Daily Bruin – Page 318

Pending program would give portion of parking revenue back to Westwood Village

Westwood Village is in the final stages of gaining approval for a program that will allow the Village to receive part of the revenue generated from its parking meters.

In May, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation selected the Westwood Village Improvement Association, a nonprofit organization tasked with improving the state of the Village, as a candidate to participate in a pilot parking revenue program. The pilot program is scheduled for approval by the Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on Monday, after which it will need the approval of the full City Council.

Andrew Thomas, executive director of the association, said 15 percent of the revenue from parking meters will go back into the WVIA to improve the Village once the program is approved. Currently, all parking meter revenue generated by Westwood goes to the City of Los Angeles.

Thomas said Westwood generates about $1.5 million in parking meter revenue each year, so this program will give the neighborhood around $225,000 in funds.

He added the funds will go to improving infrastructure and public space in the Village as well as parking access and sidewalks.

“We have an opportunity to do a lot of infrastructure improvement. We also have the opportunity to look into innovative programs to help with parking in our district,” Thomas said. “We could set up a districtwide valet system, for example, which has been something our board members have talked about.”

The funds will be managed by the WVIA along with the LADOT, which sets the parameters and rules on how to use the money, as the money belongs to the city, Thomas said. Although the specific restrictions have not been finalized yet, the funds will have to be used for services related to transportation and parking, he added.

Thomas said asking LA for a portion of its revenue was difficult because it took a long time to gain approval for the program. Thomas added the parking program has been in development for six years.

“There’s never been anything like this before in LA, so creating a program where nothing exists was difficult,” Thomas said. “It takes time to build trust with the city.”

One of the more critical aspects of the process was receiving approval from the Los Angeles Transportation Committee, Thomas said. He added that Paul Koretz, the city council member for the includes Westwood and UCLA, has supported this program and was instrumental in getting approval from the Transportation Committee.

Donald Shoup, an urban planning professor at UCLA, said this program has had success in other cities including San Diego, Houston and Boston.

“Take a look at Pasadena, the place it was first implemented,” Shoup said. “The funds were used by the city to turn what was essentially a skid row into Old Pasadena, one of Southern California’s most popular tourist destinations.”

Shoup added he is positive that Westwood will implement the program for the long run because it has succeeded in other locations.

Ryan Snyder, a member of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council and an urban planning lecturer at UCLA, said he thinks the Village deserves some of the revenue it produces.

“(Westwood Village is) one of the more lucrative parking meter (areas) in the city, so it’d make sense we get some of that revenue,” Snyder said.

Thomas said that, if the program is approved by the Budget and Finance Committee, it will be hopefully be reviewed by the full City Council in a few weeks.

Administrators discuss student advocacy for state funding at budget town hall

UCLA administrators strategized how students should respond to continual decreases in state funding as enrollment increases.

Jeff Roth, associate vice chancellor of Academic Planning and Budget, said at a town hall Wednesday that general core funds per student, which is a combination of tuition fees and state support, has decreased over 30 percent since 2000.

The town hall, hosted by the Undergraduate Students Association Council Office of the External Vice President and the University of California Student Association, explained to students the trends and effects of decreased state funding.

Aidan Arasasingham, the director of legislative affairs in the USAC EVP office and second-year global studies and economics student, said the event aimed to give students the information needed to advocate for their interests in university budgeting.

“With this event, we as students are claiming our seat at the table and are working to influence the ways in which these dollars come back to us,” Arasasingham said.

Roth said undergraduate enrollment at UCLA has increased 28 percent, while available core funds has decreased 16 percent since 2000.

State support for UCLA has declined 24 percent since 2007, Roth said. He added that about 80 percent of the school’s core general funds goes toward teaching salaries and benefits. He said that state funding must increase proportionally to the annual increases in salaries and enrollment.

