A document written by UCLA’s undergraduate student
government president and passed out to students planning to run for
office on his slate includes a “friends and enemies”
section and lists ways to manipulate campus politics and deal with
student media.
“Manipulation is the key,” Undergraduate Students
Association Council President David Dahle wrote, as the first point
in a section of the document called “Keys to
Success.”
“This sounds maniacal, but it is the truth. To be an
effective campaigner and council member you must play the political
game, which means you must manipulate people,” the document
said.
But Dahle argued what he meant was that it was important to
manipulate the political environment and not manipulate other
people.
Such manipulation is imperative to getting goals accomplished,
he said.
“When you are in politics, in order to accomplish goals,
you may have to manipulate your environment,” he said.
Also included in Dahle’s “Keys to Success” are
instructions to watch everyone and not let anyone know about future
plans or sensitive information.
“Those not in the immediate slate circle should not be
told (sensitive information,” the document states.
“(Empowerment!) might try to put spies around you …
Empowerment! people are everywhere.”
He added that his slate was not the only slate that played the
“political game.”
The fact that the Daily Bruin received the document is proof of
that, Dahle said. The Bruin received Dahle’s candidate packet
from former S.U.R.E. External Vice President candidate recruit
Christina Paganini. Dahle said he was under the impression Paganini
was now affiliated with the recently formed slate United
Independents.
But head of U.I. Andrew LaFlamme denied any knowledge of the
document and would not deny or confirm Paganini’s affiliation
with his slate.
“Christina wasn’t guided, influenced or spoken (to)
about this packet in any way by U.I.,” LaFlamme said.
LaFlamme added that he doesn’t appreciate Dahle’s
attempt to swing the contents of the document onto his slate.
“I don’t think David is a bad guy, but it is wholly
irresponsible of him to swing this onto the U.I. slate,” he
said.
“It’s just stuff that every slate is going to tell
its candidates,” Dahle said.
But councilmembers belonging to the Student Empowerment! slate
denied the distribution of similar information.
The only documentation that candidates interested in running
under the Empowerment! slate receive is handouts about different
organization and a history of the slate, said Internal Vice
President T.J. Cordero.
“They are all public documents … to provide a historical
and social context for candidates,” he said.
Dahle’s document contained such historical information, in
addition to the “friends and enemies” list and the
“keys to success” section.
Cordero said Empowerment! does not distribute documentation
encouraging candidates to engage in “political
games.”
Still, Cordero said, politics do play a role for in USAC as it
is a governmental institution.
Cordero also said he does meet with fellow Empowerment!
councilmembers before council meetings to discuss agenda items. But
he added that he met with other councilmembers too.
The political differences on USAC played a role in the recent
appointment of the new facilities commissioner, Adam Pearlman, for
example.
While Dahle refused to appoint the candidate affiliated with the
Empowerment! slate, Empowerment! councilmembers refused to approve
any of Dahle’s appointees. Pearlman, one of Dahle’s
recommendations, was approved without the support of
Empowerment!.
But Cordero said Empowerment! only supported the most qualified
candidate. In not pushing the most qualified candidate, Dahle was
the one doing manipulating, Cordero said.
In Dahle’s “friends and enemies” list, all
S.U.R.E members are listed as friends and all members of the
Student Empowerment! slate, as enemies.
The list also includes a number of student group leaders. Many
of those listed as friends were the primary beneficiaries of a new
student group funding system whose implementation Dahle initiated
last summer.
Additionally, members of the Daily Bruin staff, including Editor
in Chief Cuauhtemoc Ortega, were listed as enemies, while other
staffers were listed as friends.
Also listed as friends were Helen Seliverstov and Chris Hauck,
members of the communications board, which governs student media,
but does not control content.
Dahle said he hoped his “enemies” didn’t take
the document personally.
It was only meant to be taken metaphorically, Dahle said.
Dahle added that the list was only an attempt to simplify those
parties who are regarded as either sympathetic or unsympathetic to
S.U.R.E.
Some on Dahle’s list did not wish to be called
“friend or enemy.”
But other members of the other two slates said such distinctions
were not beneficial.
“I don’t worry about who my friends and enemies are
because if you start thinking about that, nothing gets done,”
Cordero said.
“It’s just a bad word choice on (Dahle’s)
part,” he said.
Chris Neal, External Vice President and also a member of the
Empowerment! shared the same sentiment.
It’s disheartening that S.U.R.E. has enemies that are so
solid, Neal said.
But other councilmembers said they thought Dahle’s actions
were understandable to some extent.
“To David’s testament, you are having new candidates
that don’t understand the exact workings of the slate and you
don’t want to put yourself at a disadvantage,” LaFlamme
said, referring to the distinctions Dahle made.
Still, LaFlamme said such antagonistic relationships are
counter-productive and create artificial barriers on council.
Dahle wrote the document over Spring Break and said it does not
represent the official positions of his slate, just his personal
observations.
Tuesday, Dahle briefly denied authoring the document, saying it
was “doctored,” before reversing course and confirming
that he did, in fact, produce it.
General Representative Adam Harmetz, who is in the process of
making official his run for the presidency under the S.U.R.E.
slate, said he will not be embracing the document in his
campaign.
“It’s David’s thing, he wrote it … when I
first read it, I had to take a breath,” Harmetz said,
referring to the claims made in the document.
Instead, Harmetz said he will only be embracing the
“Kerckhoff Doctrine” that he co-wrote with other
S.U.R.E. members.
The doctrine highlights the principles S.U.R.E. stands for.
“We continue to foster the hope that student government
can rise to a level of greatness and unite the student body as a
diverse, yet unified whole,” the doctrine states.
Harmetz said he was running under the S.U.R.E. slate because he
believes in the ideologies it stands for.
Though the document may not help the slate, he said students
would ultimately understand the nature of the slate.
“It doesn’t look great but if people understand what
we are, have and will accomplish, they will side with
S.U.R.E.,” Harmetz added.
Dahle also included in the document rules for S.U.R.E.
candidates to abide by.
While encouraging the candidates to not trust anyone except the
most loyal members of S.U.R.E., Dahle also recommends that
candidates follow the rules and be informed of the UCLA community
and beyond.
In the end, it’s only to ensure the betterment of the
school, Dahle said.
“Without this you can’t run and you can’t
win,” he said.