Editorial: USAC should focus on UCLA, not Middle East

During its most recent meeting, the undergraduate student
government spent a whole four hours discussing opinions on the
conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

Councilmembers spent most of their meeting ironing out the
details of their position on the current violence in the Middle
East.

Should the resolution include criticism of Hezbollah, as well as
criticism of Israel? Which of Israel’s actions should be
condemned? Which of Hezbollah’s actions should be
addressed?

Ultimately, the Undergraduate Students Association Council
passed a resolution called the “Resolution in Support of
Peace Between Lebanon and Israel,” which included statements
that the council “implores Israel to withdraw its forces from
Lebanon’s airspace, waters and land” and
“request(s) that negotiations for a long-lasting peace take
place between Israel and Lebanon and that a mechanism be set in
place for reconstruction.”

USAC has made a statement on one of the most controversial
topics currently in the news, but one that will never be considered
outside its group of supporters.

In explaining his reasoning for co-authoring the resolution,
Faysal Saab, a fourth-year psychobiology student who is not a
member of USAC, said it is an issue that “students are
heavily affected by.”

While that may be true, and while it is an important issue
students should be thinking about, it is not one over which USAC
has any control or influence.

Instead of using one of USAC’s relatively few summer
meetings to discuss areas in which the council can effect change
and prepare for fall quarter, it spent the time drafting a
resolution that will do little more than allow USAC members and
those affiliated with the council to pat themselves on the back
because they think they’ve made a difference in the
world.

Councilmembers could have better spent the time discussing other
topics that are also dear to students, but over which USAC has some
degree of influence as well.

They could have discussed ways to lower textbook prices or help
students pay for their class materials.

They could have planned ways to work with state administrators
to gain funding for campus departments and keep student fees as low
as possible.

Instead, they drafted a resolution that will have absolutely no
tangible impact on the world stage, or even on the UCLA
community.

In explaining why he believed USAC’s passage of the
resolution was important, Saab said, “We’re all
familiar with the phrase “˜silence is
consent.'”

Apparently, by drafting this resolution, USAC and a small group
of students who were not members of council were speaking out
against the wrongs in the Middle East. According to them, this
seems to be a very important statement.

But what can really be accomplished by this resolution? Who does
council believe is listening?

While some state and national politicians may listen when USAC
speaks of the cost of education or the importance of funding for a
certain program, no one of consequence will act upon UCLA student
government’s suggestions for achieving peace in the Middle
East.

Rather than spending valuable time drafting a resolution that
will in the end only serve to boost the authors’ egos, USAC
should spend its time working on projects that will affect the only
community it can impact ““ UCLA students.