Charley Guptill: Relief efforts would benefit from collaboration

The images of devastation inundating the news media from Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines seem far removed from students going about their business at UCLA.

It is clear, though, by walking down Bruin Walk that many UCLA students are giving money in the hopes of helping. Many have donated to both the American Red Cross and a variety of nonprofit organizations aiding those affected by the disaster.

But in terms of the actions taken by the student body at large, the relief effort at UCLA often does not extend far beyond simply making donations.

Although the on-campus response to the typhoon has included a benefit talent show by UCLA Mabuhay Collective planned for this Friday, a thoughtful email from the chancellor and outreach to students directly affected by the disaster, the relief effort has primarily taken shape through various groups soliciting donations on Bruin Walk.

The student body should respond to disaster in a more cohesive and thorough manner, and this responsibility lies primarily with the on-campus service and cultural groups that are interested in contributing to relief efforts. These groups should form a broad, collaborative network to effectively address the need for aid caused by future disasters.

While different cultural organizations may be interested in providing relief based on the population affected by the disaster, building coalitions based on aid and awareness can forge bonds that kick into gear whenever an individual community is impacted.

Interested organizations can use the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Internal Vice President’s Office to establish a coalition of this sort. The IVP Office has a number of student group liaisons that are well placed to accomplish this goal.

Avi Oved, the USAC internal vice president, said he supports establishing a disaster relief network made up of interested groups.

Instead of one-off events like the single talent show being held to raise funds for the Philippines, this network could organize several or execute large-scale donation drives over the entire campus.

Even major relief groups like the American Red Cross at UCLA face obstacles while responding to disaster without a centralized network to connect them with other groups on campus.

Angela Lam, a third-year electrical engineering student and co-treasurer of the Red Cross at UCLA, said there are many groups on campus that wish to contribute to the current relief effort, but the difficulty of communicating with one another and organizing a relief campaign has left many unable to do much more than collect modest sums of money.

Groups like the Red Cross at UCLA that are already well established and have contributed to relief efforts in the past have a responsibility to reach out to and include groups with fewer members or less experience that wish to aid in relief efforts.

“(The Red Cross at UCLA) has about 50 members, but it’s hard to get the word out to a campus this large with such small numbers,” Lam said.

Connected to a larger network full of motivated clubs, service groups like the Red Cross at UCLA as well as cultural groups on campus could execute a relief response of greater magnitude in less time.

A coalition of this nature would be poised to deal with future disasters in much more complete and effective ways by strategizing in advance and by empowering smaller interested parties to contribute.

Email Guptill at [email protected] or tweet him @CharlesGuptill. Send general comments to [email protected] or tweet us @DBOpinion.