York Chang speaks out

York Chang speaks out

Undergraduate president uses vision to lead students against
affirmative action cut, fee hikes with vision commitment and
commitment

By Brooke Olson

Daily Bruin Contributor

With his baggy pants, ripped T-shirt and laid-back manner,
undergraduate President York Chang hardly fills the stereotypical
image of a politician.

In fact, his appearance does nothing to suggest he holds the
most powerful and influential office of undergraduate life. But
underneath the calm exterior lies a man whom some council members
describe as a visionary controlled by his passion and commitment to
his beliefs.

"York is very passionate, very visionary," said John Du, the
council’s external vice president. "He has a pretty solid vision of
where our society needs to go."

But according to others in student government, this same passion
often gets out of hand, leading to conflicts among council
members.

"I admire him for standing up for what he believes in, however,
I do not agree with his tactics," said Stanley Yen, the council’s
financial supports commissioner. "Using (council’s) money to
support his ideals is wrong."

Chang’s ideals are simple, and his goals this year focus mainly
on affirmative action and fee hikes. No doubt, Chang said, the
issue which concerns him the most is affirmative action. His arrest
for blocking the intersection of Westwood and Wilshire Boulevards
during an Oct. 12 protest only serves to exemplify his
commitment.

"We can’t have diversity and access to education for under
represented populations without affirmative action," Chang
said.

"I think hard work can only take the under represented
populations so far because there are institutional restrictions on
minorities," he added.

Affirmative action, he said, will give everyone the right to an
education. However, if the UC system is only for those who have
high grade point averages and standardized test scores, Chang said,
then the state legislature is breaking their promise to provide
accessible higher education to everyone.

"I believe everyone is innately prepared for higher education
and that we are all intelligent human beings," Chang said.

"However, if we create circumstances that for a large part shut
out a part of the population simply because they don’t score well
on a standardized test … which, incidentally, I believe is a
biased test, then we are creating institutional racism" Chang
added.

Yet students said the furor over affirmative action appears to
have cooled, and some wonder why Chang continues to support an
issue whose fate already seems decided.

"The regents have already decided that they’re not going to
continue with affirmative action and I think (Chang) should focus
on something that isn’t so dead," said Janice Bauldwin, a
fourth-year biology student.

But, Chang countered that neither the issue nor the controversy
surrounding the policy is dead yet.

"Obviously that’s not true because if it was, then the regents
wouldn’t still be debating the issue," he said. "Everyone must
continue the vigilance on affirmative action and the council and I
are doing our best to work on the issues that affect all of
us."

Some students, however, questioned Chang’s persistence that he
represents the undergraduate population.

"I don’t support affirmative action," said Gabriel Howards, a
third-year geology student. "Yet, he feels it’s appropriate to use
my student fees to pay for his cause."

Chang, though, argued that he was elected because of his
principles which included his stance on affirmative action. He
wants to avoid the stigma of the typical politician; instead, he
insists on living up to his campaign promises.

He attributed the current silence of the council and activist
groups stance on affirmative action to a lack of both resources and
time on the students’ part.

But, he added, the burden doesn’t fall on students alone. The
university, as a whole, needs to put forth the money and the effort
to reinstate affirmative action. Not only should the faculty
announce their support for the policy, Chang said, but they should
also substantiate their position through demonstration.

However, the university has been held back too, Chang added, in
part due to the regent’s stance on affirmative action. In addition,
he said, most of the regents, including Ward Connerly, are
hypocrites because they seem to constantly change their position on
affirmative action.

Connerly, in particular, presents so many discrepancies in his
speeches that it is impossible to trust the man, Chang said.

"(Connerly) is obviously confused about his own identity and
politics; he’s very intelligent and smooth-spoken," Chang said.
"But, on one hand he’ll say ‘I don’t want to eliminate affirmative
action’ and then sometimes he’ll say a ‘Diverse education is not
necessarily a better education.’"

As evidence, Chang cited the 1994 Registration issue of the
Daily Bruin, in which Connerly said students need to organize and
be more effective in political action. Despite this statement,
Chang said, Connerly attempts to stop students from protesting by
making verbal threats.

