The Associated Students Legislative Council addressed students’ upset about its decision to deny the Student of Color Conference funding during last night’s weekly meeting.

Numerous SOCC and Student Commission on Racial Equality supporters filled the UCen’s Flying A room to voice discontent with the previous week’s outcome. Several students approached the podium during the public forum and argued that the council ignored the student body’s interests.

Additionally, one speaker placed responsibility for the council’s decision on Internal Vice President Chloe Stryker due to her tie-breaking vote. Although Stryker said she supports the SOCC, she does not believe A.S.’s special projects budget should finance the conference.

Stryker said she offered to dedicate $600 from her office’s funds toward the conference but did not receive a request from the group until Wednesday morning.

Representative-at-Large Nathan Walter said the council’s debate focused on the appropriateness of using the special projects budget rather than the SOCC’s goals.

Walter asked student attendees for input to help prove the council’s support after hearing numerous speakers.

“Would you like it if we make a public statement of support, perhaps published in the Nexus — hopefully, if the Nexus will run it — would that make be a sufficient show of support?” Walter said.

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The following is the second installment in a series of articles regarding ethical and legal concerns about recent actions taken by Associated Students permanent staff.

With no mention of a name, committee or particular incident, On-Campus Representative Lesa Bishop asked her adviser — a university employee charged with overseeing “the enforcement of all Associated Students policies and procedures” — how an alleged conflict of interest could exist in the case of a student serving as a non-voting committee chair.

A.S. Executive Director Marisela Marquez rejected the question on the grounds that it was too specific for Wednesday night’s public Legislative Council meeting, prompting Bishop to clarify that her query described a hypothetical scenario involving any chair of any committee.

Seemingly satisfied, Marquez explained how and why she utilizes preemptive action to follow through on impulses of keen perception and dispel the dangers of the unknown.

“If you’re talking about, say, the Internal Vice President, it doesn’t have a vote but there is a great deal of pressure that could be brought on them, potentially,” Marquez said. “At the very least, there’s a perception of a conflict of interest; that’s the issue we’re charged with making sure doesn’t happen. If these are potentially two trains that are going to cross and derail, then why wait until it gets derailed?”

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Associated Students Judicial Council denied a second appeal from a group of Open People’s Party representatives contesting A.S. Elections Committee’s allegations that members of the party furnished alcohol to minors during Spring Elections.

Four unelected Democratic Process Party candidates were sworn in at last Wednesday’s Legislative Council meeting to replace four elected Open People’s Party representatives, who were given the option to either resign or be disqualified from the 2011-2012 council. Four current council members, OPP off-campus representatives Danielle Foster, Reena Fram and Drey Liautaud and OPP Representative-at-Large Nathan Walter have been given the ultimatum to either resign from office or serve their terms without honoraria.

Despite reports from other campus publications, the individuals have not been charged with soliciting votes in exchange for alcohol.

According to OPP member and A.S. President Harrison Weber, A.S. Judicial Council can either approve Elections Committee’s recommendations or take the case to a trial. Unless Judicial Council agrees to take the case, Weber said its specifics must remain confidential.

“Technically, according to the process, this is not public until Judicial Council decides to hear the case,” Weber said. “Whether or not I agree with the process, I have to defer to the wisdom of students past who constructed these policies.”

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The Associated Students conducted official government turnovers at last night’s Legislative Council meeting, swearing in representatives for the five executive offices and 24 council positions amidst multiple resignations and charges against current representatives of supplying alcohol to minors.

 

 

Matters Related to Turnover of Elected A.S. Representatives

Six unelected representatives were sworn in to the 2011-2012 Associated Students Legislative Council at last night’s meeting to replace four newly elected representatives involved in an ongoing judicial council case in addition to two representative-elects who have officially resigned.

After pleading no contest to charges of grand theft, unauthorized alteration of a computer data system, felony burglary and receiving stolen property at his preliminary hearing yesterday, Representative-at-Large-elect Joe Lee formally stepped down from his position, citing “idiotic political pressure … roaming around A.S.” Lee, who was replaced by Democratic Process Party representative-at-large Sophia Armen, went on to accuse an unnamed fellow council member of extortion during the meeting’s public forum. Lee is scheduled to appear in court for his next hearing on June 22.

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Associated Students Finance Board met last night for the current council’s final meeting of the 2010-11 academic year.

Three student groups were on the agenda to request funding from the board, although no groups were present at the meeting. The board motioned to table those groups indefinitely and ended the year with $8,529 in their current Spring unallocated budget. Funds not allotted by the end of the year are placed in a suspense account that will accrue interest for one year and will be made available in two years for allocation.

On Wednesday, current finance board members Marcus Rochellle and Jason Lopez will begin their terms as chair and vice chair of the board, respectively. Finance board’s 2011-12 budget will be $261,143.

 

Thousands of UCSB students, faculty and staff piled into Harder Stadium yesterday for Associated Students Program Board’s annual Extravaganza music festival.

This year’s lineup incorporated a range of genres and featured artists such as Sprout, The Expendables, Talib Kweli, Rusko and headliner Cee Lo Green. For the first time, A.S. Program Board required attendees to present an ACCESS card to gain entrance, making the event exclusive to the UCSB community.

The change was met with mixed feelings from students but many agreed that wait times were significantly reduced.

Yasmin Sharawy, a second-year biology major, said she saw a marked difference in lines between this and last year’s events.

“Last year it took us two hours to get in,” Sharawy said. “This year it took us two minutes.”

Second-year linguistics major Dana Fallon said while she was disappointed that visitors were not welcome, the change positively influenced crowd management at the historically hectic happening.

“My friend from out of town came last year,” Fallon said. “It’s too bad she couldn’t come this year, but it was overall a lot faster and it’s more fun with only UCSB students.”

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Associated Students Legislative Council instated an expansion of the A.S. Emergency Loan program during last night’s final meeting before government turnovers.

The council officially placed the newly created UCSB Community Financial Fund — a student loan program approved as a new fee during this year’s Spring Elections — into the association’s by-laws. Additionally, the council approved a request of $459 to fund a week-long advertisement in the Santa Barbara Independent publicizing the May 26 event “The Alternative: Bringing Power to Our Voices,” which will take place during College Republicans’ David Horowitz lecture.

Off-Campus Representative Stanley Tzankov said the event aims to appease students concerned about the controversial message behind Horowitz’s speech.

“He has decades of experience of twisting your words and forcing you to say something,” Tzankov said. “It’s just not a healthy space for dialogue. We didn’t want to work in his space but created an alternative event where we will have a healthy space for dialogue.”

On-Campus Representative Joe Lee, however, said scheduling the speeches at separate times would allow students to attend both lectures and provide more balanced arguments.

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Associated Students Legislative Council spent the majority of last night’s meeting discussing funding for College Republicans’ proposal to bring controversial speaker David Horowitz to campus.

After being denied funding for the proposed lecture at Monday’s A.S. Finance Board meeting, College Republicans requested that Legislative Council reopen the board’s minutes and allocate $1,770 for the event’s audio-visual, recording and security costs. Horowitz, a noted conservative activist and writer, last visited campus in April 2008 shortly after accusing UCSB’s Muslim Student Association of having political ties with al-Qaeda. Although several members of the Muslim Student Association and general campus community attended the meeting in protest of the group’s request, the council eventually approved $800 to the organization.

As of press time, the council remained in session pending the approval of the A.S. 2011-2012 budget, which faces significant cuts.

President of College Republicans Steven Begakis requested $1,770 for security, audiovisual technology and visual recording for the proposed event. Begakis said the council should allocate funds on the basis of freedom of speech.

“We just want to bring a conservative speaker to represent our minority opinion and promote a diversity of ideas,” Begakis said.

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Associated Students held a transitional forum yesterday in the MultiCultural Center to encourage student feedback about the association’s plans for the upcoming year.

A panel of both incoming and outgoing executive officers led a roundtable discussion among roughly 50 student participants on issues such as the student government’s spending priorities and ongoing projects. The forum aimed to promote transparency within A.S. through an open discussion of topics ranging from increased recycling efforts to student involvement in budgetary issues.

A.S. President-elect Harrison Weber, a third-year history of public policy major, said the event sought to promote better communication among the association’s various entities and with the student body.

“A.S. should work on how they can work together,” Weber said. “The forum was a place to listen and talk about what the priorities for next year should be.”

The forum also served as a medium for students to discuss solutions to next year’s significantly impacted budget. According to current Internal Vice President Jake Elwood, a fourth-year political science major, the association will receive the same amount of funding for 2011-12 as they did for this Spring Quarter alone.

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Associated Students On-Campus Representative Joseph Lee, who was also elected as a 2011-12 Representative-at-Large, pled not guilty yesterday to four charges in relation to a recent laptop theft.

Lee, who was arrested on April 27 and incarcerated for five days in Santa Barbara County Jail, is set to appear in court on May 18 — the same day next year’s A.S. elected officials will take office. Lee, a second-year political science major, was detained in connection with a theft that occurred on April 19 at Santa Catalina residence hall and faces charges of felony burglary, unauthorized altering of computer data system, receiving stolen property and grand theft.

The decision to plea not guilty was largely a strategic measure, Lee said.

“It was recommended by my attorney,” Lee said. “It was basically to postpone the preliminary hearing.”

Despite the controversy, Lee said he will continue to serve as a student body representative — starting at today’s 5 p.m. A.S. Legislative Council meeting.

“I will be performing my job for the rest of this quarter,” Lee said. “For this year at least, I will continue to represent the students as best as possible.”

