Thursday, 5/8/97 Diverse slates draw specific constituents New,
old parties pool organized student groups to gain support for
candidates
By Stefanie Wong Daily Bruin Contributor In recent years, the
battle for political control over Kerckhoff Hall has fallen into
the hands of strong slates, political parties and coalitions. The
main candidates for the Undergraduate Student Association Council
(USAC) for the past few years have been members of political
parties with strong constituencies and support groups. "You pool
constituencies that think alike together so individuals can get
elected," said Access Coalition presidential candidate Ben
Hofilena. "It’s all about the mechanisms in which students get
elected in this campus," he added. This year’s elections see the
return of Bruin Vision and Students First! and the arrival of
Liberty ’97, Unity ’97 and Access Coalition. With the disappearance
of last year’s Greek-endorsed United Students slate and with a few
Greek members in the Access Coalition, some students have labeled
Access as this year’s Greek slate. However, Hofilena is quick to
answer that this year sees the absence of a Greek-endorsed party.
"Access Coalition is not a Greek slate," Hofilena said. "If
anything, we’ve had to prove ourselves to the Greek system and sell
them on our philosophy." Access Coalition is also different because
it is not comprised entirely of members from fraternities and
sororities and its candidates were not chosen by the Greek system,
unlike United Students’ candidates last year. "(United Students)
was about saying to the Greek system, ‘vote because we’re Greek,’"
Hofilena said. "We’re not going to say that we don’t have Greek
support. We are supported by the Greeks, hopefully," he added.
Hofilena continues to explain that no candidate or political party
can claim a constituency for their own. Since there may not be
clear-cut constituents loyal to one slate or another, other slates
see an opportunity to garner votes. For example, Bruin Vision is a
relatively new slate, but was involved in last year’s student
government elections. As newcomers to last year’s contest, Bruin
Vision chose to emphasize "radical issues that would draw
attention" to their campaign, said Bruin Vision presidential
candidate Christopher Hecht. "It was mostly just to be a way to
upset the elections and hopefully get a fringe vote because we
didn’t have any base support groups," he added. This year, Bruin
Vision has changed their methods and is running a serious campaign
for the student government. "Now we have to come out and be serious
for what we really stand for, and say that we’re fed up with the
regimes that have traditionally been the contenders for the
elections," Hecht said. Bruin Vision continues to see themselves as
a third party and not one of the main contending coalitions because
they have no support from organized student groups. "We have no
funding whatsoever, and have no clubs that are sponsored by USAC,"
Hecht said. "We are in the true sense of the word a grassroots
organization." While Access Coalition and Bruin Vision do not have
much of a history at UCLA, Students First! has been around since
the 1980s in one form or another. The Third World Coalition began
in the early ’80s and over the decade has changed from Student
Power, Focus Coalition and is currently known as Students First!,
according to current USAC President and Students First! member John
Du. Though the names have changed over the years, the candidates’
views, issues addressed and constituents have stayed relatively the
same. "Traditionally, the constituents of Students First! are
progressive students," said Students First! presidential candidate
Kandea Mosley. "By progressive, I mean people who care about civil
rights and who tend to support issues which would face people who
have been disadvantaged and oppressed," she added. Though the
slate’s platform is relatively the same as last year’s, there has
been a slight shift in focus to more campus-based issues. "Last
year was a big (Proposition) 209 year. It had a lot of priority
because it had a national affect when students are involved,"
Kandea said. The trend of student coalitions is likely to continue
because working in a group is more beneficial than working as an
individual. "Organizations are stronger than individuals in terms
of building political movements," Mosley said. "When you’re running
with other people and you’re all focused on common goals you can
help each other out in a variety of ways," she added. SHAWN
LAKSMI/Daily Bruin First-year design student Freddie Sulit casts
his USAC vote near Kerckhoff Hall. Polls will close tonight at 7.
Related Links: USAC site