NOW Slate - Davis - LocalWiki

NOW is a campus organization that aims to increase the voices of all students in ASUCD.The goal of NOW is to give students a true voice on campus. NOW stands for an association that improves the life of every student on campus and makes Aggies feel like they are a part of something that is larger than themselves. It has no connection to the more well-known organization that uses the same acronym, namely, the National Organization for Women.

Mission

ADVOCATE FOR STUDENTS to the government and the university. It is crucial that the administrators, Regents, and state legislators understand the importance of supporting the next generation of voters and community members.

WORK FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, both environmentally and fiscally. NOW strives to ensure that ASUCD can provide services to more students even in the midst of budget cuts. NOW will also work to make ASUCD zero waste by 2015.

PROMOTE AGGIE PRIDE to make more students proud to be a UC Davis student and celebrate our university.

SUPPORT STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER GRADUATION by creating more opportunities on campus and promoting networking with alumni and other potential employers.

GETTING STUDENTS INVOLVED by giving more resources to our campus organizations so they can reach more students and have more support for their programs.

BETTER CONNECT OUR CAMPUS by working collaboratively with campus departments, downtown Davis, and other organizations to bring students more opportunities.

Controversies

NOW Senators enjoying their free trip to DC from The David Project, a special interest group involved in the 2013 SR 30 fight.

ASUCD Senators Felicia Ong, Amrit Sahota, Tal Topf, and Ryan Wonders received free trips to Washington DC courtesy of The David Project. Due to The David Project's intense involvement with Israeli divestment and some off-the-books remarks made from one of the participating senators, this free trip was criticized as a gift for NOW's opposition to Senate Resolution 30, though such cannot be officially confirmed or denied.
NOW party faithful Joyce Han and then-senator elect Katie Sherman similarly scored free trips to Israel, again from The David Project. Both were very vocal during the aforementioned SR 30 conversation, with Han seen by many ASUCD insiders as a possible presidential contender for the Winter 2014 election and Sherman viewed as a favorite for the Fall 2013 election. It should also be noted that Senator-elect SMART senator Mariah Watson also attended this same trip, though she was seen by many as one of the more fervent advocates for SR 30.
The "NOW Club": NOW is organized both as a political slate and as a Registered Student Organization under the Center for Student Involvement. They engage in philanthropic fundraisers and are, as of Spring 2014, selling cancer-awareness printed shirts that will not be counted as expenses for upcoming elections. NOW has seemingly found a considerable amount of ways to "spend" far more money than it is allowed in each election by using its club and faux philanthropic endeavors to brand the slate. In fact, many of their campaign materials exist in a quantum state, where they are either club materials or campaign materials based primarily on who is asking and who is answering.
The NOW Club participated in the 2013 Week of Competition and is on the list of participants for the 2014 edition. Week of Competition, hosted by the ASUCD Outreach Assembly is a subordinate body of the ASUCD Senate and awards money to winning clubs. The slate is effectively attempting to fund their campaigns with student fees.
Opportunities for Registered Student Organizations are limited, especially during the beginning of the year. For the 2013-2014 school year, NOW participated in and won a raffle to earn money at The Buzz, limiting the opportunities for the other 600+ RSOs on campus.
NOW Candidate Jonathan Yip's face was on every single door in the Cuarto Residence Hall Webster in the Winter 2013 election. While each election there seem to be allegations of various candidates campaigning in the dorm, this is perhaps the most egregious and obvious, but no controversy was raised due to the candidate's failure to secure an ASUCD Senate seat.

Officials of the Associated Students encouraging drinking?

Members of the NOW slate (though not acting on behalf of the slate), were responsible for the Tailgate that occurred in the hours leading up to the University's second nationally-broadcast basketball game. One of the organizers, Joyce Han, was not of the legal drinking age, and this event encouraged the consumption of alcohol and initially failed to specify for which age groups that such would be appropriate. The "Failgate", as it came to be known, also called itself an ASUCD official event until NOW Senator Pamela Nonga asked for it to be taken down. Even though it was organized under the office of Carly Sandstrom, it was not something that many wished to reflect the entire association. Let me repeat that: the ASUCD president's office created an event seemingly encouraging underage drinking on campus and called it ASUCD official. Wow.
NOW is not above threatening to sue people over this controversy section, so be careful what you say here lest you feel the wrath of a political party that will tout itself as a student organization whenever it is convenient!