This week UCLA hosted a debate between the six leading
Los Angeles mayoral candidates in a preparation for next Tuesday’s
election. As a UCLA student, what do you believe is the most
important issue facing L.A.? Mark
Williams Fourth-year Sociology "The most important issue
to me is parking because you can never find it when you need it.
The next mayor should create more parking for students in Westwood
and in other residential areas. I waste about 20 minutes a day
trying to find parking, and when you finally do find a space you
have to move it the next day because of street cleaning. I’ve
gotten too many tickets that I can’t afford. Sometimes I’m late to
classes because I can’t find parking." Connie
Valenica Fifth-year Psychobiology "I think education is
the most important issue. Teachers, especially, are not given the
respect they deserve. L.A. should give more funds to low-income
community schools so that more opportunities are available to the
students. We should focus on getting more AP classes in our high
schools and higher reading levels for kids through reading
comprehension programs. A lot of these kids are not getting the
appropriate education they deserve." Bob Caron
Third-year Psychology "I think one of the most important issues in
L.A. is the disrespect towards police officers. People don’t really
appreciate the good things that they do and focus on the bad
things. People view police as the enemy, as something to be avoided
or watched out for. Sure, parking tickets and disrupting nonviolent
protests is one thing, but it’s different if you look at the big
picture and think about what it would be like if we didn’t have
police officers. The next mayor needs to change the public attitude
about what the police are there for." Carmen
Phelps Graduate Directing "I would say the power problem
is the most important issue. I think businesses will face a big
problem if we start to get power outages this summer because they
can’t stay open if the power is out. I think L.A.’s economy won’t
significantly go down, but it’s going to be more of a problem for
everyday consumers since their rates continue to go up
incrementally. This shouldn’t happen, especially if it can be
prevented. Electricity is something that should be regulated."
Kent Nguyen Fourth-year Business Economics
"Traffic. It’s just ridiculous how long it takes to go from L.A. to
Orange County on the freeways on Friday evenings. It’s
bumper-to-bumper the whole way down. It’s really inconvenient for
students who have to commute because they have to wake up several
hours earlier to get to school. This takes away from their study
time and their ability to concentrate in the classroom. If someone
has to wake up at 5 a.m. to drive through traffic to an 8 a.m.
class, they’re not going to get the most out of that class."
Loreal Waits Smith fourth-year Psychology "As a
college student, the number one problem I see with Los Angeles is
the educational system and access to higher education for
minorities. There are not a lot of us at UCLA and that’s a problem
largely due to inequality in the education system. The fact that
there are so few of us here and that no one is doing anything about
the problem makes me feel like I’m not wanted. It’s difficult to
come to school and deal with this every day." Speaks Out compiled
by Cuauhtemoc Ortega, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. Photos by Katherine
Ogle, Daily Bruin Contributor.