Editorial

Graduate students make up nearly a third of the student
population at UCLA but are only given a fraction of the
university’s attention outside of academics. The Associated
Students of UCLA should begin to change this by approving the
creation of a pub in Ackerman Union ““ a proposal already
under discussion by various ASUCLA personnel.

The success of GradBar, an event sponsored by the Graduate
Student Association, shows how much potential there is to promote
more interaction among graduate students through, among other
things, providing alcohol. GradBar is really the only event on
campus that has brought graduates of various disciplines together,
but it only happens once a month. Establishing a bar available
daily could conceivably change campus culture so it is more
welcoming to graduate students, given its current overwhelmingly
undergraduate focus.

Since a large part of UCLA’s academic reputation is based
on the successes of its graduate students, it ought to devote some
of its resources to enhancing the “other” parts of
their education.

Ackerman is devoted almost entirely to undergraduates, with
smaller locales at the peripheries ““ like those at LuValle
Commons and the Anderson School ““ providing both food
services and apparel specific to graduates. But having a pub in the
student union would give grads a reason to gravitate toward the
heart of the campus more often, and hopefully, help strengthen
UCLA’s image for prospective students.