The Associated Students 75th Senate passed a resolution to transfer over $50,000 to the Associated Students Food Bank to fund their snack stations and heard a request from Armenian campus groups to establish an official day and month of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide at its April 16 meeting.
The Senate discussed recognizing the Armenian genocide, allocating funds to the A.S. Food Bank and raising honoraria for the Judicial Council. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus
The Senate voted on a resolution to transfer $50,300 from unallocated funds to the Associated Students (A.S.) Food Bank to fund the Snack Station Program. The Snack Station Program provides free snacks at locations across campus. The resolution was proposed by third-year computer science major Aryaman Singh and joined by third-year film and media studies major Sandhya Ganesh.
Since the Snack Station Program was absorbed by the A.S. Food Bank, the program now has 16 snack stations across campus and one in Isla Vista. According to the resolution, the Snack Station Program ran out of funding in mid-April, and the food bank doesn’t have enough funding to keep it consistently stocked.
Fourth-year economics and communication double major Taylor Iden opposed giving the full $50,000 now and proposed that the Senate give $25,000 one year and $25,000 the following year. Iden argued there’s “nothing stopping them from going through it in a single year” and that the food bank doesn’t have “real food options.”
“I don’t feel like they’re using their funding in the best way that they could in terms of services that they provide to students,” Iden said. “While [snacks] are important, I want real food options.”
Ganesh countered by saying that the A.S. Food Bank is “one of the most impactful [Boards, Committees and Units]” and already has plans to provide full meals to students. Iden responded by saying he believes that they should start funding in small amounts and that there’s not “the necessity to fund it in its entirety at this time.”
The resolution passed with 16 in favor, one voting against and three abstaining.
Members of Armenian student organizations addressed the senate to request that April 24 be recognized by UC Santa Barbara as a day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide that began on that day in 1915.
The Armenian Genocide, during which the Ottoman Empire systematically killed 1.5 million Armenians, is not universally recognized. While it is not formally recognized as genocide by the government of Turkey, the United States officially recognized it under President Joe Biden in 2021.
Other University of California (UC) schools have recognized the event with remembrance events, such as UC Los Angeles, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. UCSB has yet to do so. Members of the Armenian Pre-Law Society and the Armenian Student Association crowded the meeting room to request times of remembrance. Fourth-year political science major and founder of the Armenian Pre-Law Society Lilian Mkrtoumian gave a speech where she explained the need for recognition.
“My goal is not to condemn any group of people or any nation, instead I’m here to take a stand for truth, remembrance and recognition. I’m here to speak out against the silencing of our voices by amplifying mine in an educational institution that is yet to honor its growing Armenian community,” Mkrtoumian said.
In addition, Mkrtoumian asked for April to be known as Armenian Heritage Month.
“Taking this initiative is a moral imperative that will honor Armenians and the resilience of our communities while educating future generations to ensure that history does not repeat itself this is also a symbolic commitment to all marginalized communities that their histories too will be seen, heard, valued and remembered,” Mkrtoumian said.
The Senate continued their conversation on International Senator and third-year political science major MingJun Zha’s bill to peg A.S. Judicial Council’s (JC) Honoraria, or A.S. pay, to that of Senate standing committees.
Previously, Zha had estimated that the increase would be around $1,500. The updated resolution now has a maximum annual financial impact of $2,550. Iden expressed discontent with the bill, citing that the maximum could lead to internal conflicts by rewarding JC through specific verdicts.
First President Pro-Tempore and third-year political science and philosophy double major Dan Siddiqui’s proxy, third-year financial mathematics and statistics major Aaryan Gundecha, said he believes the $2,550 would “not be the end of the world in a budget situation,” and emphasized the importance of reaffirming the importance of one of the three main branches of the student government.
“I do agree that it may seem that we’d have to increase all people’s honoraria. I do believe that this is a special case and the work that they do is directly part of the integration that we work on as a government,” Gundecha said.
Zha and Ganesh also both argued the importance of the JC compared to other BCUs as “they’re [a] very important part of the checks and balances,” according to Ganesh. Iden responded that while he agreed, he would prefer if the bill were in its original form, where the limit can’t be decided by the honoraria.
Iden proposed tabling the bill, with fear that the Senate has the ability to raise their own honoraria. Zha motioned to table the bill, which was seconded by first-year chemistry major Nadine Malhis.
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A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Apr. 24, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
