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 Galen Roth - Facilities Commissioner- LGBT Resource Center Advisory Board, Student Representative- QueerXgirl, Community Outreach Coordinator - Queer Alliance (QA), Director of External Affairs My name is Galen Roth, and I am the Students First! candidate for facilities commissioner. As part of Students First!, I will work to maximize the quality of the UCLA experience for every single student by: Making campus and our surrounding area safer Issue: UCLA is not as safe a campus as it should or could be. The recent sexual assault near Drake stadium is evidence that UCLA has not done enough to protect its students. While some claim that this is an isolated incident, the UCPD crime report for 2007 notes that there were nineteen sexual assaults committed in that year, plus ninety-five other cases of assault. Furthermore, it is a well-established fact that many sexual assaults go unreported; as such, the number of actual incidents is probably even higher. Clearly, student safety continues to be an issue despite the perception of safety that some students may have. Solutions: --Add more Òblue lightsÓ on campus. These emergency telephones marked by their blue lights are a key resource for students who find themselves in dangerous situations. Nonetheless, there are relatively few of these on campus; it is my goal to ensure that one blue light is visible from every point on campus so that in an emergency, students have a clear path to safety. In the past, UCPDÕs position on blue lights has been that they are obsolete since students can now program the UCPD phone number into their cell phones. To work, however, this solution requires that the person have their cell phone with them, have it charged and working, reach the phone, pull up the number, reach UCPD, report that they are in danger, and give their location Ð a lengthy process that would be difficult when being followed or attacked. Blue lights, on the other hand, require simply pressing a button or dialing 911 for immediate access to UCPD, who will go to the blue light location and search the area even if the victim is unable to say anything. Clearly, these provide much better protection than cell phones, which evidently were not enough of a solution in last weekÕs assault. --Improve lighting in Westwood. The North Village apartment area is home to many students, yet it has little street lighting and can be frightening to walk around in on nights when there are not many people around. The sidewalks are full of dark corners, cars, and open garages that make walkers wary of their surroundings. Simply installing a few more street lights would drastically change this atmosphere. --Extend CSO evening van and escort hours. These services provide excellent protection for students at night when they may be walking home from libraries, work, etc. Unfortunately, the services only run until one a.m. (two on Thursdays), while many students are on campus much later. I will extend these hours so that students do not have to plan their study schedules based on when they can get home safely, and student workers are not put at risk by late working hours. How: First, I feel passionately that the University and the City have an obligation to protect students, yet in the past they have said that installing such facilities are too expensive. I will not take expense as an excuse not to provide these essential services. I have already been in contact with UCPD Police Community Service Director Nancy Greenstein, who has been at UCLA for years and serves on the UCPD executive staff as liaison to the campus. Her background is in campus safety, and she has been enthusiastic about working with me on this issue. To improve street lighting, I plan to set up a committee that will lobby City government for new lights. I also have a personal contact in Mayor VillaraigosaÕs office who would be a valuable resource in this effort. I will argue that the city has a responsibility to ensure the safety of student residents, especially given the enormous prestige and revenue (through tourism, etc.) that the university brings to LA. Making UCLA more sustainable Issue: UCLA is a large school with an enormous population. As such, it produces a lot of waste that is harmful to environment. I plan to reduce the waste that UCLA puts out. Solutions: --Bring more recycling cans to campus. I often see students throwing away recyclable bottles and cans without giving it much thought. Even I, when proactively trying to recycle, have a hard time doing so because recycling cans are so sparse on this campus. I often find myself walking from one class to the next without even passing a recycling can in which to put my empty bottle. I want to make it easy for everyone to recycle. My goal is to put a recycling can next to every garbage can or recycling can on campus. This will encourage students to recycle because it will be just as easy as throwing things in the garbage. This is an easy step that UCLA can take to reduce the amount of waste in unnecessarily throws away. --Reducing packaging in ASUCLA facilities. o ASUCLA dining uses a lot of Styrofoam packaging and plastic silverware, both of which are extremely bad for the environment. Although biodegradable alternatives are offered in some locations, some students continue to choose the less eco-friendly options because they are unaware of the difference. I will phase out Styrofoam packages and plastic utensils. o Plastic bags are another plastic product that are used in large quantities every day, in ASUCLA stores. A simple solution to this is to replace the plastic bags with paper ones, which are equally affordable and useful. How: I will work with ASUCLA to implement these ideas. I will stress the affordability of the recycling cans, biodegradable packaging, and paper bags. I have previously worked with ASUCLA executive director Bob Williams and will use that relationship as a resource in this campaign. I also have contacts within E3, which is eager to work on the campaign for paper bags. In addition, I will educate students about the small steps they can take to reduce their Òeco-footprints,Ó such as unplugging electronics and turning off lights when not in use and recycling lesser-known recyclables like batteries, phones, glasses, and printer cartridges. Improving the affordability and availability of parking Issue: Parking at UCLA is expensive for both students with quarter- or year-long passes, and visitors who must purchase day passes. These prices continue to rise for no apparent reason (no new parking construction, improvements, additional staff, etc.). Parking is a necessity for students and should not be used as a cash cow for the University. Solutions: -- I will work to freeze parking prices at their current level. Already for the next school year, the price of day passes will be going up from eight dollars to nine. This is an expensive parking pass to begin with, as is long-term student parking. My plan is to protect these prices from further increases. -- To increase availability or parking, I will work with private parking lot owners in Westwood to establish student parking spots there. While not as convenient as campus parking, Westwood lots would provide a place for students to keep their cars if they are denied the hard-to-get UCLA parking. Each lot who participates would designate a few spots to be used by particular students. Students would pay for these spots at a price no higher than UCLA parking prices, and the parking lot owners would keep the revenue. This would make it an agreeable deal for all concerned. How I will lobby administrators to hold parking prices at their current rate for a specified number of years. If necessary, I will create another lobby team to work on this. As a student representative on the LGBT Center Advisory Board, I have experience working with others, including administrators, who have a diversity of positions that sometimes necessitate compromise. My negotiating skills will aid me in this process. Bringing affordable alternative food options to campus Issue: Many UCLA students have dietary restrictions, whether those are religious (Kosher, Halal), personal choice (vegetarian, vegan), or health/allergy related (gluten-free, sugar-free). Such foods are for the most part not available at UCLA. Solutions: -- Bring pre-packaged ÒalternativeÓ food options to ASUCLA facilities including the Ackerman store, Northern Lights, LuValle Commons, etc. Although such foods can be expensive, the students who purchase them will cover the costs so that it will not cost ASUCLA money. -- Advocate for cheaper Kosher system in residential dining. Currently, Kosher food is available only at Bruin CafŽ and costs three swipes for one meal. This cost is exorbitant; I will work to lower it to two swipes at most. I will also negotiate a cheaper Kosher meal plan. How: Again, my contact with Bob Williams will be a valuable resource in this project. I will work with outside suppliers to bring their goods to UCLA, while stressing the affordability of such food to administrators. My experience as Community Outreach Coordinator of QueerXGirl has taught me how to reach out to larger community whose needs may be different from my own. I will use this skill to engage with students who need these dining options. A VOTE FOR GALEN ROTH IS A VOTE TO PUT STUDENTS FIRST! As Facilities Commissioner, I will work hard to improve life here at UCLA. As Director of External Affairs for the Queer Alliance, I have experience organizing large groups of students to create change, and I will apply that experience to this position. I see the enormous power and resources of the Facilities Commission, and I want to use the office to do things that will have a substantial impact on the UCLA campus. |
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