A New ASUC, New Balanced Priorities

This past June my first act as ASUC President was to issue an Executive Order to ensure the solvency of our student government. In their rush to leave office, last year’s executives overlooked a key bylaw, a blunder that nearly caused the ASUC to sink over $95,000 into debt. As President, I acted swiftly to correct this mistake because I could not allow the ASUC to fall into bad financial standing. Not acting would have jeopardized the continued existence of the ASUC as an autonomous student government and could have cut-off funding to the hundreds of student groups that thrive on our campus.

However, this year I plan to do much more than merely govern in a fiscally responsible manner. That should be the minimum requirement of any elected official. As I pledged when I ran for ASUC President last spring, I will rebuild trust in the ASUC by fighting for positive change not only on the Berkeley campus, but also in our neighboring communities, our state, our country and our world. I will outline some of my key priorities below, but let me make it clear that I cannot accomplish them alone. I will need the support of my fellow ASUC Executives, Senators, and the campus community. I hope that by the end of this article, I will have yours as well.

My first priority has been and always will be to the students of this campus. That’s why I, along with my staff, have been attending student organization meetings and will continue to do so to see how the ASUC can help. We hope you’ll welcome us to your meetings and welcome the support the ASUC will provide. But more than assisting student organizations, we want to make sure that students have an easy way to get in touch with the ASUC and provide us with feedback on what they would like to see. Longer hours at the Tang Center? More furniture in the libraries? More lighting on campus to increase safety? We want to hear from you, so yesterday my office launched ACCESS ASUC, a new way for students to tell us what they’d like us to fight for. Just send an e-mail to access@asuc.org, and my staff and I will follow up on your recommendations. It’s that simple.

However, while I am working hard every day to pursue short-term goals largely based on your recommendations, I will not lose sight of those that are just within our reach but will also require yearlong dedication, such as getting a permanent space for the Multicultural Center and addressing Lower Sproul redevelopment. I will also focus on issues that will require sustained hard work over a period of time that may even outlast my term of office. It is crucial, for example, that the University of California lead the nation in overhauling the admissions process by focusing on those aspects of college applications that are actual predictors of a student’s ability to perform well in college. Do we really believe that two test scores can be the primary indicators of success in college? I look forward to working with administrators to reevaluate how we define merit at this university. Furthermore, we must make sure that the DREAM Act, approved last week by the state legislature, is signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. All students, regardless of their immigration status, should be able to apply for financial aid and receive assistance if they cannot afford college. Additionally, with the passage of the Green Initiative Fund last Spring, I will work with student groups and environmental advocates to ensure that UC Berkeley also leads the way as a sustainable, environmentally conscious campus.

Finally, the job of being ASUC President (or that of any other ASUC official, for that matter) does not end at the boundaries of this campus. At Berkeley, it is easy to get sucked into the bubble, believing there is no life past Durant and Telegraph Ave. Yet just as students led the charge in divesting university funds from apartheid South Africa, we must stand up and demand and an immediate end to the war in Iraq, call for justice in the Jena 6 trial and work tirelessly to ensure that workers are paid a living wage. For my term as ASUC President, I am offering balanced leadership that will focus on balanced priorities. I hope you will join me.