The Associated Students Legislative Council discussed ways to aid the relief effort in Haiti at last night’s meeting.

Among the various proposed resolutions, one suggestion means to address and support the Haitian earthquake relief effort. In response to the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday morning, A.S. decided to take $2,000 from its budget and donate it to the Red Cross, also leaving open the possibility for further donations in the upcoming weeks.

“As a member of A.S. and a student at UCSB, I feel it’s important to take the lead and aid the people of Haiti in this crisis,” Off-campus Rep Adam Goldman said. “It’s a core aspect of what both entities stand for.”

Council members also decided to challenge students, alumni and local businesses to raise money for the effort. A.S. will match all contributions to the fund before Jan. 31 with a cap of $25,000.

Among the other orders discussed at the meeting, the council passed a resolution to have the university consider a move from the current student e-mail system U-Mail to Google’s Gmail.

Rep-at-large Jake Elwood said that the move would have many benefits and has already been implemented at other colleges.

“It’s something such schools as UC Davis have already done,” Elwood said. “There would be a better interface, more gigabytes of storage and it’s free, so the school would be saving money. Also, applications such as Google Talk will allow students to talk to essentially any student at UCSB.”

Additionally, the council discussed a resolution to support the construction of the Isla Vista Skate Park.

Students interested in donating to the Haitian earthquake relief effort will have numerous ways of giving support to the cause. Payments can be made at the A.S. Ticket Window, mailed to 2537 University Center, Santa Barbara, CA, 93116 or done electronically through the A.S. Web site.

Questions can be sent to the Haitian Relief Ad-Hoc Committee at ucsbhaitianrelief@gmail.com.