By Teri H.P. Nguyen
Daily Bruin Contributor
Three internal vice presidential candidates plan to take on
issues of on-campus housing and parking next year, but none offered
fully developed solutions on how to tackle such problems.
The three candidates vying for a seat on next year’s
Undergraduate Students Association Council include T. J. Cordero,
who is running under the Student Empowerment! slate,
and Justin Levi, a Students United for Reform and Equality
candidate. Newcomer to UCLA and campus politics, Avneet Kaur, will
run independently.
Tidal Wave II ““ the expected influx of 60,000 students to
the University of California over the next 10 years ““ has
resulted in student housing and parking becoming a hot
commodity.
T.J. Cordero
Cordero, a fourth-year philosophy student and current USAC
Financial Committee chair, wants to make housing more affordable,
as do the other two candidates.
Cordero’s key plan is getting government subsidized
housing for students, both in Westwood apartments and residence
halls.
To make subsidized housing available, Cordero plans to push the
chancellor to address this issue while impelling the UC Regents and
On Campus Housing Council to lobby legislators.
He also wants to create a Chancellor’s Housing Advisory
Board to allow students to advocate their housing needs.
Justin Levi
Levi, a third-year political science and history student and the
president of the Jewish Student Union, agrees that subsidized
housing should be considered, but admitted he does not have enough
information at this point about the situation to extend his full
support of it.
The most “ideal temporary solution, until we have more
housing, is by having more triples (in the dorm),” Levi
said.
While against increasing student fees and students living in
lounges, Levi did not say how he plans to keep housing cost
low.
Increasing communication with OCHC is key, Levi said, adding
that current USAC members have failed to establish that
communication. Currently, many SURE candidates are already on the
OCHC.
Avneet Kaur
Meanwhile, Kaur, a political science transfer student, has no
clear-cut policy except to increase communication with OCHC.
Her parking strategy appears to be the bastion of her
campaign.
A commuter herself who has been denied a parking permit, Kaur
said temporary relief for the parking crisis should come from an
increase in shuttle, bus and evening van services. Her plan,
similar to the other candidates’, is simply to advocate for
transportation services. She also wants to extend the time given on
parking meters. Students pay a quarter for eight minutes of parking
on campus, with only two hours allotted.
Students can’t run back and forth between classes to move
their car and then not be guaranteed that another spot will be
available, Kaur said.
Levi said he firmly supports the BruinGo! program as “the
best solution.”
The existence of BruinGo! ““ which allows UCLA students to
ride the Big Blue Bus for free with a swipe of their BruinCard
““ is being threatened due to what administrators say is a
lack of funding. It is under review by the chancellor.
“I’m surprised it’s even an issue,” Levi
said.
While Levi acknowledges the parking problem, he opposes any
increase in parking fees and wants to revive the BruinGo! program
should it end. He did not say how.
Also a supporter of BruinGo!, Cordero’s only plan to
address parking congestion is to be in “constant
communication with students to find avenues” to ensure no
increase in parking fees.
In addition to the two big issues, each candidate has other
plans they hope to implement.
A founding member of Bruin for Middle East Dialogue, Levi wants
to promote discourse on campus between student groups through
programs and events.
Kaur wants to increase campus security, especially at night, by
adding more security personnel and alarms.
She also wants to make information about USAC available to
students by increasing the number of flyers council members hand
out.
“We’re supposed to be representing students,”
Kaur said. “But what’s the point if the students
don’t know who we are?”
Cordero also suggested increasing the number of times USAC
prints its newsletter.
Additionally, he is focused on creating a “Know Your
Rights” series for students to see how events affect
students. Issues include hate crimes, campus safety, parking and
how the war on terrorism has impacted student liberties.
He also wants to create a “Speak It” series where
students can address the council directly to hold USAC more
accountable, he said.