As a cardboard box filled with note cards with candidates’
names written on them was shaken vigorously, the candidates for the
upcoming USAC election waited quietly, eyes fixed on the box,
awaiting the selection of the first name to be listed on the
election ballot.
After each name was pulled, the room stayed silent, save for
when a member of the Bruin Liberation Movement was selected. Then
the sounds of hushed celebration sounded from the man in the
chicken suit in the back.
Candidates for the upcoming Undergraduate Students Association
Council election congregated Tuesday night in the Kerckhoff Hall
State Room for an orientation meeting, led by the USAC Election
Board.
The orientation outlined rules and regulations for the upcoming
election, and a lottery was conducted for placement of
candidates’ signboards on campus and names on the ballot.
Candidates were also invited to sign on to a voluntary spending
cap pledge, which limits spending to $600 for the president and
$400 for other officers.
Student Power! (formerly known as Students First!), Future Front
and several independent candidates signed on, while Bruin
Liberation Movement and Bruins United did not, with the exception
of Bruins United Facilities Commission candidate Joe Vardner.
Presidential candidate Jenny Wood, a member of Student Power!
and current general representative to the council, said she
believed campaigning should always be equitable, and that the
slate’s position is that students should not be advantaged or
disadvantaged by their economic status.
Wood said the spending cap was neither a restriction nor an
advantage because the slate’s candidates were all qualified,
and the purpose of the spending cap was to maintain equity among
the candidates.
The Future Front slate also signed on to the spending cap. Megan
Carney, the slate’s candidate for general representative,
said she believed the spending cap was reasonable, and that it
would not hurt the slate’s campaign.
“If anything, I think it will help us because we are
trying to run an honest campaign. We really believe that in a
political campaign all parties should be on equal fronts with each
other,” she said.
Alex Gruenberg, the Bruins United candidate for president and
current Financial Supports commissioner, disagreed, and did not
sign on to the voluntary spending cap. “In my personal
opinion there’s no purpose to signing on to an arbitrary
spending cap,” he said. “We’re trying to reach
24,000 students. Spending money is a necessity.”
Gruenberg also questioned the honesty of those who did sign
on.
“The money they report isn’t realistic. It’s
inaccurate as to what they actually spend,” he said.
Joe Vardner, who is running for the spot of Facilities
commissioner, and P.C. Zai, general representative candidate, were
the only ones from the nine candidates fielded by Bruins United to
sign on to the cap.
Bruin Liberation Movement candidates said their slate did not
sign on to the spending cap because it would hurt what they called
their “grassroots movement.”
Jake Strom, the slate’s presidential candidate who donned
a chicken suit for the occasion, said he was willing to spend a few
thousand dollars.
“I’ve been working a lot,” he said. “I
want to invest it back in the school.”
But Alyssa Campos, the slate’s candidate for external vice
president, said she only anticipated spending a few hundred
dollars.
Both candidates running independently for Campus Events
commissioner signed on to the voluntary spending cap, as well as
independent candidates running unopposed. Jason Kaminsky and Nish
Chari, who are independent candidates for Campus Events
commissioner, said they did not think the cap would harm their
campaign.