necessary funds to provide food accommodations for volunteers setting and cleaning up Lawntopia.

“I bring this forward as an emergency bill because it needs to be passed now if we want to have the proper budget for the entirety of the event,” Ng said. 

The bill was unanimously passed. 

After this, the consent calendar was passed with no objections, after which the Senate moved on to considering and revising the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). ASUCD Controller Allyson Francisco explained the significance of revising this.

“We must approve and revise this to cut off the problem now, and consider inflation and the natural level of growth within the company,” Francisco said. “I strongly urge [that] we do this as it’s the smart financial decision in the long run.” 

The purpose of an MOU, according to an ASUCD document, is to create a sustainable increase to the ASUCD operating budget in the coming years to better support ASUCD operations and to increase paid student positions and minimum wage over time. 

After a couple of questions about the MOU and light discourse to understand the budgetary concerns, a vote was conducted on approving MOU revisions, and it was passed.

The Senate then moved to consider old legislation. First, SB #80, which would amend section 2401 of the ASUCD bylaws to set the general reserves annual replenishment amount to 15% of the annual operating budget from the three-month operation budget, passed unanimously.

Next, SB #81, which would reorganize the composition of the interviewing committee for interim senators, was deliberated on.

“The goal of this bill is to get more people appointing interim senators that aren’t senators,” Senator Curtis Chen, the author of the bill, explained. “I feel as if it’s wrong for senators to choose their successors”

“We both took an oath and were voted in because of our platforms.” Senator Katia Bouali responded. “It’s only fair for us to have a say in who takes our spots.”

After much deliberation and discourse on the topic, SB #81 eventually passed. 

With the final bill voted upon, the Senate moved into open discussion. 

Raghunathan started by asking about the availability of the senators for a meeting with Chancellor Gary May, and discussed if that would be something that the entire group still wanted to do.

“I would prefer for him to not be here at all but if he shows up, I am a gracious host,” Senator Yara Kadaan said. 

After the public forum, the meeting minutes for the previous two meetings were confirmed, and Raghunathan adjourned the meeting at 8:44 p.m. with no objections. 

Written by: Benjamin Carrillo — campus@theaggie.org 

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By JORDAN POLTORAK — campus@theaggie.org

The Cool Campus Challenge, organized by ASUCD’s Environmental Policy and Planning Commission (EPPC) started on April 8 and will take place until April 29. Students, staff and faculty can all participate in logging activities that lower their carbon footprint on the website for the challenge. The challenge was created in 2013 with the goal of carbon neutrality across the entire University of California system in 2025. 

Kelly Abey, a fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning and sustainable environmental design double major as well as EPPC chairperson, discussed the importance of this challenge.

“This shows students that it’s easy to take actions to improve your carbon footprint,” Abey said. “Things like walking or biking to school are things that we don’t even realize improve our carbon footprint.”

The website allows participants to sign up as individuals or in groups. The top ten winners will receive prizes.

“It’s like a social media platform where you can log your actions for the day,” Daphne Crother, a fourth-year political science major and vice chairperson of the EPPC, said . “Then, you get points and it shows you how much CO2 you have saved.”

The challenge was originally designed to see which of the 10 UCs was the most sustainable. However, it has evolved to an individual campus competition.

“We want to encourage students to take sustainable actions in the month of April, but also take them and apply them to life year-round,” Crother said. “All the small things you do can add up.”

The website lists the actions users can take and the amount of CO2 they would save from the action. Their Instagram page states, it is a “student-led movement to fight climate change through individual action.”

“[The challenge] allows you to see how much of a difference you can make with your individual actions,” Abey said.

Abey and Crother wanted to emphasize the importance of individual actions but also the influence of large corporations. 

“As much as students can do, it’s also important to remember the impact that these large fossil fuel companies have as well,” Crother said.

To take part in the challenge, students can go to the Cool Campus website. 

Written by: Jordan Poltorak — campus@theaggie.org

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