SLATE REFUND RUNNING NO CANDIDATES THIS YEAR
Edward Truong (Contact)
The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA
April 30 2007
The slate that emerged in last year’s undergraduate student government
elections to challenge the two dominant slates will be absent from
this year’s elections.
Slate Refund debuted last year as a new coalition of students with
similar ideologies and goals who pooled their campaign resources and
ran together to challenge the dominant slates Students First! and
Bruins United.
But David Lazar, an external vice presidential candidate last year for
Slate Refund and a former Daily Bruin columnist, said the members of
the slate wanted to wait until the next election in order to produce a
"solid campaign with candidates with experience."
During last year’s elections, Slate Refund’s platform consisted of a
proposed $120 refund of mandatory quarterly Undergraduate Students
Association fees. Although there are no Slate Refund candidates
running for the Undergraduate Students Association Council this year,
the slate ran 10 candidates for office last year, none of whom won.
Alec Mouhibian, who was unofficially involved in the Slate Refund
campaign last year, said there were potential candidates interested
in running this year, but the slate never formed due to a lack of
central leadership.
A former Daily Bruin columnist, Mouhibian is the editor of the Bruin
Standard.
"(Slate Refund is) the type of thing that has a very specific and
powerful idea behind it," Mouhibian said. "People have to really
believe in it and articulate it in order for it to persist."
Mouhibian said Garin Hovannisian, last year’s presidential candidate
for Slate Refund and a former Daily Bruin columnist, was the driving
force behind the slate, and because he graduated, there was nobody
to take his place.
In a message via Facebook, Hovannisian said he is currently in a
remote Armenian village and unavailable for comment.
Gregory Cendana, current USAC external vice president and a candidate
for president, said it was "unfortunate" that the slate will not be
a presence in this year’s elections.
"They were able to bring interesting debates and bring useful questions
of what USAC is for," he said.
Lazar said he believes Slate Refund is important because the two
dominant slates, Students First! and Bruins United, create a two-party
system that divides the "spoils" among the winning candidates.
Mouhibian said he believes the current system of two dominant slates is
corrupt because the political aspect of campaigning causes candidates
to "lose sight of the bigger picture."
He added that the two slates produce candidates who "conform to the
demands of protocol" and have a "power-hungry mentality."
But Cendana disagreed with the accusations of slates being too
bureaucratic and said members of his slate, Students First!, voted
against proposals that would take time away from their work.
However, Mouhibian said he believes candidates from the major slates
are better able to navigate the intricacies of the USAC structure.
"People interested in Slate Refund are not ‘student council people,’"
Mouhibian said.
If the slate returns next year and is successful, central leadership
is required to organize candidates and navigate through the protocol
involved, he said.
Lazar said the slate’s plan to be involved in the next USAC elections
will be a serious attempt to reform the council’s structure and the
slate has made a "big shift" in its platform.
"It’s no longer about giving (all of the) money back," he said.
"We’ve really switched our priorities."
"Last year, we were having fun, we didn’t know what we are doing …
(but) we’re no longer free-rolling renegades, we’re looking to make
changes," he said.
Instead of proposing a full refund of student fees, the slate members
recognized that some parts of USAC should be funded, such as student
group funding and the programs from the Campus Events Commission,
Lazar said.
"Campus Events puts on many events that students are interested in,"
he said.
Lazar estimated that the slate "could give back $90 per student
without cutting any of the things students need."
Lazar said the refund would require approval from the student body
and he believes such a referendum to permanently reduce student fees
would pass.
For this year, Lazar said members of the slate plan on supporting
presidential candidate Jose Manaiza, a fourth-year mathematics and
economics student who is running under the True Bruin slate, which
he created. Manaiza is the only candidate of the True Bruin slate.
"Many members of (Slate Refund) do plan to campaign for Jose," Lazar
said. "Jose shares his ideals with the members of Slate Refund."
Manaiza said USAC regulations prevent his platform from including
a refund, which would require a major change to the council’s
constitution.
"It’s not feasible at this point," Manaiza said. "It’s out of my
hands."
While Manaiza said he accepts the endorsement from Slate Refund,
he said he does not plan to align himself with Slate Refund or the
other slates.
"They found my platform to be something that matches with them, but
that doesn’t mean that my platform is totally affiliated with them,"
he said.
Despite the lack of a formal alliance, Lazar said Slate Refund members
are "gearing up" to support Manaiza.