Julie Sina, chief financial officer for both the UCLA Foundation and the UCLA Investment Company, said UCLA’s $4.2 billion Centennial Campaign has already raised more money than any public university in recent years. She added the money from the campaign helped create supplemental funds along with state funding, as donors have helped fund academic programs, scholarships and buildings.

Amado Castillo, a second-year sociology student, said he was concerned that student advocacy would be ineffective in directing donors’ money.

“The people that donate have a lot of stipulations that come with them, so we can’t really affect where that money goes,” Castillo said.

Gregg Goldman, vice chancellor and chief financial officer of UCLA, said he thinks sustained state support requires student advocacy. He added that efforts such as protesting in Sacramento and writing to Gov. Jerry Brown have stopped tuition hikes in recent years.

Roth also said student advocacy is necessary to prevent state funding from decreasing further and tuition hikes.

“One thing I’ve learned mostly about advocacy is the students’ voices are the ones that the legislatures and state government listen to the most, and these are really important issues,” Roth said.

UCPath representatives respond to unresolved payroll complications at town hall

UCPath representatives spoke to UCLA student workers Thursday about how to resolve ongoing payroll issues after nearly an entire quarter of complaints about being paid incorrectly.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council, the Graduate Students Association and United Auto Workers Local 2865 organized a town hall in which student workers spoke with representatives from the UCLA UCPath team and the UCLA Central Resource Unit, the office that assesses reports of UCPath issues, about how to resolve their individual complaints about the payroll system.

UAW Local 2865 represents over 12,000 UC student workers, including Academic Advancement Program Peer Learning facilitators and College Academic Mentors. UCPath, a new payroll system implemented in September, has led several student employees to receive incorrect paychecks or not receive paychecks at all.

Resident assistants, researchers from various departments and undergraduate Peer Learning facilitators attended the town hall and raised issues such as the lack of clarity regarding who to contact to resolve payroll issues, student workers not receiving paychecks for a second job and CRU closing unresolved cases after four days.

Ricardo Vazquez, a UCLA spokesperson, said in an email statement that UCLA is providing instant pay cards, emergency pay advances and off-cycle checks for student workers experiencing pay issues.

Vazquez added that errors ranging from missing paychecks to disenrollment from benefit plans have affected about 2 percent of UCLA’s employees.

Michelle Viorato, the GSA external vice president, said emergency loans have been particularly inaccessible to certain students.

“Currently, graduate student researchers and teacher assistants are the only ones eligible for interest-free loans that meet the same amount they are supposed to get paid,” she said. “This leaves most undergraduate and some graduate students who are earning more than $350 per paycheck out of luck.”

Viorato added she thinks UCLA failed to support students who are most vulnerable to extreme financial instability.

“The university needs to determine how it will offer reparations to students who have faced eviction, had to take out high-interest loan offers and build their credit card debt,” she said.

The town hall included a Q&A session that allowed students to directly ask UCPath representatives questions. Claire Fieldman, USAC president, and Jamie Kennerk, USAC’s external vice president, were among the undergraduate and graduate students who voiced concerns.

The representatives at the town hall said there was no policy in place that would close unresolved cases in four days. However, Kennerk said this conflicted with information she had received from program directors and the UCLA UCPath team.

“So now that I’m hearing that that’s not how it works, I’m confused, and I think that we all need more light spread on what the actual case system looks like,” Kennerk said.

Kennerk added that solving the current payroll problems has been challenging because the new system is decentralized.

“UCPath doesn’t directly control everything,” she said in a separate interview. “It’s been hard to hold people directly accountable, which has complicated both student advocacy as well as UCPath’s ability to triage issues.”

Several of those in attendance asked what UCPath will do to help student workers who have explored all available resources but still cannot resolve their payroll and financial issues.

A UCPath representative said UCPath did not anticipate the issues student workers are experiencing and will adjust by providing better customer service.

The representatives’ presentation said students can receive loans from University Credit Union, Student Loan Services and Collections, and UCLA Graduate Division.

