The final results for the undergraduate student government
elections were announced Thursday evening to a tense and excited
crowd, revealing a close race.
For 10 years, Students First! has been a strong presence on the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, and this trend will
continue next year.
Winning 52.15 percent of the votes, Allende Palma/Saracho will
head USAC as president next year.
The first thing Palma/Saracho will do as president-elect is
thank Students First! and all their volunteers and supporters, he
said.
As for his actions in office, the first thing Palma/Saracho will
pursue is meeting with the council to brainstorm ideas to address
the drastic budget cuts, especially toward outreach.
Josh Lawson lost the race for the presidency by a very small
margin, earning 255 fewer votes.
The close victory enjoyed by Students First! is an indication
that many students on campus support the goals of the Equal Access
Coalition, he said.
“There were a lot of students that supported what we were
doing. “¦ We’ll still pursue trying to make sure that
students are able to have a voice,” Lawson said.
Students First! nearly swept the runoff elections, except for
the position of internal vice president that went to Darren Chan,
an independent candidate.
Palma/Saracho said he plans on establishing a collaborative
relationship with Chan and said it is important Chan have the same
visions as Genevieve Espinosa, the defeated internal vice president
candidate and Students First! member.
The positions of general representative were swept by Students
First!, with candidates from the slate taking all three posts.
Jenny Wood, with 21.55 percent of the vote, will be general
representative one and said she will begin work on learning about
the student government and implementing her programs.
“There’s still a lot I still need to learn about
USAC, about our university. The first step I would like to take is
learning from past councilmembers,” Wood said.
The first actions Wood plans to take are to begin work on
“Get Tested Week,” aimed at educating students on how
to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, and a Web site that will
provide students with information on community service
programs.
Wood said she will work collectively with the other general
representatives rather than as an individual councilmember.
“I plan on working with Anneli and Tommy as a collective
unit, doing all that we can,” Wood said, referring to fellow
slate members who were also elected Thursday.
Tommy Tseng, winning the position of general representative with
17.48 percent of the votes, said he knew his victory was
coming.
Like Wood, the first thing Tseng plans on doing is making sure
the office will be working as a collective staff to ensure that all
students on campus will be served.
“(It’s) not just about advocating on behalf of the
students. It’s about developing a strong student
consciousness and giving them advocacy skills to build a student
movement,” Tseng said.
Anneli Villarin, the third Students First! general
representative winner, said she was ecstatic to take office.
After thanking all of her supporters and volunteers, Villarin,
like Tseng, plans on integrating the staff together as a team to
implement resources such as the Students Explore and Experience Los
Angeles program.
But Wood also said collaboration would not be limited to working
with other members of Students First!.
“If they are willing to work toward equal access to higher
education “¦ then, sure, I want to work with them,” Wood
said, referring to the candidates who ran with the Equal Access
Coalition.
Members of the Equal Access Coalition who did not win office
also said they plan to continue work toward their campaign
goals.
Andy Green, a candidate for general representative, said he
believes he can successfully work with Students First! on council
next year.
“I have some friends that ran on Students First!. I have a
lot of respect for them,” Green said.
But collaborative work between Students First! and the Equal
Access Coalition may be easier said than done.
“There are very few offices I feel I could work on,”
said Brian Neesby, a candidate for general representative under the
Equal Access Coalition, alluding to the Students First! majority on
council.