The harmful rhetoric and procedural missteps at the undergraduate student government’s discussion of a divestment resolution last quarter illustrated a deep division among communities on campus. In turn, that division was represented on the council, where a straw poll revealed adherence to a strict party line, with members from the Bruins United slate voting against […]
Author Archives: Natalie Delgadillo
Natalie Delgadillo: General representative candidates should have cohesive platform
After this summer’s stipend increase, every student government officer gets paid $672 a month. For most members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council who have clearly defined roles and a very structured office, it’s relatively clear what the student body is paying them to do. For the three general representatives that sit on council, however, […]
Natalie Delgadillo: Faculty must note campus climate
It’s hard to argue that campus climate is not a problem at UCLA. A growing list of incidents on campus this year proves that point: student protests denouncing Proposition 209, which bans affirmative action in the state of California; a student video criticizing the university’s lack of black students; racist and sexist fliers directed at […]
Natalie Delgadillo: Expected Cumulative Progress policy harms more than helps
College is a race – a race against each other for the best grades, internships and leadership opportunities and a race against the clock to get everything done before four years are up. But some students begin that race already behind, and one university policy designed to encourage timely graduation is weighing them downthem even […]
Natalie Delgadillo: Changing college dating culture has its share of benefits
I was with my last boyfriend for seven years. The word “last” is in fact misleading – “only” is more accurate. We were together from the awkward and gangly days of 13 to the scary world of impending adulthood at 20. We did not so much grow up as grow in – identities tend to […]
Natalie Delgadillo: Resolutions’ extreme language polarizes USAC
Sometimes the oldest, most overused of cliches ring the truest. A resolution set to be presented at the student government meeting tonight has an old grammar school adage looping in my head: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. The eighth to be presented to the council so far this school year, […]
Natalie Delgadillo: PLUS loans detract from the real problem of education costs
When I graduate next year, I’ll be in a pretty typical position for a recent graduate: hoping to find employment with my liberal arts degree in hand and the weight of my student loan debt on my back. But I won’t be the only one coping with that debt: My parents have also had to […]