Wednesday, 4/23/97 USAC candidates announce campaign platforms
Ideas include improving financial aid, privatizing ASUCLA
By Stefanie Wong Daily Bruin Contributor With the race to
control the Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) well
under way, four political parties have stepped forward in a fight
for Kerckhoff Hall. The incumbent slate Students First! hopes to
continue its work for increased availability of education, while
challenger Bruin Vision wants USAC to focus more on campus issues.
New to the battle for Kerckhoff Hall are Access Coalition, formerly
known as Access UCLA ’97, which wants to work toward access to
higher education and the student government, and the Bruin
Libertarians, whose main concern is making USAC fees voluntary.
Students First! is running on largely the same platform,
established two years ago, which won the election for the slate.
"Our basic platform is our commitment to grassroots organizing,
providing direct services to students and advocating students
rights," said Students First! presidential candidate Kandea Mosley.
The slate hopes to continue to work on lowered registration fees,
increased financial aid, immigration reform, retention and
diversity. "The Students First! philosophy is making student
government relevant to students’ lives and covering the wide
variety of issues that affect students," Mosley said. One specific
area that Mosley wants to address is the need to increase the
involvement of women on the campus. According to Mosley, this means
expanding women’s leadership roles and increasing self-confidence
and safety through self-defense training courses. With two years’
experience behind it, Students First! hopes its tenure will be one
of the contributing factors toward re-election. "What
differentiates us from different slates is our experience and our
concrete gains in meeting students’ needs," Mosley said. Previous
programs by Students First! include the book-lending program and
contributing to a campaign with the United States Students
Association (USSA) which increased financial aid by $13.5 billion
nationally, she added. Access Coalition is also stressing the need
for students to elect an experienced student government. "A
resounding theme from Access Coalition is that we are a group of
credible candidates with backgrounds in USAC and the student
government," said Access Coalition presidential candidate Ben
Hofilena. "The thing that carries us through is our fundamental
vision of going back to the basics of what student government is,
which is really working for and empowering students," he added.
Access Coalition’s plans for USAC include increasing student access
to higher education and the student government. Some of the areas
that Access hopes to address include more financial aid in the form
of Cal Grants, lower registration fees and ensuring diversity on
campus without affirmative action programs. "We want to work for a
safe UCLA, a healthier students association (ASUCLA) – we want to
see more direct students services," Hofilena said. While Access
Coalition hopes to open the door to the student government through
outreach and diversity, Bruin Vision hopes to reach more students
by addressing campus- and student-related issues. According to
Bruin Vision presidential candidate Chris Hecht, those areas
include campus safety, multiculturalism and cultural exchange as
well as increasing the importance of the pre-professional societies
on campus. "We have a Bruin vision where the other past governments
have had a tunnel vision," Hecht said. "They focus in and only see
their one small issues. "With Bruin Vision, you see everything and
you don’t disregard any issues that aren’t in your scope," he
added. If elected, the slate is also seeking to make some
administrative changes within USAC, specifically in the area of
student government office stipends. "We feel that USAC members
should go without stipends," said David Krinsky, Bruin Vision’s
external vice presidential candidate. "People who take (a job in
student government) should be doing it because they want to do it
and not because they want to get paid," he added. Bruin Vision is
also addressing the current financial state of ASUCLA in light of
next year’s increase in association fees. "It is not the students’
responsibility to bail out mismanagement," Hecht said. Possible
solutions that Bruin Vision is proposing are the sale of alcohol on
campus to bring in revenues and privatizing many of the services
that ASUCLA offers. The Bruin Libertarian slate is also championing
ideas of a campus pub and continued privatization of ASUCLA as ways
to alleviate some of the association’s financial troubles. The
slate hopes to work toward making UCLA a more cost-efficient
school, and believes the student government has the power to do so.
"It’s the responsibility of the student government to take the lead
and say that we can’t perpetually be asking for more money and
lower fees, unless we look at how we can cut costs and find ways to
make the university more efficient," said Bruin Libertarian
presidential candidate Justin Sobodash. The party also hopes to
increase personal freedoms. This includes lifting restrictions on
freedom of speech and making UCLA a clothing-optional campus. It
also means making the currently mandatory USAC fee an option for
all students, Sobodash said. "Our main concern is making USAC fees
voluntary," Sobodash said. "We feel it is not a good use of funds
if people are forced to pay into a system and they feel they don’t
get anything out of it." Daily Bruin Stories: