Presidential candidate Devin Ayala and vice presidential candidate Navya Singh are looking to “change USG foundationally.”
Setting their campaign off the principles of ‘equity, transparency, advocacy,’ a few topics they want to focus on include mental health resources, improving dining options on campus, and budgeting within USG and the university.
Their route to achieving these goals starts with transparency.
“We are just trying to ensure that different budgets are being transparent,” said Ayala. “Transparency lies in how where our funds are being spent, what kind of funds are available, how we can apply for these funds and what are the reasons behind some of them being cut?”
One of their specific points involved DPS. While this includes making their budget available to the public, Ayala is also concerned with protecting USC students and ensuring the hiring process is transparent and safe for students. Last year, Ayala, who was on the External Affairs Committee, was “actually able to be part of the DPS hiring process for the new chief.”
But transparency can only go so far.
The newly updated shared Lyft program has recently been a hot topic among USC students. For the Ayala-Singh ticket, they want to focus on hearing student voices.
Recently, USG released an anecdotal form for students to express their stories and opinions on the matter and Ayala wants to “hone” in on this.
However, because USG doesn’t control funding for the program, it will be difficult for them to do anything other than advocate for the program to the administration.
Another action they wish to take is to replace a current USC restaurant with a local/BIPOC restaurant but Ayala was unable to say where the funding for this would come from.
Ayala recognizes that the Village contract makes it difficult for local businesses to get a spot in the village due to the high rent prices. However, he believes that “as long as we have a lot of momentum and a lot of student demand, the administration will most likely speak and address certain issues.”
“I just think really emphasizing that we have the experience, that we’re not out of touch with what students want, but we also know that we don’t know everything that students want. That’s why we’re trying to do really tangible things.”