Seltzer is the Campus Events Commissioner of USAC.
By Jared Seltzer
Jason Krause states in his submission (“Council agenda
does not cater to majority of incoming freshmen“,
Viewpoint, Oct. 3) that Undergraduate Students Association Council
members gave a bad impression by failing to attend freshman
convocation. I completely agree with Jason that first impressions
are extremely important, and I would like to explain the reason
that I did not attend convocation: I was not invited.
As far as I know, President Houston was the only USAC member
invited to the event. I believe that no person from USAC or even
the Associated Students of UCLA was invited, including the
executive director. So credit USAC’s absence at convocation
to a mailing mix-up. I would have loved to attend, and maybe it was
my responsibility to crash the party, but the day passed without so
much as a whisper at the council table.
The president and internal vice-president attended, but failed
to discuss the details of convocation before it occurred as has
been done in previous years. So the rest of us were left to read
about it in the paper the next day and hope that they represented
us well. I believe that I speak for other council members in
sincerely apologizing for our absence.
Like many other council issues, this entire Welcome Week
discussion has been excessively complicated and dramatized.
I’m not interested in personal agendas and petty debate, and
I believe that council is obligated to serve the needs of all
students. How can we accomplish this? It is my opinion that
students are best served through a range of programs, some of which
inevitably target specific segments of the student body.
As campus events commissioner, I think it would be wonderful if
we could throw a 98 Degrees concert and have everybody show up.
Unfortunately many students would not attend, some would be
offended by the very notion, and I wouldn’t be surprised to
see certain Bruins use the student refund mechanism available to
reclaim their membership fees.
For that reason, Campus Events makes an attempt to program hip
hop, jazz, rock, pop, international music and a host of other
genres to serve the incredible diversity of tastes, backgrounds and
opinions that are encouraged at UCLA.
We do not appeal to everybody at once, but we try to empower
every voice and never try to silence ideas. Recently there has been
debate in council about whether or not it is appropriate for USAC
to sponsor the LGBT/Queer Campus Life event as a part of Welcome
Week. Does serving a minority population necessarily neglect the
majority?
I believe that a queer life on campus meeting is, in one way or
another, of benefit to every student on campus. But I’m still
interested in learning how to make one event appeal to everyone.
How could we, as suggested by another council member in an earlier
Daily Bruin article, “host one day of dialogue with brief
discussions about all issues concerning students?” All 24,000
of them? Are students really interested in being served up bland,
shallow, inoffensive tripe that skirts issues without ever
exploring their deeper meaning? I hope not.
I want to see USAC challenge students to voice their opinions
without ever making them feel threatened or unwanted. I understand
that a number of Bruins feel ostracized by USAC, and I welcome
input from them regarding this issue.
Hopefully every Bruin will take the time to voice his or her own
opinion. I feel that USAC is here to enable that communication, and
I firmly believe that every council member feels the same way. Come
to a council meeting, held every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in 417 Kerckhoff
Hall. All of USAC looks forward to seeing you there.