There are two primary roles the Financial Supports Commission
must fulfill to help students. One role calls for programming and
coordinating with other campus groups to provide financial aid
assistance to students who aren’t in the know. Another role
is advocacy in fighting rising education costs.
Peter Bautista offers the best balance of these roles, and his
goal to move the commission toward operating independently from
slate politics is the right direction.
For too long, the office has been a slot slates fill to round
out a robust voting bloc on council. Other than the book lending
program it runs, the office has not organized any notable programs
or services in recent years. The slate-to-slate changes in the
office have made for difficult or nonexistent transitions between
each year’s staff.
But in light of UCLA’s fiscal situation, which includes
cuts in financial aid and rising student fees, the office cannot
afford to have to start from scratch each year.
In similar fashion to the independent commissions, a system of
in-house succession would allow the office to consistently provide
financial aid counseling and services and work with council to
campaign against rising fees.
Bautista has a fresh perspective to bring to this endeavor, and
his relationships with campus retention centers and the financial
aid office strengthen his ability to hit the ground running once
elected.
Alex Gruenberg, running under the Equal Access Coalition,
proposes making the commission almost entirely about advocacy. He
proposes greatly increasing the office’s lobbying activity,
but this role is already filled largely by other offices on
council. His decision not to prioritize programming would
effectively make the office undistinguishable from what the
external vice president and general representative offices already
do.
Bautista, in contrast, offers an impressive amount of dedication
to helping students with limited financial resources, and suggested
that even if he wasn’t elected he would stay in the
commission to see his goals fulfilled. This attitude is ultimately
what should make him the one doing the hiring in this office.