The graduate student government is holding an election for its executive cabinet Tuesday. The Daily Bruin editorial board interviewed each of the cabinet’s four unopposed candidates and evaluated their platforms for the coming year.
Michael Skiles is an experienced candidate for Graduate Student Association president who can build upon his successes this year. However, he must ensure he has detailed plans to enact his agenda.
In contrast to previous GSA presidents, Skiles was energetic and involved this year, setting realistic goals and working with the administration and other student leaders to accomplish them. Skiles’ biggest success this year was mitigating the negative effects of university capital projects on graduate students.
For example, when graduate students’ Kinross Recreation Center was booted to make way for the Geffen Academy, he mobilized graduate students to pressure the administration to construct a new gym and provide students with free LA Fitness passes in the meantime. In addition, Skiles worked with UCLA Transportation to provide additional parking spots for graduate students after the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center’s construction eliminated several spaces.
Some of Skiles’ ideas for next year are similarly promising. His plan to bring free printing to South Campus graduate students is already in the works, and his plans to expand next year’s GSA lobbying and advocacy efforts would be a welcome change. Additionally, his idea that UCLA should fund free transit options for graduate students who had to give up their parking spots is a unique solution to a long-standing issue.
However, his plan to subsidize affordable housing and other graduate student needs through donor fundraising seems unrealistic and requires more details. Skiles’ method to meet this goal is to pressure administration, where he would ask them to direct more donations toward graduate student issues and create a GSA fund to which donors can directly contribute.
While donors could ideally provide more funding for issues directly affecting students, it is an unfortunate reality that large-scale donors are often more interested in plastering their names on buildings than giving to specific causes. Skiles should rethink his strategy on approaching this particular platform.
Nonetheless, Skiles’ experience and track record of successfully advocating on behalf of graduate students shows that he is well-poised to build upon his accomplishments. He is a deft candidate to once again take the helm of GSA.
Visit this page to read the board’s full evaluations of all four GSA candidates.