USG presents student petition resolution

Undergraduate Student Government senator and vice president-elect Nivea Krishnan presented a resolution to establish a framework by which USC administration would recognize petitions at the senate meeting Tuesday. If approved, USG would recognize student petitions that meet the criteria as formal resolutions and present them to University administration.

The resolution recognized various student petitions successful in the past, such as implementing and extending Pass/No Pass class options since Fall 2020. It also mentioned various student petitions overlooked by the University, such as the petition demanding justice for Kayla Love, who spoke out about an “unethical” wellness check conducted against her by Department of Public Safety officers in June 2021. To create the infrastructure to implement this resolution, a new bylaw was introduced for the 2022-23 school year. 

Another bylaw amendment shifts funds away from the USG Operation Department within the Communications Office, which currently remains inoperative, and allocated it to other purposes, such as stipends for elections commissioners, who are currently not reimbursed for their labor. The amendment would also reduce the number of commissioners to four from at least five.

“It’s something [Woodworth] and I actually campaigned on,” said Krishnan in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I’m glad that we’re taking those steps to make those changes so that we’re [giving stipends to] the Elections Commission because they deserve it. I don’t know why they did any unpaid work, honestly. Stipends are a big thing. It’s what motivates people to work.”

An additional bylaw amendment included modifications to the USG election structure, such as the implementation of ranked choice voting. This change comes after the recent elections caused controversy by only including one ticket on the ballot and excluding write-in candidates.

Senator Hunter Hinson also presented a funding proposal to create the USC History Fund, which would allocate $10,000 to the University’s history department to “study USC histories that have been forgotten, overlooked, subordinated, or suppressed,” such as the mistreatment of Japanese American students during World War II. The fund would support student research proposals for a one-year trial period, after which Hinson said he hopes the University will help fund it so that it may continue in the future.

Given that the proposal’s creation was driven by the fact that parts of USC history have been hidden, Hinson said he is not certain about how enthusiastic University administration would be to help sustain the project. However, Hinson said he hopes the trial period, and the fact that other prestigious universities, such as Princeton, have similar programs, will work to encourage the University’s recognition of the fund’s importance.

“I’m hopeful, but also, I want to be realistic and say that it’s kind of a toss-up to see in the future, but we’re definitely gonna work on the sustainability of the program in the future,” Hinson said.

Senators unanimously approved the resolution in Support of Faculty Calls for Higher Salaries. The resolution supports members of the University chapter of the American Association of University Professors who wrote an open letter calling for higher salaries that reflect the rise in cost of living in Los Angeles during the past years. 

President-elect Hannah Woodworth presented the 2022-23 cabinet. If approved, the cabinet wouvld include chief of staff Diego Andrades, chief diversity officer Zaid Diaz-Arias, chief programming officer Rianna Rios, chief financial officer Brian Stowe and chief communications officer Paul Yi.

Woodworth and Krishnan selected the roster with the help of current cabinet members. Applications and interviews were reviewed based on a grading scale through which Woodworth and Krishnan ranked applicants. Students who applied for multiple positions were asked questions regarding each position and ranked accordingly. 

“Hannah and I are really happy with the way the cabinet turned out and we think everyone is really qualified,” Krishnan said.

The senate will approve the cabinet at next week’s meeting.