Christopher Neal
With maintaining reasonable student fees and housing costs at
the top of his agenda, external vice president candidate
Christopher Neal is one of the few USAC candidates with his
priorities in line.
Neal, who is running unopposed, also has experience dealing with
the groups he will have to do business with next year while serving
as undergraduates’ lobbying arm to the UC, the state and the
nation. Currently serving as 2001-02 EVP Evan Okamura’s chief
of staff, Neal has also spent the past two years as chair of the
National Queer Students Coalition for the United States Student
Association and last year as the campus organizing director for the
University of California Student Association.
He already has a major housing victory under his belt, working
successfully with the state legislature on Assembly Bill 1611,
which provides developers incentives to build near college
campuses.
One of his goals for next year ““ changing the funding
status of on-campus housing so that it is university-supported
““ is more than a bit over-zealous, but at least he has the
right idea.
And though he is naive about the seriousness of the
state’s economic condition this year ““Â he pointed
out that lobbying is usually easier in an election year while
failing to concretely address a multi-billion dollar budget
shortfall ““ his ideas to lobby state representatives with the
threat of the student vote in his back pocket are on target.
Neal also rightfully places an important emphasis on
student-initiated outreach targeting historically
under-rˆˆepresented groups, while many members of the
slate opposing Student Empowerment! would favor watering down
outreach to these groups.
Though he will not forget about affirmative action and its
importance for the UCLA community, he does not make it the only
issue on his agenda ““ as some of his slate-mates do and have
in past years.
He will go into office with specific plans to find out what
students really want.