Wednesday, 4/16/97 Election Board receives two new staff members
Appointees will allow chair to enforce fairness more
efficiently
By Joshua Smith Daily Bruin Contributor Right at the time when
the former Elections Board chair should have gone into high gear
with the election process, his resignation threw a wrench in the
process. But with the appointment of the final two members of the
Election Board (E-Board) at Tuesday night’s Undergraduate Student
Association Council (USAC) meeting, newly appointed E-Board chair
Lina Velasco can finally breathe a little easier. Anthony Brocking,
a third-year political science student, is the new investigations
chair, while Claudia Zeledon, a second-year biology student, was
appointed the new logistical chair. "I think we’re pretty much up
to speed, but (now) it’s going to flow more smoothly," Velasco said
of her new staff. About a month ago, former E-Board chair Edwin
Rivera resigned, leaving his successor with the mammoth task of
putting the undergraduate elections together. With little over a
month before students go to the polls, Velasco had to revise the
elections code, formulate the candidate packet, make the
endorsement form applications and appoint her new board. Now fully
staffed, Velasco can delegate more of the responsibility and more
closely oversee an elections process that, with several new parties
in the running, may stir up controversy. "It has become more
noticeable to me that these elections may become more
controversial, but (we) will do our best to uphold the integrity
and the fairness of the USAC elections," Velasco said. Brocking
recognized the importance of fairness in the elections as well. He
mentioned that the undergraduate student government elections were
not just important for issues on campus, but also in the community
at large. "In the national elections, a lot of things are being
questioned. So I think the process starts now while we are in
school to build the foundation for moral elections – to make sure
our elections mean something," Brocking said. Zeledon wants to make
the UCLA experience mean something to the students. "Working for
student government will … give me the opportunity to work with my
peers on issues that pertain to our success at UCLA," Zeledon said.
"The Elections Board interests me in particular because I will be
able to work with issues that deal with fairness and objectivity."
Both new members expressed their enthusiasm for their new
responsibilities, and there is much work that Velasco has for them
to do. "The candidate packets are due (Wednesday). Thursday is the
candidates’ orientation meeting (and) Friday we will have the
official list of candidates posted in Kerckhoff Hall" just outside
the undergraduate president’s office. Even though the elections
process was started a week behind, Velasco was still able to
fulfill her duties in a reasonable amount of time. "The reason I
moved the elections back was not because I was far behind but
because there was a Jewish holiday," Velasco said. "Some students
would not have been able to participate. It was just easier for me
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