By George Fujii
Daily Bruin Staff
As undergraduates prepare to vote in this week’s
Undergraduate Students Association Council elections, the new
Viable Alternative slate and various independent candidates are
informally working together to challenge the veteran Praxis slate
for USAC hegemony.
Though not officially recognized by the Election Board, slates
are groups of candidates running together with a series of common
goals and interests. Just forming a slate can be an adventure in
uniting students with sometimes different ideas.
The Praxis slate and its predecessor, Students First!, have
controlled a majority of USAC seats since 1995.
Students First! formed from members of the African Student
Union, the Asian Pacific Coalition, MEChA and Samahang Pilipino, in
opposition to slates formed by members of the Greek system.
In 1998, MEChA pulled out of Students First! and the slate was
renamed Praxis. Then, in 1999, members of APC left to form the
Mobilize 2000 (M2K) slate, which has since dissolved.
Viable Alternative, a new slate, and several independent
candidates are opposing the Praxis slate in the elections Wednesday
and Thursday. But Viable Alternative and many of the independents
who are members of the Greek system are working together informally
against Praxis. Both groups said they will continue to be a strong
force next year.
Praxis members, meanwhile, hold a majority of seats on this
year’s council and said they welcomed the competition.
“I think it’s always good to have lots of people
running and explaining how they plan to achieve their goals,”
said Ramon Richardson, this year’s internal vice
president.
Last year, the Nexus slate, which included fraternity and
sorority members, challenged Praxis for control of USAC. Nexus
candidates were elected to three of the 13 positions on the
council.
Although Nexus was not entirely a Greek slate, it was perceived
negatively as such, leading to its demise and efforts to organize a
slate with both Greek and non-Greek candidates, according to
some.
“(Nexus) kind of had a negative connotation with its
name,” said David Ehrenberg, the Interfraternity
Council’s external vice president. “Greeks aren’t
(held) in the highest regard on campus.”
This year’s Viable Alternative slate, though now
non-Greek, had its origins in Nexus.
Toward the end of fall 1999, Mark Beck-Heyman, Nexus’
internal vice president candidate from last year, current General
Representative Adam Rosenthal and Bill Elliott met to form a slate,
with Rosenthal possibly running for USAC president, said Elliott,
Viable Alternative’s leader and a general representative
candidate.
“He was seriously considering being president,”
Elliott said of Rosenthal.
During winter 2000, however, Rosenthal decided, for personal
reasons, not to run, and Beck-Heyman left the slate, also for
personal reasons, Elliott said. Although Viable Alternative found
another presidential candidate, he dropped out of the race at the
beginning of this quarter.
Now left running the slate, Elliott approached members of
various campus groups, including the Greek system, the Jewish
Student Union and the On-Campus Housing Council.
“The format I had imagined for this slate was a coalition
of different people from different parts of campus,” Elliott
said.
Meanwhile, Ehrenberg and other IFC members were planning their
own slate with Greek and non-Greek members. Ehrenberg said he spoke
with Elliott about forming a joint slate, but they split over who
would be in control.
“He wanted just minimum intervention from IFC,”
Ehrenberg said.
Elliott said he was willing to give the Greeks two or three
general representative slots out of a slate of eight total
candidates, but no more.
“I wouldn’t give them 50/50, that was key; I kept
the ideals of my slate,” Elliott said. “Because we had
a very diverse slate, I would have been comfortable running three
(Greek) general representatives.”
One candidate who approached Viable Alternative was Elizabeth
Houston, who considered running as a general representative
candidate for Viable Alternative. Instead, she decided to run as an
independent for president.
“I didn’t want to run as a Greek person, I wanted to
run as a Bruin,” Houston said. “The president
shouldn’t represent just a group of students.”
Meanwhile, Ehrenberg’s slate ran into difficulties when
its non-Greek candidates withdrew, and when Houston decided to run
as an independent.
“This year we were trying to mesh more of a non-Greek
population with the Greek population,” Ehrenberg said.
“We tried to get some non-Greek candidates, but for personal
reasons, those candidates didn’t run.”
Houston said that with the slate reduced to only a few
candidates, its members decided not to run formally as a slate
until next year.
“Everybody thought it was the best idea, which I think is
a big step for the Greeks as a whole,” she said.
Although not on the same slate, members of Viable Alternative
and other non-Praxis candidates have cooperated with each other,
Houston said.
Houston said she endorses Ramzi Ajami for internal vice
president and Tova Fuller for academic affairs commissioner from
Viable Alternative. Houston also supports two independents for
general representative, Katrina Eiland and Kendra Striegler.
Ehrenberg added that the candidates in what would have been his
slate (Houston, Eiland, and Striegler) are jointly campaigning.
“(They are) running independent because the slate
isn’t finished,” he said.
Another concern is that two candidates from Greek organizations
are running for president.
Jason Lautenschleger, who is running as an independent for
president, said he and Houston are both concerned about splitting
the vote.
“We both share similar ideas and it’s just
unfortunate that we both want it very much,” he said, adding
that neither knew the other was running until it was too late.
But Ehrenberg said he is unconcerned by the issue, thinking that
Katynja McCory, the Praxis candidate, will be forced into a
runoff.
“As qualified as Katynja is, I don’t think
she’ll have a majority,” he said.
Steve Davey, this year’s facilities commissioner who ran
last year on the Nexus slate, is the remaining Greek candidate. He
is running as an independent for re-election.
“I would have run on a Nexus-like slate this year, but
unfortunately, the coalition that I would have liked to have seen
did not materialize,” Davey said.
Elliott said Davey wanted to run as a Viable Alternative
candidate, but was refused by its members because of his views and
actions this year.
Davey, however, said the slate which became Viable Alternative
was not what he expected. He also said he felt Viable
Alternative’s leadership has too little USAC experience.
Both Viable Alternative and the slate organized by Ehrenberg
said they plan to be around in the future.
Ehrenberg said he plans to run for president next year and that
his slate will come into fruition next year.
“If the changes Viable Alternative believes in
aren’t enacted, then Viable Alternative will continue to run
until they are,” Elliott said. “If Praxis listens to
what Viable Alternative has to say, then I would be obliged to
support them.”