Wednesday, February 19, 1997
LEADERSHIP:
Method of break with Students First! seen as bad policyBy
Michael Schneider
It was very disturbing for me to read the article submitted by
Angela Foster and Darrin Hurwitz (Viewpoint, Feb. 4). As the former
president of the Bruin Dems, it pains me to see what has happened
to this fine organization. Poor leadership and lack of interest has
obviously taken its toll, as it so sadly does to many campus
clubs.
I am not writing this article to defend the Students First!
government. I have my differences with it just like everybody else.
I also do not want to give the impression that I have a vendetta
against the Bruin Democrats. I don’t  I love the club. I put
two years of my heart and soul into it, only to have it taken away
because of personal grudges.
It is the inept leadership in that club I have problems with.
That is why I feel I must write to correct the inaccuracies
expressed by the current leadership of that organization. It
appears that, in order to expand their sphere of political
influence on campus, the leaders of the Bruin Democrats have chosen
to ignore their history with the Students First! government and
become the literary rats jumping off a sinking ship. It appears
that Foster’s and Hurwitz’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.
It is true that the Bruin Dems have had a few differences with
the Students First! government. During my presidency, I walked into
Kerckhoff Hall at least every few weeks trying to straighten
something or other out. We had problems from the beginning in
thinking that we were not as much a part of the Students First! as
we would have liked to have been, but in retrospect, they
accommodated us in every facility they could. We complained that
they never ran any candidates from the Bruin Dems, yet we never
asked for any spots on the ballot. We complained that they didn’t
offer us any positions in their offices after the elections, yet
only one person from the Bruin Dems ever applied, and she was
accepted.
Even if I was angry about something or another when I went in
there, Undergraduate Students Association Council President John Du
knew exactly where he stood with me and the Bruin Dems. Trust was
not an issue. Had we thought about dissolving the union between
ourselves and USAC, I can assure you that I would have had the
professional courtesy to let John and Students First! know about
it, rather than having them find out when they pick up the paper in
the morning just like the rest of the campus.
Of course, my opinions of USAC did change over time. We became
part of the Affirmative Action Coalition, and were on the steering
committee for the campus voter registration drive. The help we got
from Students First! registering voters was above anything we
thought possible. Our voter registration drive a huge success, both
our club and our campus looked very good in the eyes of the
Democratic Party.
These facts have been ignored by Foster and Hurwitz. There is no
reason for them to acknowledge them. Whether or not Students First!
has done anything for the campus or for the Bruin Dems, the outcome
would have been the same. Results are rarely as enticing as
political power, even if it is the meager influence one would have
as a USAC officer.
In speaking with Du and other officers on the day this article
was printed, I learned a few interesting facts. One officer told
me, "I haven’t even seen the Bruin Dems since the election. How
could they be pissed at us?" Du said that he’d met with both Foster
and Hurwitz just a week or two before, and he had no reason to
believe their strong professional relationship had changed. He,
like I, wondered why a group such as the Bruin Democrats would
commit such an act of treachery and political backhanding while
writing an article about campus politics gone amok! Makes you
wonder …
When we talk of campus politics, we must remember that this
isn’t as serious as we sometimes take it. I found out the hard way
that playing this game can do no good at this level. It cost me a
few friendships. Sometimes it’s fun to stir the waters and see your
name in print, but is it really worth it to hurt those who care for
you, to backstab those who trusted you and helped you, or to burn
bridges for something so simple as a campus election? I would hope
that most of you would say no to policies like these and the people
who commit them. Remember that come election day.
If anybody is interested in forming a proactive Democratic club
on campus with more of an edge toward salient issues rather than
just a social club, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].