During a marathon four-hour meeting, Associated Students Legislative Council passed two bills and allocated $3,336.18 among three groups at last night’s meeting.

As for the two bills passed, one officially changed the name of Shoreline Preservation Fund to the Coastal Fund, with the other adding voter registration duties for members. In internal news, Narain Kumar was sworn in as On-Campus Rep following last week’s resignation of Trevor Lyon. Kumar ran for the position during Spring Quarter 2007 and received enough votes to be considered as a runner-up.

The council also acted for A.S. Finance Board this week, as the board’s regularly scheduled meeting was not held this Monday due to Veteran’s Day.

Finance Board Vice Chair Jose Raygoza said while he had reservations in asking Leg Council to perform Finance Board’s duty, he believed the holiday should not prevent student groups from receiving funds for this week.

“This leadership of the board feels that the board should still place students first despite the holiday,” Raygoza said. “So, we, the leadership of Finance Board, ask legislative council to consider allocating funds from unallocated to these student organizations… This act should only be done in extremely rare circumstances.”

The council allocated an additional $576.18 to the Chinese Students and Scholars Association for its “China Night,” following a previous Finance Board allocation of $2,714 toward the event. The council also dolled out $1,500 to Protesta y Apoyo Zapatistas for its “Art in Rebellion” presentation by Olmeca, a company that specializes in recording, producing, and recording artists, and $1,260 for the Armenian Sisterhood Organization’s Baklava Night.

After the night’s distributions, Finance Board has $45,241.11 remaining in unallocated for the rest of the quarter.

In regards to the bill, which includes voter registration duties, representatives must now sign up 20 voters before the registration deadline each year or else fulfill the requirement using other options, such as tabling or making announcements to organizations. The bill passed by consent.

“This is completely doable and I think it’s a fantastic addition to the [A.S.] Legal Code,” Rep-at-Large Gloria Schindler said.

The meeting also featured presentations by the A.S. Student Commission on Racial Equality regarding the Students of Color Conference held over the weekend. SCORE Co-Chair Justin Reyes said the event was very successful.

“It was an act of solidarity across the UC,” Reyes said. “Over 800 people were there.”

Additionally, Executive Director of the University of California Students Association Liz Hall discussed with the council the organization’s purpose – to advocate for students to the government. According to Hall, UCSB students pay for one-fourth of UCSA’s budget through a lock-in fee.

“UCSB has a history of having a really large presence in UCSA,” Hall said.

Meanwhile, the council canceled next week’s meeting with consent due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

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