Association must improve state of the union

Soteros-McNamara is a fourth-year political science student.

By Thomas Soteros-McNamara

To argue the future of Associated Students of UCLA is to know
the fate of UCLA itself. As the community of students has grown and
evolved, so have our needs and services changed. Considering the
precarious position of ASUCLA’s finances, the question that
remains is what the association can do to better suit its customers
without causing self-destruction.

The most common misconception pervading ASUCLA is that a larger
base of products will produce a high revenue. In truth, the
Ackerman facility provides all a Bruin could hope for in regards to
blue-books, magazines, books and UCLA apparel. The attempt to
broaden this base of products has proved disastrous.

Previously the union would stock products that were unavailable
in Westwood like groceries, clothing, computer equipment and even a
Clinique counter. However, the face of Westwood is changing and it
appears that UCLA cannot compete.

ASUCLA does not need to stop existing as a store. Rather, it
should seek more input from students regarding what items it should
concentrate on selling.

There are three undergraduate students that currently sit on the
Board of Directors. Unfortunately, they are appointed by the
Undergraduate Student Association Council.

Since the board’s members receive a stipend during their
time of service, USAC’s ruling party tends to have a conflict
of interests when suggesting people who they believe should be
paid. Instead of depending on this flawed system, the student
representatives should be elected, since they don’t have the
final voice in the corporation anyway.

Contracting the amount of space the association itself manages
will allow ASUCLA to use more space toward leasing. Of course,
executive director Patricia Eastman and others seemingly resist
this idea, since it is most profitable to run an operation in-house
instead of delegating the matter to Copeland’s Sports or
Panda Express. However, the facts speak for themselves.
Copeland’s is empty, while Panda Express resembles flight
check-in at LAX.

Brand names matter, and ASUCLA would do well to go with brands
most likely to be bought ““ like those unidentifiable by age.
This way, when something falls out of fashion, the association will
not be bound to a dead tenant for 10 years.

Eastman did reduce the number of career employees, reversing
ASUCLA’s previously bleak fortunes. Even so, there is good
reason to say much of the money going toward the Daily Bruin, USAC
and other entities is woefully mismanaged. Make no mistake, if
ASUCLA revenue tumbled enough, student-advocacy groups, the paper
you now read, and the union would all feel it.

With much of UCLA nightlife occurring away from the center of
campus, Ackerman devolves really into a mall, a place you look
around, maybe get a cheap meal and then keep walking. The problem?
Even as our store is the largest of its kind in the U.S., the
economy of scale really prevents it from offering the same choices
as Westside Pavilion.

UCLA’s meager public transportation system, broken rent
structure, and housing shortage all push students farther and
farther away from campus except during the lunch hour. Until the
campus as a whole gets serious about being student friendly, expect
to see lots of browsing and not much buying. Of course, better
selection and food quality will bring in more hungry people, but
there is no guarantee that they will take anything but their
backpacks with them.

ASUCLA is an experiment. Its potential to serve UCLA is endless,
yet simultaneously its accountability toward students is all but
gone. Students should understand that economics is about
priorities, but they should also feel free to speak out to those at
the university who guide such decisions. These include Chancellor
Carnesale, Vice Chancellors Bob Naples and Peter Blackman, ASUCLA
bigwigs Jerry Mann and Patricia Eastman and your elected
representatives in USAC. Take 10 minutes out of your day to write
an e-mail to them. You are the invisible hand. After all, it is
your fees that make it all possible.