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Rich Delia (left), ASUCLA chief financial officer, speaks at this year’s first meeting of t

The Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors outlined plans for a reorganization of ASUCLA’s restaurants, which will see the return of Taco Bell by the start of fall quarter and the introduction of a Jamba Juice lounge and a Whole Foods salad bar during winter quarter of the coming school year.

The salad bar will provide freshly baked bread, salads and soups to customers.

The board will also increase wages for all ASUCLA employees by 50 cents on Aug. 1, along with a higher range of starting salaries for employees during the coming school year.

In addition, the board announced plans for a new training program for ASUCLA employees that will begin this coming year.

The board also unanimously voted to increase the stipend paid to board members to match the increase in registration fees over the past two years.

The board confirmed that students can expect to see the return of Taco Bell by the start of fall quarter, perhaps as early as Sept. 1.

“An agreement with Taco Bell will be reached before school starts, at all costs,” said Bob Williams, the executive director of ASUCLA.

“After the Coalition of Immokalee Workers reached an agreement with Taco Bell, the board has discussed the situation many times. We have drafted a new contract with Taco Bell, and we are trying to finalize an agreement as fast as we can,” Williams said.

In addition to the board’s unanimous agreement to bring back Taco Bell in previous meetings, there has not been any opposition from outside organizations, Williams said.

“The board has even been in communication with student activist groups, and we have not had any problems at this point,” he said.

During the discussion, Rich Delia, the chief financial officer of ASUCLA, said the board, which will continue to work with the CIW, might also consider including a cancellation provision in the new contract.

However, Williams said that at this early stage it was not possible to concretely comment on any of the details, as some negotiations are still pending and final agreements are yet to be reached.

“Our discussions are progressing, and we are pretty confident,” Williams said. “We still have to organize signage, and there are minor construction projects that are pending, but my satisfaction so far is pretty high.”

ASUCLA’s plans also include the establishment of a Whole Foods bar and a Jamba Juice lounge, which when completed will be the most expensive Jamba Juice venture undertaken anywhere to date.

“We know there is a lot of demand for Jamba Juice, and we are trying to create more social spaces for students. Instead of another coffeehouse, we thought of adding a juice bar,” Williams said.

The introduction of these new restaurants will see a complete reorganization of ASUCLA restaurants and a remodeling of the Cooperage area.

“It is our effort to provide as much variety as possible,” Williams said.

Taco Bell will be installed instead of Cooperage Pizza, and the Jamba Juice lounge will be built where the X-Cape Arcade currently stands.

Williams tentatively expects the whole remodeling process to be completed by winter quarter of the coming year.

The cost of the venture, estimated to be around $20,000, will be funded by the income generated by the SAFE referendum, Williams said.

“A lot of this development is coordinated with the Food Service Master Plan that was budgeted by the proposal of the SAFE referendum,” Williams said.

SAFE was voted on by graduate and undergraduate students in April 2005. It passed with 59.4 percent approval by the general student population and includes a $12 increase in student union fees from the 2006-2007 school year, with a subsequent increase of $12 every year until the 2009-2010 school year.

The board also announced that it has decided to start a training program for potential ASUCLA employees during the coming year.

The first stage of the program, which will be multilingual, will give applicants a greater understanding of the structure of ASUCLA’s various organizations and how they operate, Williams said.

The first stage will begin in winter quarter of the coming year, and around $25,000 will be devoted to the organization of the program.

ASUCLA, like most student-run organizations, has faced the problem of retaining student employees who generally have higher turnover rates than full-time workers, Williams said.

Despite this problem, Williams defended the high degree of student involvement in ASUCLA.

“The enthusiasm of student workers and their ability to work part-time shifts is vital, as we tend to experience spurts in business activity”, he said.

Williams said the revised pay structure and the training program will go some way in lowering the turnover rates of student employees and attracting more applicants.

In regard to the board’s stipend increase, undergraduate board member Gustavo DeHaro said it was approved in order to encourage more students the become members of the board of directors.

“As of now, if a student is trying to finance his education by himself, it is not possible with a board member position,” DeHaro said.

The stipend will be increased by about 20 percent to match the increases in tuition and registration fees of the past two years.

The board does not have to raise a motion to approve stipend increases that are under 10 percent every year, DeHaro said. The pay cut that DeHaro and the rest of the members took last year by not increasing stipends has left them further behind in the face of increasing fees.

“We did not increase stipends last year as a token of good faith to the student body,” DeHaro said. “We thought it would be unfair to increase the stipend and then ask the student body to vote for the fee. But we are now behind by almost 20 percent, and that is why we are revisiting the situation,” DeHaro said.

“With this increase, we are up to date with registration fees now,” he added.

The stipend increase will be funded by the various sales revenues that ASUCLA generates, DeHaro said.