Q&A with USAC President David Dahle

USAC recently released one of their many anticipated surveys
to get a feel for student interests. The Daily Bruin sat down with
USAC President David Dahle to discuss USAC’s past and future.
Dahle commented on the budget process, the war with Iraq, the
quarter versus semester debate and different ways to reach out to a
largely apathetic student population.

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Daily Bruin: What do you think are some of the most
important things USAC did last quarter?

David Dahle: I think the number one thing was our budget
process. I know there was a lot of controversy over the way it was
done, but I think in the end the results we achieved are kind of
historic. If you look at the budgets from the past years, you see a
trend that’s alarming where a few groups would get a huge
portion of the total amount of funds. There are a lot of groups on
this campus that do good work and were eligible for the funds and
were applying but were getting amounts that were what I saw as a
slap in the face. So, coming in to make sure all groups had a fair
shot at getting the money was important.

The second most important thing was that USAC needed more money.
After the referendum, failed last spring we decided to run it again
because when we looked at our budgets, after the budgets were
allocated, it was pitiful. My office budget was $2500 before the
referendum, now it’s going to be $5000. We really needed that
money.

Online voting was another huge deal. The referendum basically
showed that online voting does increase voter turnout, and
it’s just as safe as regular elections.

DB: One of the things a lot of students thought was
controversial about USAC last quarter was the resolution condemning
the war with Iraq. You did not vote. Can I ask what you personally
thought of the resolution?

DD: Personally, I think it’s OK for council to make
political statements. I think you just need to be cautious when
what you’re deciding on is an issue that’s further
removed from the daily life of students. We had the survey going
out that week and we asked that question (their position on the war
with Iraq) specifically to students. I would have waited until I
saw the results to make a decision on how I was going to vote but
it was brought up at council before the survey was done. At that
time I think the people who abstained felt like it was not the
right time yet, or they didn’t know enough, or they wanted to
wait until the survey results came in.

DB: What do you say to people who think a national issue
like the war is really beyond USAC’s scope?

DD: It’s a tricky subject because one can argue that
everything affects UCLA students. But there also is what I would
call the focus of student government and it’s on students at
UCLA. You can advocate students’ opinions on national issues,
I just think you need to be a lot more careful about it. If you do
something like the resolution too often, it waters them down.
Specifically, Berkeley does resolutions almost every week on every
issue known to man. To me, that does not seem very effective. I
think resolutions concerning something about the university or
regents definitely has an impact because we are recognized as the
voice of students. On the national or international level
it’s hard to gauge the impact.

DB: A lot of students think of S.U.R.E. as a group that is
opposed to Student Empowerment! as opposed to a group with their
own agenda. Is there a way to make your agenda more clear to
students?

DD: Yeah, there are a few constants we adhere to. S.U.R.E. is
committed to ensuring that the budget process and the outcomes of
the budget process are fair. Another big thing is reform. We saw so
many things wrong with student government that needed to be fixed.
Increasing participation in USAC, getting more money, increasing
the visibility of USAC. S.U.R.E. also cares about fair
appointments. My appointment record is very bipartisan. I’ve
appointed more Student Empowerment! people than any other
people.

Another thing is figuring out what UCLA students want when we
make decisions. I think that was really lacking. There was no
formal way of asking students what they want. That’s why
we’re starting to do surveys, because it makes us more
legitimate to know what people actually think. 

DB: USAC has come out with one survey this year. Why
haven’t there been more?

DD: One problem is that they are kind of expensive. To send it
out to 24,000 students, that whole process cost us well over $1000.
The focus during the summer was the referendum. If it was passed in
the spring it would have been easier to do other things but we were
so geared on getting money for USAC that the whole first half of
the first quarter was preparation for the referendum. The survey
had to wait because there are only certain times when you can send
it out online, because the server can only fit a certain number of
things per week. It’s very hard to put a huge survey out
quickly.

DB: Being involved in the political process, how big a role
does money play in terms of giving you the ability to do the things
you want?

DD: Money is huge. I could tell you how hard things are when you
do not have money because before the referendum passed, I
didn’t buy supplies, I didn’t stipend anybody, I had
hardly any money to spend. It just feels like you can’t do
anything. I think you can run a USAC president’s office on
$5000 or $6000 a year, but you can’t do it on $1500 or
$2000.

DB: For this quarter, what are some of your immediate goals
and the immediate issues you have to face?

DD: Next week is the budget, soon after that is how to basically
create a new election process because online voting changes
everything. Another thing, personally for me is that right now
there’s two sets of independent groups and officially
recognized student organizations and that delineation is made by
the Center for Student Programming at UCLA. Independent groups are
more political and religious groups that may not have a sponsor on
campus. The ORSO’s can apply for funding but independent
groups cannot. To me it’s just an issue of, if you’re a
student group and you’re doing something educational, there
shouldn’t be an arbitrary barrier in front of you where you
cannot get student money. So I’m going to look into that
issue and try to at least make those groups eligible.

DB: What do you think about the quarter/semester
debate?

DD: It’s hard to tell because what students have shown is
that they clearly like the quarter versus the semester. The problem
with that is, how much is that just because “I like the way
things are now” because a lot of students haven’t been
in the semester system yet. So we should ask transfer students who
have been in both systems. The semester system has its benefits
like more free time, but it has drawbacks like classes only being
offered twice a year in the semester system as opposed to three
times a year in the quarter system. Personally, I like the quarter
system, but I think maybe semesters are better overall for the
student body.    

Interview conducted by David Burke. E-mail him at
dburke@media.ucla.edu.

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