Student groups disillusioned by the presidential elections

Monday, November 4, 1996

STUDENTS:

Candidates’ unsympathetic views on racial concerns citedBy
Jennifer Mukai

Daily Bruin Contributor

Disillusionment with the presidential elections has hit the UCLA
community. Many students are expressing disgust with what they see
as a lack of moral integrity and vision in politics and in the
candidates running for office this year.

Students seem tired of the entire traditional two-party system
while at the same time feel that it currently cannot be changed.
Thus, when it comes down to choosing a president, they feel trapped
into voting for "the lesser of two evils."

"It’s the fox or the wolf," said fifth-year psychology and
Chicano Studies student Hugo Maldonado. "At least the Republicans
are open about where they stand, whereas Clinton says one thing and
does another," he said.

"Still," remarked Margarita Gonzalez, a fourth-year student and
chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), "Just
the way the election process is already set up, this is no
different from any other election year. Chicanos and Chicanas are
being attacked again. Both Clinton and Dole are obvious enemies to
la raza."

Maldonado, the vice-chair of MEChA, agreed that the Chicana/o
community is being unfairly targeted by this year’s campaigns.
"What usually happens in California, we get scapegoated. Prop. 187
was a major systematic attack on our community; (Proposition) 209
is just another form."

Gonzalez explained that both candidates have been disappointing
in addressing the four major issues that concern both her and MEChA
as a whole: health care, immigration, labor, and affirmative
action.

Maldonado expressed particular disgust at "hypocrisy" shown on
the issue of immigration by proponents of border
militarization.

"They claim that ‘illegal’ immigrants are costing millions of
dollars, yet those states which supposedly have the worst problem
with illegal immigrants ­ New York, Texas, California ­
also have the best economies," he said.

Jorge Castillo, a second-year graduate student of Latin American
Studies and sociology, agreed. "There’s been a 600 percent increase
of immigrants in prison," he said. "Instead of wasting tax money on
prisons, they should be using it for education."

He noted that the government spends "about $8 million a day" on
incarceration of undocumented immigrants. If that money was instead
directed to providing each of those immigrants with a minimum wage
job at 40 hours a week "the government would save about $3.6
million a day," he said.

Gonzalez and Maldonado emphasized that, while MEChA’s members
may have their personal political preferences, the organization as
a whole does not support neither Clinton nor Dole.

"Most people would assume we lean toward the Democrats, but we
don’t as an organization," he said. "Dianne Feinstein, Barbara
Boxer, and Kathleen Brown, for example, all talked about
militarizing the (U.S.-Mexican) border; so we’re reluctant to
endorse the Democratic party."

The Jewish Student Union (JSU) was also reluctant to formally
endorse any one political party, simply because its membership is
so diverse.

President Josh Geffon observed that, among other issues, the
Jewish community at UCLA is very divided over the California Civil
Rights Initiative, better known as Proposition 209. On the one
hand, he said, some feel that affirmative action is simply reverse
discrimination. Others, meanwhile, strongly oppose Proposition 209
enough to participate in a protest rally at UCLA on Oct. 23.

The latter’s argument, Geffon said, is based more on economics
than ethnicity; "if someone is poor, we need to help them."

"The battleground has changed from color of skin to how much
money your parents have. We’ve been subjugated, thrown in ghettoes,
but we fought back. Now we’re in the schools, and we want to see
other communities brought up, too."

One thing many JSU members could agree on, Geffon continued, was
the importance of better representation on a national level.

"Israel is a focal point of our community, and we want to make
sure the American Jewish voice is heard in Washington," he said.
"That’s why, I think, our voter turnout is so high ­ around 70
percent. We want to make sure our concerns are understood and
listened to."

A major concern on the mind of Jeff Lazarus, a third-year
political science student, is campaign reform. He is specifically
opposed to the amount of money allowed in contributions to
political parties.

"The amount of soft money is unlimited by the Federal Election
Commission, so the public can give millions upon millions of
dollars to the Democrats and the GOP, as long as it’s not to
individual candidates," he said. He felt caps should be placed on
donations allocated to political entities.

Lazarus also believes that reform of Political Action Committees
is needed. "The Republican party should stop deluding itself that
it needs to cater to the religious right," he declared. "If it did
stop doing so, who else would (Republican supporters) vote for?
They wouldn’t just jump to the Democratic party."

As for the presidential race, Lazarus is trying to convince
himself to vote for Libertarian candidate Harry Browne.

"I’m the only Republican in my family," he said, "but I’m not
personally enthralled by Dole. Because of his position as Majority
leader, he tends to be conciliatory and make concessions where I
feel they shouldn’t be made."

