Kerckhoff groups work around the clock

Published: Tuesday, November 29, 1994

By Todd Sargent

It's time for a response from one of your elected USAC council members. I have been watching article after article in the Daily Bruin describe how some of my fellow students regard USAC, your student government. You would think USAC stood for Useless, Selfish, Arrogant and Corrupt. This is wrong.

I have stood by to watch our student media slam USAC with biased coverage. Students with evident political agendas write skewed articles, supposed "experts" on student government are quoted with blatant untruths, and there is little or no coverage by The Bruin of the vast amount of work that makes up your student government. This whole perspective needs a closer look.

First of all, I want to know when the last time one of these writers bothered to ask actual student leaders what we do in USAC. I am not talking about just the President, IVP and EVP either. There are ten other elected leaders of USAC, and we tend to produce some of the most visible aspects of student government.

Second, we cannot afford public relations publicity every time we accomplish something in student government. We have encouraged the media to keep this in mind, and change is beginning to be made. Unfortunately, the perception is that we do nothing.

Now, do you wonder why we have small turnouts in the USAC elections? Maybe it is because of this perception. Perhaps if more students knew about the work that comes from student government, they would see the relevancy to each and every student on this campus.

John Kochavatr ("USAC, AP, and STDs ... the real issues," Nov. 22) says that USAC "hasn't addressed any issues that matter." Every single person on this campus had the right to criticize, but when it is done without getting facts straight, it hurts everyone. I am offended that he sees this as truth, as I am sure are many of the people who work long days and late nights in Kerckhoff Hall for students.

If anyone cared, responsorship is about the last issue that we care about in USAC right now. By the way, every student group has the right to request Student Advocacy Group status from their student government. We gave the Interfraternity Council the opportunity to come up for sponsorship. We all know the results; and the issue has been dead for several weeks.

In my office alone, we have addressed many issues that do indeed matter.

We have worked with President Rob Greenhalgh to go forward with the implementation of financial aid peer counselors which will offset the lines in Murphy Hall with satellite stations of the Financial Aid Office at other locations on campus.

We have proposed the idea of advisory groups for the Placement and Career Planning Center and for Parking Services (although J. Jioni Palmer, the recent facilities commissioner candidate would have you think the idea was new and his), knowing student input does indeed make a difference.

We have met with the On-Campus Housing Council to begin an exhaustive evaluation of the on-campus housing budget, trying to find out where student monies go. Our feeling is that benefits do not justify costs. What do you think?

We are co-sponsoring the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program winter quarter, adding a component of coordinating with the Financial Aid Office for assistance in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. These programs are a direct service to every student on this campus who files taxes or applies for financial aid.

We have updated a programming guide for campus programmers to let them know what funding sources are available and how to go about getting funds.

The Financial Aid Task Force, an advisory group to the Financial Aid Office with direct student representation and voice, has been reactivated. Try to tell me that students do not have at least some problems with the issue of financial aid at UCLA.

We have started moving forward with the effort of corporate sponsorship for campus programming. This has not been easy because there has been little or no assistance from the very groups that would receive the benefits of this program. Still, the program is worth all of the effort if it means relieving some of the strain from other funding sources.

We have worked on the implementation of a Scholarship Resource Center, a place that all students can go to get information about scholarships that are out there and available. And do you know what? It will be open in fall 1995. This has been due, in part, to the pressures of your student government.

Don't tell me that the things that I and my office staff do are irrelevant. It doesn't fly with me. These things take time, as does anything that needs to be done well.

I have been in office for six months with a group of people who absolutely care about the students of UCLA. My staff, although small in relation to most offices, is committed to addressing the issues facing students. However, we have a commission-structured student government. Offices work on issues that are specific to our areas of expertise or purview.

Granted, USAC can and will work on other issues that face the students of UCLA. USAC has not "failed to meet our collective service needs," as Palmer claimed in a full-page endorsement ad in the Nov. 22 Daily Bruin. We are working more than ever to tackle campus-wide issues directly.

I wish that all interested students would be willing to work with us to achieve our goals. Unfortunately, our structure of government fosters isolation.

Student Advocacy Groups tend to work as issue-oriented coalitions or independent entities. USAC offices tend to work on the specific areas they are charged to deal with (i.e. academic affairs, campus events, cultural affairs, etc.). We are constantly striving to build bridges between these groups. USAC is not perfect and I would be the first to admit that fact.

Next time you hear the voice of a supposed "expert" on the state of USAC, ask yourself what perspective they come from. Are they students committed to seeing work done, proposing solutions?

Are they USAC leaders advocating a cause, despite the constant accusations of "doing nothing?" Or are they students disgruntled by the fact that they were not elected into office by the students of UCLA? Be critical.

It is not fair to blame only the most obvious targets President Greenhalgh and other selected council members. It is fair to look at everyone involved in student government from your elected leaders, to student groups, to you and see what our collected work (and sometimes, the lack of work) has accomplished.

I think you would be surprised at what you would see.

Sargent is the undergraduate student government Financial Supports Commissioner.