Thank you for coming out to our town hall last night!
Reply
UCSB STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT CALLS OUT BOARD OF REGENTS’ LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY AND PUTS FORTH DEMANDS FOR MEETING IN SOUTHERN C.A.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2013
Contacts: Sophia Armen, 4th Year 818-625-6284
UCSB STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT CALLS OUT BOARD OF REGENTS’ LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY AND PUTS FORTH DEMANDS FOR MEETING IN SOUTHERN C.A.
The Associated Students Office of the President at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sophia Armen, is calling on faculty, staff and students to join in the call for an accessible meeting of the UC Board of Regents to occur at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Citing the historical selection of the secluded graduate-only campus of UCSF for this year’s meetings of the Board of Regents, Armen calls to question the Board’s transparency and accountability to upholding shared governance, a cornerstone of the University of California.
In light of recent history around the accessibility, affordability, and quality of public higher education in California, the need for discussion that represents all facets of the campus community, is ever important. The UC system has faced over 900 million dollars of cuts in the last decade. Furthermore, students have watched tuition rise over 300% in that time as well. The past four years, however, has been characterized by increasing student mobilization on all of the U.C. campuses about the future of public higher education. The Board of Regents act as the primary policymakers for now over 200,000 enrolled students, yet students have only one vote out of the 26-member board. As the primary spokesperson for the undergraduate students body, the AS Office of the President cites in a letter dated April 19, 2013 seen below, the increasing issue of holding meetings that are difficult for students to attend and how such efforts speak to larger patterns of not including student leaders in crafting policy.
“Especially after the passage of Proposition 30, which can largely be attributed to students getting out the youth vote, for us, as students, to be continually shut out of the decision-making process is unacceptable. We are at a historic moment for public higher education in California- for the first time in history students are paying more for their education than their State is, and the negligence of governance and policy-makers to include students and California families in deciding what directly affects them everyday, is unacceptable.” –Sophia Armen, 4th Year UCSB Student
“It has been increasingly disappointing especially after we saved the University of California from falling literally into financial disaster with Prop 30, that the same lack of transparency about where our money, as students and as taxpayers, is going, is occurring despite the dedication of students who continue to fight to be at the decision-making table. This University system belongs to the people of California and its time they were included, as the system’s mission and the Master Plan, pronounces.”
–Norma Orozco, 3rd Year UCSB Student
Read the text of the Letter to Chairman Sherri Lansing, UC Board of Regents, President Mark Yudof, and Ex-Officios Gov. Jerry Brown, and Lt Gov. Gavin Newsom:
ASUCSB Executives Call on Campus Administration to Meet Demands of Black Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2013
Contacts:
Sophia Armen, 4th Year UCSB Student, 818-625-6284
Sally Oh, 1st Year UCSB Student, 213-598-0820
Santa Barbara, CA– The A.S. Executive Officers of 2012-2013 of the University of California, Santa Barbara call on Chancellor Henry T. Yang and UCSB Administration to meet the demands of the Black Student Union and the Office of the Student Advocate as released on March 6, 2013
The A.S. Executive Officers echo the desperate need for recruitment and retention of Black students, faculty and staff at the University of California, Santa Barbara and maintain the historical negligence of the University to prioritize is unacceptable for our campus and community.
A.S. President Sophia Armen, Internal Vice President Mayra Segovia, External Vice President Local Affairs Rhandy Siordia, External Vice President Nadim Houssain, and Student Advocate General Yoel Haile call on the Chancellor to meet and uphold the demands of the Black Student Union and the Office of the Student Advocate, with no delay. The A.S. Office of the President and A.S. Executive Officers believe it is the responsibility of campus-decision makers to make priority issues of students of color on this campus, and work with students to in the implementation of programs and policy to make UCSB a more welcoming campus to Black students.
Read the text:
End Violence in IV!
Gallery
This gallery contains 5 photos.
The office is always working on projects that increase sexual assault awareness in the world and in our own home of IV. This past week, members of the office rallied in the bike circle by Storke Tower holding signs raising … Continue reading
THIS WEDNESDAY!
TOMORROW from 11am-3pm join your peers in a STUDENT-RUN, STUDENT-OPERATED textbook market! Buy/sell/trade books DIRECTLY with other students and don’t let those wholesale book companies rip you off!
Brought to you by AS Office of the President and the AS Academic Affairs Board!
A Look Back on Fall 2012
Hello Gauchos!
The Office of the President hopes you have all had a wonderful, restful break and we hope you are excited to return to SB this Winter Quarter! It is going to be an AMAZING quarter, followed by an AMAZING year! Get ready to WORK this quarter, Gauchos! ASOP has a lot planned! But before we get back into things, we wanted to take a moment to reflect upon this past quarter and take a look at our accomplishments and some of the work ASOP has done thus far.
