Associated Students On-Campus Senator Yasamin Salari is not living in on-campus housing, which is a violation of legal code as discussed at the Wednesday night Senate meeting.
Salari ran as an on-campus senator during the Spring Quarter 2018 elections. Jose Ochoa / Daily Nexus
Salari, a second-year pre-political science major, spoke Wednesday night regarding rumors about her living situation. She confirmed she is living off campus rather than on campus.
As an on-campus senator, Salari is required to “live amongst [her] constituents during Fall, Winter and Spring Quarters of their year of elective service,” according to Article II Section 1(B)(4) of the Associated Students (A.S.) legal code.
Salari said she intended to live on campus when she ran for the position, but cited financial burdens as the reason she was unable to.
“I am an on-campus senator, and I know a lot of people are, I guess, upset about the fact that I’m living off campus,” Salari said during the meeting.
“When I got elected for it, and because of some financial issues, I wasn’t able to [live on campus]. As many of you know, living on campus is more expensive.”
She said she would be “more than happy” to privately discuss further details about her financial issues.
Salari ran on a platform of reinforcing UCSB’s student health care system, citing early closing hours and the lack of an urgent care system.
The A.S. Attorney General Zeina Safadi sent out an email to all senators to discuss Salari’s standing.
Safadi said A.S. Elections Board initially approached Salari to ask about her living situation after they had received a complaint, to which she “did not provide a conclusive answer.”
“There was no prior indication to Senate as a whole that Yasamin was in financial burden and thus Yasamin was not transparent about this situation; with that, there was an active effort to conceal,” Safadi said in the email.
“Furthermore, the initial refusal to answer questions about her living situation solidifies the lack of transparency, and thus indicates her acknowledgement of violating the rule and the subsequent concealment of the violation.”
Safadi added that “concealing the truth about not living among your representative constituents is a direct violation of [A.S.] Legal Code.”
During Wednesday night’s Senate meeting, Senate voted to give Salari a one-time exception with the stipulation that her living situation would be later discussed within the A.S. Internal Committee.
Several senators also discussed permanently changing legal codes to allow for future exceptions. There was no motion made regarding legal code changes.
Correction [Nov. 16]: Salari did not specify the exact location of where she is living, only stating she is living off campus. That information was obtained from the email from A.G. and has been removed from this article at Salari’s request.
LOL no one cares. Does AS even do anything other than pick what costumes to wear on homecoming week?
Not really -person in AS
Member or AS or not, why is this student’s personal financial struggles which have prohibited from living on campus being published publicly. Just seems kind of unnecessarily mean honestly.
Maybe she shouldn’t have run for ON CAMPUS Senator then. Just a thought!
she is pretty well off and is able to afford a sorority and expensive clothing. I also personally know that she has the money to afford living in both locations
does the daily nexus even have a purpose other than serving as a tabloid ? isn’t it their job to actually investigate and report on real news instead of camping out at senate meetings to draft shitty articles bullying students ? UCLA and Cal newspapers would NEVER. Shitty excuses for journalism from the fifth best university in the nation? ✔️✔️
You must be joking. She signed 2 leases so she could manipulate the system and get the on campus vote which is way easier to get and steal the spot of a senator who would actually live on campus. She knew exactly what she was doing. This
isn’t bullying or slanderous. She lied. She got caught. She broke legal code ✔️✔️✔️
Is the person who wrote this the same person who joined a sorority to write an article about it shutting down? They should really look into FERPA, because I’m positive a few laws have been broken.
Nah they really haven’t. And you’re media illiterate. Congrats!
That article wasn’t even written by the same person as this one
oN-cAMpuS sENaToR yASaMiN sALaRi ADmiTs tO LiViNG oFf CaMPuS iN viOLaTioN oF lEgAL cODe
This is a huge violation of privacy!Not to mention that the person who wrote this wrote out her full name, private financial information, and attached a picture! This is unacceptable!
She is an elected representative of the student body and must be held accountable
“She said she would be “more than happy” to privately discuss further details about her financial issues.” Notice how she said “privately” so what gives you all the right to post this PUBLICLY?
she said it at a public meeting… you’ve got to be kidding me
Their status at journalists operating under the 1st Amendment gives them the right
It’s not really a violation of her privacy if she’s said it publicly at a senate meeting where minutes are recorded and she’s a publicly elected official. She ran to be an on-campus senator and sorority leases are signed before spring quarter so that’s before she was even elected. The fact of the matter is she’s misrepresenting the constituents she ran to represent and is technically ineligible to be in the position she is. We don’t have people who live in Los Angeles as the congressmen in Santa Barbara.
Actually congress members tend to live out of their district so….
actually sorority leases aren’t necessarily signed before spring quarter… if you don’t know something why make up a fact?
lol yall just ignoring the fact that she intentionally sidestepped the attorney general to attempt to conceal the fact that she knowingly broke legal code this whole time. she could have ran for off campus senator, but didnt.
exactly! she wasn’t being transparent at all. leases are signed before elections so she could’ve ran for off campus
the people reacting to this on fb as shocked when they are the driving force behind blackmailing this senator to the point where she made a public statement are most definitely the pinnacle of mediocrity and utter lack of human empathy. You guys started this to get what you wanted and you have the audacity to act surprised in public? Fake and ugly, grow tf up and get a life.
all the daily nexus manages to do is ruin students lives with their shitty writing, this is not the first time they have targeted women in leadership positions, doesn’t feel like a coincidence
She knowingly broke the rules?? If she knew she was living Off-Campus she should have run for off-campus senator. She has no one to blame but herself.
This article is written by a woman? Lol
Its sad that a newspaper article would invest so much time into the defamation of an individual student. A student’s address or financial situation should not be publicly aired and is extremely confidential information. Honestly, this article is a just a huge privacy and legal issue. Thanks for (not) considering FERPA laws! We LOVE law-abiding and ethics-conscious authors!
It’s a public meeting and this isn’t something new. The Nexus has reported on AS reps for decades. This is something all newspapers do including college papers like the Bruin or Daily Cal. She ran for a public office and violated the code. This is a thing a newspaper is supposed to report on. Maybe you don’t regularly read newspapers or are a close friend or family member. I don’t know, but it boggles my mind that anyone doesn’t see this as standard reporting.
Did you even read the story? The Nexus didn’t publish any specific details about their address or financial situation, just that her address, whatever it is, apparently is not on campus due to the high cost of living on campus. Those are two rather non-specific facts that were apparently aired during a public meeting. There is nothing defamatory in here.
Lmao all the angry nexus writers defending their shorty writing in the comments
more senators are doing this
Financial burden but paying around $900 in sorority dues every quarter
She learned from real senators
She should resign
Wow……watching snowflakes trying to defend a fraud is amusing. Yes, my little, fragile millennials, there are consequences to actions. Better to learn this lesson now, than when you’re out in the scary real world.
Someone had to tell them the truth
I’m special. I don’t have to play by the rules. How dare anyone call me on it