(pronounced "A-suck") Associated Students of the University of California - the student government of UC Berkeley. Founded in 1882 it claims to be one of the oldest "completely autonomous" student governments in the United States. The ASUC was originally responsible for intercollegiate athletics on campus, but transferred that responsibility to the University in the first half of the twentieth century. Until the late 1990's the ASUC owned and operated the campus bookstore, but financial problems forced them to enter a profit and power sharing agreement with the University in exchange for the University saving the ASUC from bankruptcy. The ASUC Senate is responsible for dividing a million-dollar budget between a large number of student groups and services, but is widely disparaged by the students for spending as much time passing resolutions on world politics as working on student issues.