Editorial board endorsement: Four unopposed candidates all fit to head their commissions

Correction Appended The Daily Bruin endorses
four candidates running unopposed to be the head of an
Undergraduate Students Association Council commission. Jason
Gaulton, Crystal Lee, Jason Avila and Pavan Tripathi will all do
well to represent undergraduate students on council. They will head
commissions that do some of USAC’s best work. For students
who want to be involved in service, but are turned off by the
politics that sometimes define other offices, these commissions are
ideal. Gaulton, an independent currently serving as the Campus
Events commissioner, is returning for another year. With a year of
experience under his belt, he will likely be one of the most
productive council members next year. Gaulton has said that he
believes UCLA is an excellent university, but not a great school
““ by which he means a place with spirit and identity. He
hopes to improve this through Campus Events programming designed to
entertain students and foster community. Though the commission is
Gaulton’s real passion, he also said he would take his role
as a USAC officer seriously. Already, he has started working on
next year’s USAC welcome week. Similarly, Lee, an independent
in-house candidate, said she would take an approach to USAC similar
to that taken by current Community Service Commissioner Justin
Schreiber and said she would like to serve on committees.
Lee’s passion for the commission is clear: She said over
winter break she drafted a list of pros and cons, trying to decide
whether she would run for USAC. She said the cons out-weighed the
pros, but in the end, she realized in her heart she knew what she
wanted to do. She has the experience and drive to run an important
commission made up of 22 community service programs. Avila, also an
independent in-house candidate, said he would like to use his
office to help bring alcohol and tobacco abuse awareness to campus.
While he is still getting used to the idea of being on council,
Avila, who served as an executive board member for the commission,
has the experience and enthusiasm necessary to do the job.
Tripathi, running unopposed on the Equal Access Coalition, presents
interesting ideas for his commission. He would like to improve the
campus’ perimeter for joggers by providing water fountains
and making other upgrades along running routes. Additionally, he
said he would work to add Metropolitan Transportation Authority
buses to BruinGo!. This is an ambitious idea and its implementation
has failed in the past, but it’s certainly worth Tripathi and
other students’ attention. Running on a slate, Tripathi said
once elected he would be about working for students, not working
for the interests of his slate.

Correction: May 11, 2004, Tuesday
“¢bull; The Community Service commission has 21 community service
programs