Candidates look to slates for support

By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff

Some slates maintain that power is found in reaching specific
constituencies, but others say the independent ticket may fare just
as well.

This year, eight candidates are running on the S.U.R.E. slate,
seven on Student Empowerment! and eight as independents.

Although the Elections Board has no provision for them in its
code, slates consist of candidates running together on the same
political platform.

“The code has always focused on individual candidacies
rather than group candidacies,” said Mike Cohn,
administrative adviser to the E-Board.

Cohn said he wasn’t sure why the code contains no mention
of slates but speculated that recognizing slates could create an
unfair playing field, hurting independents.

But the S.U.R.E. slate ““ which stands for Students United
for Reform and Equality ““ has found a loophole in the code
and a way to make their candidates easily distinguishable on the
ballots.

The names of S.U.R.E. candidates were each submitted on their
application for candidacy with a nickname in quotation marks and
will appear on the ballots as such.

S.U.R.E.’s Web site reads: “Vote for the
“˜Quotes.'”

E-code states that candidates “must run under their
officially registered name (that which appears on university
records) or a derivative thereof.”

E-Board Chair Nicole Lynch said she did not interpret any
violation of code.

“(The option) was available to all candidates,” she
said. “The ballot was approved by USAC.”

The slate’s presidential candidate, Dusan
“Sean” Miletich, said S.U.R.E just wanted a way to show
their “unity, strength and solidarity.”

“We just utilized the full advantage of what the election
code offered,” Miletich said.

Student Empowerment!, the other slate this year, arose out of
the Affirmative Action Coalition, whose focus is to repeal SP-1 and
2, policies set by the UC Board of Regents in 1995 banning
affirmative action at the university. The slate includes members
from 11 student groups, including the Asian Pacific Coalition, the
African Student Union, MEChA, the Vietnamese Student Union and the
Muslim Student Association.

“Student Empowerment! is the evolution of several years of
student work on campus,” said Karren Lane, the slate’s
presidential candidate and chair of ASU.

The history of slates can be traced back to the 1980s, when the
Third World Coalition first began. Over the years, TWC
metamorphosed into Student Power, Focus Coalition and Students
First!.

Students First! formed from members of the African Student
Union, Asian Pacific Coalition, MEChA and Samahang Pilipino.

In 1998, MEChA left Students First! and Praxis was founded.
MEChA Chair Elizabeth Serna said the organization left the slate
because, at the time, MEChA members needed to refocus and set their
priorities.

“The capacity of our organization was
over-stretched,” said Serna, a third-year history and
Chicana/o studies student. “We wanted to focus internally as
well as develop external ties with statewide and national
MEChAs.”

In 1999, APC also pulled out of Praxis and formed the Mobilize
2000, or the M2K slate. Last year’s Praxis slate was composed
of La Familia, Samahang, ASU and Raza Women.

The Praxis slate and its predecessor, Students First!, have held
the majority of the 13 seats in the Undergraduate Students
Association Council since 1995. Last year, Praxis captured eight
seats, with the remaining five going to independents.

This year, the determination of several student groups to
reinstate affirmative action in the UC system has convinced the
groups to put aside their differences and form a united front with
Student Empowerment!.

“It’s not that the nature of Student Empowerment! is
more inclusive (than Praxis),” said USAC Internal Vice
President Elias Enciso. “It’s that the coalition grew
and expanded. The ideology ““ the constant struggle for
liberation, awareness and improvement for the community ““ is
very much still our goal.”

According to Lane, the exclamation mark in Student Empowerment!
““ which was also the signature punctuation of the Students
First! slate ““ symbolizes an emphasis on the word
“empowerment” but also reflects the history of work
that student organizations before them have done.

“That’s what we’re doing ““ empowering
students and communities,” Lane said. “We reflect on
the past to grow for the future.”

But David Ehrenberg, an independent presidential candidate, said
the recent past reveals a shift away from slates.

He pointed to USAC President Elizabeth Houston, who ran
independent of a slate and narrowly upset Praxis candidate Katynja
McCory in a runoff election last spring. Prior to this year,
Students First! and Praxis candidates have occupied the
presidential seat since 1995.

“The best way to represent students and all groups on
campus is not to affiliate with a slate, but rather be the voice of
all students,” said Ehrenberg, a third-year political science
student. “No more bickering, no more divergence. The way to
do it is to break down slate lines.”

Ehrenberg, the former external vice president of the
Interfraternity Council, attempted to create a slate composed of
students from within and without the university’s Greek
system, but that effort failed when he could not garner enough
support from non-Greek candidates.

Praxis nearly swept the short-lived slate Sanity ’98
““ composed of Bruin Libertarians and Republicans ““ when
it won all 10 seats for which it ran candidates. Sanity ’98
took home only one general representative seat.

Four years ago, the university witnessed the emergence of
Liberty ’97, Unity ’97 and Access Coalition ““
slates which disappeared soon after the election. In 1996, there
was the Greek-endorsed slate United Students and Bruin Vision, a
slate with no known support from organized student groups.

This year, S.U.R.E. looks to be a reincarnation of Unity
’97, whose candidates vowed to create a student senate.

David Dahle, a third-year political science, sociology and
women’s studies student running for general representative,
said S.U.R.E. members hope to get elected for the sole purpose of
creating a senate system.

“We want to get elected so we can limit our power and give
it back to students,” he said.

Despite rumors, Dahle said S.U.R.E. is “in no way
associated with Viable Alternative.”

In fall 1999, Viable Alternative, though not affiliated with the
Greek system, rose out of the ashes of the previous year’s
Nexus, whose platform was to “link” students to their
government and serve as an alternative to Praxis. Nexus members
believed affirmative action was not an issue student government
should focus on. Though Nexus was also endorsed by the On-Campus
Housing Council and the Jewish Student Union, it was unofficially
earmarked the “Greek” slate.

According to Ehrenberg, a large portion of campus has a negative
stereotype of the Greek system.

“Until the Greek system can work with other areas of
campus, it’s not viable to run a Greek slate,” he
said.