USAC to drop use of ŒStudents First!¹ logo

Wednesday, January 22, 1997

USAC:

Council agrees to abide by Judicial Board’s decision in Ellis
vs. USACBy A.J. Harwin

Daily Bruin Contributor

In an effort to put the issue of slate slogan use to bed, the
Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) decided to comply
with the Undergraduate Student Association Judicial Board’s
(J-Board) decision to stop the student government’s use of the
"Students First!" logo last night.

According to the original J-Board decision, full compliance
would call for an immediate moratorium of the use of the "Students
First!" slogan on all official materials and a public notice
outlining procedures for a refund of compulsory fees.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, undergraduate President John
Du recommended the council’s recognition of J-Board’s original
decision.

"We’re going to respect the Judicial Board’s decision so that we
can start focusing on issues that truly affect students," Du
said.

The move came in response to a second petition brought to the
J-Board by fourth-year philosophy and political science student
Jeffrey Ellis, who protested the council’s original override.

In a previous vote, the J-Board’s decision had been overturned
by the council, which noted that the original case was outside of
the board’s jurisdiction.

But since a three-fourths majority was necessary to overturn the
original decision, "the motion to overturn the Judicial board
decision of Ellis v. USAC failed," the board wrote in its second
vote.

Judicial Board Chief Justice Eric Mah was pleased that Du
advised the council to recognize the decision.

"(Du) is doing what he is supposed to do," Mah said. "The
decision was made by the Judicial Board, and it should be no
surprise that the rest of the government should respect that
decision."

To some council members, however, the J-Board’s decision had
little effect on their offices and programs.

"Ironically, most of the council members, although from a
particular party, don’t use the logo that was in question," said
Academic Affairs Commissioner Max Espinoza.

Espinoza is one of the council members that did not previously
use the "Students First!" logo.

"The Judicial Board has said that we can’t do it, and I’m not
about to violate the Judicial Board’s decision. I think John Du is
right, and I agree with him. I think we need to move on," Espinoza
added.

The use of the "Students First!" logo originally came into
question early last month when Ellis petitioned against the use of
student fees by the undergraduate council in the anti-Proposition
209 campaign and their use of the "Students First!" logo.

While the Judicial Board did not find any misuse of student fees
by USAC in the Proposition 209 campaign, it did find that the use
of the "Students First!" logo, which is also a party slate,
violated the spirit of the council’s constitution.

"The board has found that USAC inappropriately used compulsory
students fees to associate itself with the political slate,
‘Students First!,’ and may no longer display, publish, nor print
the name ‘Students First!’ or any associated logo on any official
documentation, advertising, or letterhead paid for by compulsory
student fees," the Judicial Board wrote in its preliminary decision
Dec. 2.

The council overturned the Judicial Board’s ruling the next
night, with council members contending that the J-Board was
overstepping its jurisdiction.

But with Tuesday night’s announcement, the council will likely
fall in step with the J-Board’s original decision, hoping to bring
the issue to its end.

"Hopefully we can bring closure to this whole situation so that
we can focus on" other issues facing the council, Du said.

With reports from Daily Bruin staff.