Campus groups to endorse hopefuls

Student groups will soon be deciding which candidates to endorse in the undergraduate student government elections after three days of intensive questioning that began on Monday.

Many student groups say they take into consideration various factors when choosing which candidate to support, including ideology and goals.

But groups tend to give their endorsement to a certain slate ““ typically endorsing a combination of independent candidates and representatives from one slate.

In every year from 2003 to 2006, almost all student groups endorsed candidates from a single slate, and many have demonstrated long-term support for a particular slate.

Sean Canullas, the financial coordinator for Samahang Pilipino, said his organization was traditionally aligned with Students First! because of its close relationship to the Filipino community.

“We also look at past qualifications and experiences among candidates, but generally Students First! matches the needs of the Filipino community,” Canullas said.

Many other groups have shown historic alignment with a specific slate. For example, from 2003 through 2006, the African Student Union supported all candidates from Students First!, which was called Student Power! in 2005. Bruins for Israel has supported the slate running against Students First! every year since 2003.

Leeron Morad, president of Bruins for Israel, said his group endorses candidates who represent the ideals he believes Israel also supports.

“We support candidates who stand for democracy, freedom for everyone and general acceptance of people, which are ideals Israel stands for,” he said, though he did not say he intended to give support to a certain slate.

The groups participating in the hearings are all registered organizations on campus, ranging from political groups to ethnic clubs, said Elections Board chairwoman Sandybeth Carillo.

Carillo said the groups are limited to only one question per candidate and have a maximum of 30 seconds to speak, while candidates have a maximum of one minute to reply. The candidates are speaking on assigned days for their respective positions, with the presidential question-and-answer session occurring Wednesday night. Student groups will officially release their endorsements on Friday.

Student group leaders listed qualifications, ideology and proposals among their considerations, which also included slate affiliation.

Curtis Whatley, spokesman for Bruin Democrats, said his organization looked at who was the most qualified and fair.

“We look at who is going to be best for the UCLA community,” he said.

He added that his group does not traditionally support one slate, but did not elaborate on whether Bruin Democrats would endorse individual candidates or a slate as a whole.

Other students listed specific issues that their groups were interested in.

“(Bruin Republicans) will endorse candidates based primarily on their views on affirmative action and the ROTC program,” said Jennifer Propper, spokeswoman for Bruin Republicans, adding that her group is not planning on endorsing any slates this year because the slates’ views were not diverse enough, but they may support individual candidates.

But Dave Valk, a second-year political science and sociology student and independent candidate for president, said he believes the groups who enter the endorsement hearings already know whom they want to support, referring to the historical alignment among student groups who tend to endorse the same slate.

“I would strongly encourage these groups to set aside petty UCLA politics and be open to endorsing any and all candidates,” Valk said.

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