Students run in community election
Max Slavkin and Josh Watson compete for two positions on a local council.
Kate Mather
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: News
| |
|
Max Slavkin, vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government, and Josh Watson, a USC graduate student, are two of the four candidates running for two Area 3 representative positions in today's election.
This is not the first time USC students have run for representative positions on the council. Students have been members for almost every term since the council's creation in 1999 and Watson is up for re-election, having held the position since 2005.
"There is a very positive experience one gets from serving the community and being an active citizen, which is something I take very seriously and always have, which is why I'm running for this again," said Watson, a doctoral candidate for education.
Slavkin decided to run after seeing a growing overlap between the community and university issues, many of which he was working on with USG.
"I didn't know about the neighborhood council until recently," Slavkin said. "I've been involved in student government in a number of community advisory councils, and with the housing issues that have crossed over more than usual, I started seeing how much influence the community has on students and vice versa."
As an Area 3 representative, Slavkin or Watson would be responsible for serving the interests of nearly 60,000 constituents during a two-year term through committee and project work.
"Much like if you were a city council member, you are supposed to represent your constituents' interests," said Sharon Stewart, an at-large representative of the neighborhood council and the director of community outreach at USC. "You should be representing the people in that area in terms of what they want done."
According to the NANDC's website, USC comprises roughly half of the size of Area 3. Additionally, the university's population of 33,500 students and 11,400 faculty and staff members also comprises a large portion of the district's constituency.
"One mandate [of the neighborhood councils] is you have to have outreach to everybody, but particularly to your major stakeholders," Stewart said. "If you look at the boundaries of NANDC, USC is a major stakeholder because of the size of the student population and the size of the employee base."
Because USC has such a large presence in the area, Watson has worked on improving relations between university and community members with the council's youth committee and plans to continue doing so if re-elected.
"The kids' science days have been a great project in doing what I want to see being accomplished, which is being a bridge between the university and the community," Watson said. "USC students were brought to a local park and elementary students show up and it's just a really fun way of offering an opportunity to get students involved."
Watson said if he were re-elected, he would work mainly on connecting the student body with the surrounding area, as well as working to find affordable housing for the community as a whole.
Slavkin said he had a similar interest in housing and reconnecting the student body with community members. He specifically mentioned his goal to find a compromise between the two sides in regards to student parties.
"It's just vastly different lifestyles [between] college students and a family of four - the hours are different, the noise levels are different, things like that," Slavkin said. "You can't ask either one to totally give up their lifestyle. You can't say to college students, 'You can't party ever,' and you can't say to the community people, 'Never call in noise complaints … neither one is fair."
While both Slavkin and Watson acknowledged a disconnect between the students and the community, Slavkin said as a representative, he would bring the perspective of a student to his council work.
"There are people who have lived in this area for 60 years. They've raised kids here … they go to church here and they own a business in the area. I can't pretend to be more connected to the community than someone like that. But student-wise, there's 30,000 students that go to USC … they deserve to have their voice represented," Slavkin said.
Watson said he has worked to "blend the lines between the community and the university" in his past USG policy decisions.
"I try really hard not to separate that," Watson said. "I really just think about the issues and attempt to determine good policy based on how it'll impact the community in the broader sense of what it means."
Mike Ureña, the current Neighborhood Council president, who is unopposed in his re-election bid tomorrow, said Slavkin and Watson's reputations were reassurances that previous issues with student council members will not happen this term.
"Traditionally, when students get on council, they forget about it because school sucks them up, and they don't participate as much as they'd originally wanted to, but both of these people understand the level of commitment," Ureña said.
Watson said he had little difficulty balancing his student work with his responsibilities as a representative.
"For the two years, I've been on it, I haven't had problems," Watson said. "It was just this semester where I've had a conflict with one of my classes. When you have certain classes that meet at a certain time and certain meetings that happen at a certain time, that's when it can be tough, but you know going in when the council meetings are for the most part."
Slavkin said that if elected, he would consider remaining with the council after his term was completed, depending on how his experience went.
"I really have no plans as of yet for after graduation," Slavkin said. "I don't know where I'm going to be, but I'm finding that when I'm working at what I care about and doing well at it, things kind of open up."
Ureña also cited the overall importance of having students on the council.
"I think students are a part of this community, and part of the people who live in this area," Ureña said. "They are more open to new ideas and are not stuck in their own ways. They can really make a difference when they want to. They're both good candidates and I'd be happy if either one of them get on."
Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. today at the Ahmanson Senior Center, located at 3990 S. Menlo Ave. No voter registration is required, and anyone who lives, works or attends school within the council's boundaries is eligible to vote.
- Alexander Comisar contributed to this report
Be the first to comment on this story