Students are being attacked! Propositions 74, 75 and 76 threaten
the quality of our education and the voice of the UCLA community.
You would think this would concern the Undergraduate Students
Association Council.
However, members of the majority slate, Bruins United, refuse to
even discuss these initiatives, much less stand up for students and
our campus community. At last Tuesday night’s meeting, these
USAC members silenced the minority by insisting that it was not
their responsibility to take a position on these propositions.
This begs the question: If our student government won’t
stand up for students, then who will?
Proposition 74 blames teachers for the problems in our public
schools and does nothing to improve K-12 education. The quality of
the University of California system depends on the quality of
students coming from California’s public education system. In
order to ensure the quality of our institution, we must insist on
real reform for California schools.
Proposition 75 silences the voices of public employees, one of
our strongest allies in our fight for the prioritization of higher
education. This initiative severely hinders the ability of the
workers who keep our campus running from raising their voices on
issues that affect them.
Proposition 76 gives the governor unprecedented power to make
cuts to higher education. Without a legislative check, we will
undoubtedly see cuts to outreach, enrollment and financial aid
funding.
As students at UCLA we are part of a larger community. This
community includes the nurses at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and
Wellness Center and UCLA’s hospitals, the university police
officers who keep our campus safe and the service workers who
prepare our food and clean our facilities. It includes the
neighborhoods that we come from and the future students of this
university.
It is impossible to separate the experience of our lives as
students from the role we play in this larger community. USAC
members must recognize the necessity to provide unwavering support
for education and the people that make it possible.
The 13 elected USAC officers have a responsibility to speak up
for students. Education is supposed to be the key to improving
one’s quality of life, but these propositions create more
unnecessary obstacles in that path, particularly for those who do
not have enough resources to overcome such circumstances. At a time
when higher education and working-class people are being attacked,
our student leaders must act as true advocates for education.
It is not the time to be ignorant of the world around us. It is
the time for our student government to stand up and take a strong
position against this destructive conservative agenda, instead of
spinelessly avoiding their responsibility to advocate for positive
social change.
Nguyen is the director of the Asian Pacific Coalition and
Rodriguez is the chairman of the Queer Alliance.