Dear candidate for USAC Office,
Now, I know you must be incredibly busy ““ elections are
less than a week away, and you’ve been dreaming and scheming
over your campaign for what must seem like forever. But between the
many hours of speech stumpin’ and arm pumpin’ you have
scheduled today, I hope you can take the time to sit down, catch
your breath and read these small bits of advice I have for you.
After all, as an elected USAC official you will have a huge
impact on my student fees, my campus organizations and my
extracurricular opportunities. Most importantly, you will have the
chance to lead this great university ““ a school I’m
pretty fond of.
First off, we need candidates with a clear vision for UCLA
““ something inspiring, uplifting and challenging. To be a
successful politician on or off campus, you need to present ideas
able to capture the imagination of your voters, spring your
electorate into action and propel yourself into office. In 1996,
Bill Clinton won re-election by promising to “build a bridge
into the 21st century.” In 1994, the Republicans swept the
congressional elections by offering an inciting “Contract
With America.”
Reagan, Kennedy, Roosevelt and other successful politicians had
clear futures for America in mind and promoted their ideas with
vigor. Why should we expect any less from our USAC candidates?
Yet, so far, the campus has not seen a candidate step up to the
podium and share a vision of the heights they plan to take USAC to.
That doesn’t mean that current candidates don’t have
ideas; for the past two weeks, we’ve read candidates’
ideas in the Daily Bruin. We know that the Students United for
Reform and Equality candidates for general representative want to
improve the “boring” USAC Web site, the Students First!
candidate for Academic Affairs Commissioner wants USAC to work to
engage students, and the United Independent candidate for Financial
Supports Commissioner wants to advertise the current book lending
program more.
There are 28 candidates running for office and there are 28
different views of how to run USAC.
But ideas alone don’t equate to a vision. Students
probably couldn’t care less about most of the issues our
candidates are running on. Why? Because these issues don’t
really seem to affect the lives of the majority of students.
Each slate moans that students seem very apathetic about student
politics, but there is a reason behind the students’ apathy.
During a year in which tuition is rising sharply, housing is
getting more scarce and the world seems to be falling apart around
us, USAC seems to have its head buried in the sand, unwilling or
unable to confront the big issues in UCLA students’ lives.
Our USAC candidates need to rise above this and find a vision and a
voice that can guide our school throughout the upcoming year.
And finally, once your fellow students have placed an enormous
amount of trust in you, don’t blow it. The actions taken by
USAC officers this year have badly damaged the trust UCLA students
should have in their student government. In the past month alone,
we have seen numerous violations of this trust. We have seen USAC
squabble over whether or not to send emotional support and well
wishes to U.S. troops overseas ““ an attitude which hardly
matches the sentiments of most UCLA students. We have seen USAC so
paralyzed by division that they were unable to even discuss the
important issues affecting the lives of students, tabling
controversial items before they could be open for debate.
We have seen mean-spirited behavior from USAC President David
Dahle regarding his “friends and enemies.” Such
behavior has cast doubt upon an entire year of leadership.
Candidates, your fellow students are giving you their trust.
Treat us better than our current USAC officers have.
Well, there you have it. Between the handshaking, speech making
and promise- breaking, you’ve got to find a vision, a voice
and work hard to restore trust in USAC. If you can do those things,
then you’ll have my vote. Good luck!
Sincerely,
The undergraduate student body of UCLA
Ludlow is a second-year political science, economics and history
student. E-mail him at dludlow@media.ucla.edu.