Candidates getting acquainted with voters

With Graduate Students Association officer elections in just over a week, candidates are reaching out to the graduate student body through passing out fliers, social networking sites and by speaking to students in person.

Rising costs have cut the campaign budgets allocated to candidates, Monica Sanchez said.

Sanchez, former GSA president and current candidate for vice president of external affairs, said that since voting was electronic this year, MyUCLA had to be paid for its services.

Prices for printing flyers have also gone up, she added.

The smaller budget may account for why candidates have opted for cheaper campaign strategies than in previous years. Arpi Siyahian, current vice president of internal affairs, said that in the past, GSA campaigning has included a debate and a dinner where graduate students were able to question the candidates.

A “Rock the Vote” karaoke night was held at Westwood Brewing Company last Friday, but currently candidates are relying on flyers and personal introductions.

Neda Jahanshad, candidate for vice president of academic affairs, said she spent the weekend visiting the campus and speaking to students in Weyburn Terrace, where graduate students are housed.

“I’ve been handing out fliers and talking with students one-on-one,” Jahanshad said. “I’ve been visiting North and South Campus to try to get a feel of the entire grad student population.”

While candidates are making student concerns a priority, they are discovering that most students are unaware about the elections.

“I’m not trying to promote myself as much,” Jahanshad said. “I’m just letting students know that elections are coming up. Most people don’t even know about them.”

Candidates have found themselves speaking about the elections and the elections process just as much as about their platforms.

Myha Ngo, candidate for vice president of academic affairs, said that despite e-mails and flyers, graduate students are still unaware of the elections.

“Most graduate students I’ve talked to don’t even read the Daily Bruin,” Ngo said. “We just want to get the word out about elections.”

Besides approaching students individually, Ngo said she also plans to contact the GSA council for campaign assistance.

The “Rock the Vote” event held last Friday let graduate students meet others from different departments while providing an opportunity to get acquainted with the candidates.

Jahanshad said “Rock the Vote” was helpful in getting to know the students’ concerns.

“I introduced myself to a lot of the students, told them a little bit of what I’m planning to do, and got their feedback,” Jahanshad said. “It’s funny because all of them said they wanted more bars for graduate students.”

For the next week, candidates will be hard at work introducing themselves to students and encouraging them to vote.

Jahanshad said that one of her goals was to bring together students from different graduate departments.

“I think it’s important, in this academic environment, to act together as a group so that we can make a difference,” she said.