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The Undergraduate Student Association Council and the Los Angeles City Council are guilty of theft.

And while it might not be inherently obvious that they have committed a crime, a quick analogy explains their gross misuse of power and misappropriation of student and citizen funds.

Imagine yourself an employee of a company where your job is in administration. The company gives you resources and freedom to do what you will in order to find pockets of inefficiency and make decisions to better the company. Yet, instead, you use their resources to further your own whims, at the company’s expense.

You e-mail, download songs, play incessant free-cell, and chat on AOL Instant Messenger. Of course, you are not surprised when your boss catches you, fires you and presses charges for the misuse of company time. You have effectively taken money from the employer, used it to further your own agenda and have not repaid it in the form of labor and services, as your contract would have mandated.

The purpose of any governmental body in a truly democratic institution is to serve the people. Hence, we espouse that famous founding phrase of government for the people, and by the people. Or at least we claim to.

In the past week, both USAC and the Los Angeles City Council have grossly misused the funds that were issued to them by taxation and tuition, have wasted the time they are given to do their jobs, and have betrayed their constituents. There is a surprisingly minute amount of outrage at this disgusting misuse of power. While it is true that the war will have an effect on the entire nation and that everyone is entitled to an opinion and their right to free speech, it is not the job of local governments or even state governments to dictate foreign policy. State and local governments are mandated by the people, who pay taxes, to take care of issues that are rightly left to the state and city level (or university level in the case of USAC). This astounding concept is called Federalism, and it is one of the foundations of the United States government.

When USAC used our student funds to print a full page advertisement in the Daily Bruin stating their disapproval of the way the United States has handled Iraq and the imminent war and when the Los Angeles City Council spent hours discussing a similar action, students at UCLA and citizens of the city of Los Angeles were robbed.

Los Angeles has one of the worst school districts in the United States, is the home of terrible drug and gang problems, has dilapidated streets, and must handle the massive amounts of illegal immigrants that come to our beautiful city. UCLA is in the middle of a budget crisis, is trying to decide whether semesters or quarters are more desirable, has had a recent surge of crime and is about to face Tidal Wave II. Yet both governmental agencies have told the rest of us to screw off, taken the money that we have provided, and decided to further their own anti-war agendas at the expense of the people they are mandated to serve.

If the people in USAC and the Los Angeles City Council want to make any statements regarding the war, either for or against, it is their right to do so. However, they are not given the right to do it on our time and with our money.

If some of the members of USAC had gotten together on their own time and submitted a Viewpoint column, their published opinion would be completely justified and relevant. Likewise, if the Los Angeles Times had let members of the Los Angeles City Council print an opinion piece, it would be a warranted act. Using taxpayer and student funds to forward an agenda is out and out theft and a terrible misuse of governmental power.

We should not idly sit by and let our money be used for personal vendettas. It is immoral and illegal. Both the Los Angeles City Council and USAC owe us an apology, and each group should pay back constituents for its waste.