By Robert Salonga
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
[email protected]
SACRAMENTO ““ Student lobbyists descended on the state
Capitol on Monday to call the state Legislature’s attention
to the problems that face the UC in the coming years.
Both undergraduate and graduate students were represented by
their respective governments in the day-long effort, meeting a
total of 30 state assemblymembers and senators.
Those they spoke with included Assemblymen Paul Koretz, D-West
Hollywood, ““ whose district includes UCLA ““ Carl
Washington, D-Compton, and state Sens. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica
and Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles.
The UCLA student lobbyists met with the most legislators because
Los Angeles represents the largest constituency in the UC.
“We’re asking the state to make the UC a priority
and keep (student) fees constant,” said Shane Smith, director
of graduate interaction for the Graduate Students Association.
Chris Neal, external vice president-elect for the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, brought up the lack of entertainment
and the loss of a college atmosphere in Westwood to Koretz, a UCLA
alum himself.
GSA vice president-external Dorothy Kim emphasized the
importance of the BruinGo! bus program which is waiting on
Chancellor Albert Carnesale’s decision on whether it will be
continued.
Koretz offered to write a letter supporting the program, and
also to meet with local city councilman Jack Weiss regarding the
status of entertainment in the surrounding UCLA community.
The importance of BruinGo! is related to the lack of parking on
campus, something that even Koretz experienced many years ago. He
alluded to his days as a Bruin in the late ’70s when he lived
three miles from campus and constantly had trouble finding
parking.
He found a restricted space for employees at a heating and water
plant adjacent to the present-day location of Lot 32, and parked
there unnoticed for a while ““ until officials found out about
him and locked his car inside the plant.
Kim and Smith also pressed for the repeal of taxes on graduate
financial aid, which they said often leaves them with hardly enough
to survive after rent and utilities are paid.
The Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences is
going to account for the highest percentage of incoming graduate
students, and their education “will trickle directly to the
quality of K-12 education,” Smith said.
“UC is in high gear to educate as many teachers as
possible,” he said.
Neal met with Washington to discuss possible state subsidies for
student housing, an issue brought up earlier in the year when
Washington visited On-Campus Housing and vowed to help improve the
overcrowding and rising costs of living in Westwood.
Washington suggested Neal collaborate with newer legislators and
was confident that the subsidy was possible.
The lobbyists turned their attention toward the efforts of
getting more underrepresented students to UCLA in the form of
student-initiated outreach. Its funding is currently in limbo after
this year’s state budget shortfall, and Neal hopes to
redistribute UC general outreach funding toward SIO.
“SIO is either as effective or more effective than UCLA
outreach,” Neal said. “We’re getting students
here, and learning in the process.”