CAMPUS
All University of California admissions decisions have been released, with UC Berkeley bookending the month of admissions madness when they sent out their letters on Thu., Mar. 24. The University of California, Santa Barbara received approximately 70,474 first-year applications, and accepted 23,074 new students (32 percent) for fall 2016. The admitted students’ average GPA was a 4.19 and SAT was 1975, while 24 percent self-identified as “members of a racial or ethnic minority group.”
The Associated Students Senate must revote on all legislation passed during winter quarter, as former Off-Campus Sen. Natalie Jordan’s Senate eligibility expired during the term. While Sen. Jordan had a proxy for winter quarter who voted on legislation for her, there is no way to tell how the proxy voted. This includes the vote to divest from Turkey, ensure continuity within the Single Transferable Vote system and honoraria reform.
ISLA VISTA
The Metropolitan Transit District will be holding three weeks of meetings throughout Santa Barbara to discuss upcoming route changes and improvements. The topics of discussion will include the new Line 28 set to start running in May between UCSB, Isla Vista and Camino Real Marketplace to accommodate residents in the new San Joaquin Apartments. The Isla Vista meeting will be held on Tues., Apr. 5, at 6:00 p.m. in Isla Vista Theater.
LOCAL & STATE
The United States Capitol Hill Building went on lockdown on Mon., Mar. 28 after Capitol police shot an armed man attempting to enter through one of the building’s checkpoints. Eighty-four eighth grade students from Santa Barbara, Goleta Valley and La Colina junior high schools were in the building while the hour-long lockdown occurred. Only one bystander in the building experienced injuries, which were non-life threatening, and the students commenced their tour after the lockdown was lifted.
California lawmakers and labor unions came to a tentative agreement, released in a document on Sat., Mar. 26, to raise the minimum wage from $10 to $15 across all California businesses by 2023. If passed, 2017 and 2018 will see a 50 cent increase, followed by $1 increases each year until 2022. Voting on the wage compromise could begin as early as Mon., Apr. 4.
A Tue., Mar. 29 state audit found that the University of California could be hurting in-state students by admitting more out-of-state students. The audit claims that the UC undermined its enrollment goals for minorities by recruiting nonresidents instead, and that legislation is necessary to fix that. UC President Janet Napolitano denounced the audit, stating that the UC recruits more nonresidents in order to fulfill a gap left by state budget cuts.
University of California President Janet Napolitano vowed to crack down on sexual misconduct within the system at the UC Board of Regents meeting on Wed., Mar. 23 and Thu., Mar. 24. In the wake of recent sexual harassment cases at UC Berkeley, critics have accused the UC of not doing enough to deter sexual misconduct, pushing for “dramatic revisions” of campus legislature.