After two weeks of intense pledge drives to meet a record pledge requirement, CALPIRG, the California Public Interest Research Group, reached its largest quarterly pledge quota ever last week, allowing the chapter to remain on campus.
In order for CALPIRG to remain on campus, 15 percent of the student body must pledge the organization each quarter. The quota was a record 3,100 students, which is more than the UCLA chapter has ever had to pledge in a single quarter. Students stopped canvassing after reaching the quota, said Sara Dobjemsky, a third-year political science student and chair of the UCLA CALPIRG chapter.
CALPIRG is a student-run, student- funded organization that lobbies for legislation catered to students at the local and state level.
The organization is currently campaigning for lower textbook prices and more affordable student health care. It also fundraises for local organizations that assist the hungry and homeless, Dobjemsky said.
She added that she feels the group had a direct impact on the passage of Proposition 1A in the 2008 election. CALPIRG also sponsored the College Textbook Affordability Act which was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007.
Volunteers registered more than 2,300 students to vote for the 2008 election in addition to many voter applications downloaded from their Web site, according to Dobjemsky.
“It’s an opportunity to put money toward something that (students) know that they support. … It’s a really powerful way for students to unite and make sure our issues get addressed when often our issues are the ones overlooked in politics,” she said.
Pledging entails adding a quarterly payment of $5 to students’ BAR accounts. Students can choose to volunteer with CALPIRG or to simply donate the money, Dobjemsky said.
The organization uses its funding to hire professionals shared by CALPIRG statewide who assist students in their campaigns and train volunteers. It also hires advocates to work in the capital and researchers who write and draft reports for students who are unable to be there and represent themselves, she said.
Thereza Yerimyan, a first-year political science student and vice chair of the UCLA CALPIRG chapter, said that although she does not like canvassing in this manner, it’s encouraging when students show support for CALPIRG.
“Pledging can be hard because a lot of people will come up and show rudeness sometimes, but in general what I do like about canvassing is that you get a lot of people who don’t know about the cause,” she said.
Students who choose not to pledge CALPIRG sometimes say that they need to discuss it with their parents first, or that they can’t afford it, but volunteers try to stress to students that they can de-pledge at any time, she added.
“I’m sure that they have a good cause and I’m sure they wouldn’t have this many people pledging if they didn’t have something good to say,” said Amber Guillen, a third-year chemistry student who chose not to pledge because she was annoyed by volunteers.
“In general, people on campus, even if they want to get the word out there, there is a point that you’re hurting your cause more than you’re helping it.”
Bruce Leewiwatanakul, a second-year biochemistry student, said he pledged CALPIRG fall quarter of his first year because he was tired of being pestered by volunteers asking him to pledge.
“I kind of want to know what the money is doing; the only thing I see is the $5 from my URSA every quarter,” he said.
“Maybe they should pursue people less and make it more like a club and market their goals more, and get people to join that way instead of running after them on Bruin Walk.”