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True Bruin slate hopes to bridge gap between USAC and student body

By Kristen Taketa

Jan. 23, 2013 12:05 a.m.

The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.

For the first time in several years, a new slate will run candidates in the upcoming undergraduate student government elections.

The founders of the new slate, which is named True Bruin after UCLA’s five True Bruin values, said they want to address perceived issues of a lack of interaction between the Undergraduate Students Association Council and the student body.

The slate has two co-chairs and around 20 active members. It has been in the works since fall but went public this quarter.

“To me (it) seemed as if there (are) really issues with misrepresentation and underrepresentation,” said Taylor Bazley, a third-year political science student and co-chair of True Bruin who ran unsuccessfully for Financial Supports commissioner last year. “There are a lot of signs that (USAC is) not connecting with students.”

Bruins United and Students First! are the two existing slates, or groups of students who pool their resources and run on similar platforms.

Last year, Bruins United took nine out of 13 USAC offices while Students First! opted not to participate in last spring’s elections.

David Mangold, fourth-year business economics student and co-chair of the True Bruin slate, said he and fellow co-chair Bazley began discussing the creation of a new party after the 2012 USAC elections.

They said they were dismayed by the number of campaign violations committed by candidates, as well as the issues with student group endorsements. Last year, Bruins United supporters submitted endorsements of Bruins United candidates on behalf of several student groups without the groups’ permission.

True Bruin leaders said their slate will not focus on competing with other slates but instead on fostering collaborative discussion on the issues with them and with USAC.

But Mangold said True Bruin will run candidates in the upcoming elections. He said he expects the new slate will perform well, but that winning council seats is not True Bruin’s only goal.

“All I really care about is: Are we bringing attention to the issues?” Mangold said.

Bazley did not specify how many candidates True Bruin will run for office in the spring. He said the party will not aim to run any certain number of candidates but will run however many candidates it finds to be qualified.

The True Bruin party will not distribute free merchandise or incentives to persuade students to vote for its candidates, he added.

Mangold said last year’s low voter turnout for USAC elections – 30 percent – indicated that much of the student body either does not know or care about USAC.

He added that USAC events such as the Your Voice, Your Vote concert, which cost $21,500 and had between 150 and 200 attendees, showed that USAC needs to re-evaluate what services it provides for students.

Cultural Affairs Commissioner Taylor Mason, whose office co-programmed the event, admitted the concert’s attendance was relatively low because of a lack of council-wide support in advertising the event.

The new slate will center on reinforcing student accessibility and transparency in USAC, Mangold said. For instance, he said the slate plans to hold its meetings out in the open on Kerckhoff patio and post regularly updated information on its website, truebruin.org.

David Bocarsly, USAC president, said the council is already making efforts to increase outreach to students.

“I think USAC can always do better at reaching out to students,” he said. “Transparency and accessibility are a constant theme.”

For instance, Bocarsly increased the number of campus-wide emails from one to two each quarter, and created a regular newsletter from his office to send to more than 3,500 students, he said. About 700 students currently volunteer in USAC offices, while 2,500 students participate in service organizations registered under the USAC Community Service Commission, Bocarsly said.

He said having another political slate would benefit USAC.

“If there are more students that want to run … It’s just more of an opportunity for student engagement with the campus community,” he said. “I’d like to see how we can all work together … so our common goals can be achieved.”

Bruins United chair Ken Myers also said having a third party would allow for more of a student voice in USAC, and he looks forward to collaborating with True Bruin to address issues regarding USAC elections.

Some students, however, said the issue of student body engagement with USAC stems not from lack of outreach efforts on USAC’s part, but from lack of student interest.

“There are good opportunities, but I’m not always interested,” said Dana Ayoub, second-year political science and philosophy student.

“(USAC members) do reach out via Facebook and have workshops, but students don’t take advantage of them.”

The Election Board – the regulatory body that oversees USAC elections – declined to comment on the True Bruin party since it does not recognize slates, said Dana Pede, Election Board chair.

Email Taketa at [email protected].

Correction: Mangold is a business economics student.

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