SUA Spotlight is a weekly that reports on the meetings of the Student Union Assembly, the governing body of UC Santa Cruz. The SUA meetings are held every Tuesday from 6-8 pm Bay Tree Bookstore Conference Room D and are open to the public.
For this spring quarter the Student Union Assembly (SUA) is focused on budget allocations for proposed measures that will appear on the Spring 2009 campus election ballots this May. These measures will be voted on next week by the SUA to decide which measures will appear on the campus election ballot.
For the upcoming Spring 2009 campus elections, members of the Student Environmental Center and Green Campus proposed to amend Measure 28 in the form of Measure 38.
Katie Simkover, a fourth-year year environmental studies major and author of the petition, presented Measure 38, which would be an amendment to the current Measure 28, which was a “green” measure approved in 2006.
Measure 28 is a $3 quarterly fee that the university uses purchase carbon offset credits in attempts keep the university environmentally friendly. Carbon offset programs are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “an investment in a project or activity that reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions…that is used to compensate for GHG emissions from your own activities.”
Measure 38 seeks to reallocate the $3 quarterly fee under Measure 28 to directly reduce the campus carbon footprint by investing in sources of renewable energy, such as installing solar panels, and into local carbon offset programs. Measure 38 hopes to continue the commitment to reduce UCSC’s carbon footprint and at the same time support local green businesses.
Other highlights from the April 7th, 2009 SUA meeting:
* A representative from the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS) presented Measure 40, which creates a $2 student fee increase per quarter. This fee would allow for OPERS to re-extend Wellness Center hours which was cut back to 10:00pm due to budget strains.
* The Muslim Student Association asked for SUA for $500 to help fund the Islamic Awareness week from April 21st to April 23rd. Events include a lecture addressing the misconceptions about the culture and faith of Islam, presented by a visiting UC Berkeley professor.
* Student organization Colleges Against Cancer requested $3,000 in order to join in the worldwide Relay For Life campaign by holding a relay in Santa Cruz. The event would be a 24-hour relay with all proceeds going towards the cause. A student representative voices the relay would be “one day out of our lives” to support research for a cure.
