Kerckhoff groups work around the clock
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 Â
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.