By Marcelle Richards
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]
Each slate can only hope to sweep the elections.
The fulfillment of many promises depends on it.
But in the likelihood of a mixed council, the agenda for next
year has already solidified in certain areas.
There is mutual slate support for a diversity requirement, the
salvation and expansion of BruinGo! and state-subsidized
housing.
Equally backed is the continuation of Hip Hop Xplosion and the
creation of an independent film series and student government
internships.
With Student Empowerment! candidate for external vice president
Christopher Neal unopposed, plans to promote entertainment in
Westwood will also be at the forefront.
Support for the change will only increase if fellow slate member
and general representative candidate Allende Palma-Saracho or
Students United for Reform and Equality candidate Michelle
Styczynski make it to office.
Independent internal vice president candidate Avneet Kaur, who
is pushing to replace movie theaters with more parking structures,
just won’t be able to keep her vision afloat against a
council pushing to make Westwood a college town.
Her goals are but the few in danger of an untimely death ““
the tier funding system, raising student fees and a “Know
Your Rights” series are some that may also hit their
graves.
Campaign promises are made left and right, but the reality is
that the council composition next year will make or break many
goals set now.
Securing a majority is crucial.
With three independent seats secured, the race is for the
remaining 10. Each slate needs at least seven seats to claim the
council as theirs.
To do this, Student Empowerment! needs to elect all its
candidates and SURE needs to get most, if not all, of its eight
candidates in office.
The independents, traditionally the voting wild cards at
meetings, will also play a vital role as the tie breakers on a
mixed council.
Possibly most controversial of goals is SURE presidential
candidate David Dahle’s tier system for student group
funding. The system would allocate funds to groups based on size
and tenure. As each group grows, it could move up the tiers.
The idea is vehemently opposed by Student Empowerment!, which
favors the current method of funding based on the impact of a
group’s programming.
If Dahle makes it to office and his proposal makes it to the
table, he will have to hope his slate and a few sympathetic
independents are there to take his side.
Also backed by the SURE slate is the move to online voting,
which is on the ballot as an advisory vote.
Even if students indicate a preference for the Web, the council
may not side with them if Student Empowerment! maintains its stance
this year in opposition of the method.
Independent candidate Ryan Wilson, unopposed for campus events
commissioner, met the bloc this year when his proposal to increase
student fees for programming, backed by other independents and the
only two SURE members, never made it to the table.
Wilson plans to push the proposal next year, but the success
will be dependent on who is the majority.
Similarly, Justin Levi, SURE internal vice president candidate,
is going to meet a wall with his proposal to bar USAC from taking
political stances on non-UC related matters.
If elected, even SURE members will leave that in the dust due to
strong support for a political council.
Palma-Saracho and general representative Jenny Lam both
incorporated internal vice president candidate T.J. Cordero’s
“Know Your Rights Series” into their statements.
The presence of Cordero, the primary force behind the idea, will
be necessary for its execution.
Also in question is the diversity requirement. Despite
widespread support, conflict over the definition is almost
inevitable.
SURE academic affairs commissioner candidate Dria Fearn wants to
open it up to the disabled experience, a version disputed even by
her own slate, which favors a more traditional adherence to issues
of sexuality, ethnicity and culture.
Candidates can stand for now behind their goals, but without the
voting bloc, most will not deliver.