Elected officers of student government are all politicians, but
some are trying to reduce the council’s political activity
outside of matters directly relating to the university.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council planned to vote
Tuesday on three resolutions, opposing Propositions 74, 75, and 76
for the upcoming state special election.
But instead of taking a political stance on the propositions,
some councilmembers instead took a stance on the role of outside
politics in USAC.
Councilmembers from the Bruins United slate openly questioned
whether they, as elected student leaders, should be involved in
partisan politics and take stances on issues that do not directly
affect students.
“If we are trying to represent all of UCLA, taking
partisan positions on propositions isn’t our job,”
General Representative Brian Neesby said.
Resolutions, such as those opposing the propositions, are often
passed unanimously with little fanfare.
In recent years, council has often published resolutions as
Daily Bruin advertisements to communicate their stance to their
constituency.
The funding for these advertisements, and related events or
educational campaigns, comes directly from student fees.
Over the past year, student government has passed resolutions in
a variety of areas affecting UCLA students: supporting union
strikes, arguing against fee increases and academic policies and
opposing a change from their current council structure to a senate
system.
However, they have also passed resolutions on political issues
locally, internationally, and everywhere in between, including
supporting same-sex marriage and divestment from Sudan.
“I strongly feel that these are things we should not deal
with as a council,” Neesby said.
Other councilmembers, including those who authored the
resolutions, said it is their responsibility to speak up on behalf
of UCLA students, both on academic matters and on matters of both
state and national politics.
“We represent the student body both on and off
campus,” Community Service Commissioner Farheen Malik
said.
Those who do not support limiting the council from taking a
stance on political issues said advocating for the needs and
desires of all students is more important than pleasing every
individual student.
“(The resolutions are) more or less showing our support,
and students don’t necessarily have to agree with it,”
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Todd Hawkins said.
However, if the council is not effectively representing the will
and opinions of students, they aren’t doing their job
effectively, he added.
But some argued that it is not the council’s place to hand
down decisions on controversial political issues that are outside
the scope of the university.
“My campus politics are separate from my national
politics,” said General Representative P.C. Zai. “With
respect to students, we should be educating them, not
indoctrinating them.”
In addition, councilmembers do not campaign on their partisan
leanings, they said.
“No one knew my politics outside of campus politics when I
was elected,” General Representative Marwa Kaisey said.
Some also argued that the student government should not be
making decisions to spend money from student fees on partisan
political issues.
For example, a full page advertisement costs nearly $1,000.
“You ostracize probably 40 percent (of students) every
time you take a position,” Neesby said. “With these
resolutions, I was very concerned with that.”
Those in support of the resolutions argued Propositions 74, 75
and 76 ““ which deal with tenure restrictions for K-12
teachers, the prohibition of unions using dues for political
purposes without written consent and giving the governor more
control over the state budget ““ do directly affect UCLA
students and are a vital part of representation.
“To me, these aren’t partisan issues ““ these
are things we are directly affected by as students,” External
Vice President Jeannie Biniek said.
USAC is already working on a non-partisan Get Out the Vote
campaign, aimed at increasing student voter turnout at UCLA for the
special election.
In addition to registering student voters and increasing
turnout, one of the council’s objectives is to launch an
educational campaign about the special election.
Internal Vice President Kristina Doan raised concerns with the
council taking an official and publicized stance on these or any
other propositions.
“Signing these resolutions is not just putting our name to
this. … We’re expected to campaign on its behalf (if we
pass a resolution),” Doan said.