Supporting and uniting students

BCR candidate Chad Kunert for ASUC Senate

By Christopher Page
From the April 2007 Print Edition

California Patriot: What motivated you to run for a spot in the ASUC Senate?

Chad Kunert: My primary motivation is to serve students and work for the enrichment and progress of my beloved university. I feel a great sense of pride in my school and would like to graduate from Berkeley knowing that I made a positive impact. I remember holding office in my high school’s Associated Student Body and the pleasure and joy I had working for students and for my school. Most students run for their resume, but I can assure you that my motives are selfless.

                              

CP: What is your view on ASUC spending? How can it be improved?

CK: The ASUC is very cavalier when it comes to spending a finite amount of resources. Last month’s issue of the Patriot featured an article about a scholarship for students with drug convictions. This type of frivolous spending simply cannot continue. The ASUC should be promoting policies, grants, and scholarships for the betterment of the campus. If elected, I will try to gain membership to the financial committee to ensure fiscal responsibility. Student groups are the heart of this campus and deserve to have the proper funding. Most groups well represent and add richness to the campus. I would like to increase funding for groups that provide an overall benefit to the campus — for example, by representing the school in outside conventions, raising money for philanthropy, or any other activity that sheds a positive light on our fine campus.

 

CP: How will you represent those students who are not Republican?

CK: Republican, Democrat, socialist, or monarchist, we all have one thing in common — we are all students at the University of California, Berkeley. Our political views mean nothing when we have a physics midterm the next day. I want to focus on policies that will support and unite us as students. However, I will hold true to my constituencies as well as my own convictions concerning student government.

 

CP: Do you think the ASUC truly represents all students and their concerns?

CK: The ASUC was established as the students’ voice in the university. However, the personal motives of senators often distract them from the reasons they are in the senate in the first place. Most people tend to have a pessimist view of the ASUC, just as some have a pessimist view of our own national government. However, this is the system we have inherited, and it has shown its abilities to function extremely well. I want to keep the ASUC on track and not let personal goals and desires obstruct the primary function of the ASUC, to represent students.

 

CP: Are there any ASUC programs you would like to see expanded or enhanced?

CK: I believe the ASUC should take a more active role in student support. Our primary incentive to come to Berkeley is not to get a job but to get an education. Sometimes, various costs, such as paying for books, distract us from our academic goals. The ASUC book swap is an excellent way to reduce book costs, and I would like to see the active expansion of that program and other programs with similar goals.

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