September 2005
Student government offers services, advocates
Student body president Caliph Assagai stands with one of the famous double-decker buses of Unitrans, one of the major services of the Associated Students of UC Davis. (Tony Novelozo/Axiom)
Students looking to get involved in various activities and events on campus this fall may want to check out the Associated Students of UC Davis. The official student government on campus, ASUCD offers opportunities for students — including advocacy, management and event planning.
And if your student needs a job, ASUCD is a good place to start. The association is the largest employer of students on campus with more than 1,000 working at the Coffee House, Campus Copies, Classical Notes, the Bike Barn, Experimental College and the Unitrans bus service. Because these services are student-managed and student-operated, hours are flexible and fit around a student's academic schedule.
"It's our job to give students what they want and need," says ASUCD President Caliph Assagai. "It's important for students to get involved with their student government — whether to get a job, find a career or have a say in the way their campus runs."
One of largest in nation
Similar in structure to the U.S. government, ASUCD has executive, legislative, and judicial branches and holds two elections each year — six senators are elected in the fall and six more senators and the executive office are chosen in the winter.
One of the largest student governments in the nation, ASUCD operates on a $9.2 million annual budget to run all its endeavors except for some administrative costs covered by Student Affairs. The largest expenses are the Unitrans bus system and the Coffee House. Students pay about $105 a year to support ASUCD, and all proceeds from the Coffee House go back into the student association.
Twenty-four different units within ASUCD run large events such as Picnic Day and the Whole Earth Festival and provide students with experience in event planning and organization.
Advocating for students
One of ASUCD's missions is to advocate for student issues with the campus administration and city and state officials. On a state level, ASUCD will continue its efforts to push for lower student fees, obtain more funding for financial aid and win back support for various university outreach programs assisting underserved or disadvantaged students in K-12 schools.
"Lobbying for the students' needs at the state level is especially important with regard to funding outreach programs," Assagai says. "ASUCD is committed to helping socio-economically disadvantaged students succeed."
One of the major issues for ASUCD this year is to improve relations among students, city residents and the local police department. James Schwab, director of the ASUCD Office of External Affairs, acts as the liaison for anything involving students outside of campus and sits on a city council commission to improve communications between students and city residents. He says sometimes tensions arise over issues such as messy yards and loud parties.
One of Schwab's main goals is to get more students registered to vote, so that their voices can be heard on the city and state levels. "Students can gain the ear of politicians a bit more when they become pivotal voters, especially on the state level," Schwab says.
In his short time left as president, Assagai says he will work to increase course requirements for diversity education to improve understanding and sensitivity among people of different backgrounds.
"Misunderstandings between cultures and ethnicities on campus still exist," he says. "We need to break through these barriers, and further diversity education can help foster better understanding."
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