These are the platform issues for LEAD, an ASUCD slate.
LEAD Fall 2007 Platform
Academic Opportunity
- Organize Science and Engineering Advising Fairs at the Silo through the ASUCD Science and Engineering Committee
- Science and Engineering majors face many difficulties outside the classroom and labs. By expanding the current Advising Fairs to support and assist some of the hardest working majors, LEAD hopes to ease the stress of a full class schedule and long lab sessions. The ultimate goal is to retain more science and engineering students, which are desperately needed through out California.
- Integrate professors and faculty into the UCD Undergraduate Mentorship program
- The UCD Undergraduate Mentorship program is in the last stages of approval. This program will assist freshmen, transfer students, and international students adjust to life at UCD by providing a variety of skilled, passionate, mentors. Many undergraduates are signing up to be mentors, but faculty representation is lacking. LEAD hopes to bring professors and resource center staff on board to expand the options available to those seeking mentors.
- Advocate for the availability of more foreign language classes
- For such an international campus, UCD lacks an international education. One of the fundamental tools in understanding, researching and working with other cultures is language. LEAD seeks to advocate to the Academic Senate to offer more languages and to assist in assessing which languages are most in demand.
- Work with the Academic Senate to ensure the creation of the Middle Eastern South Asian Studies major and department
- The Middle East and South Asia are regions of importance culturally, politically, and economically. However, UCD does not offer extensive studies or research opportunities for these areas. LEAD seeks to work with the Academic Senate, Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, and the administration to expand the studies into a major and department.
Student Quality of Life
- Coordinate with the City to hold monthly downtown art festivals featuring student art and live music, similar to Sacramento's "Second Saturdays"
- The success of Sacramento’s “Second Saturday’s” in expanding awareness of local artists and galleries has been amazing for the area's art community. By coordinating with the city council, the downtown business association, the Experimental College, and the Art Department, LEAD hopes to bring a smaller town version to Davis. The goal is to increase the visibility of student art to the community and provide a unique entertainment option and venue.
- Organize ASUCD Student Art Awards
- ASUCD recognizes leadership and academic success with its Student Prizes and recognizes amazing professors through an annual Academic Affairs Commission ceremony. However, ASUCD does not recognize the wonderful work of student artists. LEAD plans to work with the Art Department and student groups to hold an art contest with awards and potential monetary prizes. The goal will be to highlight all student art while recognizing some of the most creative.
- Assist the ASUCD Outreach Assembly in creating an online campus events calendar for student groups.
- The Outreach Assembly has been working hard to gather information about student events all over campus from all types of organizations. However, there is no central location or means to advertise all the events. While a central physical location would be great, with such a big campus an online calendar is the best solution. By coordinating with the Outreach Assembly and MyUCdavis website, LEAD hopes to create an online, student events calendar.
- Work with Davis Coffee Shops to have trial "24 hour" nights during finals week.
- Believe it or not the reason there are no 24 hour coffee shops in Davis is the lack of demand. There use to be a few 24 hour businesses, but they changed their hours. Thus, many students drive to Dixon or even Sacramento to find coffee shops or other businesses that stay open late. Some even choose to live in the 24 hour room! By coordinating with local coffee shops to experiment and stay open late or even 24 hours during finals week, LEAD hopes to show local businesses that there is a demand. The goal is have a few coffee shops stay open late and LEAD will help promote the new hours.
- Relieve student stress by purchasing coin-operated massage chairs for the MU.
- Sore back? Aching neck? Need to relax before a test or during finals? LEAD wants to purchase quarter-operated massage chairs and initially place them in the Memorial Union. It relieves stress for students and makes ASUCD some money. Don’t forget though that The House has FREE massage chairs!
- Create a voucher system with local cab companies to relieve Tipsy Taxi during busy hours.
- A federal law that may this year may complicate Tipsy Taxi’s status. Thus, a voucher system with cab companies will be explored. The idea, which is actually how Tipsy Taxi began, is that during certain time periods and days, an undergraduate can call a participating cab company for a ride within Davis. The cab company will get the students Reg Card information and bill ASUCD for the ride and the student gets home safe. The goal is to maintain a high-functioning program that allows students to get home safe at night.
Diversity
- Create social justice, leadership and solidarity trainings with the Cross Cultural Center
- How do I organize students around an issue? How do I collaborate with other student groups? How do I raise money for our cause? What is the most effective ways to educate the public? These are questions LEAD seeks to answer by working with the Cross-Cultural Center, the LGBT Center, and the Women’s Center to create trainings for students and student groups.
- Improve ASUCD K-12 Pathfinder to coordinate with the Student Recruitment and Retention Center(SRRC).