However, David Tuyo, a University Credit Union representative, said there is a cap on the amount students can receive if they opt for a short-term loan. UCU increased the maximum loan amount from $350 to $500 in light of student workers reporting payroll issues, but Tuyo said he thinks this is still not enough for many students.

“We don’t have a giant pot of money,” Tuyo said. “My heart goes out to those who need more than the $500 cap on short-term loans.”

Yunyi Li, the UCLA campus chair for UAW Local 2864 union, said UC Riverside and UC Merced, which implemented UCPath in January, experienced similar issues with the new system.

Li said the town hall provided useful but redundant information and added she thought UCLA acted in negligence by failing to resolve issues with UCPath before implementing the system at UCLA and treating the problems as an issue of customer service.

Anais Lopez, a third-year political science student, said she skipped a class to attend the town hall.

“Thursday of 10th week is very inconvenient for most students. It’s almost asking students not to go in a way,” Lopez said. “Although we want our money, we also need to get our grades, and we need to go to office hours and talk to our TAs and go to classes.”

Li and Lopez both said they were concerned about the number of students who work two jobs but have only received paychecks for one since the implementation of UCPath.

Lopez added students who work two jobs did not experience pay issues with the previous payroll system.

UCPath and CRU representatives said they were interested in hosting future information sessions, but stated they have yet to schedule another one. The UC Office of the President said in an email statement that additional staff and resources for troubleshooting UCPath issues will remain available at UCLA until the end of the academic year.

Submission: Lawsuit against the UC is about advocating for data transparency

A few weeks ago, the Asian American Community Services Center and I filed a petition in state court, seeking an order that the University of California disclose anonymized data on undergraduate applicants and students at the University’s nine undergraduate campuses, starting with the admissions cycle of 2007 and continuing to the present.

The UC Office of the President had disclosed to us an almost identical database 10 years ago covering the admissions cycles from 1992 through 2006 – data that has proven invaluable to many scholars studying higher education. Much of this research documents benefits resulting from race neutrality at the UC mandated by Proposition 209 since 1998.

But internal UC reports indicate the University has reinstituted preferences and discrimination in admissions. We want to assess how widespread this might be, and what its effects have been .

The Daily Bruin published an opinion column by Arthur Wang on Nov. 28 discussing my suit. While Wang seemed genuinely torn on the pros and cons of greater transparency, he had no doubts that my concerns that large admissions preferences could hurt minority students – often known as the “mismatch” issue – were bogus. Almost everything he argued or implied about the mismatch issue misrepresents me and the meaning of my work. I try to correct the most serious of these errors in this piece.

Wang implies in his argument that I and other mismatch scholars believe students who receive large admissions preferences do not and cannot succeed. This is an unsubtle effort to portray me as a bigot who believes that some students – or even categories of students – are inherently unable to cut the mustard. It’s thoroughly false. My whole interest in higher education research originated in the 1990s, when I did pioneering research on academic support programs at UCLA specifically aimed at helping struggling students succeed. Derek Bok, a longtime president of Harvard, described my work as a seminal contribution to the field of academic support.

My writing about affirmative action and mismatch regularly emphasizes that individual outcomes can’t be predicted. In the opening pages of “Mismatch,” Stuart Taylor Jr. and I write, “We cannot reiterate too often: The vast majority of students who are admitted with large racial preferences are talented people who are well-equipped to succeed in higher education. The issue we examine is … which college environment will best promote their success. ”

Wang goes on to argue that my claims that mismatch could affect UC undergraduates are wild extrapolations from my research on law schools. This is untrue. Using the data that I helped obtain from UCOP 10 years ago, many labor economists have studied the impact of Proposition 209 on undergraduate achievement at the UC; their findings have been published in peer-reviewed journals. While peer review does not guarantee accuracy, it tends to mean that results have survived some careful vetting and been deemed a significant contribution. In 2014, the IZA Journal of Labor Economics published a paper titled “Affirmative action and university fit: evidence from Proposition 209 ” which found that “Prop 209 led to a more efficient sorting of minority students, explaining 18% of the graduation rate increase in our preferred specification.” It goes on to state, “Further, there appears to have been behavioral responses to Prop 209, by universities and/or students, that explain between 23% and 64% of the graduation rate increase.”

