Thursday, 5/8/97 Students First! ad raises eyebrows, accusations
Some are concerned ad may be endorsement by student government; no
violations found
By Stefanie Wong Daily Bruin Contributor Tension and paranoia
ran high Wednesday, as candidates became more watchful of their
competitors on the first day of Undergraduate Student Association
Council (USAC) voting. Although candidates and their supporters
exchanged several accusations throughout the day, most of the
debate centered around a controversial full-page advertisement in
the Daily Bruin purchased by the current student government. The
advertisement, which listed student government accomplishments from
this year, raised the ire of several candidates who claimed that
the ad is in violation of current Elections Board (E-Board) codes.
The purpose of the ad was "to motivate people about USAC, the
different victories student government has had this year and to try
to get people involved in student government," said External Vice
President and Students First! member Alberto Retana. However, some
students had concerns about the ad because they interpreted it as a
USAC endorsement of Students First! candidates. The ad was paid for
with mandatorily collected student fees. Some also saw the ad as
USAC declaring its outright support for Students First!
presidential candidate Kandea Mosley, because she is explicitly
named in the ad as a contact if students "have any questions."
USAC’s endorsement of a student government candidate would be a
direct violation of the E-Board codes. "I think that an Election
Board or USAC or any type of guiding documents at UCLA that allow
something like this to happen is a blatant disregard for ethics and
accountability that any type of student government can have," said
Access Coalition presidential candidate Ben Hofilena. "If anything,
this is against the spirit of the (E-board) codes, and I think it’s
sick," he added. A formal complaint about the ad has been filed,
but the E-board has already decided that there has been no code
violation. "We investigated it and found no violation of the
election code," said E-Board Chair Lina Velasco. The board does not
see Mosley’s name on the ad as an endorsement by USAC. According to
various members of the E-board, Mosley can be listed as a contact
because she is a staff member of the president’s office. However,
on two different occasions, Mosley stated that she was not on the
staff of the president’s office. "I was never an official staff
member (of the president’s office) because I had a job as the
(University of California Student Association) regional coordinator
and I’m a chairperson (of ASU)," she said. There were also
questions over the ad’s similarities to a Students First! flyer
that was distributed in the residence halls early yesterday
morning. The flyer has the same layout, graphic design and
information as the published ad. In fact, the two are almost
identical – except that the flyer is explicitly emblazoned with the
Students First! logo and the slate’s Web page address. "Well, it
looks exactly like a Students First! flyer but it says ‘Paid for
USAC’ at the bottom," said Liberty ’97 presidential candidate
Justin Sobodash. However, Mosley and Retana explained that the
similarities between the flyer and the ad are there because USAC
was dominated by Students First! members this year. "I think the
similarities are there because Students First! is in student
government right now, so naturally the victories that Students
First! claim are the same victories as student government has,"
Retana said. "There’s a very close working relationship between the
people working on our slate this year and the people currently in
office," Mosley added. Regardless of the explanation, some students
believe that the student government has overstepped its bounds and
has acted unethically. "By default, they should resign their
offices," said Unity ’97 presidential candidate Ruben Garcia. "They
should be ashamed of themselves. What kind of signal is this
sending?"