Recent articles have appeared in the Daily Bruin calling for
reform to our Undergraduate Students Association Council.
The opinions of the authors have a common theme ““ more
people on council means better representation. Ultimately, they
say, quantity is better than quality. It is assumed that the 13
members of our current commissioner-based system are unable to
properly “speak for the factions and diverse needs that exist
among the 25,000 undergraduates at UCLA” (“Student
government in need of renovation,” 10/12).
It is true that the councilmembers are expected to represent a
diverse population, a group which often has conflicting interests.
But such is the problem of any representative government.
Would the feelings of being drowned out by the majority be
remedied by increasing the number of people who sit on council, or
would it only serve to be a quick-fix solution to a different kind
of problem? Would converting our commission-based form of
government to one based on a legislative body really provide a
space for every voice to be clearly heard, or would it merely
result in a thunderous crash of a hundred indiscernible voices?
Yes, it may seem impossible for a single individual from one
particular background to justly represent the interests of someone
from a completely different background. But when we elect our peers
to our student government, we do not give the burden of the needs
of 25,000 students to that single commissioner.
Instead, we expect them to recruit competent staff members to
not only help actualize their campaign goals, but, more
importantly, to provide them with the differing viewpoints
necessary to properly represent the undergraduate student body
while working on those goals.
Our general representatives office has already taken proactive
steps to ensure proper representation by developing the
“Liaison Core.” With liaisons to nearly every faction
of our campus, including representatives to the Hill, the Greek
system, campus organizations and the community outside of UCLA, the
general representatives are utilizing the full potential of having
a large, cohesive staff in order to address the concerns these
different organizations might have during the course of the
year.
This also serves as an effective way to encourage dialogue
between the undergraduate student government and all these
different groups in order to more effectively address common
concerns among all students, such as the Get Out the Vote campaign
and the repeal of the expected cumulative progress requirement.
The Cultural Affairs Commission consists of staff members who
live on and off campus, members who are part of the Greek system
and those who are not, members who like hip-hop and those who love
punk.
There are nearly 80 staff members working within the Cultural
Affairs Commission, and each one of them is committed to putting on
quality, diverse programming, such as the always entertaining
Noontime Concert Series, the soulful Jazz Series and the inspiring
Eclectic Series, just to name a few.
Nearly every commission on USAC has strived to do similarly,
recruiting volunteers and staff from all corners of the campus in
order to make their commissions more effective and more
representative of the diverse student population at UCLA.
The problem of just representation on council cannot be resolved
by adding more ineffectual members to the table. Proper
representation can only be obtained if an elected councilmember
seeks to work toward it.
Most councilmembers in USAC, with the exception of a couple of
offices that have neither assembled a complete staff nor helped to
achieve any of our collective goals, have already proven to us that
the quality of the commission ““ not the number of commissions
within USAC ““ is what makes for a successful council.
Perhaps some members of this year’s council are already
feeling ineffective, incompetent and uncertain about their
abilities to represent the real concerns of the students. Instead
of working toward common goals, they criticize those effective
councilmembers who are working day and night to serve the student
body.
It is truly a slap in the face for these councilmembers to
diminish the work we have already started this year. It is my
recommendation, therefore, that rather than pointing to the system
as the source of their problems, maybe they should look at
themselves to see what more they can do to establish a commission,
not a single commissioner.
The bottom line ““ it is time to do work. The students who
put us in our positions deserve that much.
Villarin is a USAC general representative.