Correction appended
With undergraduate student government elections around the
corner, candidates are putting together their platforms and
planning their campaigns, but presidential candidate Doug Ludlow
has begun by posting a personal Web site with some misleading
statements.
On his Web site, Ludlow outlines his plans for next year, but
some of the personal information posted was inaccurate.
For two weeks, the Web site has stated that Ludlow was the Daily
Bruin Viewpoint editor and also implied that he was solely
responsible for the campus visits of several national leaders,
including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.,
syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, Congressman Dennis
Kucinich and former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
More accurately, Ludlow was a Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist
and worked with student groups to make politicians available on
campus.
In particular, the assertion that Ludlow was responsible for
Dukakis’ presence on campus is a clear misrepresentation.
Dukakis has had a relationship with UCLA and has taught a class
here every winter quarter since 1997, said Ken Roehrs, management
services officer of the policy studies department, where the former
Massachusetts governor teaches.
Ludlow clarified the statement, explaining that he had varying
roles in bringing politicians to campus.
“It’s fair to say that we definitely made them more
available to students,” Ludlow said, adding that he believed
Kucinich and Huffington would most likely not have visited campus
without his efforts in contacting their offices and securing a
venue for the event.
As for his work with Dukakis, Ludlow arranged for students to
meet with him outside the classroom, but did not bring him to
campus.
Ludlow said he did not intend to give a misleading picture of
his activities on campus, but had wanted students to know the
extent of his political experience.
“It wasn’t my intention to mislead students. … It
didn’t even cross my mind,” Ludlow said.
Ludlow attributed the statement that he was the Viewpoint editor
to a misunderstanding between himself and his brother, who created
the site, and changed it over the weekend.
The Web site has been updated to say he “helped make
numerous national leaders accessible to all UCLA students,”
making it clear Ludlow did not single-handedly arrange for the
politicians to come to UCLA.
But even with the corrected information, it may be problematic
for a candidate to have a campaign Web site at this point in the
election process, said Roy Samaan, chairman of the Elections
Board.
The Elections Code explicitly states that any Web site
accessible on campus is subject to campaign restrictions, which
state that no candidate can begin campaigning before sixth
week.
But these restrictions will not go into effect until the
students’ candidacies are made official on Tuesday, Samaan
said, adding that at that time, any campaign Web site will most
likely be in violation of the Elections Code.
“I would like Doug to respect the race and campaign
fairly,” said Josh Lawson, who is currently a USAC general
representative and will be running for president, adding that he
did not believe the Web site gives Ludlow an unfair advantage.
A student campaigning for Ludlow has also started a discussion
on the MyUCLA forum which includes information on Ludlow’s
campaign. The Elections Board cannot regulate this discussion
because candidates do not have control over what is said in the
forum.
The consequences for campaigning before the designated date vary
and are decided on a case-by-case basis, Samaan said, adding that
the most likely course of action would be to suspend use of the
campaign Web site for a given period of time.
Correction: April 28, 2004,
Wednesday
In “A Web of misinformation” (News, April 26), it
should have been noted misleading information had been posted
online for six days before USAC presidential candidate Doug Ludlow
removed the information, while the Web site had existed for two
weeks.