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By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Chancellor Albert Carnesale Wednesday extended the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s deadline to amend its bylaws to April 13.

As a result, student group funds will not be frozen and groups can continue with activities as planned.

“Although with some reluctance, I am prepared to grant the council’s request for more time to complete work on the bylaws, particularly as they pertain to sponsorship of campus organizations,” Carnesale stated in a letter to USAC members.

USAC voted 11-1 at Tuesday’s meeting not to amend its bylaws to comply with guidelines regarding student group sponsorship and funding set forth by the University of California Office of the President and UCLA. The council also voted to send a letter of appeal to Carnesale asking for more time to review and change the bylaws.

The letter, to which USAC President Elizabeth Houston attached her dissent urging the administration to set a deadline for the bylaw changes, requested the university allow the council “to continue these discussions without the threat of making funds inaccessible to student groups and USAC offices.”

Administrative Representative Lyle Timmerman had set a Feb. 27 deadline for the council to amend its bylaws. If council did not amend its bylaws by the deadline, Timmerman said he would put a freeze on student group funds.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Carnesale said he was prepared to get involved at this stage of the process.

“They certainly should not have waited until the day of the deadline to act,” Carnesale said.

USAC Community Service Commissioner Fannie Huang said the freeze would have hurt the day-to-day operation of student groups as well as other programs. Projects in her commission, for example, depend on the funding to pay for vans that take students to community service sites. Planned field trips of various projects would have also been hurt by the freeze, Huang said.

“We know this is a very real threat and we want to work this through,” she said. “We have a lot of issues we have to work through.

“There are people (on the council) who want to work on finding a solution,” she continued. “I didn’t feel everyone on council has been upholding the process.”

Houston said she was happy with the chancellor’s response and the fact that he set a deadline.

“I feel it was exactly what I would have wished,” she said.

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