Friday, May 1, 1998
Stacy Lee
Presidential candidate Stacy Lee is a fourth-year
geography student specializing in Asian American studies.
What is the role of the USAC president?
I believe the USAC president plays several roles; the major would be educating the campus on different issues affecting the students. I think student government is oftentimes the conduit for information: for outside information as well as from the local L.A. community.
We try to do as much as possible, to do a lot of educational campaigns, to make sure people are aware of policies of UCLA administration, the UC system, state legislature and our national government. It is important - these are well known to the student body.
I also believe (that), within council, the president plays a role in determining the correct leadership and making sure that people are sticking to their responsibilities and that the council is productive.
The USAC president, as well as other council members, should be educated about situations in society in general. We should do as much as possible to speak out about social inequalities and to be at the forefront of movements for social justice.
If elected, what direction do you plan on taking USAC?
I think I would like to continue on the path that we created in Students First! and now with Praxis.
Our general belief is in reflection and action. In the reflection we have been doing the entire year, we found the need to include as many student groups as possible who feel the need to get involved in student government.
There are so many things coming up now with the admissions policies, the financial situation and the affordability of the university for students.
There are several avenues that the students can get involved in, and it is our responsibility to make sure that people find out about these things through us.
What are three major issues facing the university in the upcoming year?
Diversity, affordability and access to information. People get their information from the media, their parents, family, friends and these things are on top of each other because their friends get their information from limited barriers and resources.
I feel like it is our role to make sure that there is a big spectrum of information and views available. People talk about apathy and I don't think that apathy exists; I think it is a condition of society imposed by the limitation on information.
If people were more aware of what is going on in the world, people would be more likely to engage in action.
Do you think there should be a change in the admissions criteria? If so, how do you propose implementing them?
Definitely. We are working with the Affirmative Action Coalition to get the admissions cycle stopped for this year, and for the university to include race and gender (in admissions) and for the university to take a non-compliance stance of Prop. 209.
I sat on the admissions committee that approved the post SP-1 (criteria) for all the UC systems, and they have done all they can to try to ameliorate the situation with 209 and this is the result - it is horrible. There is no going around it. The admissions rate has dropped so much that anything we do will not be fixed unless we add race and gender. That would also include splitting up the Asian American category to include Southeast Asians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Laotians and Pacific Islanders as separate categories because they have such different issues and historical situations and economic situations in the United States and their issues are completely overridden. These are the things I would hope to change in terms of the admissions policies.
Some have criticized USAC for being too political. Is it appropriate for USAC to take a stance on political issues?
Definitely. If we don't take a stance on critical issues facing students, then we will be a completely ineffective student government. Relying on the line of objectivity really gets you nowhere and that way you get completely manipulated by the university and by the system in general. We believe strongly in taking stances and standing up for what we believe in.
Where would you place yourself on the political spectrum?
I would say I am not liberal and not conservative - I am beyond those types of boundaries. Some people say progressive, some people say radical, it depends on what your understanding of those terms are.