Tuesday, 5/13/97 Former candidates share their reactions USAC:
Students First! sweeps; other slates say running was worth it
By Joshua Smith Daily Bruin Contributor Winning seven of the 13
Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) offices in the
primary elections, the Students First! slate demonstrated that
despite the stiff competition, there are still many voters who have
confidence in Students First!’s ability to perform. After last
year’s similar Students First! sweep of all the USAC offices, many
wondered why other candidates would even bother running. From the
beginning some slates knew that they did not have a chance to win,
but ran anyway because they felt their involvement in the elections
would still make a difference. "I did not think we were going to
win," said Justin Sobodash, a third-year political science student
and former presidential candidate of Liberty ’97. His goal in the
election was to make students re-evaluate how student government is
run. "I wanted to present a message that political activity should
not be funded by the students at large, that political groups
should have to do their own fund-raising," he said. Liberty ’97
advocated a student government that was not run by parties but by
individual students. The thrust behind the party’s campaign "was
the desire to maintain personal and academic freedom," Sobodash
said. In light of this goal, Sobodash noted that his party’s lack
of votes was not a defeat. Instead, he looked at his campaign as
one step forward in a larger struggle. "I did not see it as a loss.
I just did not win the presidency," he said. Former presidential
candidate of Bruin Vision, Christopher Hecht, a third-year
political science student, expressed the same kind of sentiment
over his loss. Not only did he know that his party would most
likely not win, but he was also surprised that Students First! did
not take all 13 USAC offices in the primary election for a second
consecutive year. "When it came down to it, we knew that we did not
have much of a chance," Hecht said. Like Liberty ’97, Hecht said
that Bruin Vision mainly wanted to get people to listen to their
message. "We were trying to get our ideas across," he said. But not
all those who opposed Students First! in the election were
interested in merely making noise. Ruben Garcia, former
presidential candidate from the Unity ’97 slate and a third-year
political science student, said his party wanted to do more than
just toot their horn. Garcia said that his party had ideas that he
felt most students wanted to see implemented. "That gave us the
momentum to go forth," he said. "We thought the sentiment was out
there (against Students First!). We thought we could upset them."
However, Garcia was very surprised at the result of the primary
elections. "I really thought I was going to beat all of them," he
said. Garcia credits Students First!’s success to a powerful slate
that worked hard to obtain votes. "They doubled their effort," he
said. While Students First! gained many votes, Garcia said that
many of the voters did not know the issues and participated in the
process misinformed. "I do not think every vote Students First! got
was an informed vote," Garcia said. Even though he did not win the
presidency, Garcia felt he was victorious because he felt that all
of his votes were informed votes. "We had 700 votes. A little more
time and we could have (won the election)," he said, noting that he
will most likely run for office again next year. However, for
former Access Coalition presidential candidate Ben Hofilena,
disillusionment with the election process followed the
disappointment of his loss. "I lost a lot of faith in USAC," the
third-year physiological sciences student said. Hofilena was
surprised at the result of the primary election, but felt that it
could have been a corrupt victory because Students First! had the
support of this year’s council, he alleged. "They have really
mastered how to … work the power of the incumbency," he said.
"Now there is going to be three generations of Bruins who will
never know what it is like to be a part of a student government
that works for them. "I do not know if this machine can ever be
stopped." However, Hofilena still believes in the idea of
"effective student government" and plans to do whatever he can next
year to push the 1997-98 USAC in a direction that appeals to the
needs of all students, he said. "Because I do believe in student
government, I will be a thorn in (Students First!’s) side," he
said. "Something has to be done." Hofilena expressed that he is
going to encourage other students to get involved in next year’s
student government. "I will go out of my way to include students in
this new student government." Previous Daily Bruin stories Election
board recieves two new staff members, April 16, 1997