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Associated Students will host a public forum to discuss the state budget and its effects on the University from 4 to 6 tonight in the Student Resource Building’s Multi-Purpose Room.

The open event, organized by the Budget and Resources Branch of the A.S. Office of the President, is intended to inform students about the expected campus-level consequences of California Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed $500 million cut to the UC. A.S. President Paul Monge-Rodriguez, Presidential Leadership Fellow Hadar Dor and Commissioner for Budget Resources Armando Guerrero will serve as the event’s coordinators.

Monge-Rodriguez said the forum aims to clear up confusion about the University’s finances and allow opportunities for student participation.

“Many students see and feel the effects of budget cuts but often don’t understand the source of these cuts or who the key decision-makers are in administering them,” Monge-Rodriguez said. “Beyond providing information, we hope to create a space for dialogue where students have the opportunity to counsel UCSB administrators on how to make budgetary decisions in a way that is sensitive to our wants and needs.”

Campus administrators and faculty members including Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas, Assistant Chancellor Todd Lee, Dean of Undergraduate Education Mary Nisbet and economics professor Henning Bohn will also be present.

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Associated Students’ Environmental Affairs Board organized a silent walk through campus yesterday to commemorate last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill and protest U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

The walk began at Davidson Library and continued through the center of campus and Isla Vista’s most populated areas, concluding at the MultiCultural Center. Protesters carried signs imploring British Petroleum and the U.S. government to take responsibility for the crisis and address ongoing environmental concerns about the Gulf of Mexico.

EAB co-chair Teal Riege, a fourth-year ecology and evolution major, said the April 2010 disaster — which killed 11, injured 17 and released an estimated five million barrels of oil into the Gulf — rocked the nation both culturally and ecologically.

“We were socially, politically and environmentally destroyed after the spill,” Riege said. “We are still recovering, but this protest is to remind us that the government and BP still have not done enough to restore stability in the Gulf.”

Riege said the protest was organized to highlight our national dependence on the companies that failed to take responsibility for causing the spill.

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Associated Students Legislative Council spent the majority of last night’s meeting discussing the specifics of their impacted 2011-2012 budget.

Next year’s proposed budget contains $284,953 in unallocated funds — about half of last year’s unallocated budget — and must be approved by the council within the next week. Representatives deliberated over the most effective areas to make cuts, focusing on honoraria and ongoing projects.

Most of the debate centered on whether finances for the proposed A.S. Isla Vista Annex would come from unallocated funds or the budgets of various A.S. subcommittees that have already donated about $40,000 collectively. Representative-at-Large Danielle Mayorga said requiring further funding from committees would limit their ability to function.

“Personally, I don’t like taking most of it from committees,” Mayorga said. “They’ve already invested so much in the space and cutting their budget is going to hurt the work they will be doing in the space. The money should come out of unallocated [funds].”

External Vice President of Local Affairs Cori Lantz said funding from committees is a necessary means of determining whether or not the project is viable.

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Associated Students Program Board will keep the Extravaganza music festival local this year by banning all non-UCSB attendees.

Extravaganza, slated for 1 p.m. on May 15, will be open exclusively to UCSB students, faculty and staff in an effort to eliminate overcrowding seen in previous years. While ASPB plans to release this year’s lineup in about two weeks, hip hop artist Cee Lo Green announced earlier this month on his website he would be performing at the festival.

Special Events Coordinator Ali Abbas, a third-year political science major, said the theme of this year’s concert is “your fees, your festival.”

“The fact that we are not allowing out-of-towners will mean a better experience for the students,” Abbas said. “They are really our priority.”

ASPB Commissioner Rae Yamamoto, a fourth-year black studies and art history major, said this year’s changes directly address student complaints.

“After last year’s Extravaganza, Program Board received many complaints about the lines, the crowd and overall safety of the event,” Yamamoto said in an e-mail. “To remedy the students’ issues, we changed our policies.”

Santa Barbara City College second-year Anne Gumina said the event’s exclusivity spares her from suffering through a potentially disappointing lineup.

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The results of the Spring Elections’ Campus Elections Commission ballot were released Friday, establishing one new fee and upholding five reaffirmations.

Students approved a fee increase of $4.24 per quarter for Arts & Lectures by a margin of 66.98 percent, bringing total undergraduate student fees for 2011-12 to $654.40 per student — up $28.96 from this year. The Commission’s other proposed new fees — Recreation Facility Enhancements, UCen Third Floor Study Space Renovation and Support Fee and Developing Athletics Resource and Facility Enhancement — failed to pass.

All CEC lock-ins were reaffirmed, including Arts & Lectures Support Fee, Events Center Support Fee, Office of Student Life Support Fee, University Children’s Center Support Fee and Coastal Fund Initiative.

Measures are placed on the Spring Elections ballot through either Associated Students or the Campus Elections Commission.