The Graduate Students Association discussed a wide range of
issues at its first forum meeting of the quarter, passing
resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide and establishing the
Graduate Student Resource Center.
Proposed by the Armenian Graduate Students Association, passage
of the resolution commemorates the genocide and condemns efforts by
the Republic of Turkey to deny that the event had occurred. The
United States also does not officially recognize the event.
Though an overwhelming majority of forum members voted to pass
the resolution, some concerns were later raised about the language
of the draft.
Naser Hamdi of the engineering council said condemnation of the
Turkish government should not be limited to the Armenian Genocide
but of other genocides, such as those against the Kurds.
Ani Moughamian, who brought the draft of the resolution to the
forum for approval, said she does not feel that the Armenian GSA
can represent all other ethnic groups. Hamdi then said that it is
“their responsibility as human beings to make sure
others’ rights are protected as well.”
Since the resolution had already been adopted, concerns of forum
members would be noted for future consideration, said Mike
Morandian, director of information and research and Armenian GSA
member.
Forum also passed a resolution to establish a Graduate Resource
Center to help graduate students handle their academic and
administrative problems.
GSA President Charles Harless said he had discussed the plan
with the Graduate Division, which may pay for graduate students to
become peer counselors in the center.
The resolution also established a director position, in charge
of developing and maintaining the center in the interests of
graduate students.
Another resolution, concerning the University of California
budget, was put on the table for forum’s consideration.
The resolution expressed support for Assembly Bill 550, drafted
by Assemblyman Manny Diaz, D-San Jose. The bill calls for an
establishment of student fee committees to discuss with legislators
the impact of fee increases and ensure collaborative development of
fee policies.
If established, the committees would bring a lot more weight to
legislators in discussions about fee increases, said Hanish Rathod,
GSA external vice president and board member of the University of
California Student Association.
Some forum members expressed their concerns over the
effectiveness of the committees, but the motion to pass the
resolution failed to receive a second vote. Forum then asked for
more time to consider the issue, and the resolution was tabled for
next meeting.
Along with the resolution supporting AB 550, forum also
discussed the cuts in student services from the perspective of
graduate students.
Hamdi, also a GSA representative to the Student Fee Allocation
Committee, said graduate students need to give input into what
services are most important to them.
He said he had worked with Harless and services in health,
housing and child care appeared to be the basic necessities and
also the most dependent on university funding.
Hamdi said SFAC will make a report to the chancellor regarding
the issue of student services and “stress the proper use of
student fees.”
With regard to graduate student finances, Morandian updated
forum members with results of the online financial aid survey
conducted by the Graduate Division last quarter. The results will
be used by the Financial Aid Office to help calculate the graduate
student budget for next year.
Forum members also discussed the ongoing GSA election. Some
experienced technical problems, and others said they were not
required to list in order of preference the three candidates
running for the external affairs office, as the Elections Board had
intended.
According to the GSA Elections Code, if there are three or more
candidates running for a position, there would be no run-off
elections but rather voters would be required to list the
candidates in order of preference.
The candidate receiving the least number of votes would be
eliminated, and voters’ second preferences would be
distributed accordingly to the remaining candidates.
Director of Elections Melanie Ho said she had contacted the
MyUCLA staff after the meeting and said that they would be looking
into all the problems brought up by the forum.