Elaine Reodica has showed that she has the tenacity and foresight to succeed as Financial Supports commissioner. As a new transfer student this year, she dove into USAC and has formed her own ideas.
One of her major plans is to implement tax-free textbook sales the first week of each quarter to encourage students to buy from the Associated Students UCLA bookstore. She would also like to fund a minimum of 100 textbook scholarships, working with ASUCLA, the Alumni Association, and outside sources.
Reodica said she discussed these goals with Bob Williams, the director of ASUCLA, who said they could be feasible. Reodica said she would leave the deficit incurred by the tax-free books up to the ASUCLA Board of Directors ““ which may not sit well with them and is a concern for us.
But at the least she acknowledged that her programs depend on the support of administrators, which demonstrates her knowledge of the way decisions are made at UCLA.
Though Navid Pour-Ghasemi has had more direct experience in the office, his plans consist mostly of building upon already established programs. We appreciate consolidating financial resources for students, but we worry that the “Financial Bazaar” he has proposed would be primarily an advertisement for businesses, rather than offer support for students.
Pour-Ghasemi also discussed consolidating pre-medical advising and building a panel of 12 students to lead this new umbrella resource. This is a thought-out idea, but it is not relevant to a majority of students.
We do appreciate Pour-Ghasemi’s plan for introducing a Financial Supports liaison with the Ashe Center, to solidify communication and understanding between the student body and the administration. However, we would have liked to see more clear-cut goals in terms of the purpose of the relationship.