Editorial board looks to student input to better tailor story coverage

This quarter, the Daily Bruin’s editorial board has written on a variety of issues.

We began by analyzing the finances of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, which had been spending beyond its means and required a loan to stay afloat. We suggested USAC cut down on officer retreats and food while giving more to events that benefit the wider campus community.

We also weighed in on our campus climate in light of a recent hate crime in the North Village and encouraged students to step up and speak out against discrimination.

We criticized this year’s relatively obscure commencement speaker, noting that far more prominent guests are invited to speak at lectures throughout the year. We asked administrators to give students a larger role in selecting their top choices for commencement speaker.

In another editorial, we pointed out inconsistencies in the university’s treatment of the Occupy UCLA campouts. We suggested that the administration be consistent in its treatment of all on-campus events and intervene as little as possible unless the safety of the campus is threatened.

We wrote several editorials examining the financial decisions of the state and University of California, discouraging implementation of a new salary system for faculty that would spend money we don’t have and highlighting the need for continued state funding of childcare centers for UC students with children.

Looking ahead to next quarter, we will provide extensive coverage of the USAC elections in April and May, including official endorsements in May after we interview each candidate for office.

In addition, we will publish a stance on the USAC’s referendum to raise annual student fees by $9 to increase contingency funding for student groups and USAC offices.

We will keep you updated on the state’s financial decisions throughout the spring. Reporting will examine the effects of Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget and proposed tax increase on the UC.

But since this is your student newspaper, we want to hear your opinions, too. If you are interested in these issues or think the editorial board should be covering something we are not, let us know. Email us at [email protected], tweet @dailybruin, post on our Facebook page, or comment on our website.

For those of you who want to get more involved ““ join our staff! We are hiring interns for news writing and blogging, sports writing, photo, radio, design, illustrations and graphics.

Applications are due April 9, and a list of accepted applicants will be posted in Kerckhoff 118 on April 12.

We will host an open house April 5 where you can meet the editors and learn more about each section before you apply.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.