Manko is the president of the Student Alumni Association.
By Joe Manko
Year after year during spring, the few individuals who are
running for student government suddenly seem to care about making
UCLA better. They come out en masse, wearing different colored
shirts, passing out fliers promising lower student fees, increased
representation and social justice. But what has always bothered me
is what happens after election time. It seems like once the winner
is announced, all those people who worked so hard to get elected
suddenly don’t seem to care anymore.
For the past four years, I have voted for the Student
Empowerment!-Praxis slate because I believed in their desire for
social equality, community outreach and minority representation. I
also believed they wouldn’t leave the remainder of the campus
behind and neglect issues relevant to “all” students.
But I was wrong.
Student governance under Student Empowerment! has been reactive
rather than proactive. Things like saving BruinGo! and challenging
a one dollar increase in daily parking fees received very little
attention by Student Empowerment! until after these decisions were
close to being made. I don’t know about other students, but
these are the issues I want my student government addressing and
advocating. I also want my student government to get involved in
the decision-making process ““ not just cause a stir after
things are finalized.
Student governance under Student Empowerment! has not adequately
responded to student needs. After sending an e-mail and talking to
a current Student Empowerment! representative individually about
housing issues such as the persistence of lounge residents or the
housing consolidation policy, I was hoping that this important
issue would be addressed by my elected officials. I have yet to
receive a response. As an elected official, even if you can’t
address an issue, you at least have a responsibility to respond and
let people know that their voice is being heard.
Student governance under Student Empowerment! has treated some
groups unequally. One of USAC’s greatest responsibilities is
to distribute the student fees that every undergraduate on this
campus pays. Unfortunately, the allocation process gives the small
number of minority groups that form the Student Empowerment!
coalition a vast majority of these fees. This is machine politics
at its finest, but the big losers are the hundreds of student
groups that receive little or no funding at the expense of groups
involved in the coalition.
These examples show a persistent trend of student disempowerment
““ power taken away by not advocating issues that address the
needs of our entire campus community, and not letting students
voice their opinion on issues relevant to them.
I wish I could vote on a five dollar increase in student
programming so we could have better bands, more movies, influential
speakers and community events. But because of Student Empowerment!
and their refusal to allow this increase to be voted on in the May
ballot, I will never get that chance.
I have not yet made up my mind on whom I will vote for in the
upcoming USAC elections. I need to see the platforms and see the
issues before I can make an educated choice. But if the past four
years are any indication of what Student Empowerment! will do, or
should I say, won’t do, then I think it will take a lot of
convincing for me to make the wrong choice and vote Student
Empowerment! yet again.