By Melody Wang
Daily Bruin Contributor
Although Tova Fuller and RoseAnne Gutierrez share many of the
same goals in their bid to be Academic Affairs Commissioner, only
one will win in the undergraduate student government elections on
May 10-11.
Both Fuller and Gutierrez said they want to increase ethnic
diversity on campus and keep more students informed about decisions
made by the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
The AAC is responsible for working on educational policies and
deals with issues such as tutoring and quality of education. The
AAC also sits on the Academic Senate and deals with issues such as
admissions reform and enhancing the UCLA curriculum.
“The commissioner must also have experienced leadership
that will cultivate a large staff in order to meet all of his or
her responsibilities,” said Ana Lynn Rocio, the current
commissioner.
Fuller, a second-year cybernetics student, is running on the
Viable Alternative slate. She said she is running for AAC because
she feels academics is one of the uniting elements on campus.
“The one true binding factor between all the students who
go here is that we all want to graduate,” she said.
Fuller has served as floor president of her residence hall,
external vice president of the Jewish Student Union and volunteered
at the UCLA Medical Center.
One of her goals is to bring back the faculty review book so
that students can anonymously evaluate their professors.
“It wouldn’t be to scare the professors, but to
review them in a positive light and to match students with whatever
teaching style is best for them,” Fuller said.
Fuller said she also wants to establish a central tutoring
office so students can get help with their classes. She suggests
that upperclassmen who received a good grade in a particular class
could help underclassmen who are struggling, and in return get paid
using AAC funds.
In addition to academics, Fuller said that community service is
just as important and she hopes to implement a community service
requirement.
“I think this is very important because we claim ourselves
to be a public institution, so we need to reach out to all the
people of California,” Fuller said. “It would not only
help us educate ourselves, but others who need it as
well.”
Fuller also wants to make USAC meetings more accessible to
students by sitting on Bruin Walk and moving USAC meetings to
lecture rooms so that more students can attend. To keep students
involved with what’s going on, she will post a calendar of
all student events in Ackerman.
She added that she is qualified for the position because she can
bring new ideas to USAC.
“I believe it’s very important to bring in new
people,” she said. “You don’t want to have the
same group of people in USAC.”
Gutierrez, who currently works in both the USAC
President’s office and the AAC office, disagreed.
“I really believe I’ve got the experience to do a
good job,” said Gutierrez, who is running on the Praxis
slate. “I think it helps to be part of staff first. USAC is
not the place to get your feet wet.”
Gutierrez, a fifth-year Asian American studies student, also
worked in the USAC EVP office her first and second years and is a
member of Samahang Pilipino.
One of her primary goals is to focus on repealing SP-1 and SP-2,
the 1995 measures that eliminated the use of race or gender in UC
admissions. Repealing SP-1 and SP2, activists say, would help
invalidate Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative that eliminated the
use of affirmative action in state-sponsored programs.
Gutierrez said she also wants to create a student diversity
coordinator position to increase racial diversity.
“I want to have a broad base of students to give their
opinions abut how to give admissions a way to represent Los
Angeles,” she said.
Like Fuller, Gutierrez also said she wants to see more student
participation in USAC by implementing office hours on Bruin Walk
and at residence halls.
“We can do it in little ways. It doesn’t always have
to be formalized,” Gutierrez said. “I always felt that
the student government should be a tool for students to get
involved.”
It is also important to create places where students can
interact with the Academic Senate and discuss issues that affect
their education, she said.
“Those discussions don’t happen in
classrooms,” Gutierrez said. “We may never learn about
these things.”
She added that she feels it is her duty to run for AAC since her
USAC and Samahang Pilipino experiences have helped her to
understand the academic needs of students.
“Education is a fundamental right,” Gutierrez said.
“It’s not even a choice for me to run, it’s an
obligation.”