Students dreading additional fee increases can rest easy as the
Associated Students of UCLA decided to drop its proposal to raise
the student union fee while it reevaluates its plan to revitalize
Ackerman Union.
The delay, however, means students won’t be seeing the
planned large-scale service upgrades in the union anytime soon.
At its monthly meeting on Friday, members of the students’
association board of directors unanimously voted to postpone the
fee increase referendum passage, pending a new vision of the
student union that will be developed by the Services and
Enterprises committee.
UCLA students currently pay an annual student union fee of
$7.50. The association had proposed to raise the amount to $20 to
fund planned improvements, such as increasing programs for students
and setting up full wireless Internet access in Ackerman Union and
Kerckhoff Hall.
Funding for the Student Union Strategic Initiative ““
ASUCLA’s plan to improve services in the Student Union
““ is dependent upon student approval of the fee increase
referendum.
Because of the delay in the release of the referendum, many of
the association’s initiatives have been downsized. Programs
such as setting up wireless Internet access are being done on a
smaller scale, with eight computers distributed in different
locations on campus.
The referendum was originally set to be released for student
votes this quarter but was stalled after the Undergraduate Students
Association Council objected to the proposal. The council was
concerned that ASUCLA was trying to take over USAC’s student
programming by increasing its own programs inside the union.
After several revisions of the plan, during which a number of
proposed services were discarded, ASUCLA was left with only a few
programs, including one which allows students to have lunch and
talk with professors from various departments.
Dorothy Kim, a graduate student representative to the board of
directors, said board members should return to the original plan
and determine which programs and initiatives they want to
retain.
“Half the stuff in the original proposal is gone;
it’s not going to fly with the students,” Kim said at
the last Services and Enterprises committee meeting.
ASUCLA needs to reconsider its priorities in creating programs
that will enhance student use of the union, Kim said.
Select members of the association will meet within the next few
weeks at a workshop to discuss objectives of the student union
proposal. They will then present the revised version of the
document to other board members for evaluation.
Last year’s set of initiatives to improve the student
union were approved by the board but were not sustainable
budget-wise, said ASUCLA Executive Director Patricia Eastman. She
said the workshop will help members create a new set of priorities
with which they can go forward.
Eastman added that the association should reconsider the whole
vision of designing a more active student union. She said ASUCLA
should “go for something big and vital.”
Student Union Director Jerry Mann said annual surveys have
indicated students are more willing to pay for a “grand
vision rather than for small-scale changes.”