Letter to the editor

USAC senate arguments need elucidation

I commend the Daily Bruin editorial board for supporting the
initiative to bring a senate to the Undergraduate Students
Association Council (“Senate proposal in need of vocal
student support,” Feb. 17).

That doing so has the potential to make USAC “more
deliberative and representative” certainly seems to be the
case, in that the current system provides just three general
representatives to represent tens of thousands of students.

And while the new system may lead to an increase in cost, the
representative benefits appear to merit the financial
sacrifice.

But it appears that many members of the current council are
opposed to this reform. I have difficulty understanding why this is
the case, as the majority party on USAC, Students First!, styles
itself as a group committed to representation.

I suspect the lack of SF! support for the senate initiative
stems more from political acrimony rather than a perceived
practical deficiency in the plan.

Nevertheless, I remain open-minded to the possibility that the
senate proposal is disadvantageous.

I hope to see a more concerted effort on the part of SF! to
explain why they wish to preserve the existing system.

Currently they seem to be simply invoking appeals to popularity;
“everyone seems to like the commission structure that we have
here,” said Academic Affairs commissioner Eligio Martinez
(“USAC divided on senate proposal,” News, Jan. 31).

SF! is also appealing to tradition: Campus Events commissioner
Jason Gaulton said in the same article that the senate proposal
would “just be a waste of 40 years of progress.”

If these are the best arguments against the senate proposal,
what are we waiting for?

The Daily Bruin should encourage discourse on the issue by
inviting representatives from both sides to engage in a public
debate. This would provide students with the opportunity to
evaluate firsthand the advantages and disadvantages of the senate
proposal.

At the very least, this would increase general awareness of the
proposal on campus, and would reduce the risk that one of the most
important USAC reforms in recent UCLA history fades away due to a
lack of notice by the student body.

Hugh Carlson Fourth-year, political science