An appeal by the Jewish Student Union for additional school
funding was denied by a majority of the undergraduate student
government at its meeting Tuesday night.
After a 30-minute discussion about whether JSU should receive
more funding from the Undergraduate Students Association
Council’s base budget, councilmembers denied the appeal by a
2-7-0 vote.
Members of JSU said the criteria used by the Budget Review
Committee ““ a committee that reviews student group budget
requests and recommends an allocation to council ““ were too
narrow.
JSU President Gideon Baum said the committee did not take
JSU’s efforts, specifically under the categories of retention
and outreach, into consideration.
Retention is different for Jewish students than for communities
who may be more underrepresented, Baum said.
“Thankfully, the Jewish community doesn’t suffer
from rampant poverty,” Baum said, adding that a large
majority of the Jewish community attends college.
Where the community has a problem in retention is with observant
Jews, he said.
“They don’t feel like UCLA is a welcome place …
and the only way to address it is to create a sense of
community,” he said.
An example of what Baum believes is one of JSU’s retention
efforts is the organization of bowling nights on Sundays where
kosher food is served and observant students can keep the
Sabbath.
In terms of outreach, Baum said the committee was too focused on
community service off campus. JSU is a student organization that
focuses more on the UCLA community, Baum said.
Members of BRC did not contest Baum’s definitions of
retention or outreach but maintained that JSU did not adequately
present their request during the budget hearings, which were held
during the summer to allow student group representatives to explain
and expand on their written requests.
The criteria leaves room for student groups to define and
explain themselves, said Finance Committee Chairwoman Priscilla
Chen.
Baum said during the time of the hearings, JSU was experiencing
problems with its officers.
“Our leadership was in a state of flux,” he
said.
A small segment of councilmembers believed JSU deserved
additional funding.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that they are not
outreaching to Jewish students,” said General Representative
Josh Lawson.
Lawson and Financial Supports Commissioner Erica Husse were the
only two approving votes. Both councilmembers belong to the
Students United for Reform and Equality slate.
With the vote being divided along slate lines, Baum believed
slate politics could have played a role in the allocation process.
Slates are coalitions of students who have similar ideologies and
group together to attempt to win seats on council during
elections.
“I am 100 percent positive that political aspects have
come into this decision,” Baum said, referring to the
majority of council and the majority of the BRC belonging to the
Students First! slate.
In this past spring’s USAC elections, Baum was a S.U.R.E.
candidate, running against SF! for internal vice president.
Additionally, Baum cited that JSU received more funding in
2002-2003. At that point, five members of this past year’s
council belonged to the S.U.R.E. slate, compared to two this
year.
But Community Service Commissioner Justin Schreiber, an
independent councilmember and member of BRC, said he did not think
slate politics were involved.
“(The allocation process) was definitely fair. … I am
independent, and the scores I gave JSU were similar to what the
other members gave,” Schreiber said.