Majority of USAC positions figure to be contested in spring elections
By Jillian Beck
April 10, 2013 8:59 p.m.
Nine of 13 undergraduate student government positions will be contested in this spring’s elections, after the previous year’s elections only saw three contested positions.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council Election Board, which oversees the spring elections that will take place from May 6-9, announced the 23 students who applied to be candidates in the elections at an orientation Wednesday.
All applicants are unofficial until the release of eligibility check results by the dean of students.
The Election Board extended the application deadline from last Friday at noon to this past Tuesday at 5 p.m., in response to confusion over the application deadline. This extension caused the delay in carrying out eligibility checks.
Potential candidates can withdraw their applications by Friday at 5 p.m., Pede said.
[Updated at 7 p.m. on Friday: All candidates passed the dean of students’ eligibility checks, Pede said on Friday evening. No candidates elected to withdraw their applications.]
Two of the candidates for office next year currently hold a USAC position, General Representative 2 Carly Yoshida and external vice president Lana Habib El-Farra.
Two new slates emerged for this spring’s elections, after a year in which only one slate participated in the elections. Slates are groups of students that pool their resources together and run under similar platforms. Bruin Alliance, formerly True Bruin, has two candidate applicants. LET’S ACT!, a new slate, has 10 candidate applicants.
Bruins United, which holds eight positions on this year’s council, has eight candidate applicants.
Below are the candidate applicants, their slates and the positions they will be running for.
President
Taylor Bazley, Bruin Alliance
John Joanino, LET’S ACT!
Carly Yoshida, Bruins United (current councilmember)
Internal Vice President
Lana Habib El-Farra, LET’S ACT! (current councilmember)
Avi Oved, Bruins United
External Vice President
Nicole Fossier, Bruin Alliance
Maryssa Hall, LET’S ACT!
General Representatives (three positions)
Avinoam Baral, Bruins United
Charmaine Campbell, LET’S ACT!
Sam Haws, Bruins United
Devin Murphy, LET’S ACT!
Lizzy Naameh, LET’S ACT!
Sunny Singh, Bruins United
Academic Affairs Commissioner
Uyen Hoang, LET’S ACT!
Darren Ramalho, Bruins United
Campus Events Commissioner
Jessica Kim, Independent
Community Service Commissioner
Omar Arce, Independent
Cultural Affairs Commissioner
Jessica Trumble, LET’S ACT!
Facilities Commissioner
Armen Hadjimanoukian, Bruins United
Anthony Montalvo, LET’S ACT!
Financial Supports Commissioner
Brenda Gutierrez, LET’S ACT!
Lauren Rogers, Bruins United
Student Wellness Commissioner
Savannah Dianne Badalich, Independent
