Rally serves as kickoff for election games

Thursday, March 12, 1998

Rally serves as kickoff for election games

USAC: Members care more about themselves than sanctions in
Iraq

By Roee Ruttenberg

I would like to applaud USAC President Kandea Mosley and USAC
External Vice-President Stacy Lee for their productive efforts to
once again fool the Bruin community in sponsoring and promoting
unenlightened squabble on Thursday at Meyerhoff Park and throughout
the UCLA campus.

"U.S. Out of Iraq!" they chanted. But I ask you, Ms. Mosley and
Ms. Lee, what exactly do you know about the topic? How much
studying have you done on the region? Exactly which Middle-Eastern
studies class or American Foreign Policy course have you ever
taken? I have taken my share, and I can tell you that most of your
information is wrong.

Bruins, do not be fooled so easily. It is my opinion that Ms.
Mosley and Ms. Lee have no intention of promoting the educational
interests of all UCLA students – I believe that Kandea and Stacy
are only interested in promoting themselves. The despicable display
Thursday of "Freedom of Speech" was a show, a play on the USAC
stage. Why hasn’t there been a rally against sanctions on Iraq
prior to this?

Last time I checked, the sanctions weren’t a new thing. And,
true, 4,500 children have died each year in Iraq since the
sanctions were imposed, but the same amount were dying before the
sanctions were imposed. So why the sudden interest? Is it
coincidental that such an incident always springs up come spring
quarter?

I want to inform students who were not here last year for UCLA’s
annual production of "USAC Elections." Spring quarter is the time
for tempers to flare, accusations to be flung, and Students’ First!
to begin playing what I perceive to be their deceptive games. I say
to Kandea and Stacy, the heads of Students First!, like I said
before, I commend your efforts to start the game well ahead of
time. Most students have not even taken their seats, and they have
already started Act 1, Scene 1.

But why so early? As "allegations" of corruption and unethical
behavior in USAC were brought to light, (see, for example,
"Students First! accused of campaign fraud," Jan. 29, in which
former USAC member Robert Rhoan accuses USAC of illegal
campaigning) an unexpected chaos has been caused because of a new
rift in Students First! – the political party which controls USAC
and its well over one-million-dollar budget. Responsively,
Students’ First! has kicked off this year’s political season early.
Students First! needs more constituents to get re-elected and will
go to any length to find them. I fail to see how the rally on Iraqi
sanctions helped the interests of students on campus. Kandea and
her crew, now backed by the Muslim Student Association (yet another
endorsing group which can now donate money to the spring campaign),
failed to present an educational aspect to the scene. Rather than
promoting a display of intellectual exchange between two sides of a
differing argument, a UCLA anthropology professor was brought in,
who merely spewed out more propaganda with which to divert
students’ attention from the real issues.

Bruins, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that I am in support
of sanctions on Iraq, nor am I saying the opposite. But what I am
saying is that UCLA students need to be aware of the questionable
motives of your student leaders. How about instead of screaming,
"Clinton, Albright, you can’t hide," disturbing classes where
students are actually learning, you do something productive and
fulfill empty promises made last year. What happened to expanding
the book-lending program, or helping students deal with the new
technology fee? What happened to incorporating the Inter-Fraternity
Council and the Panhellenic Council – the two largest Student
Advocacy Groups (SAGs) on campus – into USAC? They currently
receive no USAC funds – zero, zip. Where is their share of the
students’ money? Why have they not received anything in the past
three years? Why were they turned away from funds when holding a
seminar on rape prevention? I ask you, Kandea and Stacy, where were
you when they were holding their rallies? What about fighting
construction delays (I think De Neve Dr. is still closed by the
dorms!), or the closing of Hershey Hall, or inadequate parking for
student commuters? What happened to working closely with the Office
of Residential Life (ORL) and all of those "meetings on the hill"
like you promised? Oh, and congratulations on recently appointing a
new election board chair for this school year! Hmm, when was the
deadline for that? I believe it was last summer, 1997! Don’t you
think that the 10 percent of the students on campus that voted for
you deserve answers? What have you done for the people here – the
people of UCLA? Well at least we know what you have done for
yourself – you got a pay raise (ka-ching ka-ching)!

For those of you who want to know about Iraq, ask someone who
understands the intricacies of the subject. Take a class that
addresses such an issue, perhaps Political Science 120 or HC 97.
But do not be brainwashed by student "leaders" who are missing the
forest for the trees. If you want to know about Darwin’s theories,
ask the professor they chose to "educate" the students at the
rally. But if you want to know about American politics, foreign
policy, and the true nature of the situation in the Middle East,
ask a political-science professor. And if you want to see student
government really putting "students first," voice yourself with
your vote against such behavior. The choice is yours. All I can do
is bring it to your attention.Ruttenberg, a second-year student
majoring in political science, ran unsuccessfully in last spring’s
USAC elections.