It’s that time of year again. The undergraduate student government election season, with all its fliers and signboards, is almost upon us.
But the excitement and visibility that comes with the elections is the result of a highly politicized process that overshadows the potential of student leaders. Unfortunately, it is not the actions of elected officials themselves.
As a governing body, the Undergraduate Students Association Council has functioned effectively, stepping in where the university has left holes. They vote on campus issues, put on events such as the JazzReggae Festival, Bruin Bash and BruINTENT. Without their intervention, programs such as Night Powell and Covel tutorials would still be languishing in budgetary limbo.
But our student government has the potential to be more than just effective, given the issues we are facing: budget crises, a bleak job market, a rapidly evolving educational experience. It can serve as the support students lack.
The body, as it currently functions, suffers from chronic nearsightedness. The most contentious issues in our election campaigns are insular at best ““ Undie Run, and one-shot programs that hardly ever see the light of day. Slate politics clog the election process and monopolize entire planks in many of the candidates’ platforms.
At best, USAC is a body that represents the many but serves only those who care, which at last count was 38 percent ““ the proportion of the student body that voted in last year’s election.
USAC can reinvent itself as a dynamic body with a real influence on both campus and Westwood issues. USAC could increase the visibility of its members ““ and we don’t mean make the already oversized signs larger.
Though candidates are elected for their leadership qualities, these seem to fade into the background once they assume office. Councilmembers get bogged down with their duties and leave entire reservoirs of influence untapped.
Additionally, councilmembers should be the organizing point for large-scale student activism, lending credibility and focus to campus discontent ““ which, as we have observed, often fragments into impotent outrage on various, unrelated issues.
This board believes that the UC-wide protests held on March 5, for example, could have benefited from a stronger USAC presence that could have streamlined the message and given the protests more cohesion.
There are many ways in which USAC could engage with the campus at large. The character and capabilities of student government are ultimately determined by the people in it. Students also have an obligation to recognize the potential of the council as a rallying point, rather than overlook it.
This board hopes to see the enthusiasm from this year’s election carry over on both the part of students and the council itself.