ASUCD Senate

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senatrama05ii-01b.jpgSpring 2005 Senate.

The ASUCD Senate contains 12 senators that manage a 10.7 million dollar budget. Senate meetings are open to the public, and held every Thursday during the school year, in the Mee Room (3rd floor Memorial Union) starting at 6:10pm. Minutes of each meeting are typically available in SGAO (also 3rd floor Memorial Union).

As for elections, all undergraduate students at UCD can vote for anyone they want. In addition to independent candidates, there are "slates" here at UC Davis — akin to political parties. Slates with current officials are:

JAM
Independent
L.E.A.D.

See Senate History for historical information, or see Slates for newly formed, inactive, or past slates that do not currently have elected officials.

  1. Composition
    1. Senators
    2. Commission Chairs
    3. Other Ex-Officio (Non Voting) Members
  2. Power Structure
  3. Scandals/Corruption
  4. Election Information
            Current ASUCD Scandal Level
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Composition

Presiding Officer: ASUCD Vice President Previn Witana

Senators

Senator E-mail address Slate Office Hours
Ozzy Arce <oarce AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown
Abrham Castillo-Ruiz <acastilloruiz AT ucdavis DOT edu> JAM unknown
Osahon Ekhator <oekhator AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown
Don Ho <dqho AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown
Joel Juarez <jjuarez AT ucdavis DOT edu> JAM unknown
Andre Lee* <akblee AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown
Levi Menovske <lsmenovske AT ucdavis DOT edu> Independent unknown
Bree Rombi <bmrombi AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown
Selisa Romero <AT ucdavis DOT edu> JAM unknown
Alison Tanner <aatanner AT ucdavis DOT edu> JAM unknown
Adam Thongsavat <acthongsavat AT ucdavis DOT edu> Independent unknown
Liz Walz <eawalz AT ucdavis DOT edu> L.E.A.D. unknown

* Senate President pro tempore

Commission Chairs

Commission Chairs are ex-officio members of the senate and senators are ex-officio members of commissions.

Commission Chair E-mail address Commission Office Hours
Amaan Shaikh <amshaikhAT ucdavis DOT edu> Academic Affairs unknown
Jasmine Smith <jjcsmith AT ucdavis DOT edu> Ethnic and Cultural Affairs unknown
Sarah Raridon <seraridon AT ucdavis DOT edu> Gender and Sexuality unknown
Amy Hartstein <aehartsteinAT ucdavis DOT edu> Internal Affairs unknown
Dana Percoco <AT ucdavis DOT edu> External Affairs unknown
Darwin Moosavi <dmoosavi AT ucdavis DOT edu> Environmental Policy and Planning unknown
Jeff Williams <jbwilliams AT ucdavis DOT edu> Business and Finance unknown

Other Ex-Officio (Non Voting) Members

Quinten Voyce Outreach Assembly Speaker unknown
Joey Chen ASUCD Controller unknown

The Senate is responsible for voting on and creating bills and orders that say how ASUCD should operate. Being a Senator is a very important job because of the sheer size of ASUCD. Also, ASUCD Senators and other executives are often invited, through the University, to various important social and political functions. An example of this is the summer 2005 function [WWW]"Perspectives on Poverty", which featured Colin Powell, John Edwards, and John Ashcroft.

A past senate seems to have had a bit of an attendance problem. This led 4 past senators to write a [WWW]letter to the editor in the Aggie.

Senators also hire Senate Interns, who serve as volunteer assistants. Despite the fact that these are always advertised in elections as qualifications, they are typically [wikipedia]sinecure offices.

Power Structure

Currently, 6 seats are held by L.E.A.D., 4 seats by JAM, and 2 seats by Independents. In the case of a 6-6 tie, the ASUCD Vice President, who is currently an Independent, casts the tie-breaking vote. LEAD has maintained a plurality on the Senate since 2005. LEAD senators don't always vote party lines. L.E.A.D. gained three more seats, retaining their voting power further in the Winter 2010 ASUCD Election. Previn Witana, who recently termed out as a senator, will replace Chris Dietrich as the next Vice President soon, giving LEAD a tie-breaking vote, if necessary.

Any piece of legislation requesting a financial allocation that comes before the ASUCD Senate must have a two thirds (2/3) majority vote. No slate has even a majority, though slates do not always vote as a bloc.

In order to truly understand the Senate, you'll want to look into Senate History.

Scandals/Corruption

blacksheep.jpgASUCD's legislative body wasn't always so contentious.

The ASUCD Senate has generated some interesting scandals recently. These include:

Election Information

scandalmeter.jpgThe original Scandal Meter, Fall 2005 The Elections Committee is responsible for elections matters. The Senate is elected using the Choice Voting method.

See ASUCD Elections for more in-depth information on past elections.

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