The ASUC Page

New Year’s plans, burgers, and surplus

By Christopher Page
From the February 2006 Print Edition

ASUC Political Parties 2006

Student Action currently holds all executive offices and eight ASUC Senate seats. It has been the leading party for the better part of recent years. CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education) holds seven of the 20 senate seats. Of the remaining seats, one is held by SQUELCH!, one by the Defend Affirmative Action Party, and two by independents. The final seat, vacated following the resignation of Student Action Senator Igor Tregub, is held by the Berkeley College Republican Party.

Tregub, first elected in 2004, stepped down from the ASUC Senate in mid-January, citing his inability to give his full effort to serve the students. He promised to continue his work on Diversity Week if asked and noted that he is confident the members of the senate will continue to represent students in an excellent way. Tregub received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his farewell address.

Melissa Jones of the Berkeley College Republican Party replaced Tregub after garnering enough votes in the 2005 election to be one spot away from the senate. Jones, a third-year Business Administration major, expressed excitement for her new role on campus, and respect for her predecessor. She told the Patriot, “I’m sorry to see Igor go. He would have been great to work with.” Online voting and campus-wide service projects are among the policies that Jones would like to pursue. She said that she looks forward to working with the rest of the ASUC senators and is ready for the spirited debate the senate often engages in.

The Patriot also caught up with SQUELCH! Senator Ben Narodick to find out what his party has in store for the new year. Taking their name and mission from the Heuristic Squelch humor magazine, their goal is “to fight the absurdity of the ASUC with more absurdity.” While most groups in power view the ASUC as a monumental instrument of change, SQUELCH! sees the ASUC as a facilitator of student life. They work to cut the internal bureaucracy, “fight the red tape of the university, and be an advocate for student freedoms.” All of which they have a record of doing.

Narodick explains, “It’s all a matter of the frame of reference. If you look at the association as a rationally run governing organization of students, you quickly get bogged down in the petty politics of a bureaucracy. If you see the ASUC as an irrational endowment fund with a budget of almost $2 million, it becomes much simpler to work within it and serve students the best.”

As for who will represent SQUELCH! in the coming elections, it has not yet been determined. However, according to Narodick, the criteria will be the superhuman powers a student possesses. For example, he claims he can pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time, though the Patriot could not confirm this.

Student Action and CalSERVE representatives could not be reached for comment.

In-N-Out

There has recently been a petition encouraging the ASUC to work to attract an In-N-Out to campus. When enough signatures have been officially submitted to the ASUC, there will be an initiative on the ASUC ballot later in the spring.

However, even with the almost certain passage of the initiative, there are a number of obstacles to In-N-Out on campus becoming a reality. First, where do you put a full-service burger restaurant? The ASUC owns places in Lower Sproul, but there is not enough free space. The current businesses there also have leases and cannot be kicked out at a moment’s notice. Perhaps it could have fit into the old Bearcade space, but a gelateria has already taken that area over.

In-N-Out could be incorporated in the Lower Sproul redevelopment plan, but that is several years off, and that space has already been allocated for other uses such as the Multicultural and Career Centers.

The main problem revolves around who will own the given space. The ASUC will only lease, while In-N-Out owns all of its restaurant space. Before any agreement can be reached, this critical point must be mutually resolved.

Another possibility is an off-campus location. For example, In-N-Out could set up shop somewhere on Shattuck, near campus. The problem again is the availability of space. I also doubt the residents of Berkeley would take nicely to a drive-through window, a component that almost every In-N-Out must have.

The campaign for an In-N-Out is a testament to how much students love the fresh fries, real burgers, and ice cream milkshakes. There is no word yet as to how the Berkeley chapter of PETA will respond to the movement for grilled cow meat.

Congratulations Due

The Financial Committee is to be commended for holding down student group spending. Through their own initiative, they set a limit of 60 percent of the budget for student groups being allocated and spent in the fall semester, with the remainder to be used in the spring.

The ASUC has come into a large amount of money recently. Around $259,000 is currently in the carry-forward fund. As is the case for large, undistributed sums of money, many plans have been made for its use. Hopefully, the senators will invest this money and create a long-term source of revenue, or keep a chunk of it protected as an emergency fund.

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