Speaks Out

According to the Supreme Court ruling in University of
Wisconsin v. Southworth, the public universities can only fund
campus groups and activities with student fees so long as this is
done on a content-neutral basis. As a result, the Undergraduate
Student Association Council amended its bylaws last week to extend
eligibility to more groups. What is your opinion on this
issue? Eileen Ilarraza First-year African
American studies and biology “Since I’m part of a student
group, I know we need funding because we’re trying to utilize our
forces to make sure people of color are represented on campus. This
is supposed to be a diverse campus, but where is the diversity at?
They should consider the group’s goal most of all. I’m not
happy at all with the law.” Hector
Ramirez

Third-year

Latin American studies “Groups that reach out to the
community are the ones that need and deserve more funding. Some
groups focus on communities that are underrepresented on campus or
on students from poor backgrounds. Giving them money to continue
helping these students will be beneficial to them and UCLA in the
long run.” Allende Palma Saracho First-year
American literature culture “I’m concerned that along
with sharing money, USAC is thinking of also dividing up office
space. Kerckhoff is crowded as it is. There should be more
restrictions that require groups to outline what they’ll do
if they get money so that they don’t just put on programs
that are off the wall. Besides, it shouldn’t just be
Elizabeth Houston and the council deciding who gets funding. They
may be biased.” Dianne Fields Fourth-year
Sociology “I think that the USAC president should take more
responsibility in researching the groups who do go up for funding
and what they are requesting funding for. The groups who get a lot
of funding are the ones that host programming that’s
important to a lot of students on campus. I think that our
president, in an attempt to be diverse, would recognize
that.” Jeff Beyers First-year Business
economics “I think that the content-neutral idea is good in
principle, but funding a group just because they’re sponsored
makes the process biased. I think that it’s necessary for all
groups, especially small groups and beginning groups, to get an
equal opportunity. But if there’s a large group that the
majority of people think serves a good purpose, then I think
preferential funds are fine.” Kelsey Ahearn
Second-year Psychology “I think that the amendment is good
and it will allow more students to be represented on campus.
Funding should be decided on the size of the group and the amount
of people that take part in it. To be content neutral, they could
conduct a survey to see what groups students are most interested in
and give those groups money first.” Speaks Out compiled by
Cuauhtemoc Ortega, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. Photos by Chris
Backley, Daily Bruin Staff.