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USAC President Allende Palma/Saracho speaks at a summer meeting. USAC has internships for student

This year about 50 students will have the opportunity to learn about student government hands on by interning for the Undergraduate Students Association Council.

The internship can be a steppingstone to a council position, but council members say USAC is focused on increasing awareness about the issues that face student government rather than on recruiting potential council members.

The interns will work directly with a council member’s staff in one of the 13 USAC offices and will participate in weekly seminar-style workshops aimed at educating students about the issues they can work on as leaders.

Last year’s workshops included topics such as admissions procedures and funding for outreach programs.

The internship experience familiarizes participants with the processes of student government, but is not a means of recruiting potential candidates into any particular slate, said USAC President Allende Palma/Saracho. The two major slates – Students First! and Equal Access Coalition – are voting coalitions that some councilmembers belong to.

Palma/Saracho believes that most students emerge from the internship with a stronger sense of which slate best promotes their political ideals.

“The internship helps politicize students by showing them the political process, but I wouldn’t say in any particular direction,” Palma/Saracho said.

He explained that the majority of interns have historically been primarily first- and second-year students with little knowledge of school politics.

It is unlikely for many of these students to be supporters of a particular slate prior to working in a council member’s office.

Before she interned in the internal vice president’s office, Rita Qatami, a third-year international development studies and Middle Eastern and North African studies student, was only marginally active in school politics. She voted in the school election, but was largely unaware of the differences between candidates.

“I didn’t even know what a slate was,” she said.

During the internship she became more attuned to the political process and started to identify with Students First! She plans to work for the slate as a member of the president’s staff this academic year.

Most students who intern for USAC are members of at least one student organization, yet many do not go on to run for council offices.

Jenny Wood, who currently serves as a general representative on council, is the only former intern to hold a USAC position on this year’s council, Palma/Saracho said.

Even those participants who do not go on to join the council advise others to look into internship opportunities.

Deepa Goraya, another former intern who plans to continue her involvement in student government, highly recommends the internship as a starting place.

“It really gives students a good idea of what student government is,” she said.

Last year, between 50 and 60 students interned with USAC, and a similar number is expected this year. This year, Palma/Sacharo expects the program to be accredited by UCLA, making student interns eligible to earn units towards graduation for participating in the program.

Additional information about USAC internships will be available during the Welcome Week carnival and at the USAC open house, which will also be held the week that classes begin.