According to the survey’s official website, the goal of the project is to create a social atmosphere on campus that is “free of the negativity of discrimination, where inclusion and respect for diversity is the daily norm.” All 10 UC campuses will participate in the survey in addition to the UC Office of the President, the department of agriculture and natural resources and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The survey itself takes a breezy 20 minutes (tops) to complete, with questions that focus primarily on issues of racial, religious and sexual discrimination on campus. The questions themselves are refreshingly devoid of the noncommittal “yes, no, undecided” format of many similar surveys — each one is tailored to yield the most constructive student-generated data possible. The Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion will then compile and analyze this data in order to begin making various administrative changes that might best accommodate the specific needs of a modern social body.

But if sheer good will and optimism isn’t enough of a reason to knock out the UC Campus Climate Survey, the survey’s glorious line of incentives should easily be. All students who complete the survey will be automatically entered in a drawing to win prizes that include things from a $75 UCSD Bookstore gift card to an iPad to one $10,000 undergraduate scholarship.

While these prizes are certainly an added incentive, they do risk undermining the survey’s serious purpose. Just as students should take responsibility in voicing their concerns, UCSD should also be held accountable for having students participate in the survey as well other similar projects that might foster a healthier campus climate. But aside from sheer apathy, students really have no excuse not to fill out the survey — the mere 20 minutes spent could easily contribute to a positive future for the UC or, at the very least, a free lunch at Zanzibar.