T.J. Cordero
An effective internal vice president must have a vision in line with the needs of the students they represent. Both Student Empowerment! candidate T.J. Cordero and SURE candidate Justin Levi have well-defined plans for next year’s IVP office. But independent candidate Avneet Kaur, while well-intentioned, lacks an intimate understanding of campus policy. She is naive in thinking the UC can solve issues of housing and transportation by buying up properties in and around Westwood to meet demand.
Cordero and Levi have a more realistic solution to the housing crunch – to subsidize off-campus housing, and to fight to keep BruinGo!. The two candidates also agree on slowing the tide of enrollment and both have pledged to generate more student involvement in council next year.
But unlike Levi, Cordero has demonstrated the ability to carry out his vision. Cordero is willing to take the housing issue one step further, as he plans to create a Chancellor’s Housing Advisory Board to give students an opportunity to advocate their housing needs. Cordero has also pledged to sponsor a series of programs called “Know Your Rights,” informing students of their rights as renters, employees and victims of sexual harassment.
This year, Cordero served as the USAC Finance Committee chair. While the committee has come under criticism for making several questionable funding allocations, this can be attributed more to the failure of the council as a whole. Cordero’s working knowledge of the funding process will bring much-needed experience to the council, and can play an key role in ensuring fair funding to student groups.
Levi, who has never served on council, wants to initiate a policy for the council to take no political stance on issues that don’t directly affect campus. While the nature of this proposal is to be diplomatic, it dangerously ignores larger issues that may one day affect students. If the UC had been in line with Levi’s proposal in the ’80s, the university would not have taken a stance against apartheid by divesting from South Africa. Levi also stated that if asked to vote on issues he felt didn’t directly affect students, he would abstain. The council simply cannot lose a vote as important as the IVPs.
Levi claims to be effective in bringing people together, but as the president of the Jewish Student Union this year, he has done little to bring together members of his group and other student groups, such as the Muslim Student Association. He claims to have solicited several groups to put on joint events, but has no results to show for his efforts.
Vote for Cordero for internal vice president, because he has proven that he has the experience and ability to carry out his campaign promises on council next year.