The vice chair of the University of California’s
systemwide lobbying group unexpectedly resigned his position at its
monthly board meeting this past weekend, which included discussion
of budget revisions and new campaign plans.
UC Student Association Vice Chair Chris Neal, also the external
vice president of UCLA’s undergraduate student council, cited
difficulties in time management as the basis of his decision.
Partly because of his financial situation, Neal said he
refocused his priorities.
“My time would be better spent here on campus,” he
said.
Some board members said they were surprised by Neal’s
resignation.
“I was shocked and disappointed to see him go,”
Hanish Rathod, Graduate Student Association External Vice
President. He added that the rest of the board seemed to share the
same sentiment.
“(Neal) is keeping UCSA’s best interests in
mind,” said UCSA Chair Steve Klass.
The association needs people who are able to take on the
responsibility, Klass said, but added Neal did a “great
job” during his time in office.
According to UCSA bylaws, the association’s Campus Action
Committee Chair, will be promoted to vice chair.
“We’d like to have a new (vice chair) as quickly as
possible, hopefully by the next board meeting,” Rathod
said.
The vice chair is one of two positions receiving stipends
totalling $7,200 with the approval of the budget last November.
Neal said he will still remain a representative on the UCSA
board.
The board, comprised of external vice presidents from graduate
and undergraduate student governments throughout the UC, also spent
the eventful two days at UC Riverside discussing their course of
action of various student-related issues.
Revisiting the association’s budget that was approved last
quarter topped the meeting’s agenda, Rathod said.
A revised budget with a deficit of $2,000 was unanimously
approved by the board.
Significant changes were made on a budget that originally had a
deficit of $17,000 which raised objections from student governments
throughout the UC.
The organization received additional funds from various sources
and cut back on office supplies, postage costs and conference calls
to obtain the nearly-balanced budget, Rathod said.
The new budget will be presented to individual student
governments at their next council meeting for approval.
“The new budget shows that UCSA did take (student
governments’) concerns into consideration,” Rathod
said.
Another priority of the lobbying board is to tackle the
projected 25-30 percent increase in student fees to take effect
next year, Klass said.
In the the newly-termed “No More Tuition Increase”
campaign, UCSA plans to “go all out” lobbying regents
and congressmen, Rathod said.
“Students should mobilize and realize that we are not a
source of funds for when the state messes up,” he added.
UCSA also plans to lobby against the Racial Privacy Initiative,
a March 2004 ballot measure that would ban the collection of any
race-based data by state agencies, and work on making academic
fellowships and scholarships tax-exempt.