By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Contributor
Two days before the 11 Fifth District Council candidates were to
assemble on campus to discuss their platforms for the April 10
election, one of them urged students to vote on Bruin Walk.
In his preparation for tonight’s forum specifically aimed
at UCLA students, front-runner Tom Hayden talked to students
Tuesday while handing out flyers in Westwood Plaza.
“The student vote is a sleeping giant with some moments of
alertness, and they matter in an election like this,” said
Hayden, a former state senator for the area including UCLA.
The Bruin Democrats are organizing the event, which will take
place in the Northridge Room of Covel Commons and is scheduled from
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The forum is also co-sponsored by the Republican Club, the
Political Science Student Organization, Pi Sigma Alpha and the
Office of Residential Life.
According to Hayden, there are approximately 420,000 students at
20 college campuses in Los Angeles County of voting age.
The fifth district contains only 11,906 voters aged 18-24,
according to the Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association.
But their presence still makes up 8.4 percent of all registered
voters in the district.
“As the presidential election in Florida showed, there are
flaws in the democratic machinery,” Hayden said.
Hayden said one of those flaws is how candidates approach the
student vote.
“The student vote is an idealistic vote,” Hayden
said. “Students have been intentionally ignored by the
political establishment in order to suppress the
progressive/environmental student vote.”
Former UCLA political science and environmental professor turned
fourth-time city council candidate Laura Lake expressed the
importance of students becoming politically involved at a similar
forum in January.
“Students don’t vote, which puts our country in
jeopardy,” Lake said.
Bruin Democrats president and fourth-year policy and media
studies student Melanie Ho recognized the significance of the event
to students.
“This is the time to find out what is going on and what
the candidates will do to address us, a large constituency,”
Ho said.
Ho also noticed the lack of student turnout and commented on the
equal responsibility between voters and candidates.
“It’s the responsibility of the students to be
aware, and the responsibility of the candidates to show that
they’re listening,” Ho said.
“Students are often ignored because of their low voter
turnout, so it’s great to see council candidates because it
shows their commitment by talking to us.”
Third-year political science student and coordinator of the
event, Danielle Valentino expects candidates to address issues
ranging from urban planning, BruinGo!, pollution to the city and
school’s parking problems.
“We’re such a big part of the district that I think
it’s appropriate that the candidates address these
issues,” Valentino said.
Valentino said the Bruin Democrats also planned to bring up more
practical issues such as the fact that clubs and pool halls are
nonexistent in Westwood.
Following the student sentiment in recent weeks in regards to
SP-1 and SP-2, the UC Regents’ 1995 policies, which ended
affirmative action in admissions and hiring, will bring education
issues into the discussion, according to Ho.
“We’re definitely going to bring up education,
equality and access to education,” Ho said. “While some
schools are very well off financially, some have infrastructure
problems and the government needs to address these
issues.”
If a candidate does not obtain more than 50 percent of the vote
on April 10, the likely runoff will be held between the two leading
candidates.
Current Councilman Mike Feuer is leaving office and running for
city attorney.
Candidates include businesswoman and former UCLA professor Jill
Barad, consumer protection attorney Nate Bernstein, self-proclaimed
graffiti fighter and businessman Joe Connolly, independent
businessman Ken Gerston, Hayden, Friends of Westwood President and
former UCLA professor Lake, gun safety advocate Constantina
Milonopoulos, entertainment industry executive Steve Saltzman,
neighborhood planner and businesswoman Robyn Ritter Simon,
Assistant United States Attorney Jack Weiss and CPA Victor N.
Viereck.