On Friday night, the new ASCIT BoD was sworn into office. The swearing-in ceremony was the culmination of the most competitive ASCIT election season in history. However, before looking forward, I’d like to take a look back. One year ago, things were very different. Five out of the nine members of the outgoing ASCIT BoD ran unopposed, and three others had only one opponent. I remember personally recruiting several of the BoD members, and in some cases, I didn’t get anyone signed up for the positions until the last day. Knowing how it was back then, it makes me laugh when people suggest we were power-hungry or that we wanted to pad our resumes. In fact, many members of the 2002 ASCIT BoD didn’t even want their jobs at all, but they did them anyway, and they did them incredibly well.

During the 2002 election season, things were surprisingly quiet. I had expected the momentum of the protest to inspire droves of students to get involved, but the gestation period for that seemed to take a year. Unfortunately, student issues did not wait, and our group of humble, unheralded officers was stuck with the unenviable task of reopening a dialogue with the administration at a time when communication was poor and pressure was high. Looking back, we did better than I ever expected. We recovered free course catalogs and freshman parking spaces, we revived the Student-Faculty Conference and have another one planned next term, we received a $3 million gift, and we gained student representation on many committees. The most important things are perhaps the things that didn’t happen: the house system and health plan remain intact and Beckman lawn remains green. There was no secret formula for these accomplishments; they were simply the products of each member of the ASCIT BoD working extremely hard, for which they never really got much credit. I’d like to take this opportunity to recount their accomplishments and to thank them for the work they put in.

The Vice-President, Vikram Mittal, was studying abroad in Cambridge when we realized that there was nobody on campus that wanted to be BoC Chair. After some long-distance arm-twisting, he gave into his sense of duty and took the job. Over his term, he presided over a heavy case load while suffering through many long ASCIT meetings. He did his job with dignity and never complained, putting in an incredible amount of work in service of the student body.

The Secretary, Joe Jewell, continued from the previous ASCIT BoD with me, and his experience served us well. During his time as ASCIT Secretary, he spoke out in favor of the House system on the Faculty Student Housing Committee, produced a pamphlet of student officers and administrators, and took thorough minutes at each of our meetings. He spends more of his time thinking about student government than anyone I know, and was a great asset over this past year.

The Treasurer, Janet Zhou, is very dear to my heart. She inherited a Corporation mired in financial difficulties. ASCIT’s taxes had not been filed for two years, but she recovered all the documents and filed both tax returns. To prevent this from happening in the future, she moved our accounting to an automated system to make life easier for her successors. She also discovered $50,000 that ASCIT had lost track of and invested it in the endowment, earning a return for future students. She also instituted the student-faculty lunch program, through which dozens of students have taken professors to lunch at the Athenaeum. She did all this while working as associate editor of the yearbook and assistant social chairman of Fleming House, and her incredible capacity for thankless work continues to amaze me.

Kim Hiscox took over for Janet in January and was immediately saddled with the task of negotiating with the IRS over our late penalty from two years ago. She worked much harder than any temporary officer probably should have, and I have high hopes for her as the incoming Social Director.

Marcus Williams took over as IHC Chair when his predecessor left office early, and he has certainly given more time and effort than was asked of him. He guided the IHC through the aftermath of the TURLI report, and the house system survived completely intact. Even after he leaves office, he is staying involved in the student-faculty conference with the committee on workload and student morale. I was always in awe of his calm demeanor, his dedication to the issues that mattered, and his incredible ability to remain perfectly rational as he put up with the rest of us.

Basit Khan won the only really hotly contested election in 2002, but I think anyone would agree that his competitors for Director of Academic Affairs could not have possibly worked harder than he did. Early on in his term, the ARC considered various academic policy revisions and next term we will all reap the benefits as students will be allowed to P/F two classes next term. He has poured his heart into the very ambitious Student-Faculty Conference planned for April 16th, and students will be benefiting from his efforts for years to come.

I made a big effort to talk Jialan Wang into signing up for Social Director, which is probably the most thankless job on the BoD. She brought us all to Beverly Hills for the ASCIT Formal where over 200 students were treated to an exquisite meal and a beautiful event that took many long hours of work. She also represented the student body on the Faculty Health Insurance Committee and the Freshman Admissions Committee. Throughout her term, she has reached out to alumni, faculty, and administrators, and the student body has gained many allies in the process. She always gave her all without complaint, and I hope she knows that her hard work has been appreciated.

Neda Afsarmanesh became Upperclass Director-at-Large after serving as an editor for the California Tech as a freshman. Neda used her experience well, and was the first UDaL to actually make an impact on the publications, moving the business managers to a new accounting system and putting out the best-looking Totem, Big T, and little t I have ever seen. Neda did her job so well that she felt the need to do something extra. She led a crusade to get the ASCIT BoD more in touch with the student body, leading us from House to House bearing food and drinks. She is the prime example of what I admire about all the members of my BoD – the energy and desire to go above and beyond what needed to be done.

The Freshman Director-at-Large, Andrea Vasconcellos, was the heart and soul of the BoD, and her bright smile kept me going through all the criticism. She took care of everything we assigned to her, even staying up past her bedtime when she needed to Of course, ASCIT is just one of the things Andrea does on campus, and her ability to do so much and keep that smile on her face always reminded me what I was fighting for.

All the BoD members put in more than was ever expected of them, and they have left ASCIT and the student body much better off than a year ago. The past year has been the most rewarding period of my life, and I owe them a lot of gratitude. Thank you Vikram. Thank you Joe. Thank you Janet. Thank you Kim. Thank you Marcus. Thank you Basit. Thank you Jialan. Thank you Neda. Thank you Andrea.