In 2016, the American Economic Review – one of the top journals in all of social science – published a paper titled “University Differences in the Graduation of Minorities in STEM Fields: Evidence from California.” According to the abstract, this paper examined “differences in minority science student graduation rates among University of California campuses when racial preferences were in place.” Its authors wrote, “We find less-prepared minority students at top-ranked campuses would have higher science graduation rates had they attended lower-ranked campuses. Better matching of science students to universities by preparation and providing information about students’ prospects in different major-university combinations could increase minority science graduation.” One of the authors was the former chair of UCLA’s economics department.

Wang contends that Proposition 209 produced “precipitous” declines in UC minority enrollment, partly “mitigated” by admissions changes starting in 2001. In reality, the number of UC freshmen from underrepresented minority groups was already higher in 2000 than it had been in 1997, the year before Proposition 209 went into action. The number of underrepresented minority groups graduating from the UC – arguably a much more important measure – went up immediately upon the proposition’s implementation.

Wang also maligns my work on law school mismatch as discredited and untenable. His sources include Richard Lempert, a professor of law emeritus, and William Kidder, an administrator at Sonoma State University. Lempert and Kidder have made an avocation of attacking mismatch research, but so far as I know, none of their critiques have made it into peer-reviewed social science journals. Early on in the debate, they withdrew a number of claims after I showed them to be factually untrue. These days, they just ignore refutation. But consider: There are now six peer-reviewed articles, by a variety of respected scholars finding strong evidence of law school mismatch, versus none which find it “untenable.”

The petition for data from the UCOP put forth by me and the Asian American Community Services Center raises important issues about whether the university is treating Asian-Americans fairly, about transparency and about the wisdom and efficacy of Proposition 209. I very much welcome a serious debate about these issues, and I hope the Daily Bruin will sponsor such an event.

But given the emotions that surround many racial issues, it is particularly important to pay attention to facts, avoid ad hominem attacks and be civil and measured in our discourse.

Sander is a professor of law at the UCLA School of Law.

USAC recap – fall 2018

Claire Fieldman, president:

Platforms:

Fieldman promised to reform sexual violence prevention training for incoming, new and returning students. She promised to increase transparency of the administration’s emergency decision-making and enhance emergency preparedness trainings. She also promised to build a women’s leadership network of students, faculty and alumni.

Quarter recap:

Fieldman’s office will submit its proposal for changes to Greek life Title IX training by the end of quarter, advocating for smaller and more peer-driven sessions.
Her office filled all presidential appointments before the end of fall quarter for the first time since 2015.

Robert Blake Watson, internal vice president:

Platforms:

Watson promised to establish a Good Clothes Good People Redistribution Center to provide students with free clothes and hygiene products. He promised to connect student organizations with Undergraduate Students Associate Council funding opportunities. He also promised to host monthly teach-ins between students and administrators on various forms of hate speech that occur at UCLA.

Quarter recap:

Watson’s office established the first redistribution center in the University of California in mid-October. He said the space has facilitated other efforts, including care package collection.
His office revived the Campus Safety Alliance, a coalition meant to address student safety, after years of inactivity.
His office released applications for a Respect, Accountability, Integrity, Service and Excellence scholarship, which is meant to reward scholarship funds to students who have helped other students in need.
His office will host food trucks for finals week.
His office successfully lobbied for art supply storage space on the Hill.

Jamie Kennerk, external vice president:

Platforms:

Kennerk promised to protect undocumented students, fight the federal immigration agenda, advocate for LGBTQ legislation, and prevent rollbacks of current sexual assault protections. She also promised to promote voter engagement with quarterly events and voter registration drives. She also promised to protect and lobby for financial aid and state funding for the UC.

