Now that they’re settled into the new academic year,
undergraduate student government council members continue to work
on their campaign goals ““ with some shifting focus and others
taking on additional challenges.
For many members of the Undergraduate Students Association
Council, the fall quarter has served as a springboard to get their
gears in motion toward the promises they made last spring. But some
have moved faster than they expected.
External Vice President Chris Neal made the promise to increase
student representation on the international level ““ his
office is traditionally involved in state and national student
coalitions ““Â and already traveled to Ghana in the last
month to participate in the International Union of Students on
behalf of the United States Student Association.
“A lot of things happened quickly,” Neal said.
“I didn’t expect something like Ghana until the end of
the year.”
Neal also plans to lobby the state Capitol to fight for student
issues such as keeping student fees at current levels. He plans to
bring more people along with him in the process, which he hopes the
recently passed student fee referendum ““ injecting an
estimated $210,000 into council ““Â will allow him to
do.
“I haven’t done as well as I’d like to,”
Neal said. “Things are going well more so through luck in the
opportunities coming our way.”
Another plan Neal made during his campaign was to increase
student input in local community planning, but he decided this
would be better served by the internal vice president.
That means the sitting IVP T.J. Cordero would assume the domain
of the surrounding UCLA community. But Cordero said this would
happen on a case-by-case basis: he cited that issues like housing
would fall under his jurisdiction.
“It depends on what we’re talking about,” he
said.
During last year’s USAC elections, Cordero promoted a
campaign that included establishing a “Know Your
Rights” series of events designed to inform students about
their rights regarding topics such as rental law, campus safety and
parking.
So far, his office co-sponsored with Rock the Vote, an event in
October that featured rapper KRS-One, to help promote voter
registration on campus. Cordero now plans to pass out flyers
telling students about their rights should they face eviction from
their apartments or expulsion from the university.
Working largely within USAC’s Kerckhoff Hall headquarters,
Financial Supports Commissioner Andrew LaFlamme has been working
steadily on a comprehensive apartment index compiling topics such
as rent and manager quality for students to refer to when
apartment-hunting.
He said he hit a slight roadblock when an unprecedented number
of apartment vacancies recently hit Westwood, causing pricing
changes and prompting LaFlamme to revise the information he had
compiled over the past summer.
The index, which has morphed from a print version to a Web site,
should be online by winter quarter and fully functional ““
plans call for an interactive map ““Â by the time students
look for apartments in the spring.
LaFlamme also wants to increase awareness of little-known
financial aid sources and how students can apply for them.
Academic Affairs Commissioner Chris Diaz has been behind the
scenes conducting background work on the effects of a UCLA switch
to semesters. So far he has created focus groups to perform
research and gather student input, but needs more help
““Â he is seeking more student representatives to the
Academic Senate.
“We need to fill our (Senate) committees,” he
said.
Diaz’s office is also looking into the minimum progress
requirement ““ a baseline of 13 units to be completed per
quarter, effective with the incoming fall 2001 class ““ and
how it affects how freshmen adjust to the college environment.
However, he has been struggling to collect hard data on the
subject. But Diaz still plans to spread the word on it by making
in-class presentations of their work throughout campus.