This week’s council meeting began with former Associate Vice President of Concerts and Events Brian Wong formally introducing his replacement and former media liason, Oliver Zhang.

Associate Vice President of Student Organizations Carli Thomas followed by talking about the growth of student organizations on campus and how they are requesting more money.

Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Arohi Sharma discussed the doubled turnout and participation of “Discover the Law”, also ending on the note that more funding is required. Sharma said she plans to talk to GSA about student advocacy to encourage it on the graduate level.

President Alyssa Wing spoke next about the imminent library closures. “It’s really important that we take urgency in this matter, and I think it’s a twofold plan—one, a stance of resolution, how we feel about it, and a solution, and two, to involve students,” she said.

Vice President of Student Life Meredith Madnick asked Wing how likely the resolution was to cause the administration to rethink the closures, to which she replied that she thought student input on the matter was an important step toward reversing their decision.

Muir College Council Chair Jessie Rosales then gave a special presentation about the CLICS task force, suggesting a temporary student fee to keep the space open with or without computers.

Alyssa Wing then submitted a resolution to reopen CLICS, which passed.

Vice President of External Affairs of Samer Naji introduced President of SOPAC Arshya Sharifian, who gave a 20 minute presentation about SOPAC, a student organization dedicated to expanding the amount of registered voters on campus. Apparently only 9 percent of UCSD students are registered voters. I’m disappointed in us.

Next up were Associate Vice President appointments, which hit a roadblock. Although most were appointed without objection, the AS Council mysteriously closed its doors to the public around 8 p.m. without explaining why. It was only after the doors opened that I learned there was some debate about one of the Associate Vice President positions.

Next up, the most important part of this week’s meeting: the budget. Debate raged over a decrease in the Fall Festival Budget from $135,000 to $50,000, but it passed. VP Student Affairs assured the council that the Fall Festival would not suffer as a result.

A new category opened to fund 70 percent of the salary for the position of Campus Events Manager, for which $36,750 was allocated.

Debate continued for over 30 minutes involving senator and Associate Vice President stipends, some council members arguing that the stipends should be removed from the budget with others contesting. In the end, there was no change.