Last night’s A.S. Council meeting was dominated by a
presentation about USA Today’s Collegiate Readership Program and a passionate
plea in favor of reconsidering the construction of transfer housing.

Vice President of External Affairs Dorothy Young, still
glowing from the success of the D.R.E.A.M. Act rally in front of Geisel Library
earlier in the day, provided an update about the council’s upcoming voter
registration efforts to “help register UCSD students as they stand in line”
during FallFest. Unregistered students in line at RIMAC Arena next Friday
should be prepared to make their first foray into representative democracy.

Thai Trieu of USA Today then took the floor to present a
slideshow about the Collegiate Readership Program, which delivers newspapers to
schools at discounted rates.

“Our job is to encourage students to read, to get in the
habit of reading the news,” Trieu said. “It’s not only educational but it’s
also fun.”

He said the program only charges schools for newspapers that
are picked up from displays by students. Any unused newspapers recovered during
the next day’s delivery are recycled and not charged to the school.

Trieu said that the A.S. Council could foot the estimated
yearly cost of $124,775 itself, or it could split the cost with the separate
colleges if they chose to forgo their individual readership programs in favor
of a campuswide one.

Associate Vice President of Local Affairs Aida Kuzucan spoke
during open forum about her experience with the La Jolla Shores Town Council.

“They hate us, not that we didn’t know that,” Kuzucan said.
“They don’t even consider us a part of the La Jolla community.”

The town council’s district line along North Torrey Pines
means that UCSD is considered a “border community.”

She cited the dispute over the proposed new transfer housing
and the existing gliderport as the cause of current tensions between the city
council and UCSD.

In seeking to mend fences with the town council, Kuzucan
said, “Do not let the transfer housing be built as it is. There’s a lot of
shady stuff going on … we should not, not, not, not, not let this happen.”

Also, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Long Pham
updated the council on the activities of the Academic Senate, to which he is
the only undergraduate representative.

According to Pham, the Academic Senate is currently
reconsidering the class withdrawal policy, in an attempt to reduce the number
of students who receive “W”s in classes. Currently, students who log on to
TritonLink during weeks five through nine of the quarter can drop classes but
get a “W” for withdrawal on their transcripts, but the senate is mulling a
policy to make this process more restrictive.

“Last year [the Academic Senate] researched policies at
other UC schools,” Pham said.

A subcommittee this year of undergraduate students, faculty
members, and “other relevant parties is going to see if there’s a problem and,
if there is a problem, find alternative ways to find a solution,” he said.

Pham said recommendations are expected by the end of this
year.