John Joanino, president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council,recently talked with Daily Bruin campus editor Amanda Schallert about his upcoming year on the council and the work USAC has undertaken this summer. The fourth-year sociology student spoke about USAC’s finances, student group funding and council initiatives this year.
Daily Bruin: Next year, you will lead a council where the majority of councilmembers are from the Bruins United slate. This will be the first time since 2005 that a USAC president is not part of the majority slate on council. How do you plan to make sure members of USAC work together and manage slate politics, which could potentially cause division on the council?
John Joanino: It all comes back down to the student issues. Regardless of what party you come from, what slate you come from, we all have student needs and student issues that need to be addressed … whether (it is) campus safety, affordability (or) diversity and campus climate. The moment we start caring more about USAC versus what students need and what students face is when slate politics become hindering to the work that we do.
DB: At recent USAC meetings, External Vice President Maryssa Hall has said she plans to draft a resolution about student concerns with UC President Janet Napolitano. What do you think the resolution should look like and what stance should USAC take on her appointment as UC President?
JJ: I think when it comes to Napolitano, one of the most important things is that any stance that we take is proactive and not just reactive … We need to have a list of concrete things we can ask of Napolitano.
For example, we need to ensure that there is student-accessible financial aid for undocumented students, that staff members are trained on issues that may be important to undocumented students … that UCPD has annual trainings on the rights of undocumented students and that we want the experiences of undocumented students to be implemented in general education courses.
DB: A recent increase to councilmembers’ stipends comes from USAC funds that could have potentially gone to student groups, and members of USAC are currently launching a campaign to educate students about the USAC funding available to them. What do you think the council’s role is in making sure USAC funds are utilized? Should funds be redirected to specific programs or projects or should USAC work on its outreach to encourage students to apply for funding?
JJ: Well I think it’s a mix of both. We have to really assess what some of the root causes are and why these funds are not being utilized. Is it just a matter of student groups not accessing them or not applying to them? I think part of it is that. I think part of it could be the restrictions on the fund. Some things (can be) modified to make the fund more accessible. For example, for (the Student Organizations Operational Fund) even small changes such as (the ability to) apply for (funding) for more than just (purchasing) T-shirts (would help so) … you can get things like polos and tanks. I think small changes like that and modifications to the actual funding guidelines themselves are (things USAC can do). And then outreaching, of course, is a huge responsibility of the council to make sure students know they have funding such as the SOOF as a resource. …
I think in general there’s a lot of bureaucracy to navigate when it comes to accessing student group funding. There’s a lot of deadlines, documentation and things that have to be provided. Outreaching is definitely a big effort, but the follow-through to make sure student groups understand the restrictions and the things needed so they can access funding (is also important).
DB: When councilmembers raised their own monthly stipends from $355 to $672 over the summer in a unanimous vote, they received some criticism from members of the student body. In light of the backlash against the USAC stipend increase, how do you plan to make sure students feel that USAC is transparent and responsive to their demands?
JJ: I think a part of that is really making sure we work on student issues, the things that really affect students, such as campus safety, revenue for the UC, bolstering scholarships and financial aid … I guess I’m a little at a loss as to why you keep bringing up the issue of stipend increases when there are so many pressing issues really affecting students. Working on transparency is definitely going to be an ongoing issue for USAC to work on along with increasing access to student group funding. …
We have to address the student issues. Part of that is taking stances on campus issues, working on campus safety (and) challenging administration to provide services to students.
DB: This summer, the council passed a resolution criticizing the use of the word “illegal” to describe undocumented students. At recent meetings, councilmembers have also talked about making sure students feel welcome on campus. How does USAC plan to ensure that this goal continues beyond the resolution?
JJ: Taking that initial stance was really kind of a stepping stone in terms of creating conversation. It’s really hard to address issues and to create a safer campus if we’re not really willing to talk about what students face. (The resolution helped get) people to start talking about how undocumented students feel on this campus, how they’re a part of our community and howthey’re impacted by the decisions that are made. So we’ve already been trying to outreach to as many campus partners as possible (to get) them to know that this is the stance that USAC took and that we’re hoping that the university can help support us in that as well.
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