Students First sweeps runoff offices
Brazil, Duarte, Kawai win IVP, academic affairs, facilities
commissioners slots
By Rashmi Nijagal
Daily Bruin Staff
In undergraduate runoff elections Thursday night, Students First
candidates swept the remaining offices of internal vice president,
academic affairs commissioner and facilities commissioner.
In contrast to the past two weeks, during which campaigning
slates have frequently butted heads, the final elections last night
marked a turning point where both greek and progressive candidates
acknowledged their differences but agreed to work toward better
relations.
"(Regardless) of where we came from, we were able to work
together," Rob Greenhalgh, undergraduate student government
president, said about this past year. "(Now) we all need to look at
areas of common ground."
York Chang, undergraduate president-elect, agreed.
"I don’t believe that we can necessarily hold hands and sing
‘Kumbaya.’ I don’t think we have to even like each other," Chang
said. "(But) you have to understand that there needs to be a level
of respect."
As the results were announced last night, the difference between
sides became evident. Compared to last week’s primary elections,
when members of both slates had some reason to cheer, only the
Students First coalition sprayed champagne in the air victoriously
after completing a sweep of most undergraduate government
offices.
Barbara Brazil won the office of internal vice president by a
slim majority with 52.76 percent over Pilar McLellan’s 47.24
percent.
Brazil had also won by a narrow margin with 50 percent in
primary elections last week. But because of a 35-vote discrepancy
in the number of ballots and the narrow difference in results, the
Elections Board decided to send the race into runoffs. Students
First supporters unsuccessfully urged undergraduate government to
cancel the runoff because there was no evidence of which candidate
received the 35 extra votes.
Last night, Brazil had only one thing to say: "The students have
spoken, again."
Cynthia Duarte, academic affairs commissioner-elect, said she
looks forward to her new post next year.
"You are going to see a lot of action on this campus next year,"
Duarte said. "We are going to take the same (issues) we have been
working on all year and take them to student government."
Mikako Kawai, facilities commissioner-elect, agrees.
"A lot of (Students First) candidates came from a lot of
organizations on campus and I think that we really worked hard,"
Kawai said. "(The facilities office) is going to be a very busy
office."
In spite of the results, Kim Bayley, defeated candidate for the
office of academic affairs, hopes to continue working on the issues
she campaigned for.
"Students voted for the people that they believed in," Bayley
said. "And I hope to continue work on the issues that I advocated
for on this campaign."
McLellan and Laura David-son, defeated candidates for internal
vice president and facilities commissioner respectively, refused
comment.
While various controversies during this year’s elections grabbed
much attention, only 3,863 students took the time to vote in the
final elections. During the primary race last week, 4,952
undergraduates voted.
But the drop-off in voter turnout was because the final
elections involved fewer offices and less people were interested in
them, said Nikki Vivion, Elections Board chair.
"The turnout was fair — slightly lower than last week, while
the whole elections were slightly lower than previous years,"
Vivion said. "I was not really surprised. Generally, the candidates
are more tired in the whole process, and so is the Elections
Board."