Roy Ramirez, vice president of Samahang, also found recent
Republican fluctuation questionable, saying, "It’s ironic; Kemp was
pro-affirmative action, anti CCRI, then switched. It makes me
question their integrity, but at the same time, that’s
politics."

The current Republican stance on Proposition 209 has played a
major role in turning Ramirez away from Dole. "Dole claimed that
Clinton supports quotas with affirmative action, and that those
quotas would be abolished with the passage of CCRI," he said. "To
me, this proves he doesn’t even have his facts straight;
affirmative action doesn’t entail quotas. Quotas are already
illegal in California."

Ramirez was only one of many Samahang members leaning toward
Clinton. While the group did not wish to take a formal stance on
the matter, a number of members said they favor the Democratic
party because of its support of education, ethnic studies, and most
of all, its opposition to Proposition 209.

Samahang is part of the Affirmative Action Coalition, despite
Pilipinos being excluded from such programs as the Academic
Advancement Program since 1988.

Ana Lynn Rocio, Education Coordinator for Samahang, noted that
Pilipino admissions to UC campuses dropped by about 50 percent
after that year. "Why should we fight for a policy that no longer
includes Pilipinos?" she asked. "Because it will affect African
Americans, Chicanos and Chicanas, and ultimately attack on us as a
people."

Rocio went on to state that affirmative action proactively
fights institutional racism. "Affirmative action acknowledges
racism and sexism still exist," she said. "Prop. 209 says it’s a
perfect society, with no room for improvement, and therefore no
discrimination. When (proponents of Proposition 209) say they want
a ‘colorblind society,’ what society is that based on?" Their way
of achieving that society, according to Rocio, is to pull support
out from under ethnic organizations like Samahang.

Samahang’s members are worried that the initiative targets not
only the organization itself, but such services as the Pilipino
Recruitment and Enrichment Program, an outreach program designed to
encourage Pilipino youth to pursue a college education. They were
not alone in fearing elimination of culturally-based programs.

At a Vietnamese Student Union’s general meeting, co-president
Dan Su urged members to participate in the club’s annual "Culture
Night," because it might be the last year it would be put on. He
went on to encourage everyone to vote no on Proposition 209, in
order to prevent the elimination of VSU’s Culture Night, High
School Conference, and other programs. With 1994’s Proposition 187,
he said, "some people didn’t understand the impact on all
immigrants. But if they attack Mexicans, they can attack
Vietnamese, or any other minority groups."

Betty Song, Internal Director of the Asian Pacific Coalition,
cited the Welfare Reform Bill as a major sore point with the APC
and its member organizations. "Most people on welfare are citizens,
yet the way welfare reform stands, it targets immigrants’ use of
it," she said.

Second-year English student Vy Nguyen, an organizer for
Concerned Asian Pacific Students for Action, felt it is a "really
dark period for civil rights. Prop. 209 is not an isolated issue at
all; it compounds punitive welfare laws, anti-affirmative action
laws, cuts in public education, and trends toward the privatization
of public schools." It’s important, she said, to show opposition to
that through our ballots.

The need for more Asian American involvement in the political
process was a common theme elsewhere.

"We have no representation in the public sectors, in areas of
the government," said Peter Nguyen, a first-year law student.
"Until we become more broad-based, we won’t be empowered."

Levin Sy, Coordinator of the local chapter of the Asian Pacific
American Voter Registration Coalition, offered statistics showing
that this is changing.

"We now have over 300 elected officials in America who are
Asian," he said. According to the 1996 Asian Pacific American
Political Almanac, produced by UCLA’s own Asian American Studies
Center, that number includes two senators, 41 state representatives
and 210 judges. Sy cited Matt Fong and Gary Locke as two examples
of Asian Americans moving up in the political world.

Fong is currently California’s State Treasurer, while Locke may
soon make history as the continental U.S.’s first Asian American
governor, in Washington, D.C.

Even with such advances, however, Nguyen pointed out that
certain disparities still exist between the treatment of whites and
that of minorities. A lot of Asians are too passive now, he felt,
settling for less.

"That’s a cultural thing we really need to shake off," chimed in
Khanh Phan, a fifth-year political science student and co-founder
of the Vietnamese Student Union.

Nguyen agreed, concluding, "Asians have to realize that economic
success without political equality is not a satisfactory state of
affairs."

While a strong believer in the need for Asian Americans to turn
out to the polls on Nov. 5, Nguyen still hasn’t decided what
presidential candidate to vote for.

"To be honest, if I vote for Clinton, it would be for his
Supreme Court judicial appointees," he said. "They are going to
outlast him." In reference to Clinton’s recent signing of the
Welfare Reform Bill, he stated simply, "When we vote for a
president, we vote because of his principles, and we don’t expect
strong principles to collapse, even under pressure from
Congress."