Quarter recap:

Her office, along with the BruinsVOTE! Campaign, increased voter registration at UCLA by five times 2014 totals. Her office also held get-out-the-vote events on election day. Kennerk also chaired the UC Student Association’s UCweVote campaign, which secured $19,000 in funding to promote student voting through methods such as establishing a systemwide text reminder to vote.
Her office hosted a UCLA budget panel and town hall Wednesday.
Kennerk’s office had five meetings with federal legislators and eight meetings with state legislators this quarter.
Her office convinced UC President Janet Napolitano to revisit heteronormative language in new systemwide Title IX updates. Her office also successfully lobbied Rep. Adam Schiff to sign a letter opposing new Title IX policy revisions.
Her office led undergraduate involvement in advocacy when UCPath, the new systemwide payroll system, left some students without pay for weeks.
Her office distributed pamphlets explaining current gun laws and LGBTQ protections.
Her office fundraised $1,000 in two days for Jaime Lopez. Lopez, the father of a UCLA student, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early November.
Her office successfully advocated for a state bill to create an oversight system for the repatriation of native remains.

Nidirah Stephens, Academic Affairs commissioner:

Platforms:

Stephens promised to raise $30,000 in scholarships for students. She promised to increase the number of BruinCasted courses and free iClickers available to students. She also promised to create a space for students to meet with counselors before each enrollment period to help students plan their courses. She also promised to monitor the use of petition-to-enroll numbers given by professors. She also promised to utilize the operational funds within the commission to give textbook scholarships to 100 students each quarter.

Quarter recap:

Stephens’ office purchased new iClickers and access codes for students to use.
Her office held a counseling event before course enrollment for roughly 50 students.

Jay Manzano, Financial Supports commissioner:

Platforms:

Manzano promised to create a scholarship to subsidize professional clothing for students in need. He promised to secure funds to alleviate the cost of textbooks. He also promised to develop a series of workshops that address vocational skills and to push the BruinCard Office to adopt an incremental fee for lost BruinCards. He also promised to put pressure on the University to return nonrefundable deposits and fees to students when there is no guarantee a service will be provided, such as the study abroad deposit. He also promised to advocate for the affordability and funding of higher education in the state.

Quarter recap:

Manzano’s office set up a crowdfunding campaign for Attire for Hire, which plans to provide free professional clothing to students from Feb. 13 to March 14.
His office secured $6,500 to expand its loaner libraries for iClickers, calculators and lab coats. He added his office has also held donation drives to collect lab coats.
Manzano successfully advocated for the council to amend FSC bylaws to prioritize financial insecurity.
His office also co-hosted a financial literacy workshop Nov. 11, which addressed topics including social capital, financial capital and educational capital.

Julia Ho-Gonzalez, Facilities commissioner:

Platforms:

Ho-Gonzalez promised to host weekly office hours on Bruin Walk and to facilitate town halls. She promised to institutionalize student-centered advocacy to repurpose, reconstruct and reallocate space to better fit the needs of diverse student experiences. She also promised to promote sustainable food storage practices around campus. She also promised to restructure student services to foster a reuse culture on campus.

Quarter recap:

Ho-Gonzalez’s office has held weekly office hours on BruinWalk.

Her office hosted a town hall for students with disabilities to voice questions and concerns to administrators and legal professionals.

Ayesha Haleem, general representative 1:

Platforms:

Haleem promised to host dialogue series, facilitated by members of the community. She promised to facilitate weekly conversations at Kerckhoff Hall to foster student connections with administrators. She also promised to advocate for the creation of an international student resource center, a Dashew Center advisory board and an international student scholarship database. She also promised to create institutional support for students who aren’t traditionally involved in USAC.

