The Associated Students 75th Senate created a mental health subcommittee to oversee mental health first aid training, discussed billiards and bowling in Isla Vista and allocated funding to double the pay of Outstanding Boards, Committees and Units Award recipients at a Feb. 26 Senate meeting.
The Senate officially created the Outstanding Boards, Committees and Units (BCU) Award at its Nov. 6 meeting to hold members of the Association accountable and reward three BCUs who go above and beyond. This quarter, for the first time ever, BCUs were able to submit themselves for consideration before being officially nominated by the Associated Students (A.S.) president, then ratified by the Senate. This year’s A.S. President Nayali Broadway opened the Outstanding BCU application from Jan. 13-27.
BCUs were evaluated based on effective communication and collaboration, inclusivity and representation and responsible use of student fees during the year. Members of the winning BCUs are awarded double their A.S. pay for the quarter.
Broadway announced her intention to nominate the Commission on Student Well-Being (COSWB) for the student well-being subcategory, the Trans & Queer Commission (TQCOMM) for the representation of the marginalized communities subcategory and the Global Gaucho Commission (GGC) for the professional and academic development subcategory on Feb. 20. She released an anonymous public comment form for feedback before making her decision official to the Senate.
“I want to make clear that all of the above nominations are only my intention at this stage. As an association [that] champions inclusivity and representation, I firmly believe all members of the Association should have a voice in the process,” Broadway said in a Feb. 20 Association-wide email.
At the meeting, the Senate approved all three nominations and allocated $4,800 to COSWB, $5,700 to TQCOMM and $3,900 to GGC. The funding will be transferred from the Senate’s unallocated account to each respective BCU.
Senate also passed a bill to create a mental health first aid subcommittee, brought forth by third-year history and global studies double major Enri Lala and third-year film and media studies major Sandy Ganesh. The new subcommittee will oversee COSWB and the Public & Mental Health Commission, and their biquarterly mental health first aid training.
“The Mental Health First Aid subcommittee would allow both of these commissions to run each training more effectively while also aiming to expand outreach to the student body,” the bill read.
Two referendums for a future A.S. billiards hall and bowling alley — which were proposed by Lala and fourth-year economics and communication double major Taylor Iden, and drafted by second-year economics and philosophy double major Noah Luken — failed Senate votes and were tabled indefinitely. The referendums would have gagued student interest in either project, but would not have had a fiscal impact or guarantee future efforts to complete the projects.
The bill was put forth without specific details of the project being disclosed, such as potential financial impact or where the new university facilities would be built. The proposal aimed to gauge student interest for the project and was not financially binding.
The bill, first introduced at a Feb. 19 Senate meeting, sparked a debate over its lack of detail. Senators criticized the proposal for not disclosing sufficient information on matters such as funding or where the halls would be built.
Third-year computer science major Aryaman Singh criticized the survey-like nature of the referendum — a question asked directly to voters, considering the perceived lack of information on the bill.
“What is the point of doing a survey and gauging interest when you’re not providing all of the information?” Singh asked.
According to Luken, these details were unknown because they are undecided, as concrete plans of the would-be project have not been fleshed out.
“[The cost] varies a lot; it depends on whether it’s a building on campus or whether it’s in Isla Vista. It depends on the billiards tables, how many you’re going to have, so there are a lot of factors that go into it. So no, I do not have an estimate on the cost,” Luken said.
Singh stated that students were less interested in new recreational projects than in vital basic needs issues. Singh also argued that a referendum might be an inappropriate avenue of gauging student interest in the project; he suggested polling or tabling as alternative methods.
“Students want us to focus on fixing what is broken before we start adding new things. If we put this on the ballot right now, without even knowing if there is a little bit of interest in it, we risk making us look like a bunch of idiots,” Singh said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Mar. 6, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
