Council members clash in appointment process

By Melody Wang

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Undergraduate Students Association Council has appointed the
Budget Review Director and Finance Committee Chair for the upcoming
year, but members still struggle to appoint one of two
undergraduate representatives to the Associated Students of UCLA
Board of Directors.

The Budget Review Director is responsible for allocating set
funds to various student groups at the beginning of the year, while
the Finance Committee Chair allocates funds for specific events
throughout the year. ASUCLA’s board of directors makes
financial decisions involving the association.

The council appointed Marykay Tsuji, a fifth-year political
science and East Asian studies student, and Janet Quindara, a
third-year undeclared student, to the offices of Budget Review
Director and Finance Committee Chair, respectively.

Council members unanimously appointed Phyllis Feng, a fifth-year
American Literature and Culture and Asian American studies student,
as one of the ASUCLA Board representatives, but the council could
not agree on who to appoint as the second representative.

“(Feng’s) interview was fabulous,” said USAC
President Elizabeth Houston. “She just blew everyone
away.”

The USAC president is the only council member who can nominate
applicants to be voted on by other council members. The applicant
must receive a majority vote from the council to be appointed.

The president is advised by the Appointments Review Committee,
which is headed by Internal Vice President Elias Enciso and
consists of General Representative Ryan Bulatao and Facilities
Commissioner Steve Davey.

At the June 9 USAC meeting, Houston nominated Joseph Manko, a
fourth-year political science and history student for the ASUCLA
board position, but the council voted him down. Manko noted
leadership experience through the Office of Residential Life and
the UCLA Orientation Program on his application.

Houston said she believes a majority of council members did not
vote for Manko because they had already decided they wanted to
appoint Merrick Pascual, a fifth-year public policy and economics
student who is also president of Samahang Pilipino.

“You’re not supposed to vote someone down because
you have someone else in mind,” Houston said.
“It’s not just me who thinks Joe’s qualified. A
lot of other people do too. I was disappointed.”

Houston said she was unimpressed with Pascual during his
interview and felt he could be biased because of his position in
Samahang Pilipino.

Ramzi Ajami, one of Houston’s heads of staff, said it
would be less likely for Manko to be biased because he is not
involved with a Student Advocacy Group.

“(Involvement with a SAG) is a really common thing to be
concerned about,” he said, adding that SAGs are directly
affected by the actions of those appointed.

“Even though you’re involved with a SAG, it
doesn’t mean you won’t get appointed, but if for some
reason the president feels you will be biased, then it’s a
legitimate concern,” Ajami said.

But other council members disagreed and strongly supported
Pascual.

General Representative Elisa Sequeira said she hopes to appoint
Pascual because he has shown both initiative and interest in the
position by talking to current board of directors Vice Chair Kei
Nagao about what it entails.

Sequeira said serving on the ASUCLA Communications Board during
the 1999-2000 school year provided Pascual with the necessary
experience for the ASUCLA position, since the two boards are
closely related.

“I don’t see how the fact that he’s in
Samahang Pilipino makes him biased. I don’t see what he could
be biased about,” Sequeira said.

ASUCLA’s Board of Directors does not make any decisions
that directly affect funding for SAGs. Last year, Cori Shepherd,
president of the African Student Union, was one of the
undergraduate representatives on the board.

Enciso said the council has had difficulty appointing a second
ASUCLA representative because Houston has been indecisive with her
recommendations for which candidates she feels the committee should
interview.

Disagreements over the interpretation of the USAC bylaws arose
between council members during the appointment process.

Enciso said Houston changed her mind about who she wanted to
interview for the positions. He said the day before the interview,
he and Houston agreed to interview two candidates for each
position, but the next day she changed her mind and only wanted to
interview one person for each position.

Enciso said he felt it was too late to cancel some of the
interviews, so ARC interviewed two applicants for each position as
planned.

Houston could not be reached for comment.

Council members questioned whether or not the president was
allowed to forward and then de-forward applicants. Because the
bylaws do not specify if this can be done, Houston interpreted it
so that she could change her mind. But council members overturned
her decision.

Ajami said because this problem had never occurred before, the
Judicial Board and the Constitution Review Committee should now
clarify the bylaws.

“I think from an objective standpoint it was fine, but it
has to be cleared up,” Ajami said.

Enciso said it is important for ARC to interview more than one
person for each position since some people who appear qualified
based on their application turn out to be unqualified during the
interview.

“I explained to Elizabeth that’s why it was so
important to interview more than one person,” Enciso
said.

Sequeira said she wished Houston would nominate more than one
candidate to be voted on by council so that the council would not
be forced to accept Houston’s decision.

“(Houston) pretty much just wants us to rubber-stamp her
decision,” Sequeira said.

Because the council did not approve Manko for the position,
Houston brought Eugene Kuong, a fifth-year psychology and math
student, to the table to be voted on at the June 20 meeting.

Kuong, who has served as president of the Association of Chinese
Americans and as part of the Wooden Center Board of Governors, was
also voted down by the council.

As a compromise, the council decided to send both Manko and
Pascual to the ASUCLA retreat, held June 19-21, to be trained for
the board of directors position.

Houston said she will bring both candidates back to the table on
July 5, and council members will appoint one of them ““ adding
she is confident she knows what the outcome will be.

“Everybody knows what’s going to happen; Joe will
get voted down and Merrick will get voted in,” Houston said.
“This is not a compromise because a compromise (involves) two
people. This is me compromising.”

NEW APPOINTEES FOR VARIOUS STUDENT POSITIONS
Budget Review Director -allocates set funds to the different USAC
offices and student advocacy groups for the school year. -most of
the work is done during the summer and the early fall. Finance
Committee Chair -allocates event funding to different student
groups that request them throughout the school year. ASUCLA Board
of Directors -votes on decisions about the student stores and
restaurants -works with administrators and students to maintain the
financial well-being of ASUCLA SOURCE: ASUCLA Original Graphic by
JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by ROBERT LIU/Daily Bruin
Senior Staff