USAC Endorsement: Omar Arce for Community Service Commissioner
The editorial board represents the stance of the Daily Bruin, and is composed of four standing members – the editor-in-chief, managing editor, news editor and opinion editor – in addition to five staff representatives.
The endorsement process took place the week before voting began. Endorsements were primarily based on a 20-minute interview that three to four members of the editorial board conducted with each candidate. During these interviews, candidates were able to discuss their platforms, knowledge of the Undergraduate Students Association Council and prior experience.
The board selected endorsements for each office after discussing each candidate and taking a vote. All endorsed candidates received a majority vote from the board.
We encourage students to use our endorsements as a starting point for their own research – and to vote in the elections.
See who the board endorsed:
- President
- Internal Vice President
- External Vice President
- General Representative
- General Representative
- General Representative
- Academic Affairs Commissioner
- Campus Events Commissioner
- Community Service Commissioner
- Cultural Affairs Commissioner
- Facilities Commissioner
- Financial Supports Commissioner
- Student Wellness Commissioner
By Editorial Board
May 6, 2013 12:00 a.m.
This board endorses Omar Arce for Community Service commissioner with the recommendation that he address holes in his platforms.
Arce, an uncontested candidate, has well-placed intentions and was able to identify problems that the commission should work on. For example, Arce said he hoped to break the typical pattern of short-lived engagement in community service events: Students show up for a single event, but do not participate in any others. Arce wants to get students involved in multiple service projects throughout the year, a worthy goal.
However, Arce did not have a concrete plan on how to accomplish this. He only listed examples of potential events the commission could host next year that would hopefully spur students to volunteer several times.
Another of Arce’s platforms is to expand the CSC network, which currently provides support and advising to seven community service projects.
Though this platform could be productive, Arce said he had not reached out to any groups that might be interested in being part of the network. Instead, he has only spoken to groups that approached him. To maximize the scope of the CSC network, we encourage Arce to actively market the program.
In fact, Arce is planning to centralize CSC’s publicity by appointing one person to be in charge of it.
Arce has not been directly involved in the Undergraduate Students Association Council, and to achieve his aims, he needs to do more thinking, more outreach and more research.
