Running for the office: USAC elections begin

ALEX GRUENBERG: emphasizes effective change through student involvement, development of senate

 

By Derek Lipkin

DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR

The navy blue t-shirt with the huge letters "UCLA" across his chest said it all.

Big and bold, blue and gold, it embodied Alex Gruenberg's every stated aspiration of being not only Undergraduate Students Association Council president, but a student at UCLA: an individual who aspires to stand tall for everyone.

Gruenberg is currently the Financial Supports commissioner on USAC and a candidate for president with the Bruins United slate in the upcoming USAC elections.

A third-year political science and history student, he has been involved in the UCLA community throughout his three years here, and plans to take what he sees as the next step.

Gruenberg spoke of his feelings on USAC and its operations, and talked about his goals for the organization.

"This year, we've taken, for every step forward, a step and a half back," Gruenberg said. "When we've tried to engage more student groups with funding, we've only funded some of them, and in a biased manner."

He described student involvement as a central piece of his campaign, seeing it as necessary to an effective USAC leadership. One way he said he would increase direct student involvement is development of a student senate.

A native to Santa Barbara, Gruenberg came to UCLA in 2002 as a first-year, knowing nothing of USAC. Even during his time at high school, he said he was unwilling to "touch ASB with a ten-foot pole."

Now, with USAC elections less than a month away, Gruenberg is preparing for the arduous campaign for president.

"I'm just so proud of him," said Robert Gruenberg, Alex's father. "He is very moral and very independent ... and I really respect him as being honest."

At a very young age, Alex "wanted to grow up to be a judge" instead of the typical fireman or astronaut aspirations of a young boy, his father said.

Robert added that though he himself had not always been as ambitious at Alex's age, his son has consistently proven to be the opposite, always involved and active in everything he does.

Gruenberg has been actively engaged in the UCLA community ever since he first stepped onto campus.

In his first year, Gruenberg played tuba in the marching band, an activity he has since ended. He has been involved with several student groups to date, including the Office of Residential Life, and he is currently a resident assistant in De Neve's Evergreen building.

This year, Gruenberg said he and some good friends worked to restart the UCLA chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, which had been inactive for a decade. They had their first rush events this quarter.

Toward the end of his second year at UCLA, Gruenberg became more acquainted with USAC through his work as the director of blood drives on the Student Welfare Commission, and decided to become more involved. He ran for the position of Financial Supports Commissioner under the Equal Access Coalition, a minority slate on council. He defeated in-house candidate Peter Bautista by a close margin.

"My mindset for the beginning of this council year was 'I need to be a leader like I've never been before,' because I could tell from the very onset that I was going to be facing individuals on a weekly basis who not only did not agree with my ideals ... but had a disdain for (them)," Gruenberg said.

Though Gruenberg has seen support from many for his election, others are skeptical of his ability to lead USAC.

"He is not qualified," said Anneli Villarin, a current general representative for USAC who has frequently had disagreements with Gruenberg in the past.

Villarin said that this past year, Gruenberg has not been able to fulfill his position, stating that during past meetings he has been misinformed or unprepared.

But Gruenberg is optimistic and confident that he and the rest of the Bruins United slate can bring effective change to USAC in the coming year and beyond, if given the opportunity.

"The name Bruins United that we chose for our party this year does not sell short of our goals and ambitions. We truly want to unite this campus ... with common messages (and) with common themes and visions for how we can all benefit together," Gruenberg said.

Gruenberg said a student senate was "perhaps the best way for us to restructure our council in a large-scale way that would provide for (wider) representation."

A proposal for a special election on the senate issue was turned down earlier this quarter for not having sufficient signatures. Its proponents say that they will try again next year.

In addition to student representation, Gruenberg talked about the relationship between USAC, the faculty and the administration.

"We've had other council members who have openly attacked the integrity of administrators during council meetings. This is not the type of relationship building that you're going to use to foster policy changes with the administration," Gruenberg said.

He added that cooperation with the Academic Senate is essential to working together with administration and faculty for effective policy changes.

"We're not going to be hand tools of the administration and faculty, but at the same time, we need to be understanding that you have those individuals with the initiative to compromise," Gruenberg said.

Another area Gruenberg stressed was the relationship between USAC and the Graduate Student Association. Gruenberg said there was little or no interaction with GSA this past year, and would like to see this change for the betterment of the UCLA student community.

Gruenberg added that a USAC president needs to understand the impact that his position can have on public opinion of USAC and its policies.

"The president, I believe, must be held responsible for the great majority (of policy changes), especially when they have the ability to inform council (and) inform the students of the student body ... to make actually educated, informed positions in these policies to benefit the students at large," Gruenberg said.

In addition to structural changes within USAC, Gruenberg addressed the need to change the ideology of the organization.

"Once we have the weight of students behind us, we can do anything," Gruenberg said. "Having a couple hundred individuals supporting your cause is not going to produce the same results as 24,000 individuals."
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