My office will continue to fight for equal access to student
government funds in spite of the wrongful assertions made by the
USAC internal vice president in a Nov. 12 Viewpoint submission,
“Complex issues make caution necessary in USAC
decisions.”
Vice President Palma/Saracho contends that the
“hard-earned” status of USAC’s select group of 20
student organizations should be preserved because it protects the
underrepresented. However, the council excludes more than 700
organizations ““ many of which also focus on underrepresented
causes ““ from this exclusive list, making underrepresentation
a cold reality endorsed by its current policies.
Along this line, my office previously presented a bylaws
amendment that would have opened up USAC’s funding to all
student groups, allowing any group to apply regardless of their
political or ideological affiliation. Though the council chose to
continue its exclusionary policy, I proposed change not “on a
whim,” but did so after careful consideration of the
issue.
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision required equal access
to funding for all student groups. Over the last five years, every
other University of California student government has complied with
this ruling of their own accord. My advocacy to follow suit is in
no way an attempt to “erode the significance of Officially
Recognized Student Organizations” as Palma/Saracho has
accused. I simply assert that the significance of every student
group is derived from its service to the UCLA community.
Independent groups serve the UCLA community in many of the same
ways as Officially Recognized Organizations do and therefore should
not be excluded from equal access to USAC funding.
Sadly, the council chose not to act on my amendment, just as it
chose inaction when refusing to sponsor Dance Marathon, a group
that raises funds on campus for AIDS research. The vice president
and others justify this delay because they want to review the
bylaws and protect the elite status of the 20 USAC-sponsored
groups. They would rather maintain unconstitutional bylaws and
change them only if such a change would provide more elite status
to their select groups.
If my actions and the actions of my office are to be criticized
because of our stand for equal access funding, we are willing to
take that criticism head-on. But at least we are being criticized
for taking action and not for indecision.
I am the only agent of change on this year’s council, the
only one willing to say the status quo is not good enough. And I am
the only one keeping my campaign promises.
Lawson is a USAC general representative.