- K-12 Pathfinder is ASUCD’s high school and middle school outreach arm. There are also many great outreach groups with the SRRC. These groups work hard to recruit students from low-income areas and ethnicities underrepresented in the UC system. Sometimes there is overlap between groups and ASUCD. LEAD wants to have K-12 Pathfinder coordinate with and support the SRRC to ensure that high schools are all being effectively outreached
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University Reform
- Work with Mondavi Center to become more student oriented in its advertising, pricing and entertainment.
- Mondavi Center is an amazing place to see a show, but only if you know about it, can afford it, and are interested in the performer or speaker. LEAD will work with the Mondavi Center staff to create solutions to problems of pricing and advertising to the student population. We also want to have the Mondavi Center seek student input on what they want to see. The goal is to have a Mondavi Center well integrated into student life.
- Create Freshmen Seminar on navigating the campus facilities, jobs, resources
- Don’t you wish you could take a class and learn about academic resources, financial aid, graduation requirements, student clubs, the City of Davis, and all the other random questions that come up during your first year? LEAD wants to work with the Academic Senate to create a seminar to teach freshmen and other new students about campus life. The goal is to have a seminar where students leave confident they can find all that they need to be successful, active students.
- Coordinate a Campus Violence Prevention Program – Student Housing partnership to post crime bulletins in the dorms.
- Many freshmen come to Davis thinking the town is crime-free. The unfortunate reality is that crime happens in Davis, you may just not hear about it. LEAD hopes to increase awareness about campus crimes and ensure that freshmen have full knowledge of what is happening on campus and in the city.
- Integrate education of the Blue Light Safety system into campus life.
- Have you seen those white or red posts with Blue Lights on top? What are they for? Why are they not in more places on campus? The Blue Light system is an emergency system designed to be used if you are being attacked, chased or a crime is taking place. They are placed on campus so that where ever you are you should be able to see one. This is not always the case and many students are unaware of what they are. The goal is integrate the promotion of the Blue Light system all over campus, such as freshmen orientation. Furthermore, an awareness campaign will be organized to bring more attention to this important system.
Environment
- Implement an ASUCD "Zero Waste" policy
- The Whole Earth Festival which is funded by ASUCD does an amazing thing for its weekend long event; create ZERO WASTE. LEAD seeks to bring this policy to all of ASUCD. The student government should be doing its part to reduce the amount of waste the campus generates.
- Switch campus lights to more energy efficient bulbs by working with campus maintenance
- UCD has recently built the world’s first Energy Efficiency Center, to promote and research new innovations in energy conservation. Well, one of the easiest ways is to change what light you use. LEAD wants to work with campus maintenance and the administration to replace existing bulbs, with more energy efficient ones.
External Advocacy
- Coordinate with ASUCD Lobby Corps to train student groups and resource centers on capitol advocacy.
- UC Davis is a 15 minute drive away from California’s capitol. Policy that effects students, parents and our future job market are made in our backyard. Yet, no more than a dozen Aggies a year actively advocate at the capitol. LEAD wants to coordinate with ASUCD Lobby Corps to train students to advocate effectively. The goal is to increase the student presence at the capitol and influence policy.
- Increase Aggie Pack funding for outreach to local K-12 schools
- Aggie Pack has an amazing program that reaches out to underrepresented communities and brings them to UCD to experience our campus and our sports. LEAD wants to increase funding to this important program that motivates students to go to college who do not necessarily receive that message from their high school.
- Coordinate with and assist CalPIRG's "What's Your Plan?" campaign to register students to vote.
- Between November 2007 and November 2008 there will be 4 elections, with the last one deciding the next US President. LEAD will work with CalPIRG to promote student vote education & registration and give students a voice in the state an nation.
- Assist the Grad Student Association in advertising the Early Voting Station in the Memorial Union
- The early voter program is important in giving students the flexibility to vote on more than one day. The program has been successful in the past at increasing student voter turnout. This year the Graduate Student Association is hosting early voting in the Memorial Union’s East Conference room. LEAD wants to work with the GSA to promote and staff the early voting station.
And I'm very pleased to see that LEAD has taken on Joseph Bleckman's calendar idea, it is much needed. —GregWebb
2007-10-25 20:02:54 massage chairs would be nice i'd pay for them. —AlexJohnson
2007-10-26 01:47:48 I'm pretty sure the talk of an online calendar has been in the ASUCD Senate air for a while. I specifically remember it being part of the COOO's plans as well as something Ravi Deepak tried to work on during his term. Interesting platform overall. —AndrewBianchi
2007-10-26 09:04:32 The calendar has been floated around. I remember Adam Barr getting frustrated with the tech people for not helping him enough to get it started. When they were student assistants to the chanc, Eric and Ang tried to help the COOO get it going, but there was a lot of red tape. Its an easy idea that's hard to implement. —JamesSchwab
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