Quarter recap:

Haleem’s office has held two Konversations at Kerck events, in which students can ask administrators questions.
Her office held a conversation cafe for International Education Week through which international students discussed their experiences. Her office also held a South Asian Picnic event.
Her office has also launched an application for student-initiated project submissions.
Her office worked with UCLA Housing to ensure students staying on campus over winter break would have access to housing.
Her office set up quarterly meetings with the Dashew Center to assess international student health and wellness.

Bella Martin, general representative 2:

Platforms:

Martin promised to advocate for professors to disclose and justify course costs during enrollment. She also promised to advocate for a bike lane in Westwood. She also promised to create short videos explaining how USAC works in multiple languages.

Quarter recap:

Martin’s office released a survey on textbook costs.
Her office also met with the North Westwood Neighborhood Council about implementing bike lanes in Westwood.

Eduardo Solis, general representative 3:

Platforms:

Solis promised to include the National Suicide Prevention Hotline phone number on BruinCards. He promised to showcase the various stories of UCLA students who have used Counseling and Psychological Services to demonstrate the necessity of allocating more funds to CAPS. He also promised to put pressure on the UC Office of the President to renew the funds given to the Undocumented Student Program. He also promised to bring nonprofit organizations to campus to offer legal advice to the immigrant community. He also promised to expand the food closet and offer a larger variety of food to students in need.

Quarter recap:

Solis’ office met with the BruinCard Office, wrote a community letter and petitioned to get the suicide prevention hotline number printed on the back of BruinCards.
His office fundraised and collected donations for Cosecha, a nonprofit organization which provides resources to migrants waiting to enter the United States at the U.S.-Mexico border.
His office also held a photoshoot campaign on BruinWalk to show solidarity for undocumented Americans.
His office also organized a phone banking event to address the family separation crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

George Louis Faour, Student Wellness commissioner:

Platforms:

Faour promised to hold events during the National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week and work to remove the stigma associated with conversations on alcohol and drug abuse. He promised to create a space dedicated to provide easy access to mobility aid, such as crutches and standard wheelchairs. He also promised to perform a needs assessment of UCLA buildings for accessibility by surveying students. He also promised to expand co-programming efforts.

Quarter recap:

Faour’s office now provides free menstrual hygiene products to students on the Hill.
His office booked space and is currently planning events for National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week.
His office met with the Ashe Center to organize a system to provide free crutches and wheelchairs.
His office released a survey to assess student needs.
His office also partnered with the UCLA School of Dentistry to provide free dental screenings and hygiene products at oral health fairs.

Alley Madison, Campus Events commissioner:

Platforms:

Madison promised to make events more accessible by varying the timing of events. She promised to direct the commission to feature events driven by women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community and other underrepresented groups. She also promised to create an online polling tool so students can voice which events they would like to see brought to campus.

Quarter recap:

Madison’s office hosted Bruin Bash. Madison noted her office worked to address accessibility concerns and to ensure the event would feature a female headliner.

Her office released a survey aimed at students with disabilities to find out what measures would help them participate in CEC events.
Her office hosted actress Kate Hudson and fashion designer Michael Kors at a panel about the United Nations World Food Program.
Her office has held several film screenings, including sneak previews.

Sarena Khasawneh, Cultural Affairs commissioner:

Platforms:

Khasawneh promised to create an initiative that would allow any student to gain the funds, knowledge and platform to host an event on campus. She promised to hold a fair of ethical companies to address social justice issues. She also promised to create a database that would combat gentrification in Los Angeles by highlighting coupons from businesses owned by people of color.

Quarter recap:

Khasawneh’s office increased student involvement in the Diverse City Tours program.
Her office met with businesses run by people of color in Downtown Los Angeles to determine how the office should support these businesses.
Her office also hosted several concerts for students.

Jessica Kim, transfer student representative:

Platforms:

Kim promised to advocate for reducing appointed leadership positions from two-year to one-year terms so transfer students can apply. She promised to create more informational sessions and community-building events for transfers. She also promised to advocate to allocate university apartment space for transfers.