Office of the President was represented at this year’s United States Students Association National Congress! Office of the President also had a presence at both University of California Students Association Congress and especially at this past year’s Student of Color Conference!
Office of the President assisted the Voter Registration Coalition, Campus Democrats, and the External Vice President of Statewide Affairs with voter registration and get out the vote through phone banking, assisting with educating voters on Propositions 30 and 32, and utilizing social media to reach out to students.
Through all of this hard work from different students across campus, UCSB BROKE the record this year for number of registered students! Over 11,000 students! ASOP gives special thanks to the Voter Registration Coalition, Campus Democrats, and the External Vice President of Statewide Affairs Office!
Office of the President was a part of a teach-in that occurred on campus to REALLY breakdown the UC budget to students! Proposition 30 may have passed, Gauchos, but it is important to understand that this is merely a short term cut. What does our budget look like in the long term? Will we ever see the California Master Plan for higher education come to life? This teach-in was part of a Week of Action that called for prioritizing higher education and workers!
Office of the President had an ASTOUNDING number of fellow applicants this year! Therefore, this year, the Office has an instituted a new system: the Student Activist Project, or SAP, for short. “SAPlings” will be given a firsthand taste of grassroots organizing and student government involvement! They will be working side-by-side with fellows and commissioners in the Office to help with campaigns and rallies coming out of the office!
Office of the President was part of a campaign to raise awareness about sexual assault 
and violence and was a part of putting together an “End Violence in IV, Support Students, Support Sexual Assault Survivors” sit-in at the bus loop near Storke Tower. This was put on with Womyn’s Commission, Take Back the Night, Womyn’s Center, Men Against Rape, and Students Stopping Rape.
These are merely some of the things that have come out of the Office, or in collaboration with the Office, this past quarter, Gauchos! This work never stops and only continues next quarter! Get excited and see you then, Gauchos! 
Keep an eye out for updates and announcements on our Facebook!
LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IS TOMORROW!
CLICK HERE to register.
If you do not have the privilege to register & vote or have already registered, HELP THE CAUSE by changing your Facebook profile picture to the photo above! Remember to VOTE! Your tuition depends on it!!
Welcome new Gauchos and hello again, returning students!
Welcome to another year at UCSB! We wish you a great successful year from the Associated Students Office of the President. UCSB has many resources to offer and things to get involved in from student government (like us!) to organizations and more! As the Office of the President, we thought we would share helpful links and tips!
- CLAS – Campus Learning Assistance Services. Need help with a class, or need someone to proofread your essay? Check out CLAS! CLAS is a great resource for students and it’s FREE! Whether you need help with your math or science class or want to learn how to better manage your time, register now and take advantage of your on-campus resources!
- EOP – Educational Opportunity Program. EOP offers a myriad of services from counseling to a mentorship program to class/major advising! Again, FREE! The folks in EOP are amazing and here to help, so again, utilize your resources and go to these folks for help!
- SRB – Student Resource Building. The Student Resource Building houses CLAS, Office of Student Life, and more! It is filled with cultural resource centers, a computer lab, and numerous spaces to study.
Remember, these are just a few resources on campus… there are many, many, many more! Take advantage of what UCSB has to offer! Not to mention, there are numerous ways to get involved!
- Apply to become a FELLOW in the Office of the President or apply to become a Film/Media or ARTivism Intern right here, under “AS Office of the President”.
- At the link above, you can apply to join other BCCs, as well! But, you could also check out AS Main on the first floor of the Multicultural Center (MCC) and check when BCCs meet and simply attend their meetings to get involved!
- Get involved in an org! Check out the OSL website for a list of orgs, otherwise be sure to be open to organizations that are tabling.
Have a great year Gauchos, and continue to check this page, our Twitter, and our Facebook for regular updates! E-mail the Office at opengagement@as.ucsb.edu or visit us in AS Main if you ever have a question or just want to chat!
UCSB attends Annual National Student Congress in Madison!
This past week the United States Student Association held their annual National Student Congress in Madison, Wisconsin to discuss the REAL issues that affect students, as well as vote on the campaigns and issues that will pave the way for the upcoming school year for the organization! Thanks to the External Vice President of Statewide Affairs office, 10 students represented UCSB at this conference. These students acted as a delegation that authored, discussed, and voted on
resolutions, policies, and actions. The campaigns that were settled on after a long twenty-one hour meeting include: Student Loan Forgiveness, the Passing of the Federal DREAM Act and Stopping Secure Communities From Targeting DREAMers, and Legislating Shared Governance: Equal Say Because We Pay! Throughout the upcoming school year, UCSB will be putting these campaigns into ACTION, alongside other schools throughout the nation!
In addition, three of our delegates will now also be representing UCSB on USSA’s Board of Directors! Congratulations Marlene Moreno, Nancy Gama-Rodriguez, and Gloria Campos, keep up the amazing work!