Trust, mutual respect necessary for success

Bringing the perspective of someone involved in the Office of
Residential Life, the Undergraduate Students Association Council
and the On-Campus Housing Council for over two years, I would have
to say that student-administration relations are an area that
should be improved. While this relationship has not been too rocky,
it has also not been stellar when important issues are raised.

Many student representatives felt slighted, to say the least, by
the attitude of the administration when it came to issues such as
raising student fees and cutbacks in staff as a result of the
budget crisis. While everyone understands that the university has
to be spendthrift, the attitude of the administration on these
issues left some with questions about where its real priorities
lay.

Another example is how a number of incoming residents felt
misled about the amount of construction they would face on the Hill
after reading their housing packets.

These circumstances might have been coincidental, but the way
they unfolded sent a bad message to the student body, leaving a
bitter taste that has yet to go away.

For their part, student representatives also have plenty of room
for improvement. Many wonder why the administration is not keen to
listen to our concerns on a wide array of issues.

It’s simple. All the capital built up by former
representatives is needlessly wasted when we elect student
representatives who cannot understand the administration’s
limits and instead resort to protests, name-calling and offensive
gestures. It offers the administration an excuse to turn a deaf ear
to student concerns. As previous issues have shown, this is the
worst case scenario for students.

If the student voice is to be represented, it should echo the
needs of a variety of students and do so with tact, not impulsive
displays of anger. As such, respect, transparency and a willingness
to meet each other halfway should characterize representatives from
both sides.

Discussion of issues like the upcoming Associated Students of
UCLA fee increase, expected cumulative progress, further fee
increases, cutbacks in services, and the growing cost of an
education require nothing less.

Marian is a third-year history and political science
student.