Campus Update

Amy Inkrott / News Editor / The USD Vista

Associated Students

On Thursday, Feb. 14, voices echoed through Solomon Hall as the Associated Students Senate prepared for their weekly meeting. Six newly-appointed senators — Maya De La Torre, Tatiana Zamora, Patrick Murphy, Deja Butler, and Alexa Withrow — sat among the governing body as they prepared to be sworn in. As the meeting was called to order, the new senators were asked to stand for their oath of office. Together, the senators promised to be ethical and fair in their efforts to enhance the experience of USD students. 

In their first act as AS senators, these students looked to approve the budget for the Spring 2019 semester. This budget projected over $343,000 for various centers around campus, as well as the Associated Students Budget Committee (ASBC) and Torero Program Board (TPB). On-campus student events were prioritized as the budget allocated $191,000 to TPB and $90,600 to the ASBC.

The budget reflects a number of spending cuts in AS initiatives. This semester, the budget is smaller than in the past. In an email to leaders of student organizations, AS Finance Chair Stephanie Silvar provided insight into these cuts. 

“Due to limited resources we will not be funding conferences, conventions, and retreats for the spring semester,” Silvar said. “ASBC’s goal is to fund all your events; however, these types of events are often costly and only serve a small portion of the student population.”

AS President Natasha Salgado suggested that additional cuts could be made in order to restore the budget. She expected some of the previously allocated money would be returned, altering the projected numbers.

“We are in a contract with LYFT,” Salgado said. “Potentially, we could lower the amount we are set to pay for the spring semester as it was not as heavily used in the fall. We may be getting some funding back when we cut the LYFT initiative. We are also in a place where we have certain deadlines that are supposed to be met tomorrow in terms of grants. Some of that funding is often not used and returned to the general pool.”

However, the AS allocations are not expected to cover all of the anticipated expenses. The AS Senate has a reserve of over $32,000 with which they are able to fund programs and initiatives outside of the approved budget. But because of the limited nature of these funds, the senate may choose to use them sparingly.

As their last order of business, the senate nominated new leadership within the governing body. Alexander Plummer was chosen to be the new Speaker of the Senate. Camden Engstrom was nominated as the Chair of Academics. Finally, Jesse Magana became Chair of Inclusion and Diversity. 

New AS leadership

College of Arts & Sciences Senator: Carolina Moreno Armenta 

College of Arts & Sciences Senator: Maya de la Torre

College of Arts & Sciences Senator: Tatiana Zamora

School of Business Senator: Patrick Murphy

Commuter Senator: Alexa Withrow

San Buenaventura Senator: Deja Butler

AS Speaker of the Senate: Alexander Plummer

Chair of Inclusion & Diversity Committee: Jesse Magaña

Chair of Academics Committee: Camden Engstrom

Crime in Aromas

That same morning, the USD community was alerted to another on-campus crime. Between 11 p.m. on Feb. 12 and 5:05 a.m. on Feb. 13, a robbery occurred in the Aromas coffee shop in Maher Hall. The Department of Public Safety described the incident as a “petty theft.” They explained that the individual did not enter by means of force. There are no security cameras in Aromas, making it difficult to identify a suspect. Anyone having information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Public Safety at (619) 260-7777.