ASUC senators passed a resolution establishing a student fee committee and appointed members to the Judicial and Elections councils at Wednesday night’s regular meeting.
While members of both the ASUC and the Graduate Assembly sit on the Student Fee Referenda Committee, or SFRC, there is no formal channel for discussing and collaborating on fees between the two bodies. Wednesday night’s resolution establishes a joint committee, with representation from the ASUC and the assembly, that is tasked with making recommendations to the SFRC about changes to campus policy and the implementation of student fees.
The current referendum proposal process for student fees requires input from the ASUC Senate but not from any representative of the assembly.
The resolution amends ASUC bylaws to require a majority vote of the ASUC Senate and the assembly to place a student fee referendum on the elections ballot. Under current policy, the assembly’s approval is required if the fee applies only to graduate students.
According to Chief Legal Officer Claire Goudy, the ASUC and the assembly operate under the same constitution but have different bylaws because the assembly split from the ASUC in April 2018. Neither the ASUC’s nor the assembly’s internal bylaws are tied to the creation of the committee, Goudy added.
“(The resolution) sets out a process for what should happen if one side needed to amend it,” Goudy said during the meeting.
Senators also approved candidates to fill vacant spots on the Elections and Judicial councils during the meeting. Evan Cui, Leo Melton, Aditya Mantha, Ricky Seo and Tamara Pantic were all appointed to the Judicial Council. Sofie Yang was appointed as elections auditor, Kyle Ashworth as elections prosecutor, Lucio Ramirez as Elections Council chair and Aamna Abbasi as assistant Elections Council chair.
Cui previously served as the ASUC’s chief personnel officer, and Yang served as chief financial officer until resigning in February. The results of the 2019 ASUC elections cannot be certified until all pending Judicial Council cases are resolved and Yang completes the campaign finance audit.
During public comment, several students urged the senators to condemn the anti-Semitic remarks made at the April 17 ASUC meeting. Former senator-elect Shelby Weiss, who ran to represent the Jewish community, said she has seen firsthand the diversity within the Jewish community in terms of skin color, political beliefs and relationships with Zionism.
“Words cannot describe how painful and alienating the past two weeks have been for my community,” Weiss said. “Anti-Semitism is on the rise in America and has reared its head on this campus too many times this year,” she alleged.
Wednesday night marked the last regular ASUC Senate meeting of the year, and several elected officials reflected on their time in the ASUC during their announcements.
“I joined the ASUC in the hopes of making a difference,” said ASUC President Alexander Wilfert in his executive announcements. “Two years later, I still believe in our institution and the students on this campus to make a difference.”