Year’s best at UCLA

5. The average university employee University
employees are the backbone of UCLA. They serve students and faculty
every day, yet are often invisible to the people they work for.
This year, much of the focus has been on ASUCLA workers’
right to unionize. Many of these workers had been working full-time
for several years without a union. But workers’ rights are
not limited to ASUCLA workers alone. All university employees, who
work in various service and staff jobs, deserve increased benefits,
higher wages, and job security. University employees deserve credit
for having the courage to stand up and challenge ASUCLA, UCLA, and
the UC system in a fight for the rights they deserve.

4. BruinGo! Chancellor Albert Carnesale’s
decision to save BruinGo! for another year was a victory for every
UCLA student, staff and faculty member ““ regardless of
whether or not they ride the bus each day. Two months ago,
undergraduate and graduate students came together to show their
unwavering support when the program was threatened to be cut. The
students stood up for what they wanted, and their chancellor
responded by keeping the program running. BruinGo! will help ease
the influx of students from Tidal Wave II. There will be more
students at UCLA than ever before, and they will be applying for
the same number of parking spots, pushing parking prices even
higher. When compared to the $44 million UCLA will spend on
building nearly 1,500 parking spaces underneath the intramural
field, the $810,000 it cost to run BruinGo! ““ the cost of
building just 20 parking spaces ““ seems like mere bus
fare.

3. Sept. 11 Honors Seminar Series After the
tragic attacks of Sept. 11, Americans came together in many ways to
heal and support each other, and for UCLA, the Sept. 11 Honors
Seminar Series filled that role. UCLA reacted to a
generation-changing world event by facilitating debate and
commentary about it in a productive and academic manner. While
incredibly divisive comments raged in many parts of America,
particularly unfair attacks on Muslims and Middle Easterners, UCLA
was able to add a thoughtful voice to the dialogue by bridging the
gap between the world and the classroom. These classes, and their
continuation through the Fiat Lux seminars, truly represent some of
the best of what UCLA has to offer.

2. Admissions policy changes While a university
system as large as UC might be thought to have to rely on
admissions by numbers formulas, UC President Richard Atkinson and
many other students, professors and administrators have shown that
in the face of seemingly unreasonable odds, the need for equal
access to education can and must be pursued. Through plans like
dual admissions, comprehensive review, and 4 percent, the UC system
has worked to make it so that students are not punished because
they came from underperforming schools and a disadvantaged
upbringing by being denied an education. On top of that,
Atkinson’s efforts to eliminate consideration of the SAT I in
undergraduate admissions has spawned numerous universities, and The
College Board which creates the test, to reconsider their
application and format. The university’s efforts in
admissions reform are spearheading a movement throughout America to
make education equitable; leadership like this should be paramount
in one of the top universities in the nation.

1. Karren Lane and Student Empowerment! While
the Editorial Board may disagree with their politics and methods of
achieving change on campus, they represent the opposite of
undergraduate student apathy. USAC President Karren Lane and the
council members are the only students willing to stand up for what
they believe in, and sponsor protests, demonstrations, and
teach-ins to educate their fellow students. They take an active
role in educating themselves about important social problems, and
while they may make mistakes throughout the year, they are the
ideal students should mold themselves after to combat apathy. The
council could not have been what it was this year had Lane acted
like previous presidents from the Empowerment!/Praxis slate.
Instead, she has been rationale and fair to every member on
council, which is what we have come to expect from an effective
leader.

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