USAC hides how it spends your $121.38
On January 26, the Viewpoint page of the Daily Bruin found itself in a rather peculiar position: as the main source of news for the student body, it’s ironic to advocate less transparency in government. For with a stroke of the pen, the editorial board made its opinions on student insight into government affairs quite clear by denouncing the attempt by General Representative Addison Huddy to broadcast weekly USAC meetings as irrelevant and unwise.
A newspaper that criticizes efforts to open up information to the public is too absurd to be ignored, and with the Daily Bruin’s journalistic failure to reach out to the man under fire, we have taken the prudent step of opening up the issue at its core by seeking to give a voice to Huddy.
A high note must be given to the civility and professionalism of General Representative Huddy, who, to open up our interview, insisted quite clearly that he “did not consider [the article] an attack” on himself or his office. We also praise his quite clear and concise insight into the article: that its objections were “well written” but, quite frankly, out of touch and “invalid.”
Principle among these claims is the bold and rather dubious declaration by the Daily Bruin that such a project is unnecessary due to the insignificance of USAC meetings. Before making such a claim, the Daily Bruin would have been insightful to take notice of just how important these meetings can be.
One needs not even speak with a member of the council but only to look into the very nature of USAC to understand just how significant the functioning of our student government is. Do not forget that at these meetings the fate of more than $4.4 million in student fees (taken from your pocket) is determined.
Such a reality has not been lost on Huddy. “I want students to see where the money is going,” he said, “and for [USAC] to be more transparent.” Such concerns are the linchpin of the project, which, when c ompl e t ed, will allow for all meetings to be recorded on film and open for any student to view online.
At a time in which students are galvanized more than ever over fee hikes and bad policies, this project answers the call for the student’s government to be beholden to the students by a transparency so greatly needed. Such a yearning from the student body again begs the question of why the Daily Bruin, which prides itself as the preeminent news outlet to students on campus, w o u l d condemn such an effort to better inform them.
Yet the Daily Bruin’s criticism does not stop here, for beyond simply dismissing the necessity of trans-parency into meetings, they also not-so-subtlety imply their “disappointment” at what they see as a “conflict of interest” in allowing members of Huddy’s staff to film and edit the videos.
Such concerns would be valid, that is, if such claims were even true. Once again, the Daily Bruin would have been wise to find all the details before jumping to such conclusions, and had they done so, would have noticed that their own version is far less t h a n accurate.“We’re not editing the videos in any way” Huddy remarks, “but breaking them off into segments” in order for students to choose which topics they want to see being discussed. Under this system, the entirety of the meetings, from reports by members to every debate, word for word, will be available in their entirety. And as for members of his staff posing a conflict of interest, Huddy made it quite clear that the people in question are not only experienced in filming, but are also temporary; the measure is, after all, a pilot program that, upon being established, has the intention of being handed over to ASUCLA for their unbiased handling of its continuation.
In making his case for transparency, Huddy used the example of CSPAN, remarking that if it is good enough for the federal government, it most certainly is good enough for us. It would behoove the Daily Bruin to take such an example and promote, rather than hinder, such efforts to instill a campus culture of government transparency. After all, it is the students’ government: why not open them a window inside?