Friday, November 15, 1996
GSA:
Leaders seek participants with variety of programsBy Ryan
Ozimek
Daily Bruin Contributor
Attempting to revitalize student interest in the Graduate
Student Association, government officers have taken their message
of involvement to the students.
Working on a host of programs to benefit graduate students, the
council is swamped in activities running the entire spectrum of
graduate student life.
Over the past few weeks, GSA has found itself immersed in the
waves of emotion surrounding next week’s Students’ Association of
Graduate Employees strike.
At the last GSA Forum meeting, council members narrowly approved
a resolution supporting the walkout.
"We support the rights of academic student employees to strike
and urge all members of the UCLA community to support the striking
workers," the resolution declared.
Graduate council President Chris Tymchuk said that he didn’t
want the graduate government to make the walkout a one-sided issue
by only supporting those in favor of the strike.
"SAGE/UAW makes up a group of graduate students which are part
of GSA, but there are also a lot (of graduate students) that don’t
support the strike," Tymchuk said. "GSA needs to support all
graduate students."
Symbolizing their support, the graduate students’ cabinet will
shut down the graduate government until the strike ends Nov. 22.
GSA’s top officers said that they will not cross the picket lines
in a show of support.
"We didn’t want officers and staff to have to be caught in
between SAGE/UAW and the administration," Tymchuk said, noting that
although the office would be closed, association officers will
still be available to meet off campus.
Aside from the upcoming strike, the association has worked on
other issues to bring graduate students together.
Earlier this quarter, the graduate government sponsored an
orientation to introduce themselves to graduate students, giving
the students an opportunity to see exactly what their elected
representatives do.
With the help of local businesses and sponsors who donated food
and supplies, the orientation was successful in garnering a solid
turnout and getting GSA’s message to the graduate student body,
Tymchuk said.
Outside of increasing direct contact between students and their
government, GSA is also well-involved in the search for a new
chancellor.
About a month after the orientation, the association sponsored a
town-hall meeting to discuss what students would like to see in
their new chancellor.
Both Tymchuk and John Du, president of the Undergraduate
Students’ Association Council, took the feedback they received at
the meeting to the Chancellor Search Committee the next day for the
committee to consider when selecting a candidate.
"It’s important that graduate students do have their voice, and
along with that, it important that grad students feel welcome to
talk to us with their concerns about the chancellor," Tymchuk
said.
Setting its sights on undergraduate students, GSA is also
focusing on increasing its outreach to the undergraduate community
through its Undergraduate Mentorship Program.
The program brings graduates and undergraduates together to
discuss the different aspects of graduate school on a one-on-one
basis.
So far, the mentorship program sponsored a graduate school fair
late last month to entice both undergraduates and graduates to the
mentor program.
"This program gives undergraduate students a chance to get
clean, honest advice on graduate school life," graduate students’
Chief of Staff Phu Tranchi said.
The undergraduates and their mentors will meet about three times
throughout the year to check up on the undergraduates’ quarterly
progress.
"Not only is this an opportunity for undergraduates, but also
for graduate students to get involved in programs outside of their
own fields of research," Tranchi said.
Turnout for the program has been meeting GSA expectations. About
75 undergraduates and 50 graduate students are participating in the
program so far, but more slots are available for others to
join.
"I’m delighted by the great display of interest, but it’s too
early to tell how positive the results of the program will be,"
said association Internal Vice President Danise Kimball.
The association’s officers feel that the government is on the
right track for the year after eight weeks of school.
"We’re clearly setting the tone for the remainder of the year,"
Tymchuk said. "We’re going to continue to keep graduate students
involved in the government, and keep GSA in the forefront of campus
affairs and campus community."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
TAs like Jose Reyes won’t be answering students’ questions next
week due to SAGE strike.