A petition for a Student Judicial Board hearing has been filed against Undergraduate Students Association Council External Vice President Tina Park by Financial Supports Commissioner Shaun Doria and Facilities Commissioner PC Zai.
The petition alleges Park violated USAC bylaws by selecting students to serve as representatives to conferences without getting council approval. Park denies the charges.
The dispute is over USAC Bylaw Article III which states “the (external vice president) shall represent or appoint USAC’s representatives to national, state and local lobby interests, such as the University of California Students Association (UCSA) and other such groups which may exist or be formed and of which USAC is a member. The (external vice president) shall also appoint alternates for these positions. All appointments are to be approved by USAC.”
Both parties agree it is a difference of interpretation, and Doria wants all representatives to be approved by USAC.
Doria said he sees the students attending these conferences as representatives of the UCLA student body, so they should be approved by the council.
Park said she thought the article was a safeguard in case any external vice president chose not to attend the conferences, in which case USAC could appoint someone else. But as long as the external vice president personally attends the conferences, he or she may also choose students to attend on behalf of USAC, according to Park’s interpretation.
Doria and Zai hope the result of the petition will be “freezing for all travel spending out of the (external vice president) office other than for the (external vice president) herself or for USAC-approved representatives … (and the) suspension of the (external vice president) from all duties unless it is agreed in writing within three business days that the bylaw will be followed as interpreted by the Judicial Board,” according to the petition.
In addition, petitioners want all travel expenses approved by the Financial Supports Committee chair before each trip, as stated in the Undergraduate Students Association financial guidelines.
Doria said he was concerned because if USAC does not approve representatives sent to these conferences the students may not represent the entire campus.
“The representatives are very important. They represent UCLA to students from across the state and nation,” he said. “There is not a diverse group of students (currently) going. There is a great diversity of ideas on campus so that should be represented.”
But Park said each person was selected legitimately. She also raised logistical concerns, arguing she takes 30 to 40 students to each conference and getting them all approved by USAC would take a huge amount of time.
“They are making it so bureaucratic. I’m personally disappointed because I don’t want to focus on the matter. I’d rather be focusing on advocating for students and speaking to students about the many conferences that we have coming up even in the next month,” she said.
Jennifer Partnoff, assistant director for national affairs in the external vice president’s office, has attended four conferences and said it is important to have student representatives at conferences.
“UCLA has been advocating and a strong part of the organization for a long time. It is important for students’ voices to get heard, and it’s important for representatives to hear students. It would be really sad if students were not able to go to the conferences (due to a budget freeze).”
Partnoff agreed that getting every person approved would be time-consuming.
“It’s already too difficult to try to get people together. … Going to (USAC to get approved) seems like a lot of time that may not be needed,” she said.
The board now has two days to accept or reject the petition. A final decision should be reached within several weeks.