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By Melody Wang

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Undergraduate Students Association Council has appointed the Budget Review Director and Finance Committee Chair for the upcoming year, but members still struggle to appoint one of two undergraduate representatives to the Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors.

The Budget Review Director is responsible for allocating set funds to various student groups at the beginning of the year, while the Finance Committee Chair allocates funds for specific events throughout the year. ASUCLA’s board of directors makes financial decisions involving the association.

The council appointed Marykay Tsuji, a fifth-year political science and East Asian studies student, and Janet Quindara, a third-year undeclared student, to the offices of Budget Review Director and Finance Committee Chair, respectively.

Council members unanimously appointed Phyllis Feng, a fifth-year American Literature and Culture and Asian American studies student, as one of the ASUCLA Board representatives, but the council could not agree on who to appoint as the second representative.

“(Feng’s) interview was fabulous,” said USAC President Elizabeth Houston. “She just blew everyone away.”

The USAC president is the only council member who can nominate applicants to be voted on by other council members. The applicant must receive a majority vote from the council to be appointed.

The president is advised by the Appointments Review Committee, which is headed by Internal Vice President Elias Enciso and consists of General Representative Ryan Bulatao and Facilities Commissioner Steve Davey.

At the June 9 USAC meeting, Houston nominated Joseph Manko, a fourth-year political science and history student for the ASUCLA board position, but the council voted him down. Manko noted leadership experience through the Office of Residential Life and the UCLA Orientation Program on his application.

Houston said she believes a majority of council members did not vote for Manko because they had already decided they wanted to appoint Merrick Pascual, a fifth-year public policy and economics student who is also president of Samahang Pilipino.

“You’re not supposed to vote someone down because you have someone else in mind,” Houston said. “It’s not just me who thinks Joe’s qualified. A lot of other people do too. I was disappointed.”

Houston said she was unimpressed with Pascual during his interview and felt he could be biased because of his position in Samahang Pilipino.

Ramzi Ajami, one of Houston’s heads of staff, said it would be less likely for Manko to be biased because he is not involved with a Student Advocacy Group.

“(Involvement with a SAG) is a really common thing to be concerned about,” he said, adding that SAGs are directly affected by the actions of those appointed.

“Even though you’re involved with a SAG, it doesn’t mean you won’t get appointed, but if for some reason the president feels you will be biased, then it’s a legitimate concern,” Ajami said.

But other council members disagreed and strongly supported Pascual.

General Representative Elisa Sequeira said she hopes to appoint Pascual because he has shown both initiative and interest in the position by talking to current board of directors Vice Chair Kei Nagao about what it entails.

Sequeira said serving on the ASUCLA Communications Board during the 1999-2000 school year provided Pascual with the necessary experience for the ASUCLA position, since the two boards are closely related.

“I don’t see how the fact that he’s in Samahang Pilipino makes him biased. I don’t see what he could be biased about,” Sequeira said.

ASUCLA’s Board of Directors does not make any decisions that directly affect funding for SAGs. Last year, Cori Shepherd, president of the African Student Union, was one of the undergraduate representatives on the board.

Enciso said the council has had difficulty appointing a second ASUCLA representative because Houston has been indecisive with her recommendations for which candidates she feels the committee should interview.

Disagreements over the interpretation of the USAC bylaws arose between council members during the appointment process.

Enciso said Houston changed her mind about who she wanted to interview for the positions. He said the day before the interview, he and Houston agreed to interview two candidates for each position, but the next day she changed her mind and only wanted to interview one person for each position.

Enciso said he felt it was too late to cancel some of the interviews, so ARC interviewed two applicants for each position as planned.

Houston could not be reached for comment.

Council members questioned whether or not the president was allowed to forward and then de-forward applicants. Because the bylaws do not specify if this can be done, Houston interpreted it so that she could change her mind. But council members overturned her decision.

Ajami said because this problem had never occurred before, the Judicial Board and the Constitution Review Committee should now clarify the bylaws.

“I think from an objective standpoint it was fine, but it has to be cleared up,” Ajami said.

Enciso said it is important for ARC to interview more than one person for each position since some people who appear qualified based on their application turn out to be unqualified during the interview.

“I explained to Elizabeth that’s why it was so important to interview more than one person,” Enciso said.

Sequeira said she wished Houston would nominate more than one candidate to be voted on by council so that the council would not be forced to accept Houston’s decision.

“(Houston) pretty much just wants us to rubber-stamp her decision,” Sequeira said.

Because the council did not approve Manko for the position, Houston brought Eugene Kuong, a fifth-year psychology and math student, to the table to be voted on at the June 20 meeting.

Kuong, who has served as president of the Association of Chinese Americans and as part of the Wooden Center Board of Governors, was also voted down by the council.

As a compromise, the council decided to send both Manko and Pascual to the ASUCLA retreat, held June 19-21, to be trained for the board of directors position.

Houston said she will bring both candidates back to the table on July 5, and council members will appoint one of them – adding she is confident she knows what the outcome will be.

“Everybody knows what’s going to happen; Joe will get voted down and Merrick will get voted in,” Houston said. “This is not a compromise because a compromise (involves) two people. This is me compromising.”

NEW APPOINTEES FOR VARIOUS STUDENT POSITIONS Budget Review Director -allocates set funds to the different USAC offices and student advocacy groups for the school year. -most of the work is done during the summer and the early fall. Finance Committee Chair -allocates event funding to different student groups that request them throughout the school year. ASUCLA Board of Directors -votes on decisions about the student stores and restaurants -works with administrators and students to maintain the financial well-being of ASUCLA SOURCE: ASUCLA Original Graphic by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by ROBERT LIU/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

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