Although an opt-in ChatGPT+ account for all students and expanded discount programs for Zipcar, Uber and Lyft may sound like a dream for college students – Mikaela Bautista and Emma Fallon are committed to turning them into reality for the USC Trojan community.
Running for USG president is Mikaela Bautista, a junior studying business administration from Seattle, WA. Emma Fallon, running for USG vice president, is a junior studying political science from Boston, MA.
Bautista and Fallon both have extensive experience in student government, at USC and in high school. Bautista served as President of her high school’s student government and later as deputy aide to the Vice President in USC’s executive branch. Currently, she serves as a USG Senator. Fallon held the role of Student Government President for all four years of high school and now serves as the academic affairs chair in USC’s USG.
“I feel like, to do this job, you need to love it,” Fallon said. “We weren’t going to do this if we didn’t feel confident in our platform.”
Bautista and Fallon are running their campaign on one main motive – conversations.
“We want to be your voice. We want to bridge that gap between administration and students, and also bridge that gap between students and USG. We want people to know that USG is a resource for them. We want to come to them. Not have [them] come to us,” Fallon said. “Me and Mikaela have all these ideas, but we also want to focus on – what does the student body want? What are their ideas that they want us to work on?”
Honesty, transparency, advocacy, accountability and spirit were a few things they plan on building their platform around.
“Our platform is designed to be really honest and deliver on promises to the student body. That was a huge part of what we did. We didn’t want to run a campaign of false claims,” Fallon said.
Passionate about instilling a sense of community and belonging to the Trojan community, Bautista said, “I truly think that we have the ability to make everyone feel like they belong, whether that’s within USG, outside of USG, making sure that they have a voice on campus. They are essential to the Trojan community.”
While talking about the process behind USG projects and initiatives, the candidates explained how these projects are set up to be “picked up by administration.” USG must demonstrate enough need to show that the projects are vital to the student body.
Bautista and Fallon plan on having an opt-in ChatGPT+ account for the Trojan community, to ensure equitable access.
“ChatGPT is a new technology that is being so quickly integrated into society, even at the university level, a lot of my professors are already bringing chat GPT in the curriculum,” Bautista said.
Acknowledging that not all USC students may be able to pay for ChatGPT+ accounts, they aim to have all Trojans “on the same playing field,” and to make sure that students know the best way to use ChatGPT in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way in school and in the workforce after graduation as well.
Similar to the New York Times subscription, Bautista and Fallon plan on implementing the same strategy for a ChatGPT discounted subscription.
“As academic affairs chair, I have had a really unique and cool opportunity to sit on the academic affairs Board of Trustees – which is the board of trustees, our provost and they’ve talked a lot about AI and how USC is really leaning into it. They want to be one of the starters and change makers,” Fallon said. “So, I think they would be open to having that conversation about how to best get their students the resources they need to excel in that.”
Bautista and Fallon are committed to improving transportation accessibility for USC students. Their plans include expanding discount programs and extending Fryft hours, ensuring students have more convenient and affordable ways to navigate Los Angeles.
Over the summer, Fallon has been in talks with the Doheny library staff, who are on board with extending library hours. They are currently working on expanding study spaces during finals.
“[The budget] is not something we’re blind to,” Fallon said. “The hope is to advocate for that need. When the budget comes around, we’ll have the numbers and information to push for that and show administration, and hopefully they would be willing and can take us up on that.”
As a senator on the Wellness Committee, Bautista has been working on menstrual product distribution and access on campus.
“I have been working with pharmacy to see if we can put pads and tampons into the vending machines, which may not be feasible due to the size, and so I’m in contact with Facilities Planning and Management to see if we can upgrade the products within TCC,” Bautista said.
She is also in talks with the Trojan Pantry to see if they can have a “shelf with pads and tampons, so that people who are using the treasure pantry can grab some products there.”
Bautista and Fallon say they want to be “held accountable” by the Trojan community.
“If we say that we’re going to do these things, hold us accountable,” Fallon said.
“We’re incredibly motivated, we’ve been motivated within USG and we’re ready to continue our work and make sure that we work for the student body, and that you guys have the best student experience possible,” Bautista said.