Letters to the editor

Gruenberg would keep USAC open, accountable

This week, the student body has the opportunity to fix a
long-standing bias in the Undergraduate Students Association
Council. Bruins United winning a majority of council seats was a
huge step forward, and electing Alex Gruenberg president is even
more important to ensure a more open and accessible council for the
coming year.

This summer I worked on the base budget applications for two
student groups. We worked hard to create a thorough application
that met all guidelines, then waited patiently to find out how much
we would be allocated. Both applications were detailed and included
descriptions of exactly how the money would be spent to help the
club and put on events for students.

Both applications were summarily denied, and it was obvious this
was because of a biased budget process. And we were not the only
groups denied funding. USAC decided 43 groups did not deserve
funds.

A dozen groups appealed the decisions, since it was obvious that
no money was a completely unreasonable allocation. After writing up
thorough appeals, the now-Student Power!-dominated council voted
not to even hear them.

Gruenberg was the only councilmember present who did not vote to
approve the budget. Presidential candidate Jenny Wood was present,
and voted for the budget that denied funding to so many groups.
Furthermore, Gruenberg spent much of his own time assisting student
groups in the appeals process and championing their cause on
council. He asked that the groups be told the reasons they were
denied.

At the time, his efforts fell on deaf ears, but now that many
non-SP! candidates have already been elected, Gruenberg would usher
in a year of much-needed changes.

People often complain that USAC doesn’t do anything for
students. This week, we have a real opportunity to give USAC and
Bruins United the chance to change that.

Jon Binney President, Robotics Club

Wood, Biniek best choices for unity,
advocacy

Undergraduate Students Association Council presidential
candidate Jenny Wood and external vice presidential candidate
Jeannie Biniek are by far the best choices for the offices.

These two women are unrivaled advocates, extraordinary
programmers and proven unifiers. This past year, they led the two
largest USAC campaigns ““ Get Out the Vote and the reform of
the Expected Cumulative Progress requirement.

Biniek led the UCLA Vote 2004 Coalition, uniting groups
throughout campus in registration and education efforts. Together,
Biniek and Wood successfully registered over 2,500 new voters and
co-hosted educational events such as Michael Moore’s
presentation and the Rock the Vote concert.

Wood has also successfully led the campaign to reform ECP, the
most comprehensive grassroots campaign run by USAC in recent
memory. Wood built a diverse coalition of student organizations and
worked with various levels of the UCLA administration to collect
about 2,700 student surveys about the policy.

She also conducted extensive research that shows ECP has not
increased access or funding to UCLA and wrote the proposal that the
Academic Senate is currently reviewing to reform ECP.

Furthermore, Wood and Biniek have successfully secured support
from the UC Board of Regents to increase financial aid by $6
million, helped coordinate World AIDS Day, unified dozens of
student organizations in the Students for Tsunami Relief Coalition,
and organized the Welcome Week carnival in collaboration with many
student organizations.

As current independent councilmembers, we strongly recommend
voting for Wood and Biniek to ensure even greater advocacy and
programming next year.

Jason Gaulton, Campus Events commissioner Crystal Lee,
Community Service commissioner