The Undergraduate Student Government senate unanimously approved senate bill 144-27, which canceled the senate meeting on Feb. 11 due to the presidential/vice presidential debate and senatorial forum Tuesday night. The forum will begin at 7 p.m., while the debate will go from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Both events will take place at the Forum.

During open forum, senator Jeremiah Boisrond said some students were concerned that SB 144-26, which called for administrators to keep the scholarship for National Merit Finalists at its original amount of half tuition — $34,952 this academic year — is being portrayed as a campaign motive.

“It is never the intent [for USG projects] to be used as a campaign platform or talking point, nor should it be used as one,” Boisrond said. “To fight for students for a scholarship is rooted in commitment to our advocacy, not just for personal gain.”

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In response, senator Ali Bhatti, who co-authored SB 144-26 with Boisrond, mentioned the initiative in his presidential questionnaire, and said that he thinks it is wrong to suggest that while running a campaign, a senator cannot show their past initiatives. 

“So in the future, if a senator [or] anyone believes I’m using my position in a harmful way that is not beneficial to students and I’m only doing it for personal gain, I highly encourage them to have a personal conversation [with me] about it, rather than come to open forum in order to make this type of comment,” Bhatti said. “It is untrue and really just not beneficial.”

Later in open forum, senator Patrick Nguyen said that due to budget cuts, the graduation of Keck School of Medicine students in health promotion and global health programs will be combined with the graduation of medical students in the Department of Population Public Health. 

“They’re really disappointed by USC’s decision to combine their graduation with the med students because it’s a completely different experience,” Nguyen said. “So they’re asking undergraduate students and student government for their help on how to resolve this issue.”

The senate also approved Patrick Cardenas-Hirsig, a freshman majoring in legal studies, as the advocacy liaison for the Latine Student Assembly. 

“It’s important to recognize that [Los Angeles is] a very diverse community, especially within the Latino community,” Cardenas-Hirsig said. “So, I think it’s important to give students of diverse backgrounds space to be able to give their opinion on what’s going on.”

Chief communication officer Faiz Ahmed reported that the communications department has been working on elections, Wellness Week and Valentine’s Day content, and a Career Center collaboration with JCPenney.