During the Week 7 A.S. meeting, the senators addressed the UC San Diego campus updates, finance motions, and voted on election reform. 

First, VP Rhianen Callahan talked about a report from the representative assembly from their recent meeting to discuss academics. During the meeting, they acknowledged the need to have a more formalized relationship with the United Auto Workers. The UCSD Senate and Administration said they are working closely with each other. UCSD highlighted that they only cut back TA funding by 15% instead of 40%, which is not what UAW strikers demanded. Moreover, they are telling fifth and sixth years to find employment elsewhere because the layoff waves are starting. 

Furthermore, Callahan highlighted the updates about Eighth College. Their academic plan got approved with the theme being engagement and community. The writing sequence will be called Engagement 1-3. They created the four-year plans, hired 40 faculty, and are in the process of hiring more. So, Eighth College is set to have everything approved and ready by April. The motion to separate the astronomy and astrophysics department was also approved.

Next, President Yang presented his updates. Chapman University and the University of Southern California co-hosted the California Undergraduate Student Government meeting and proposed some interesting ideas they have implemented. For example, they have a deal with Lyft to have a program that runs from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m. with unlimited Lyft rides to school. Also, having funding solely from donations would be useful because they can use it with discretion. 

Yang also met with the A.S. Council of UC Irvine, where they talked about how their trash cans are labeled on the front with specific items that belong in each trash. The trash cans at UCSD have labels on the side where it is hard to read, so people don’t know what to put in which trash cans. Putting the labels on the front would educate people on proper waste sorting and encourage them to throw away their trash in the correct place. They have also implemented a solar-powered study table that charges phones, computers, etc.. 

The finance committee discussed their recent projects. Project F1 (chemical engineers (AIChE) for MAE * ChemE Crossover Social. Sponsored by CFO Steven Shuster) was denied. Project F2 (allocation of $480.74 from student organization programming unallocated to Triton Barbell for Winter Quarter 2023) was approved. 

Lastly, the senators looked at various sections of election reform. The biggest point of contention was the section that states, “photo images of candidates or state logos must never be on the official ballot.” One senator stated that photo images shouldn’t be on the official ballot to eliminate chances of bias. Not having photos would prevent people from choosing a candidate based on their appearance or their race. However, President Yang said that photos would be helpful for college council elections. The senators for Seventh College and Earl Warren College were in favor of removing photos from ballots. Finally, the section did not pass after a vote. 

A.S. Council meetings take place at 6 p.m. every Wednesday and are open to students. Students can participate in these meetings by joining their Zoom link or tuning in on Facebook Live.

Art by Ava Bayley for The UCSD Guardian