"I value the role and the rights of the students to get
involved," Connerly said. "(But) some of the (student)
demonstrations almost amount to temper tantrums."

But, Chang said, it is Connerly who seems to throw the temper
tantrums. Last summer the regent attempted to stop him from
protesting the end of affirmative action.

"He said that if I didn’t back off (affirmative action) and let
him do what he needed to do then he would support fee hikes," Chang
said. "He threw a plate at me at one of the meetings … well, not
actually threw, but just kinda tossed it at me and yelled at
me."

Despite the incident, Chang refused to reverse his position on
affirmative action. Six months later, Chang still supports the
policy and Connerly indeed argued for student fee increases.

Fee hikes are another concern for Chang, who views the proposed
increases as an attempt to privatize the university.

Although institutional support for fee increases exist, Chang
said the undergraduate government was and still is extremely
successful in keeping fees from being raised. Through rallies,
postcard and phone-in campaigns to the California legislature, the
council has been successful in keeping fee increases from
occurring, he said.

"Basically, the council and the students have just been bugging
the hell out of everybody about this issue," Chang said. "Student
fee hikes aren’t where anyone should be because look at how the
university prioritizes the funds that it does get – does it go
straight towards providing financial aid? No, it doesn’t. The
university’s priorities are completely skewed."

As evidence of exactly how misplaced the university’s priorities
are, Chang cited the Master Plan of Education. The plan maps out
the growth of California’s public universities, including
funding.When the plan was established, the state legislature
promised that students would not have to pay tuition, only
registration and student union fees are required.

But those fees have risen so high that some say students
essentially are paying tuition.

"Over the years, the legislatures have kept slipping things in
until you finally are paying for tuition – even though they don’t
call it that," Chang said.

Traditionally, California public universities have been
considered among the greatest bargains in higher education. Chang,
however, in response to the end of affirmative action and the
escalating costs in registration fees, calls the university the
"biggest promise breaker in education."

Whether it be raising fees or ending affirmative action, he
added, the universities have done nothing but prove themselves to
be just as hypocritical as the regents.

But his biggest complaint is what he considers the university’s
failure to teach students critical thought.

Many of the classes, Chang said, simply require students to
memorize facts and spit them back during exams. But, he added, this
process of reiteration is not just the professor’s fault.

"It’s really difficult to teach critical thought to a class of
500 … but it goes both ways too, students just don’t want to
learn that way," he said. "Students want multiple choice tests and
true/false exams. They’re so tired of dealing with things in their
everyday life that it’s just come down to: What’s my grade?"

It is important for both the university and the student to
challenge the issue of education, he said. Otherwise, colleges
could do away with professors and simply hand out lecture notes to
the students.

Chang said that although the university has failed to be
affordable, accessible and educational, this dire state of
education can be changed through grass-roots organizing.

"Our strength is in our numbers, which intimidates the
bureaucrats," he said. "It doesn’t come from the name on my office
– it comes from backing up a powerful, rational argument.

"I’m not here to get the administration to like me – I’m here to
get them to respect and listen to the students ideas," he
added.

Some fellow undergraduate council members said Chang has not
only been committed to following his ideals, but he has also been
effective in acting on these issues.

"York is committed to access in education," said Barbara Brazil,
the council’s internal vice president. "He has supported and
created the book-lending program and led rallies supporting
affirmative action."

Although they agreed Chang has been effective in taking action,
other council members disagreed with his methods; in particular,
his arrest on Oct. 12.

"I didn’t agree with how he planned to be arrested – pre-planned
arrests are uncalled for. He represents everyone at UCLA, but not
everyone supports affirmative action. (He was) speaking for what he
thought was right, but I think he went to far," Yen said.

But others explained that it is Chang’s passion for his ideas
which drives him to such drastic measures.

"His passion engrosses him, he lives, eats and breathes what he
does," Du said. "He’s not God, he has his faults (such as) getting
too passionate at times. But, that is what makes him the most
effective president the council has seen in the last few years.

"He doesn’t just talk about the issues," Du added, "he goes out
and does something about it."

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

York Chang speaks to students at a rally.

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