Friday, May 1, 1998
GSA elections heat up with tough issues
ELECTIONS: Dental plan, fees, unionization, poll create
contentions
By Ann Hawkey
Daily Bruin Contributor
On Saturday, the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) will begin
its spring election process. Both the presidential race and some
major initiatives on this year’s ballot promise to tackle some
heady issues, including dental plans, unionization and fee
increases.
GSA’s presidential hopefuls this year are Catherine Oyler, Evan
Seamone and Joanna Brooks. Each candidate looks to the future of
GSA, yet each takes a different approach.
GSA should act as a bond among graduate schools and students,
says Oyler, who hopes to work for the goals common to all
schools.
"GSA has the potential to be a unifying force for graduate
students and address the needs or concerns facing us all," said
Oyler in her candidate statement. "GSA needs to become far more
visible, considerably more vocal, and definitely more
effective."
Oyler feels achieving this potential will take some extra effort
because the necessary lines of communication among schools do not
yet exist.
"GSA needs to be more proactive in communicating to and
receiving information from the graduate student body as a whole,"
said Oyler in her statement.
The second candidate on the ballot, Evan Seamone, focuses on
building relationships with entities off campus, and acting as a
mediator and representative for graduate students. Seamone hopes to
use the position to pursue goals such as improved transportation
options and a better working situation between the university and
the Student Association of Graduate Employees (SAGE).
"(SAGE) basically says that when it comes to the way they are
treated, it will enhance the quality of education if they have the
ability to bargain," Seamone said.
Brooks sees GSA’s problems as coming from the organization
itself. She sees GSA’s central office as inefficient, beginning
with the distribution of funds. In her candidate statement, Brooks
addresses GSA’s financial situation, the excess of bureaucracy in
the central office and the ineffectiveness of GSA.
"I will work to make sure that everyday graduate students get
the most out of their investment," said Brooks in her candidate
statement. "I will give back my presidential stipend as a first
step towards more lasting reforms," she said.
This year’s initiatives include five alterations to GSA’s
constitution, yet the most talked about initiative does not create
or change any rule or procedure at GSA. A non-binding survey
regarding labor issues at UCLA has caused upheaval among SAGE/UAW,
the group working toward representing university employees as a
labor union.
The optional survey questions GSA members about the condition of
labor at UCLA and the demand for union representation. SAGE
representative Mike Miller has denounced the survey on questions of
confidentiality and claims that it could possibly prejudice GSA
members on the issue of labor unions.
Just one week after the GSA Forum voted to place the survey on
the spring ballot, the forum voted to remove it, this time with a
higher number of members present at the meeting. Following the
meeting, supporters of the survey collected 200 signatures on a
petition to return the survey to the ballot.
Another non-constitutional initiative facing vote is a trio of
dental plans for graduate students. Here, voters will be asked to
report their preference for a dental care plan run by Student
Health Services, a plan run by the UCLA School of Dentistry or no
dental plan at all.
This year’s proposed constitutional amendments include a change
to meeting by-laws regarding quorum, an increase in GSA student
fees, and the creation of a vice president for academic affairs and
a Public Policy Council.
The proposal to change the rules regarding quorum would lower
the number of representatives necessary to reach quorum in the
voting process. Quorum currently requires the presence of half of
the forum for a meeting to be official. Since GSA often has trouble
reaching this number, the amendment would allow quorum if
two-thirds of the councils send one member.
An increase in GSA fees would be the first since 1982, and the
current proposal adjusts the price to compensate for inflation over
the years. The initiative proposes that fees would increase from
$5.50 to $9.50 per quarter.
The creation of a vice president for academic affairs would
replace the current appointed position, "commissioner of academic
affairs." The new position would assimilate the duties of the
commissioner, as well as taking over the responsibilities of
external vice president when absent.
The final proposal is the amendment to create a Public Policy
Council. This would be the 12th council represented on the forum,
and would encompass the Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban
Planning disciplines.
Voting begins electronically Saturday, and continues until the
following Friday. Votes can be cast via e-mail or over the web.
Polling stations will be set up around campus starting Wednesday,
in cooperation with the undergraduate elections.