Thursday, April 30, 1998
Graciela "Liz" Geyer
EVP
I strongly believe that part of a university education is to
create an environment where students can play an active role in
questioning and changing society. The slogan "think globally act
locally" is not only about the environment; it applies to all of us
in our daily decisions and our conscious choices to stand by our
professed values. In Praxis, we have focused on reflecting on the
student movement in order to build upon our successes and expand
our vision. On the Praxis team, the external vice president’s (EVP)
office plans to create an Environmental Justice Component – working
on connecting UCLA’s non-recycling policy to the living and working
conditions of the people affected by it. The EVP office also plans
on working with UCSA to continue to demand fee rollbacks,
educational access and increased financial aid by demanding the end
to prison expansion at the expense of higher education. These
changes can only be a result of collective student action through
grass roots organizing.
We are born into history, and are affected by it; but don’t
forget we create history and are directly responsible for the
future of society by acting in the present. Students are a force to
reckon with when moved to recognize their power in pushing society
forward. Unfortunately, our youth has been made to believe they are
powerless against institutional mandates; we are not. We must
embody the change we have been conditioned to see as ideal
illusion. We must choose to stand by justice and equality for all,
and fight against oppression wherever we may see it. Don’t let
anyone fool you, we have that power.
Fraciela Geyer