A.S. Meeting #16 – Jan. 12, 2005

Public Input

Victor Devore addressed the council on behalf of the California Public Interest Research Group. According to Devore, there will be a meeting to discuss possible philanthropic fundraisers in order to provide aid to the tsunami victims. The meeting will be held in the Senate Chambers on the third floor of Price Center on Jan. 17.

Items of Immediate Consideration

Item A

The council appointed John Muir College senior Steve York for the position of A.S. Elections Manager. York ran in a failed independent bid for the A.S. presidency last spring and also competed unsuccessfuly for the position of vice president internal in 2003. He is currently the editor of the Koala. The appointment passed with a vote of 15-3-2.

Reports

President Jenn Pae

Pae reported that there will be a Martin Luther King Jr. Parade on Jan. 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free transportation to and from the parade and free food will be provided at the Sun God parking lot at 8 a.m.

Vice President External Rigo Marquez

Marquez reported that the UC Student Association saw a large number of problems with the proposed state budget. The biggest problem, according to Marquez, is the lack of funding set aside for university outreach.

UCSA has planned a campaign to send postcards to students. The cards will be designed as blank checks, and students will be asked to fill in the amount of college debt they will have incurred by the time they graduate. The postcards will then be presented to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Security Advisory Committee Representative Steven Lei

Lei reported that the Security Advisory Committee has discussed the problems of car burglaries and the rising bike theft on campus. According to the UCSD Police Department, the apprehension of a bicycle thief and an auto burglar has led to a decrease in the number of each type of crime on campus.

The department also said that cars parked on campus are four times less likely to be stolen than cars parked on the streets surrounding the campus, Lei reported.

Bookstore Advisory Committee Representative Victor Devore

Devore reported that the Bookstore Advisory Committee examined the price of textbooks sold at UCSD Bookstore. According to the committee chair, David K. Jordan, the textbook publishers are known for increasing the price of textbooks when they are bundled with other materials.

As a result, the committee has proposed the creation of a centralized communication structure between professors. The bookstore would help professors to be informed of book prices when submitting textbook requirements, which would allow them to order only the necessary materials, he said.

UCSD Closed Circuit TV Stations Governance Committee Representative Chelsea Welch

Welch reported that the committee rejected a proposal for campuswide guidelines governing student-run television by a vote of nine to one. Instead, the committee recommended that rules for each college station be drafted separately.

— Compiled by Patrick Allen

Senior Staff Writer