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Friday, May 1, 1998

GSA elections heat up with tough issues

ELECTIONS: Dental plan, fees, unionization, poll create contentions

By Ann Hawkey

Daily Bruin Contributor

On Saturday, the Graduate Students' Association (GSA) will begin its spring election process. Both the presidential race and some major initiatives on this year's ballot promise to tackle some heady issues, including dental plans, unionization and fee increases.

GSA's presidential hopefuls this year are Catherine Oyler, Evan Seamone and Joanna Brooks. Each candidate looks to the future of GSA, yet each takes a different approach.

GSA should act as a bond among graduate schools and students, says Oyler, who hopes to work for the goals common to all schools.

"GSA has the potential to be a unifying force for graduate students and address the needs or concerns facing us all," said Oyler in her candidate statement. "GSA needs to become far more visible, considerably more vocal, and definitely more effective."

Oyler feels achieving this potential will take some extra effort because the necessary lines of communication among schools do not yet exist.

"GSA needs to be more proactive in communicating to and receiving information from the graduate student body as a whole," said Oyler in her statement.

The second candidate on the ballot, Evan Seamone, focuses on building relationships with entities off campus, and acting as a mediator and representative for graduate students. Seamone hopes to use the position to pursue goals such as improved transportation options and a better working situation between the university and the Student Association of Graduate Employees (SAGE).

"(SAGE) basically says that when it comes to the way they are treated, it will enhance the quality of education if they have the ability to bargain," Seamone said.

Brooks sees GSA's problems as coming from the organization itself. She sees GSA's central office as inefficient, beginning with the distribution of funds. In her candidate statement, Brooks addresses GSA's financial situation, the excess of bureaucracy in the central office and the ineffectiveness of GSA.

"I will work to make sure that everyday graduate students get the most out of their investment," said Brooks in her candidate statement. "I will give back my presidential stipend as a first step towards more lasting reforms," she said.

This year's initiatives include five alterations to GSA's constitution, yet the most talked about initiative does not create or change any rule or procedure at GSA. A non-binding survey regarding labor issues at UCLA has caused upheaval among SAGE/UAW, the group working toward representing university employees as a labor union.

The optional survey questions GSA members about the condition of labor at UCLA and the demand for union representation. SAGE representative Mike Miller has denounced the survey on questions of confidentiality and claims that it could possibly prejudice GSA members on the issue of labor unions.

Just one week after the GSA Forum voted to place the survey on the spring ballot, the forum voted to remove it, this time with a higher number of members present at the meeting. Following the meeting, supporters of the survey collected 200 signatures on a petition to return the survey to the ballot.

Another non-constitutional initiative facing vote is a trio of dental plans for graduate students. Here, voters will be asked to report their preference for a dental care plan run by Student Health Services, a plan run by the UCLA School of Dentistry or no dental plan at all.

This year's proposed constitutional amendments include a change to meeting by-laws regarding quorum, an increase in GSA student fees, and the creation of a vice president for academic affairs and a Public Policy Council.

The proposal to change the rules regarding quorum would lower the number of representatives necessary to reach quorum in the voting process. Quorum currently requires the presence of half of the forum for a meeting to be official. Since GSA often has trouble reaching this number, the amendment would allow quorum if two-thirds of the councils send one member.

An increase in GSA fees would be the first since 1982, and the current proposal adjusts the price to compensate for inflation over the years. The initiative proposes that fees would increase from $5.50 to $9.50 per quarter.

The creation of a vice president for academic affairs would replace the current appointed position, "commissioner of academic affairs." The new position would assimilate the duties of the commissioner, as well as taking over the responsibilities of external vice president when absent.

The final proposal is the amendment to create a Public Policy Council. This would be the 12th council represented on the forum, and would encompass the Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning disciplines.

Voting begins electronically Saturday, and continues until the following Friday. Votes can be cast via e-mail or over the web. Polling stations will be set up around campus starting Wednesday, in cooperation with the undergraduate elections.

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