PRESIDENT: Kaisey can keep USAC, students in touch

Marwa Kaisey isn’t out to change the world. Her focus is
squarely on UCLA.

She isn’t advocating sweeping changes to admissions
policies or revolutionary changes to the student government; she
wants improvements to Welcome Week and a neighborhood council in
Westwood.

The combination of her experience with many areas of campus, her
knowledge of USAC’s slate politics, and her ideas about
making USAC visible and accountable to all students make her the
Daily Bruin editorial board’s choice for next year’s
president.

Kaisey, who is running under the Bruins United slate, was
elected as a general representative on this year’s council
without getting this board’s recommendation, but she has
learned and done a lot since then.

For starters, she has been exposed to the uglier parts of
student government, and has shown a savvy about slate politics. She
admits she was naive about the role slates play at the council
table coming into this year, but she says she has learned to work
with other councilmembers who have similar aims, though their
methods might differ.

She should bring a balanced and fair approach to slate politics,
which is crucial given that, if elected president, she will likely
be guiding a council with members from both major slates.

Kaisey also has ideas about tackling one of the perennial issues
USAC faces ““ student apathy.

The council was bitterly divided this year partially because of
slate politics, arguing over petty issues such as bylaw changes and
ignoring many things students truly care about. To exacerbate
matters, councilmembers ““ including Kaisey ““ made
promises last year that were vague enough to give students
difficulty in gauging their progress. Such promises included
increasing campus spirit, strengthening student groups and
improving safety.

Kaisey believes students don’t care about USAC because of
a perception that USAC doesn’t do anything for them. She has
shown her commitment to improving areas that Joe Bruin will care
about and be able to hold her accountable for. These include making
sure the new chancellor hears the undergraduate student voice,
creating a series of workshops for transfer students, and revamping
mental health services.

Kaisey said she made it a point as a general representative to
bring South Campus majors into her office as staff, thereby
reaching out to a population that usually ignores USAC and is
ignored by them. So when she says she can make students care, we
believe her.

Kaisey’s goals are practical, if not big-thinking. She has
a campus-specific approach that has been lacking in USAC’s
top leadership in recent years ““ instead, there has been talk
of increasing diversity, lowering student fees and trying to solve
overarching problems while campus issues went neglected.

Kaisey’s campaign mentions none of these, which is some
cause for concern in its own right. But given a proper supporting
cast, including a strong external vice president, such objectives
should still be within her reach. Her goals show she has a good
grasp of what is possible as president.

A lot of those bigger UC-wide or nationwide issues did come up
in the campaign of Lucero Chavez, the Students First! slate
candidate, who will probably be Kaisey’s main opponent. Her
major platforms deal with increasing underrepresented minority
enrollment and outreach funding, which are certainly important
issues.

But even disregarding the feasibility of getting those
accomplished, the president should be a representative for the
student voice, and Kaisey seems more in touch with the interests of
her constituency than does Chavez.

Garin Hovannisian, the presidential candidate for Slate Refund,
is passionate about fundamentally changing USAC by giving student
money back, but he has no other platforms and lacks the knowledge
about the intricacies of USAC to be an effective president.

With the memory of this year’s lethargic and exceedingly
vague council in mind, Kaisey brings refreshing ideas about how
student government should work. She has great potential to bring
USAC’s focus back to where it should have been all along
““ the students.