Tutram Nguyen’s ideas and her sense of how to accomplish
them earns her our endorsement for Facilities commissioner.
Nguyen’s plan to rethink the campus shuttle system to fund
BruinGo! ““ a plan developed with internal vice president
candidate Allende Palma-Saracho ““ is an innovative approach
to a problem under the jurisdiction of the facilities commission.
Nguyen offers a way to keep BruinGo! free for students by
redirecting resources from other services.
Nguyen’s idea to subsidize space for student
organizations’ culture nights would also be an impressive
accomplishment. Student groups spend large portions of their budget
on reserving these facilities; working to ease such a burden
acknowledges the limitations many groups face.
Nguyen does lack experience with the commission. Sonia Sylls
served on the board of governors of the John Wooden Center in
2001-2002 and worked under former commissioner Jeremy McKenzie.
Albert Farias worked as chief of staff for the current
commissioner, Adam Pearlman.
But Nguyen is the only one who showed a clear understanding of
how to carry out her goals.
When asked about his experience with the Wooden Center, Farias
said Pearlman had introduced him to a few people. But he never
outlined any goals specific to the center’s services. His
emphasis on health and wellness is redundant given the student
welfare commission’s job in already tackling these
issues.
Sylls offered a number of ideas regarding campus safety. She
personally walked around campus to identify a list of trouble
spots.
Sylls clearly conveyed her dedication to safety, considering the
general lighting problem in Westwood. But aside from working with
North Village Improvement Committee President Shelley Taylor, she
failed to express how she would institutionally fix these
problems.
Nguyen knows how to take action. Elaborating on her goal to
increase study space, Nguyen acknowledged her discussions with
student union director Jerry Mann. She has even identified the
areas she wants the Associated Students of UCLA to reserve.
Farias and Sylls seem to offer only newsletters and maps, but
not much more. Vote for Nguyen for facilities commissioner. UCLA
students deserve a commissioner who not only generates inventive
and consequential ideas, but also has an understanding of how to
execute them.