Monday, January 6, 1997
By Ryan Ozimek
Daily Bruin Staff
While most students returning from winter break will start off
the new quarter with a clean slate, undergraduate government
members return in the midst of a power struggle.
At the end of Fall Quarter, Jeff Ellis, a fourth-year philosophy
and political science student, presented the Undergraduate Student
Association Judicial Board with a petition against the
Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC).
In his petition, Ellis questioned the use of student fees by the
undergraduate council used in both the anti-Proposition 209
campaign and their use of the logo "Students First!"
After a Judicial Board (J-Board) hearing held on Dec. 2, the
board ruled in a preliminary decision that although it did not
believe that USAC misused student fees with respect to their
anti-Proposition 209 campaign, it did consider the use of the
"Students First!" logo against university policies. A final
decision on the case should be released today.
During a USAC meeting following the decision, two hours of
heated debate ended with a three-fourths majority vote to overrule
the J-Board’s preliminary decision.
Their vote reverberated through the student government within
the following days.
"I’m initially shocked, but then I become concerned about what
this council has done and I don’t know if they realize the message
they send to the campus community," said J-Board Chief Justice Eric
Mah after the USAC meeting.
Ellis also expressed his anger concerning the USAC decision.
"J-Board can be asked to rule on any matter by any member of the
association … and saying that J-Board can’t rule on this is a
blatant misuse of power," Ellis said.
Still wanting to look at the problems raised by Ellis’ petition,
some USAC members would like to see the issues brought to the
table.
"If there’s a way that I can achieve what Jeff wanted through a
legislative rather than a judicial ruling, we will look into it,"
said USAC Internal Vice President Glenn Inanaga.
"I think we’re going to look at campaign reform to make sure the
rules recognize that slates exist but not really regulate them, but
there’s going to be a lot of things to take into
consideration."
Although USAC has formally overruled the J-Board decision, it
may not be the end of discussion on the larger issues of J-Board
jurisdiction and the system of checks and balances in the student
government.
USAC Academic Affairs Commissioner Max Espinoza said that
because issues such as the jurisdiction of the J-Board seems to be
a recurring problem, a permanent solution to these issues should be
found.
"We hope to take a pro-active approach to the J-Board (issues),"
Espinoza said. "We need to look at ways in which we can clear up
the haziness about their jurisdiction."
While Espinoza blamed the judicial branch for the problem, Mah
claimed that USAC was responsible for the differences between the
two branches.
"I think the real problem is Council’s action of rashly
overturning the J-Board’s ruling," Mah said.
He also pointed to what he believed is a weakness of the United
Students Association Constitution, which allows the legislative
branch to overrule a decision from the judicial branch.
"The Supreme Court doesn’t ask the President if they can hear a
case and Congress can’t overrule a Supreme Court ruling," Mah
said.
Mah also indicated a possibility of more court interaction with
the Council regarding the issues mentioned within the Ellis vs.
USAC ruling.
"The (Judicial) board is in many ways the referee of the
association," Mah said. "People commit fouls, and we judge (the
fouls). It’s tough to say if it’s over from the Judicial Board’s
perspective, but it depends on whether there is another foul
called."