Quarter recap:

Kim’s office hosted a hygiene products drive for homeless veterans.
Kim said her office built up its social media presence and organized staff to build up the office, which was established four years ago.

Bethanie Sonola, Community Service commissioner:

Platforms:

Sonola promised to increase resources available to all UCLA service organizations. She also promised to support UCLA service organizations in improving risk management and/or safety practices.

Quarter recap:

Sonola’s office piloted the Wednesday of Odd Weeks program, in which CSC hosts office hours on the Wednesday of every odd-numbered week.
Her office allocated roughly $8,000 to CSC and non-CSC student groups from the supplemental fund for service.
Her office also restructured the CSC fellowship program to include an educational component, through which fellows learn about CSC generally and the importance of service.

UC must prioritize modern values when naming buildings after historical figures

Benefactors may be nice, but they will come back to haunt you. Or at least their political ambitions will.

The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law was recently trapped in controversy when it announced its intention to eliminate the name “Boalt” from a building, several alumni groups and about 120 other university institutions.

John Boalt, these institutions’ namesake, is known for actively supporting the Chinese Exclusion Act – the first law barring the immigration of one specific ethnic group into the United States. In his speech “The Chinese Question,” Boalt made the egregious claim that Chinese immigrants were incapable of assimilating into American society.

In 2017, UC Berkeley assembled a committee to investigate use of the name “Boalt” on campus. The choice before UC Berkeley sparked national controversy: Should it erase the name or honor its history, no matter the darkness?

This controversial choice is not exclusive to UC Berkeley. Schools and cities across the country have had to contend with the history behind their monuments. As time passes, values change and the ideals of icons from previous eras often fail to mesh with modern society. Disagreement over which names get to stay and which ones are removed is divisive.

If universities want to maintain a reputation as evolving institutions, they must have systems in place to address controversy, alter their infrastructure and deal with the aftermath respectfully. UCLA should take advantage of its current lack of contention and jump at the chance to establish clear systems that could help deal with controversy in the future – especially given donors frequently pay big money to have their names plastered on campus institutions.

Min Zhou, a sociology and Asian American studies professor, said historical symbols can intensify controversy and its impact on people.

“History creates symbolism and symbolism has an impact on people. You have to gauge the impact that symbol would have on the present day society,” she said. “A symbol is very powerful. If it negatively impacts the society, you should consider making a change.”

While the original sentiments of Boalt only applied to Chinese immigrants, the theme of excluding minorities can impact a much broader student population and make them feel unwelcome.

Stephen Aron, a history professor, said context matters a great deal and we need to try understanding people’s actions in the context of their own worlds.

“As historians, we are trying to remember people from our own eyes but in their own worlds with their own values,” he said. “What (Boalt) said has to be understood in the context of the time, not to excuse or apologize for it.”

Eliminating Boalt’s name from the school of law was necessary because of how contrary his views were to UC Berkeley’s value of diversity. But that doesn’t mean it was an easy change to make. At a school where alumni endearingly call themselves “Boalties,” it is important to explain to later generations the significance of the name and why people chose to change it. The name of a hall or alumni group does not define a school, but choosing not to change the name following allegations of benefactors’ darker characters does.

Aron said UCLA has managed to avoid this sort of controversy due to its age. But that won’t always be the case.

“UCLA is fortunate to be a younger university because it is not named for such distant people – so some of the problems are avoided,” he said. “UCLA will have its days of reckoning in its days to come.”

Crafting an explicit set of procedures to address the relationship between benefactor history and social progress could help avoid this. To prevent becoming trite, UCLA’s procedures should utilize student voices and faculty input. This would ensure the university’s values remain progressive as the years tick by.

“I think it’s important for UCLA to foster a community where all students feel welcome,” said Daniel Tadeo, a second-year linguistics and neuroscience student. “Even if that means removing the name of a wealthy benefactor from a building.”

