Associated Students hosted its quarterly State of the Association event for various UC Santa Barbara entities to discuss their projects, accomplishments and budget uses for winter quarter. The goal of the quarterly event is to encourage group engagement and collaboration between all entities.
The goal of the State of Association is to encourage group engagement and collaboration with all entities. Elijah Obando / Daily Nexus
Associated Students (A.S.) President Le Anh Metzger, a fourth-year global studies, communication and Spanish triple major, presented her office’s projects for the quarter. She highlighted a meal plan reform, which aims to integrate dining dollars into meal plans. Her office is currently surveying students and holding meetings with Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises.
The Senate Outreach Committee shared that they will be installing Generation Conscious brand disposable laundry dispensers in all residence halls by next week. According to Senator and third-year economics and philosophy double major Noah Luken, the dispensers will create job opportunities for students to refill them.
The committee is also collaborating with the Office of the External Vice President for Local Affairs to work on a class action lawsuit against Isla Vista Landlords. They are also working on an I.V. living conditions study that will survey mold, water quality and rent prices among other things.
The A.S. Book Bank presented its collaboration with Luken to develop a textbook grant support program to provide students with funding for textbooks.
The Environmental Affairs Board launched a new advocacy campaign focused on the Santa Barbara County oil and gas phase out, an initiative to ban onshore oil and gas operations with support from UCSB Research.
The Human Rights Board is contributing $1000 in funding to begin the Language Revitalization Program alongside Senator and second-year biology and political science major Eemaan Wahidullah. The program aims to provide “fiscal support to UCSB students seeking to study languages not currently offered by the institution.”
The Bike Committee presented its budget, which was used to fully fund the new Interactive Learning Pavilion bike path. The committee contributed $920k to the path’s funding, and it has been officially approved for construction. They hope to have the path open for use by Sept. 15.
The Black Women’s Health Collaborative highlighted that its “Black Beauty Expo” drew over 120 attendees this quarter. They also discussed the budget cuts they received, citing it as making it difficult to support the Black community on campus. They said that they have been feeling neglected by A.S. since they have not been given an advisory since the beginning of the year. As of recently, Lili Hartounian, the assistant director of human resources, has offered to be their advisor.
The Senate Advocacy Committee presented its plans to renovate the Pardall Tunnel. The committee has funded Design & Construction Services to conduct survey work and create a timeline for the tunnel’s renovation.
The Community Affairs Board shared that they gained 592.64 hours of volunteer work with their 190 weekly volunteers this quarter. The Zero Waste Committee reported they have recycled 73.2 lbs of shoes and saved about 135,000 gallons of water this quarter. They also recycled 47 swimsuits, 22 goggles and six pairs of fins.
Take Back the Night, an organization aimed at minimizing sexual and relationship violence, funded a Sigma Alpha Zeta event that donated all proceeds to domestic violence survivors.
Student Advocate General and fourth-year sociology major Sydney Bivins presented updates to the UCSB mobile app GoGaucho developed by their technology subcommittee. GoGaucho now has an integrated nutritional calculator that is linked to the dining hall menus, and class locations are linked to students’ course schedules along with the building’s layout.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the March 5, 2026 edition of the Daily Nexus.
