The first responsibility of the Undergraduate Students Association Council is to represent the students of UCLA. With only three general representatives to 24,000 undergraduates, however, this task overwhelms even the hardest working officers.
In an effort to address this problem, I proposed the addition of three more general representatives to our council structure, which has remained unchanged for 40 years despite the drastic growth of the student population.
The addition of general representatives would extend the reach of USAC into the academic departments of these representatives, the student groups they are involved with, and their social networks. This way, more students would know a USAC officer or a member of the enlarged staff and thus have ease accessing their representatives.
Furthermore, additional general representatives would result in a reasonable distribution of duties on council. With this year’s addition of necessary committees to investigate USAC’s finances and ensure transparency, officers have even less time to properly fulfill their responsibilities.
Instead of having to rubber-stamp allocations or leave some projects in favor of others, an enlarged USAC would become a more productive body.
Those who argue that extra members would add bureaucracy don’t understand the council. Our meetings are already so political that three extra members would not greatly affect procedure.
USAC’s best work undoubtedly happens in the individual offices, and adding three more offices would improve this productivity.
Also, with the new single transferable voting system, independent candidates with fresh ideas and campus support gain a better shot at a place on council. More general representative positions would lower the threshold of necessary votes for the position and so allow a very strong candidate to win without a slate’s support.
So what arguments could possibly arise to counter this proposal for a more inclusive and productive student government?
The strongest concerns presented so far range from the lowering of officers’ stipends by just $40 a month to the equally ridiculous lament that there may not be enough chairs around the current council table to accommodate three more members.
With a year before the change takes effect, the council has plenty of time to work out these minor details.
Due to the closed-mindedness of some councilmembers and their loyalty to the status-quo, the student body will not have a chance to vote on improving its government.
Kaisey is a fourth-year neuroscience student and president of USAC.