Graduate forum makes plans for budget, cabinet appointments

By Laura Rico
Daily Bruin Contributor

The Graduate Students Association met Wednesday to discuss its
recent election, budget for the 2001-02 academic year, the status
of Grad Bar and concerns over the UCLAprofessors.com Web site.

The forum did not have 14 members needed to make quorum, as only
10 voting members were present.

The forum spent most of meeting discussing its budget for the
next academic year, which is to include salaries for 32 stipended
positions. Such positions include GSA cabinet members and
representatives on boards like the student fee advisory committee
and the Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors.

Applications for the 26 positions remaining to be filled are due
May 18 at the GSA central office, and the appointments board will
conduct interviews May 22-23.

“The board will try to make an objective decision that
will benefit the association, and since there are so many empty
spaces and so little time, we encourage everyone who is thinking of
applying to apply,” said GSA President Martin Griffin.

Salaries, determined by the appointments board, range from $700
to $1,000 per quarter.

“Not all positions are on the same level of difficulty,
and it depends on work completed and tasks accomplished,”
said Jerry Mann, student support services and student union
director of ASUCLA.

As a result of a referendum passed April 26 during GSA
elections, the association’s mandatory membership fee will
increase from $5.50 to $7 per quarter, creating a total revenue of
$209,118. Prior to the fee increase, GSA’s revenue from
mandatory fee’s was $164,308.

Though referenda to increase the fee has appeared on past
ballots, this is the first time it can take effect, because
GSA’s constitution requires a minimum 10 percent voter
turnout to recognize referenda approved by voters. This
spring’s election marked the first time in more than a decade
that the association met this requirement, with voter turnout
hitting the 15 percent mark.

Forum members also discussed the Graduate Interaction component
of GSA, which has been allocated $3,000 for the 2001-2002 academic
year. The committee plans and facilitates social events for
graduate students, such as the Grad Bar. Since events can cost up
to $1,300, the committee in charge is negotiating with Assistant
Vice Chancellor of Student and Campus Life Robert Naples to
allocate more funds.

According to Griffin, Grad Bar is a welcome addition for
graduate and professional students social interaction on
campus.

“We hope to operate in a flexible environment next year,
where we can sell food and alcohol and work with UCLA
catering,” he said.

Also during the meeting, Vice President Internal Dorothy Kim
questioned the validity of the UCLAprofessors.com Web site.

“Students take this site seriously as a legitimate form of
evaluation, but there is no way to verify if a student who wrote a
review ever really took the class,” Kim said.

But some forum members said the site accurately reflects
professors’ performance.

“I’ve read some of the reviews and agree with the
students’ evaluations of professors, but I think we can also
trust the judgment of students to decide whether or not the
evaluations are legitimate,” said Jonathan Katz, a
representative of the Math and Physical Science council of GSA.

Griffin noted the disproportionate number of foreign-born
professors with low ratings.

“The list of worst professors seems to be filled with
mostly non-Anglo names,” Griffin said. “UCLA faculty
members with accents that are more Indian sub-continental than
Bakersfield are being designated as ineffectual.”