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Arvin Abraham

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Janet Chiang

Both candidates running for student welfare commissioner said the post could use some improvement, but disagreed on the levels of dedication and experience needed to make this progress.

Arvin Abraham and Janet Chiang are vying for the chance to hold the position on next year’s Undergraduate Students Association Council, and despite their varied experiences, each thinks their qualifications make them a better choice for the job.

Abraham, a third-year economics student, has been active in a variety of groups on campus, with involvement in UniCamp, the Clothesline Project and the Campus Safety/Sexual Assault Awareness Committee on the commission.

However, Abraham does not have the intimate experience with the commission than Chiang does, who has worked within the office for the past four years and is now chief of staff.

But he considers his time outside of the office to be a strength in his campaign.

“Experience with the office is one thing and experience with the UCLA community is another,” Abraham said.

He said this experience allows him to see what issues students are facing and how he could best help them, giving him an objectivity he said Chiang lacks.

Chiang disagrees.

The fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student said though in-house candidates are criticized for being too closely tied to their offices, she does not consider it a problem.

“If you just have fresh ideas but no experience, you have nowhere to go,” Chiang said, adding that her experience will help her implement new ideas effectively.

Current commissioner Crisette Leyco said a big issue for the candidates is dedication, since the time and effort the job requires necessitates a commitment “sincerely and genuinely in someone’s heart.”

She said Chiang exemplifies this quality while Abraham reflects the opposite, as she said Abraham told her he wants to get elected solely to add it to his resume for Harvard Law School.

“I don’t think it’s in his heart to support student welfare,” Leyco said.

Abraham said he is passionate and cares about what the commission stands for, adding he could have just run for general representative but wants to work specifically on the issues the commission deals with.

The two candidates also have very different views on what direction the commission should take next year.

Chiang wants to expand the office by getting the various commissions on USAC to work together more, such as the concert this year’s Student Welfare office is planning in cooperation with the Cultural Affairs office.

“(Collaborating) would be beneficial to the exposure of USAC and to the student body because we would be able to combine efforts and resources,” she said.

In addition, she wants to implement some new programs like a fitness committee that would help students organize exercise groups.

In contrast to Chiang’s plans to keep things going, Abraham believes the commission needs to go in a different direction altogether.

He said the focus of the office – student health and safety – has been lost over the years, and that programs like Roll-AIDS, a roller-skating event which promotes AIDS awareness, are outdated.

Abraham said mental health is a huge issue that has not been dealt with enough, as events sponsored by this year’s commission focused primarily on physical health.

“I want to be part of something where I leave part of myself behind, and revitalize the focus (of the commission),” he said.

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