Madeleine Lee
Campus Beat Reporter
Associated Students Senators discussed several resolutions to establish underclassmen mentorship programs, UCIV patrols, and finances at last Wednesday’s meeting in the Flying A Room.
The senate mentorship program, set forth in a resolution proposed by Off-Campus Senator Cole Marting and College of Letters and Science Senator Alex Giolito, seeks to address the increasingly popular A.S. fellowship program.
The fellowship program, home to approximately 80 members this year, is an introductory organization for underclassmen and those interested in campus governing bodies. To improve the organization’s capabilities, the senate mentorship program, modeled on a similar program offered for the A.S. executive branch, will pair senators with fellowship mentees in order to further educate interested parties on the ins and outs of being a senator.
“When a lot of us come in as new senators, we don’t know everything it takes to be in senate,” said Marting. “This program will create transparency, and also work to train fellows.”
A second resolution, proposed by off-campus senator Cole Marting and University-Owned Housing Senator Sabrina Divin, sought to officially establish the upcoming UCIV program under the jurisdiction of the A.S. Public Safety Committee. A.S. PSC leaders were, as of Wednesday, still in the process of hiring interns and team leaders responsible for the volunteer program. UCIV members will act as liaisons between law enforcement and community members every Friday and Saturday night in Isla Vista.
Central to the theme of the last two resolutions was the improvement of financial transparency within AS. Marting. Off-Campus Senator Reilly Hobson proposed the Bill “to Increase Accessibility of AS Funds to Students” by requiring Office of Student Life approval first for Student Initiated Outreach Program small grant funds. The bill would create an internal lock-in for conferences. Placing allocation lock-ins officially under the jurisdiction of A.S. Finance and Business Committee.
The last resolution, “A Resolution to Create an Internal Audit Temporary Committee,” was proposed by Hobson and College of Letters and Science Senator Tamar Barlev. In previous meetings, A.S. Executive Director Marisela Marquez estimated that the Association will owe approximately $650,000 from over a decade of taxes they weren’t aware were owed as a non-profit organization. By establishing an internal audit temporary committee, Hobson and Barlev hope to prevent related issues from occurring.
All resolutions will be reviewed by internal senate committees in the coming week.
After addressing resolutions, senators discussed a problem with the senate’s structure. On-Campus Senator Kou Collins, whose initial residence was intended to be Sierra Madre, discovered a week prior to September move-in that his spot in the RHA run apartments was no longer available. Collins is currently living in Santa Ynez, which are university-owned apartments.
Collins, with the help of Marquez and Internal Vice President Natalie Jordan, is working to secure on-campus housing to allow Collins to remain in his position.
In response to On-Campus Senator Lesly Silva’s inquiry of passing a resolution to keep Collins as an on-campus senator if alternative housing is not found, Jordan pointed to the action as a last resort.
“It is very difficult to represent your constituency when you don’t live among them,” Jordan said. “There’s a reason why we have these things in Legal Code.”