It’s tough work choosing between candidates in USAC elections. It may be easiest, as in high-school elections, to just vote for your friends. But barring that, voters will need to understand how exactly the candidates differ.
The candidates’ differences can be summed up in the opposing ideologies of the two competing slates on which most of them run, Students First! and Bruins United.
The slates have drastically different ideas of what the focus of student government should be. Bruins United believes student government should focus on improving campus life, whereas Students First! wants the government to focus on broader issues of social justice that may or may not be related to student life.
But given the racial differences between student groups backing each slate, it’s common to break their opposition into a rather crude race war, as independent presidential candidate Dave Valk did at last Thursday’s debate.
“We have so much in common that we need to find some difference to make it look like real politics,” Valk told me. “The only thing we can find to differ on is race.”
Valk, quite seriously, believes that he (white male that he is) can bring races together through his leadership. The Midvale block party he threw Saturday to unite students around his campaign was broken up by police well before midnight.
On the surface, the racial element is certainly apparent. Students First! is backed mostly by ethnic- and identity-centered student groups such as MEChA, Samahang Pilipino, and the Muslim Student Association.
Bruins United is backed by Bruin Democrats, Jewish groups and members of the Greek system, groups more often associated, incorrectly, with the white and Asian cultural mainstream.
Bruins United formed in 2004 to combat what they saw as a preferential distribution of funds and Kerckhoff office space to Students First!’s cabal of ethnic groups.
Beneath the surface though, the issue is broader: Should USAC try to save the world, or just make the campus cooler?
“Students First! was created with the belief that student government should be used … to advocate for the issues students care about,” Students First! presidential candidate Gregory Cendana told me.
They have campaigned heavily on the rhetoric of advocacy and diversity.
“We want to educate the student body to know what is going on in our communities,” said Alexandra Ramos, Students First! candidate for Academic Affairs commissioner during the debate.
Such a platform sometimes makes me worry that all they’re out to do is introduce a gender and Chicana/o studies component to my math classes. Yes, X discriminates against Y, but only because she can’t understand the sexual orientation of the derivative of Z.
But Students First! has made some serious accomplishments in pursuit of social justice for students. Matias Ramos, Students First! candidate for Financial Supports commissioner, played a lead role in securing over $43,000 in 23 scholarships for undocumented immigrant students.
Bruins United, which is just as ethnically diverse as Students First!, has painted itself as more moderate. They’re sober technocrats, committed to small-scale projects like an on-campus bar, a safer night-time jogging trail, and Greek organizations getting their fair share of funding.
Their candidate for Academic Affairs commissioner, Addar Weintraub, advocates for a full business major, and presidential candidate Gabe Rose wants to improve the alumni network so it’s easier for students to get top internships and jobs.
We need both perspectives. So this election, don’t just look at the candidates who share your skin color or religion. Find those who speak your view of student government and try to strike a balance.
E-mail Reed at treed@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.