There’s nothing like ringing in the school year with an A.S. Council meeting. The pangs of hunger as you slowly forego any possibilities of dinner. The butterflies as you realize that you must pay attention at all times, because somebody on council will probably say something weird that needs to be captured in your notes. And lastly, the feeling of irony as good ol’ council starts up just as the U.S. government shuts down.
Council began with public input, almost entirely surrounding the growing movement to object the appointment of UC President Janet Napolitano. Representatives from organizations including Kaibigang Pilipino, SPACES, APSA and SSC all spoke on the subject, offering personal stories and urging council to support the coalition to reject Napolitano and the changes that she is projected to implement.
“We all have suffered under [Napolitano’s] reign as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Food Co-op Migrant Rights Awareness member Juan Campos said. “Everything she’s done for our community has been hurting us.”
During Special Presentations, the trend continued: Students Bruno Huizar and Edna Degollado spoke about the “No to NapolitaNO” coalition across the UC system, urging council to not only pass a “no confidence” resolution toward Napolitano but also to join the coalition as a whole.
“I really want to put importance [on] that we are living right now [with] the most anti-immigrant sentiments in history,” Huizar said. “We’re not deporting criminals; we’re deporting people to make money off of them.”
The meeting wasn’t all somber presentations, though. Comic relief came in the form of resident Australian suspender-wearer Johnny Kent, also known as a member of A.S. Info Tech Resources. Kent took about 10 minutes to start up his Prezi — ironic, given that he’s a member of IT — and proceeded to shout “Whee!” every time he switched to a new presentation slide.
I felt like I was on a rollercoaster down under.
During Reports of Members, council spoke about a variety of different events, including A.S. President Andy Buselt’s “Save Graffiti Hall” petition and the announcement of a special transportation conference.
Then, during question time, things took a turn for the worse when the members of the Transportation Task Force got up from their seats and danced around to the song “Wheels on the Bus.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
Around 8 p.m., council entered an executive session while discussing the “Resolution Calling for the Resignation of Vice-President External Affairs Vanessa Garcia for Failure to Perform Duties, Improper and Unethical Use of Authority, and Willful Violation of ASUCSD Rules, Regulations, and Procedures.”
I see you haven’t seen through with being see-through, council.
Nevertheless, following the session, council passed an amended resolution as well as one acknowledging misunderstandings between Garcia and A.S. Council, seemingly mending this year’s early-onset tensions.
All’s well that ends well, I guess.
