ASUCI Offers Many Activities

Whether you are a new student looking to meet people, or a returning student hoping to be more involved this year, ASUCI offers a multitude of opportunities to participate in political and social events on campus.
During Welcome Week, ASUCI will be hosting numerous social events including a movie night and comedy night. A foam party in the loading dock behind Gateway Commons will round out Welcome Week on Friday.
If your tastes are more geared toward campus or state politics, ASUCI offers students the chance to become involved in shaping campus policies through student legislation and lobbying the state government in Sacramento.
Gabriel Ayass, a fourth-year political science major and executive president of ASUCI, describes the great diversity that ASUCI has to offer.
‘ASUCI is an organization that has something for everyone’s field of interest,’ he explained. ‘It offers students a chance to lobby state government, and to become involved on campus tackling issues facing students domestically. It also allows students to program events like concerts, noontime shows, pub nights and programming festivals such as Reggaefest and Oktoberfest.’
The executive branch, which consists of the president and four vice presidents in charge of various services, are elected by the student body every year in May.
The legislative branch consists of elected student representatives from each of the eight schools and four representatives from various clubs on campus.
Elections for legislative council are held in the fall and spring of every school year. After submitting their candidacy each representative is voted for by their constituents, or rather, the members of their respective schools.
The judicial branch presides over all judicial cases regarding the ASUCI constitution and official actions of the executive and legislative council members.
Applications to become a member of the judicial council are available at the ASUCI office in the Student Center.
For a closer look at the inner workings of ASUCI, there will be a tour held on Wednesday, Sept. 22, from noon to 2:30 p.m. at the ASUCI office. Also, ASUCI holds their weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 5 p.m.
Another opportunity to get involved in campus politics is through the Anteater Leadership Forum, which is held quarterly by the executive branch in order to gain student opinions on issues that ASUCI is trying to address.
Some issues confronted last year by ASUCI included free speech, fair housing and lack of parking on campus.
Alexander Fuqua, a fifth-year political science and philosophy major and executive vice president of ASUCI, described ASUCI’s role in promoting student participation regarding issues at UCI.
‘It is ASUCI’s purpose to bring political awareness to the students and to get more students involved with the issues surrounding student life and community issues as well,’ Fuqua said.
In addition to promoting social and political participation on campus, ASUCI is in charge of a campus-wide shuttle service that runs from nearby communities such as Park West, Arroyo Vista and Vista Del Campo as well as around the main campus, which helps to battle the chronic parking shortage at UCI. Shuttle passes can be purchased at the ASUCI office.
ASUCI also owns and operates the UC Items store, located on the Student Terrace, where new students can obtain student ID cards, and all UCI students and faculty can buy discounted tickets to various theme parks and events.
UC Items also carries a wide variety of Greek paraphernalia for almost all sororities and fraternities on campus.
Another item on the diverse list of opportunities and services that ASUCI offers is the annual yearbook. ASUCI is responsible for the production and distribution of UCI’s annual yearbook. All students can get involved with the yearbook, whether it is by taking photographs or designing layouts.
For more information on the activities hosted by ASUCI during Welcome Week and other activities described above, visit www.asuci.uci.edu.