Monday, 5/12/97 Students First! accused of illegal campaigning
Students for Ethical Government contend Bruin ad violated Election
Board codes
By Stephanie Wong Daily Bruin Contributor Complaints of illegal
campaigning filled the Election Board (E-Board) office during the
primary Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) election
last week. Approximately 35 forms were filed against candidates
from Students First! and Access Coalition, but most were either
disregarded or only given a warning by the E-Board. Two of the
complaints filed were about a full- page ad that ran in the Daily
Bruin by the current undergraduate student government. The E-Board
found that the ad violated no E-Board Codes. However, the E-Board
ruling dissatisfied Bruin Democrat members Darrin Hurwitz and
Angela Foster, and they filed another petition to the Judicial
Board (J-Board), hoping for a different ruling. Representing a
newly formed coalition, Students for Ethical Government, Hurwitz
and Foster filed the petition early Friday morning and are awaiting
a date for a formal hearing. Students for Ethical Government is a
coalition comprised of various Student Advocacy Groups (SAGs),
Center for Student Programming (CSP) organizations and current
campaign slates. "We are groups with vastly different political
ideologies who disagree on a variety of policy issues," Hurwitz
said. "However, we all believe in the importance of a responsible,
accountable student government which plays by the rules." All of
these groups share the same beliefs that Students First! has
committed an egregious act and has violated its own constitution,"
he added. The coalition believes that the advertisement gave
Students First! an unfair campaign advantage and that the student
government abused USAC’s financial powers. "Students for Ethical
Government assert that this advertisement constituted a blatant
campaign media advertisement, paid for by USAC, whose intention was
to support a particular group of candidates (who use the name
‘Students First!’) running for student government office,"
according to the petition filed Friday. However, Max Espinoza, a
Students First! member and currently the Academic Affairs
Commissioner, was quite confident that no violations would be
found. "The J-Board will not rule in their favor," Espinoza said.
"Nothing in the election code would make the advertisement
unconstitutional or a violation of election rules." The petition is
asking for the impeachment of President John Du and Espinoza,
disqualification of all candidates associated with Students First!,
repayment of the cost of the ad from Students First! campaign funds
and an investigation into expense accounts and fund-raising
practices of Students First! candidates. Members of Students First!
have repeatedly denied the charges made by Students for Ethical
Government. "It’s quite clear that this group is grasping at
straws" to get into USAC, said Espinoza. "Students will not be
fooled by this ludicrous tactic. It’s clear that students voted to
see Students First! candidates in office," Espinoza continued
referring to the seven of 13 slots filled by Students First! in
last Thursday’s USAC election. Students for Ethical Government will
also be present at Tuesday’s USAC meeting to inform student
government members about the situation, said Jason Steele,
president of the Bruin Republicans. At press time, the J-Board had
not held a preliminary hearing due to scheduling conflicts among
the five justices, according to Chief Justice Eric Mah. Up until
two weeks ago, the J-Board only had three justices, one short of a
quorum. Two new justices were recently appointed, and some students
expressed concern that the justices may not be impartial in all
matters. "There’s an overriding fear that anyone Students First!
appoints is not going to be objective," Steele said. Previous Daily
Bruin Stories New light focused on controversial USAC ad, May 9,
1997 Students First! ad raises eyebrows, accusations, May 8,
1997