Orientation Issue 2008: The power to induce change, local and global, is yours
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 22, 2008 9:00 p.m.
As USAC president, I want to welcome all the new students to UCLA! Your presence here means that you have accomplished a lot, and I want to encourage you to help us accomplish more together.
This campus might seem a bit too large at first, but hopefully you can give USAC and all the student groups an opportunity to let you carve your niche, find your voice, and enjoy your time.
USAC, the Undergraduate Student Association Council, serves as the student government at UCLA, and it is divided into 13 different offices that work on different areas of student advocacy and programming.
It also works together with other important student-led campus entities, such as the Student Initiated Access Center, the On-Campus Housing Council, and the Community Programs Office.
At UCLA, you will notice that athletic and academic excellence is the norm. But so is a recurring push to make a difference. Our famous Nobel laureate Ralph Bunche said that we must “always fight for everything that makes a better country and a better world.”
Our slogan states, “UCLA: Champions Made Here.” Similarly, our student body has often found a cause that they could champion. Basketball great Bill Walton found his voice in the anti-war movement, and fellow Bruin Baron Davis found his in the call for increased diversity at UCLA.
All incoming students have that same amazing power to change the status quo of our campus and society. This year’s USAC is committed to help them realize that power.
In the different offices of USAC, you can fight for responsible investment practices, lobby against fee hikes, plan a social action summit, advocate for increased diversity studies, increase sustainable practices at UCLA, and make textbooks cheaper. Hundreds of student groups are also making a difference.
As you connect to UCLA, find your cause. And then, become a champion for it.
Hosseini is the 2008-2009 USAC president.
