MIKE CHIEN/Daily Bruin Campus Events Commissioner Ryan
Wilson, reelected to the 2002-03 student council, gives
his speech at Sunday’s installation ceremony.
By Robert Salonga
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
[email protected]
The transition has begun.
This year’s Undergraduate Students Association Council
passed the gavel on to their 2002-03 successors in a formal
installation ceremony Sunday in Kerckhoff Grand Salon.
The new USAC actually took the oath of office on Tuesday so that
they could begin making council appointments.
Sunday they were formally sworn into office in the tradition of
previous councils, with each current officer individually
introducing their successor. Each passed along a copy of
“Robert’s Rules of Order,” a book outlining the
parliamentary procedure that governs council meetings.
Outgoing president Karren Lane congratulated her council on its
work this year and reminded the new class of their upcoming
responsibilities.
“Remember that you represent every undergraduate here at
UCLA,” she said.
Lane added that council members should focus on their work
rather than the politics of council.
The new class is split 5-5 between the political slates Student
Empowerment! ““ led this year by Lane ““ and Students
United for Reform and Equality, with three independents.
President-elect and SURE member David Dahle gave words of
encouragement to the next council but also forecasted financial
hardships that members need to make sacrifices to accommodate.
“We’re faced with the tightest budget I’ve
ever seen,” Dahle said.
USAC will have $30,000 less in discretionary funds than the
approximately $130,000 they had last year.
Some of the cuts were due to increased utility and overhead
costs, along with the projected costs of unionizing non-student
workers for the Associated Students of UCLA.
Dahle also added that the council would have to ensure the
continuation of the BruinGo! free bus program for UCLA students,
which despite being extended for another year, still faces
financial uncertainty.
Other incoming members took a more lighthearted approach to the
ceremony.
Armed with his commission’s sacred boxing gloves, a
frisbee and plastic tiara, reelected Campus Events Commissioner
Ryan Wilson had nothing but praise for his
“successor.”
“Next year’s commissioner will be more organized,
harder working and better-looking,” Wilson said jokingly.
Dahle concluded the ceremony urging that council look past their
ideological disagreements.
“(This council’s) strength comes from our
experiences and also our differences,” he said. “Our
goals are the same.”