Universities are designed to foster students’ ideas and intellect. In order to achieve this, a school cannot let an umbrella of hate linger over itself and bring down its campus community. By standardizing a procedure for redesignating institutions named after controversial historical icons, universities can redefine how we as a society deal with contentious names and figures.

“I think by examining the degree and the social impact controversy brings, we can make logical decisions on how to move forward,” said Tiger Zhong, a second-year English student. “This is especially true for institutions that guide the next generation of leaders.”

Of course, donors pay a lot to get their names on buildings, and it might seem that universities like UCLA would be insulting these benefactors if they took down their names after the fact. But universities shouldn’t be afraid to hold donors to their campus values and to our ever-changing social infrastructure. After all, Boalt preached a message of exclusivity. While the policies he supported no longer exist, the essence of his arguments continue to divide people and shouldn’t be supported in today’s age.

UC Berkeley made the right decision to eliminate the name “Boalt” from its campus. What it does next, enlighten or erase, will define it as an institution.

UCLA should take note.

Q&A: Designer shares inspiration behind innovative costume designs for ‘Holiday Sauce’

Two green pig heads complete an outfit in “Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce.” Accompanied by severed elf fingers, the attire’s goal is to showcase the negative aspects of the holidays in the show.

Hosted by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, the traveling show will take place in Royce Hall on Friday and Saturday. With the aim to analyze the good and bad aspects of the celebratory winter season, performance artist Taylor Mac asked designer Machine Dazzle to create outfits for the show. The outcome was two pieces featuring holiday-themed colors and iconography, including a traditional roasted pig dinner, which will be on display in the Los Angeles performances of the comedic concert.

Dazzle, who also designed the set, said the show and its visuals play with the holiday duality of naughty and nice. Dazzle spoke to the Daily Bruin’s Eli Countryman about his designs and the inspirations behind them.

Daily Bruin: Could you describe “Holiday Sauce?”

Machine Dazzle: “Holiday Sauce” is a tribute to everything we love and hate about the holidays. We talk about close relationships, we talk about real, real family, who you really want to spend the holidays with and what they really are. The difference between the winter solstice and a commercialized holiday. What are people really celebrating?

DB: As the designer for “Holiday Sauce,” do you have a signature style throughout all of your work?

MD: Yes. I only know that because of people asking me “Oh, you made that, didn’t you?” And I’m like, “Yes.” I guess I do have a signature style, although it’s not like I have any one thing that’s in every piece of art that I’ve ever made. Yes, I have a signature style, but that’s in the eye of the beholder. … The costumes have stories, and that’s what I’ve done.

DB: Could you share any stories behind the costumes for “Holiday Sauce?”

MD: Taylor has two costumes and the first one is naughty and the second one is nice. The naughty costume is sassy and has severed fingers and naughty little elf hands that are reaching for something they’re not supposed to have, necessarily. There’s a consequence – it’s a little grotesque. He’s wearing two severed pig heads with apples in their mouths on his shoulders. (The pig heads) are green and there are severed fingers because they were chopped off because they were so naughty, like, “You can’t always get what you want.” The second one is just nice and whimsical and cheerful and joyful. I like to use the traditional holiday colors but not in traditional (ways).

DB: How did you incorporate the traditional holiday colors in a nontraditional way?

MD: I used them specifically. I don’t know that I would use them in the same way any other time of year. I like using the traditional holiday colors in a grotesque way. It’s not a green tree with a red bow – it’s a green pig head with a red apple in it. And it’s severed and there’s blood. There are severed fingers.

DB: Was there a difference in the method you chose to design for the background performers on stage as opposed to Mac?

MD: The LA show is going to be a little different from other shows, every show is a little different. There are other musicians on stage, and they’re presenting themselves in a holiday fashion. I do think Los Angeles is getting a choir, and I chose to put them in ugly, inappropriate Christmas sweaters because it’s funny. I love humor.