The new head of the entire undergraduate student body is a few
days from being elected, and each of the three hopefuls said he/she
will work to be both a student leader and council leader if elected
to fill the presidential shoes.
The three candidates are Adam Harmetz, Anica McKesey and Andrew
LaFlamme.
The president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council
has responsibilities ranging from making committee appointments and
breaking tie votes to leading discussion on the council table.
But the most important job of the president is to lead all of
council, said Harmetz, a third-year computer science and business
economics student.
“I will be a leader of USAC and not just my slate …
That’s where the challenge is,” Harmetz said.
Harmetz is a member of the Students United for Reform and
Equality slate.
Additionally, Harmetz said he has a vision to improve the
student experience by creating a freshmen leadership council to
involve the freshmen community in USAC and start an individual
advocacy group to be a liaison to the administration. He would also
advocate to limit the growth of UCLA’s student population, he
said.
He would increase cooperation on council by respecting
individual working styles and examining both sides of an issue, he
said. He added that he would extend the appointment period to
ensure that he could get the most qualified people as possible.
LaFlamme, a fourth-year psychology student and member of the
United Independents slate, said the presidential appointment
process was a “huge problem” this year. Unlike this
year, under LaFlamme, each of the appointees would have to make a
progress report back to council each quarter, he said.
To increase accountability and cooperation on council, LaFlamme
said he would do more programming addressing those issues and
implement a presidential critique for himself. He added that he
would increase USAC’s effectiveness by concentrating on
issues that a majority of students and student groups agree on
““ like student fees and BruinGo! Additionally, LaFlamme said
he would take the annual USAC open house outside of Kerckhoff Hall
to increase visibility.
McKesey, a fourth-year political science student and a member of
the Students First! slate, said she plans to bring students
together and work on their behalf. She added she would implement a
presidential empowerment internship to train students to help with
programming. Another of her plans is to invite student groups to
council meetings each month to solicit their input.
McKesey added that she would use her time in office to remedy
what she said were the two largest shortcomings on this
year’s council ““ its inability to come together as a
whole and its lack of professionalism. To prevent the same
problems, McKesey said she would do more planning over the summer
so councilmembers are ready to go by fall.
McKesey also said she would reform the presidential appointment
process by discussing the council’s expectations as a whole
before the appointments are made. This will make the approval
process easier, she said.
The candidates differed on what experience they thought was most
valuable to the position.
Harmetz said he feels qualified for the position because of his
leadership experience in the dorms, experience with student groups
and position on council as a general representative.
“A year in council is absolutely essential to know what it
is like to advocate for all of the student body,” Harmetz
said.
LaFlamme agreed that he gained many of the skills needed for the
office during his time on council this year as the financial
supports commissioner. He also served on three USAC committees.
“I have learned what to look for … I know the progress
that needs to be made,” he said.
He added that one his office’s major programs ““ a
housing index to make it easier for students to hunt for apartments
““ was not as successful as he had hoped due to complications
he ran into with landowners. He maintained that just establishing
it was a still a big feat.
McKesey said though she has not sat on council before, her
experience still outweighs the other two candidates.
McKesey is chairwoman of the African Student Union and a member
of the a Student-initiated Outreach Committee. McKesey also has
leadership experience on the Hill and has worked with state- and
nation-wide student lobby organizations.
As far as slate influence goes, the candidates all said
accountability to students was more important than slate
accountability.
The candidates said they plan to use the remaining money left in
their current USAC office or student group budget in different
ways.
Out of the $1,646 left in Harmetz’s general representative
office, he said he has no programming left to use it on. He said
his office had not and could not have planned on the midterm boost.
Students consented to pay an extra $9.25 ““ for a total $33.34
quarterly contribution ““ when they approved a USAC fee
referendum during fall quarter.
“I have accomplished all my goals; I am not going to be
wasting anything,” Harmetz said, adding that he plans to put
a portion of it to the transitional fund to help his replacement
next term.
But McKesey said she plans to use all of ASU’s remaining
$4,441, though she also had not anticipated the midyear boost from
the referendum. ASU still has large programs ““ such as a
student conference and a spring showcase ““ that need funding,
she said.
LaFlamme said about $1,000 would be left over at the end of his
term after using some of the funds still left for advertising and
the book lending program.