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 James Birks - General Representative- ORL, Rieber Terrace Resident Assistant (RA)- United States Student Association (USSA), Board of Directors - USAC, General Representative 1 Office - Queer Alliance, Blaque Chair (2 years) Hello my name is James Birks and I am the Students First! Candidate for General Representative. Students First! envisions a university that maximizes the student experience at UCLA. In order to achieve this, we will work to support sustainability, ensure student health and welfare, enhance the quality of education and promote student engagement through participation on campus as well as in the community. As General Representative, I will continue to put Students First! By bringing you: The UCLA Wiki Connection: Issue: A common saying at UCLA is that there are a vast amount of resources here at UCLA but you just need to know where to look. Many students want to become more involved but they just don't know where to start or what they should be looking for. Also student groups have expressed concerns on how to find resources such as funding opportunities as well as other related information on how to co-program with other campus entities. Solution: Creating a campus wide workspace that connects the UCLA community to resources and opportunities. Why I'm the best person for the job?: Currently I am a member of Bruin Paws which is a student group that is dedicated to providing this service to students. Within bruin Paws there are several dedicated engineering as well as design media arts majors who are working hard to bring this project work space to campus. Also I am a Resident Assistant for the Office of Residential life and served as a Student Leader for two years because of this I have had a vast amount of experience in programing which will help in the development of this website in providing programing opportunities to student groups. Also, currently I hold several board positions within various student organizations which give me some background in the issues that students face when trying to run a student organization. How: The leaders of Bruin Paws and I have been speaking to administration such as Kenn Heller from CSP, professors in several departments as well as campus events to make sure that this idea is Feasible. We have gotten a lot of interest and good feedback. Our biggest challenge is trying to get a UCLA domain name but the site will be up and running regardless if it has a UCLA domain. There is nothing stopping us from creating this site we just need the continual hard work and dedication of our Bruin Paws members. From the "Hill" to the "Walk" - Bruin Walk, That Is Issue: Currently there is a big divide between life on campus and life off campus on the hill. Also many times student groups and RA's my try and plan very similar events our have similar ideas about a big event that they want to do for students but don't have the support they need in one form or another whether it be people power or access to the right facilities. Also there are many themed floors within ORL that relate to various student groups that are not being supported and could use some help in programming as well as being better supported. Solution: To bring student groups together with the new themed floor communities as well as with floor and building governments. This will create a connection between on and off campus life and allow for a sharing of resources and collaborative co-programming. Student groups will be able to support the members of these themed floors and get them more engaged on projects and campaigns that they are interested in that are happening on campus. This project is so great because it will help students living in the residential halls become more engaged in what is happening on campus and vice versa. It will also allow student groups to increase their numbers and in turn put on bigger and better event for the rest of the UCLA community. I am the best person to do this because I have the experience in ORL, I have been a Student Leader for two years and I am currently a Residential Assistant. I am also a Board member for the Queer Alliance and Chair of another student Organization BlaQue and a active member of several others. I will also be a part of the themed housing committee which will allow me access to ORL administration and a voice to advocate for my ideas. Having been a Student Leader for 2 years and a current Residential Assistant I really see the need for this project and how it will bring more effective programming and greater support for residents who really want to get involved in the things that they are interested in. How: This project is very feasible I will accomplish it by being the connection between ORL and the various student groups. Sitting on the themed housing committee I will be able to talk to ORL administration and foster dialogue between student groups and administration to make sure that there is a healthy connection between both sides. ORL Administration as well as the leaders from several student organizations have expressed a lot of excitement and are on board for this project. Bruins Awake: Solutions Series Issue: Throughout my years here at UCLA I have experienced or witnessed numerous acts of hate, homophobia, sexism, racism and issues regarding sexual health and safe practices. Although UCLA may seem like a very safe environment more awareness and education needs to be done to combat these issues that so many students face on our campus. But we canêt just stop with education and awareness we need to empower students to take action as well. Solution: I want to bring an awareness (consciousness) series to UCLA. Every quarter there would be a new topic such as: Hate crimes & homophobia, awareness of overlooked communities, and sexual health, safety & pleasure. Each quarter I will educate students about the issues by bringing out professional speakers and holding small forums. Each quarter would end with a big event that would allow students to take action against the issues they have been learning about all quarter. This would include working with the museum of tolerance to bring an exhibition to campus, supporting world aids day and get tested week with rapid testing sites throughout campus and a large sextravaganza event! How: To give one example after I hold a series of events about hate crimes and violence one of the outcomes that I would like to see happen is students feeling more empowered to take an active role, so I will work with the EVP office to provide opportunities for students to get involved on issue based campaigns and issue based lobby days to lobby on current legislation regarding the different issues. I would also like to start a data collection in various sites like the center for women and men LGBT resource center and safe spaces like the queer alliance and on the hill where student can report smaller hate crimes that they donêt feel should be reported to UCPD but still make them uncomfortable like racial and hateful slurs. So that we can start get a better picture of the hate crimes and hate so each that are occurring on our campus. I am the best person to get this accomplished because I recognize that there is a problem regarding all of these issues and I am passionate about bringing forth change. I have personally experienced many of these acts of hate against me and I want to reduce the chance of it happening to someone else. My passion combined with my experience as a programmer makes me the best person for this event. Alternative Forms of Student Health and Wellness Issue: As students here at UCLA we are put under a lot of stress and pressure especially around midterms and finals week. In these times of stress and intense pressure students health & wellness starts to deteriorate and the number of students at Ash increases. Although for many students with or without SHIP medicine is very expensive and often the doctors tell you to just get lots of rest and reduce your stress level. Solution: Alternative Options to students Health and Wellness: Many times getting sick can be avoided by practicing some simple alternative forms of medicine to reduce stress and stay healthy especially around midterms and finals time. Currently UCLA is doing active research on the benefits of Alternative medicine and its importance. It is also important for students health and wellness to have access to vast array of options that best suit their health needs. I will advocate for more alternative forms of medicine available at ASH and SPS such as: Alternative forms of SPS, increased access to acupuncture, message, yoga, Thai chi, and herbal remedies as well as getting more education out to students so that they know some of the services that are being offered and how they can have positive effects on their health. I am the best person to bring this to UCLA because as a highly involved student I understand the amount of stress and pressure students face and how this effects our health. I also understand how expensive medication and treatment at Ashe can be for a college student even with insurance the prices are high and sometimes unmanageable. How: Many forms of alternative medicine that I want to bring to campus is somewhat available but many students either don't know about it or don't know the positive effects it could have on their health and wellness as a student. Therefore I mainly want to bring more education to students about these various opportunities. I would also like to make these services more available to student by bringing some of these opportunities directly to students who are out on bruin walk or in bruin plaza. A VOTE FOR JAMES BIRKS IS A VOTE TO PUT STUDENTS FIRST! As a third year student who absolutely loves UCLA I have had so many opportunities to get involved and stay connected in both my on campus and residential life endeavors. Although it was not easy and many times it was only by chance or luck that I became involved in so many great organizations. As a Residential Assistant and a Student organization leader I often encounter students who are very passionate about something and really want to get involved but they just donêt know where to start. As your General Representative I want to change this, I want to make it easy for students to be able to get involved in the things that they are passionate about and easy for student groups to have access to the resources they need to continue the great work that their organizations do. Also through my programming I want to engage students so that they are not only learning about issues but feel empowered to take action on the things that they are passionate about. Once again my Name is James Birks and I canêt wait to continue putting Students First! as your next General Representative. |
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