It’s the last day of elections: Where do you stand?

Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Hostile slate politics have only resulted in alienation and
divisionBy Veronica Jordan

I admit my ignorance.

I am a first-year undeclared undergraduate who still has trouble
finding Bunche Hall and honestly would not recognize Chancellor
Young if I ran into him on Bruin Walk.

But I want to be informed, and I want to vote.

I am not sure however, that I have the tools to do so. Every
time a sandwich-boarder hands me a flier on Bruin Walk, I read it.
Any article in the Daily Bruin regarding elections, I read. And,
Tuesday at noon, I went to watch the presidential debate.

But I am disillusioned and disgruntled, angry and frustrated.
There are essentially two slates, and as far as my research has
taken me, they consist of the the "minority support" and "the
greeks." Unfortunately, I don’t see myself as a part of either of
these groups, and I am only certain that I am totally uncertain
about who I wish to support.

Students First! has the experience, the numbers, and the facts,
but as an admittedly naive voter, I also believe they are
media-mongers and prefer to keep themselves segregated. United
Students, on the other hand, appeals to my emotions, but I
recognize that they are often uninformed speakers and ignorant of
what it actually means to be in power.

So I have a dilemma.

I am angry at the attitudes of the two groups toward one another
­ the hostility, the swearing, the disrespect. I understand
that it is campaigning time, but I just do not see how I can
support either group when both are more set on one-upmanship than
on student issues.

I want my time here at UCLA to be rewarding and prosperous, but
I am tired of the division and segregation: between ethnicities,
north and south campus, greeks and non-greeks, and others.

As UCLA students, it is our obligation to give to the school, to
make it an even greater university than it already is.

Division is not the answer.

I cannot feel comfortable adhering to one slate or the other,
but I also do not feel educated enough to attack either one. I have
thought about voting for people, rather than slates, but the
problem is that there are no individuals, no one person for whom I
can stand and profess my support. The slates have created ambiguity
among candidates ­ a smear between Students First! and United
Students. Only black and white.

I have thought about not voting, but apathy is not the answer
either.

Beyond the bickering and the gimmicks, the look-alike fliers and
the sandwich boards, there are 23,000 undergraduate students who
need a leader ­ one that can address the divisions and who is
not afraid to find that golden mean. If we’re lucky, probably 20
percent of those 23,000 will make that choice.

I am not sure that any of our choices in the next two days are
fair. I’m not sure that I’ll even vote. And I find that very, very
sad.

Jordan is a first-year undeclared student.

Other Viewpoints by:

Mike Bourdaa

The Business Investment Society, Undergraduate Business Society,
KLA Radio, Neuroscience Undergraduate Society, and Hillel Jewish
Studies Association

The African Student Union, The Asian Pacific Coalition,
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano y Chicana de Aztlán and
Samahang Pilipino.