This year’s Graduate Students Association election merits a better turnout than it has received in the last few years.
Along with the number of voters, the number of candidates running for office has decreased consistently for the past three years. This year, only four candidates are running for office, all unopposed.
This year’s election will also decide whether or not a referendum to increase graduate student fees by $5 per quarter will pass. The referendum would sustain funds for the increasingly popular Graduate Writing Center and eliminate GSA’s dependency on surplus funds for event funding.
A minimum of 10 percent of graduate students must vote in order to pass the referendum, but whether the turnout will even meet this requirement remains to be seen. Last year, only 4.8 percent of graduate students voted in the elections.
It is vitally important for graduate students to vote this year for two reasons: (1) to determine whether or not student fees will increase and (2) to sustain the Graduate Writing Center, an invaluable resource.
The Graduate Writing Center provides one-on-one writing consultations and writing workshops for dissertations and research papers. The Center also facilitates group writing sessions that meet periodically for peer-to-peer review.
Since it was established in 2006, the center has grown significantly, and demand for its services has reached capacity. According to interviews conducted by the Daily Bruin over the last few weeks, it is clear that a large number of graduate students want and need the center’s services to assist in completing their coursework.
If the referendum does not pass, the center would run into a $20,000 deficit. If the referendum does pass, the center would be able to expand to new satellite locations across campus and hire new staff.
If the referendum passes, it would also decrease GSA’s dependence on surplus funds, which now sustain the writing center.
Earlier this academic year, the Undergraduate Students Association Council was forced to ask Associated Students UCLA for a bailout loan after years of relying on fluctuating surplus funds to finance student programs.
USAC would allocate funding to student groups based on surplus money remaining from the previous year, which resulted in a deficiency of surplus funds last fall.
This board supports GSA’s foresight in wanting to prevent such an occurrence at the graduate level.
Though not all graduate students use the increasingly popular writing center, these services are well worth the proposed $15 annual increase in fees.
Voting for the GSA elections will begin Tuesday and continue until April 23 on MyUCLA.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.