With a box of tissues in hand, Associated Students President Harrison Weber addressed A.S. Legislative Council for the last time in his student career, as the 2011-2012 board ended their run and turned positions over to newcomers at last night’s weekly meeting.

Weber advised the council on the UC Office of the President tax and encouraged council members to keep their legacy in mind when passing legislation. In addition to turnovers, the council also deliberated on leftover bills from the past year and appointed Kristian Whittaker and Juan Galvan as co-chairs of Legislative Council Socials in order to increase bonding among mwembers.

In addition, Weber said he and new A.S. President Sophia Armen held a meeting with Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael Young in which the division agreed to offset the cost of the newly instated UCOP tax.

“There was a memo that was sent around; basically Dr. Young just discredited it. It’s just his speak for ‘We don’t have to pay this year.’ Sophia and the Senate will be working with the leadership division — where the association can help itself and the rest of the division to help to offset the cost,” Weber said. “As just another piece of advice: keep planning for the future. There are a lot of things that we did this year that we probably won’t see the benefit for, but it’s always a great foundation for years to come. There are a lot of problems that we will be facing in the future, and it doesn’t matter to me if we get credit for what we’ve done as long as we build a solid foundation for the next batch of students.”

Weber said he wanted to stress that the council should retain its autonomy and not rely on empty words to sound relevant.

“I want to leave the association and the school, in my opinion, in good shape to pass along. Before I go on, I want to thank you all for the last three to four years I’ve been doing this. We’ve had buzzwords like ‘solidarity,’ ‘awareness,’ ‘transparency,’ ‘the students,’ ‘inclusivity’ and ‘advocate.’ One that I don’t think gets enough play is ‘agency’: it’s the one term where you make your own decisions, and you call the shots. At least that’s how I define agency,” Weber said. “There has been a remarkable amount of progress made this year if you all think of where we were a year ago. What we’ve learned this year is that we have unlikely partners in our enemies and that we must always hold those closest to us accountable. I sincerely hope that you just always make decisions for yourself. You never know who you might find as an unlikely ally, or who might need to call out.”

The meeting continued with other emotional farewells, including External Vice President of Statewide Affairs Ahmed Mostafa’s own rendition of K-Ci and JoJo’s “All My Life” — complete with lyrics appropriated to include members from Legislative Council and A.S.

Next year’s External Vice President of Local Affairs Rhandy Siordia debuted the finished product of an Isla Vista brochure which would allow readers to “see I.V. through the eyes of locals.” The brochure provides safety tips, a map of I.V. and a timeline history of the area.

The council then proceeded to wrap up their meeting and began to welcome the 2012-2013 school year’s senators.

Recently elected Internal Vice President Mayra Segovia said it is important for new members to give the position their all while still keeping their personal lives in perspective.

“There are a lot of factors that work their way into this: school, work, life in general. Just stay focused, be enthusiastic, be driven and want to be here,” Segovia said. “Have the enthusiasm to show up at 5 p.m. every week; you are representing the students who have voted you here. You owe them that much, and you owe them to do a good job. Do the best you can and I’m excited to start working with you all.”