USAC representatives assess performance

By Sarah Lazur and Scott B.
Wong
Daily Bruin Staff Midway through the academic year, The Bruin
asked members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council to
assess their roles as student representatives. They candidly shared
the ups and downs of their tenure and their hopes for the remainder
of the year.

General Representatives

  Elisa Sequeria

The role of the general representatives, according to USAC
bylaws, is to represent the collective interests of the student
body, maintain communication with USAC sponsored groups and the
On-Campus Housing Council and inform student advocacy groups of
legislation specifically pertaining to these groups. “Our job
is pretty loosely stated,” said Elisa Sequeira, a fourth-year
political science student and one of the general representatives.
“There are no set things we have to do besides provide
general programming which might enrich the campus.”
Sequeira’s goal is to bring cultural awareness to students by
having USAC host dorm chats about diversity issues. Last quarter,
Sequeira helped plan Art for Social Change, where a group of kids
performed and talked about art as an alternative way to
education.

  Cheryl Marie Lott

Cheryl Marie Lott, another general representative, has worked
closely with administrators on a task committee to draft a
university hate crimes policy, a mission she promised to work on
during her campaign in the spring. It was realized last month. The
move for an official hate crimes policy began last year after UCLA
experienced a string of hate-motivated physical assaults and
vandalism. Lott, a fifth-year political science, African American
studies and Chicana/o studies student, plans to take her stance
further by creating a hate crimes awareness Web site, which would
allow students to report incidents online. “We’re still
working with the committee to hopefully set up a Web site like the
one that they have at UC Santa Barbara or Santa Cruz,” Lott
said.

  Ryan Bulatao

Third-year civil engineering student Ryan Bulatao, the third
general representative, sees his position as a liaison between
students and administrators. When campaigning last year, he said he
wanted interactive forums for students from different backgrounds.
“I think my goal has been met in a different way than I
expected,” Bulatao said. “Students from all types
of backgrounds have come together to work on one issue with the
Affirmative Action Coalition.” AAC, comprised of the Asian
Pacific Coalition, Samahang Pilipino, MEChA, African Student Union
and Raza Women, works to demand the repeal of SP-1 and SP-2. SP-1
and SP-2 are 1995 initiatives set by the UC Board of Regents to end
the use of affirmative action in university admissions and hiring
practices. The general representatives learned last quarter that
not every idea gets realized and planning isn’t easy. Both
Bulatao and Sequeira wanted to put on quarterly fairs similar to
those held during Welcome Week, but found it difficult contacting
all the student groups. “The fairs that I wanted to organize
are still a priority, but I realize that it’s a little more
difficult than I expected it to be,” Sequeira said.

Jared Seltzer

Campus Events Commissioner When campaigning for
Campus Events Commissioner last May, third-year film and television
student Jared Seltzer said, “I don’t pretend to have
any political or ideological aspirations.” This sums up
Seltzer’s approach to his office’s role in USAC.
“I didn’t join Campus Events Commission to affect
policy at UCLA or outside UCLA, which is what student government
often tries to achieve,” Seltzer said. “Campus
Events isn’t a bunch of ASB people just looking for the next
step after high school.” The CEC books campus entertainment,
such as films in Ackerman Union and MacGowan Hall, celebrity
visitors and touring acts. Seltzer considers the record number of
advance movie screenings ““ 14 in all ““ his biggest
achievement. “I’ve been involved in Campus Events for
four years now and in USAC for two, and I don’t remember a
better fall quarter ever,” he said. But along with this
success came some unexpected repercussions. “Nobody’s
coming to our $2 movies anymore because they think movies should be
free,” Seltzer said. “We’ve been so successful
that it’s come back to haunt us.” The CEC also
co-sponsors events with its sister office, the Cultural Affairs
Commission, with the most recent being a Chinese acrobat show. The
CEC’s goals for the rest of the year include a bigger concert
lineup. “We’re really trying to get back in the concert
business and we’re working with the sponsors to get larger,
more expensive bands to put on larger shows at UCLA,” Selzter
said.

Marselle Washington

Cultural Affairs Commissioner Cultural Affairs
provides cultural programs, including jazz/reggae festivals and
poetry, art and concert series. “We do a lot of concerts and
art gallery programs and we mix it up with student work and local
artists,” said Marselle Washington, who is serving his second
term as cultural affairs commissioner. In the fall, the CAC invited
high school students to showcase their work in the Kerckhoff Art
Gallery. Due to budget constraints, the CAC does not have new
programs planned for this year. “Putting on a concert today
is twice as expensive as it was four years ago so it’s
difficult even to keep up with what we’ve done in the
past,” Washington said. Washington, an African American
studies and sociology student, campaigned last year under the
platform of wishing to lower facilities costs for events. “I
don’t know if it’s going to change this year,”
Washington said. “If everything works out the way the
chancellor is suggesting, then next year (organizations)
won’t have to spend half the budget on security.”
Washington is also pushing for a diversity requirement.
“Hopefully at the end of this quarter we’ll have
something together to present to the university,” he
said.

Steve Davey

Facilities Commissioner Though in his second
term as facilities commissioner, Steve Davey said he still has
plenty of time and much to do at UCLA. A third-year political
science student, Davey said he may run for president of next
year’s council. “(The presidency) would be the
culmination of three solid years of USAC involvement,” he
said. Davey said he sees himself as a link between students and
administrators on matters of parking, campus safety, facilities,
housing, accessibility and student quality of life issues. Given
the recent sexual assaults on campus, Davey said he’s
primarily concerned with improving safety. “Night lighting is
a top priority at my office,” he said. “We’re
trying to identify places on campus that are dark.” Since his
first term in office, Davey has expanded and improved on-campus
study space, keeping the College Library and parts of Ackerman
Student Union open for 24 hours during finals weeks. This year, he
worked to ensure the university’s mitigation efforts do not
leave behind students, he said. “I’m a voice for
student groups that will be displaced because of seismic
retrofitting,” he said. “I want to make sure no one
gets treated unfairly when it comes to construction.”
According to Davey, construction will disrupt many campus
facilities like the Men’s Gym and the John Wooden Center.
Although the student voice for campus facilities issues, Davey was
recorded as being absent in seven out of 11 meetings from June 9 to
Sept. 26, according to minutes taken from USAC meetings. This is
the most any council members missed, according to the minutes. USAC
bylaws state that if a council member misses more than one-third of
the roughly 10 meetings per academic quarter, they will forfeit one
stipend check per meeting beyond the one-third limit. Davey denied
the allegations and said he was surprised to hear about the
attendance. “The records are inaccurate,” he said.
“No one’s ever raised an issue about my attendance at
council meetings.” “If I was to miss that many
meetings, I would resign from my office,” he said. Although
his position as facilities commissioner is considered by some as
apolitical, Davey said his purpose on council is to say
what’s on his mind and to voice students’ concerns.
“If that involves being political, then I’ll be
political,” he said. Oftentimes the only council member
dissenting from the Praxis majority vote, Davey said it’s
tough not giving in to peer pressure. Praxis is the political slate
that includes the African Student Union, Samahang Pilipino and Raza
Women. But Davey said it all comes down to what he thinks is right.
“I’m the minority voice here,” he said. “I
don’t agree with the Praxis agenda, and that’s
good.”