While this year’s council has wasted innumerable hours,
op-eds and quotes on the issue of funding allocations, many of you
have probably been asking, why does any of this matter to me? The
truth is, it doesn’t.
But it does matter to the undergraduate “elite” on
this campus. These are the people who serve on the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, who lead the groups getting funding,
who are appointed to committees, and who edit the Daily Bruin. But
don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. It’s not about making
a difference; it’s about great resumes and powerful letters
of recommendation that will allow them to obtain similar positions
of power after graduation.
These are the same people who will serve in Congress or the
United Nations and who will edit the New York Times in 20 years.
Given the people we’re talking about, that scares me.
It scares me, but not because they’re incompetent,
scheming or power-hungry (though most are). It scares me because
unless something changes, the people who are running things 30 to
40 years from now are going to be little different from the people
who run things now. We face real problems that need solving, not
squabbling.
I spent years participating in this system and left last year
after a stint as editor of The Bruin. I spent most of my time
blinded into thinking that what happens in housing matters, but
let’s be honest, nothing on this campus changes, and nothing
on it really matters.
But that’s not quite true. What happens now matters only
in so far as it affects what we do later. That’s what makes
USAC so disappointing, because it’s one of the few groups on
this campus that can really do something.
For several years now, USAC has been primarily engaged in a
battle over funds that has been framed by racial conflict in the
aftermath of the affirmative action struggles. While Student
Empowerment!’s vision of a racially diverse and equitable
society is admirable, its methods are too narrow. USAC is not a
forum for that kind of action. Nonetheless, in the areas of
outreach and retention, I have the utmost respect for what Student
Empowerment! has done.
Similarly, opposition groups that have challenged Student
Empowerment! have been right to demand something more from student
government. But at the same time, no group has arisen with any idea
of what that could be.
Just as these students will go on to important positions, so
will many of the students at this elite public university. Petty
political struggles over meager funds have prevented us from asking
the significant questions. What kind of society do we want to
create after graduation, and what are we going to do now to achieve
it?
There will be many answers, but right now quibbling over issues
like the “fairness” of funding are preventing real
answers, real debate and meaningful politics. It used to be us
against them; now it’s us against us. It’s time for
that to change.
Politics is not the problem; perspective is. Take a step outside
Kerckhoff and reflect on all that has changed in the world during
the last two years.
Maybe then you’ll be able to come back in and do something
that matters.
Kudo, a fifth-year philosophy student, was the 2001-2002 Daily
Bruin editor in chief.