UCLA STUDENT ACTIVISM TO TODAY’S CURRENT USAC ELECTIONS
THE DAILY BRUIN ONLINE 4/23/2003
Students unaware of USAC’s history
Council’s past shows how slates formed to resolve social issues
By T.J. Cordero
As spring quarter begins to unfold, you can expect an influx of articles and events surrounding the Undergraduate Students Association Council elections and may be approached by prospective candidates and their supporters. Embedded in these discussions is the idea of slates. However, what many candidates neglect to state are the very reasons why slates are formed in the first place. Only by examining the history of slates on this campus is it possible to understand their varying purposes and missions.
From its inception in 1919, USAC was primarily dominated by councilmembers who ran under programmatic platforms that focused on events such as Mardi Gras and Homecoming. During the 1960s, many students became discontent with USAC because of its failure to engage broad social issues such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.
The emergence of the Third World Coalition during the 1960s brought progressive students together. They saw the need to address issues like segregation, racism in admissions, the lack of ethnic and gender studies, and international, anti-imperialist movements. As USAC was planning the next big victory party for UCLA’s football team, students in TWC turned to USAC for leadership in supporting these movements.
In the 1980s, TWC led the campaign for corporate divestment from South African apartheid. Through Associated Students of UCLA, TWC could make UCLA the first university in the United States to disinvest from corporations that did business in apartheid South Africa. Recognizing USAC as an important player with potential to create positive social change, students were able to contribute to the larger movement that led to the eventual dismantling of the apartheid system.
USAC was seen as an important part in bringing about these types of social changes. But it took progressive students becoming USAC councilmembers to have these issues addressed. It was TWC that politicized USAC around these issues.
It was not until the early 1990s that groups of students came together to ensure that USAC’s primary focus would be on serving the political interests of the student body. These students saw that many students’ needs were not being met. Students cared about issues like quality of education, diversity, access to education, student retention and civil rights, while USAC did not.
It became clear that these issues would not be the focus of the whole council when it failed to unanimously condemn student organizations in the late ’80s and early ’90s for racist, sexist and homophobic acts. In 1992, student organization songbooks surfaced, revealing songs like “Lupe,” about going to Mexico to rape a young Mexican girl, and “Faggot Fraternity,” mocking sodomy and AIDS.
People turned to student government to hold students to higher standards of tolerance and understanding. As leaders of our student body, it is USAC’s responsibility to defend students against any form of discrimination and injustice. Progressive students and students of color thus united to ensure USAC was more than events programmers and resume builders.
As the successor to TWC, one of the ways the Affirmative Action Coalition sought to address the aforementioned issues was to engage itself in the USAC electoral process. Thus, in 1996, Students First! was formed. As the predecessor to Praxis and Student Empowerment!, Students First! was founded upon principles of diversity, equality, empowerment, reflection and action, self-determination and justice. Students came together under a unifying goal that was much larger than simply winning the elections or obtaining financial resources. Students First! was an extension of TWC, which continually fought for human rights and equal access to education as its underlying objective.
As history shows, the development of our slate has been rooted in progressive principles and seeing USAC as one agent for change. Our work (that continues today) is not about arguing over scarce resources, but envisioning how student government should be a strong advocate for the needs of students.
Throughout the year, we have been attacked as students from many sides. Our student fees are increasing at record levels, proportionally fewer underrepresented students of color are entering UCLA, student services are being cut, and housing and parking rates are reaching record highs.
I offer this historical context to shed light on the often-lost history of which most current councilmembers and people interested in USAC are unaware. It’s unfortunate that people have built such demoralizing ideas of Student Empowerment! and our history, and continue to perpetuate false notions of what we stand for.
Cordero is USAC internal vice president
campaignforpilipinostudiesucla:
Hi everyone!
Hope you all are having a wonderful Week 1 of Spring Quarter! Just wanted to remind you all that the first day of the SPCN class: Asian American Studies 97: History, Theory, & Practice of Pilipino Cultural Night is TODAY! If interested, please come to Rolfe 3115 from 4-4:50pm to receive a PTE number! It is a 2-unit course.
Our special faculty facilitator for today is Professor Victor Bascara from the Asian American Studies department!
Hope to see you there!
(Source: cps-ucla)
Anonymous asked: how do you sign up for the spcn culture night class?
Just show up to the first day of class and receive a PTE number! TODAY 4-5PM. It is a 2-unit course and will be held in Rolfe 3115. If you have specific questions feel free to email education.samahangpilipino@gmail.com
Do you have questions or want to know more what we do in Samahang? Come visit us during our office hours!
Cathleen Dorequez…President…TBA
Marynoelyn Jacob…External Vice President…Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00am
Jay Aquino…Administrative Coordinator…Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00am
Melissa Samson…Financial Coordinator…Friday from 1:00 to 2:00pm
Jan Victor Andasan…Retention Coordinator…Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00pm
Jake Suaverdez…Access Coordinator…TBA
Melissa Jamero…Education Coordinator…Monday from 5:30 to 6:30pm
Jessica Gin…SPCN Coordinator…Tuesday from 3:00 to 4:00pm
Ace Tan Cultural Coordinator…Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00pm
Christian Adriatico…Community Projects Coordinator…Monday from 10:30 to 11am
Kristine Ortiz…Activities Coordinator…Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:30pm
Georgina Bayani…Kabalikat Coordinator…Thursday from 2:00 to 3:00pm
Lorreanne Manalo…Youth Component Coordinator…Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:30pm
It’s that time of year again! SP ELECTIONS! Here are some answers to some election questions you might be having:
Why are we having elections?
To keep our board members in check, most positions are half term (Summer/Fall and Winter/Spring) so check out below what positions you can run for.
Can I run?
If you are a registered UCLA undergraduate that will be enrolled winter and spring quarter yes you can! If you’re interested in a position feel free to contact any SP board member!
Can I nominate myself?
Nope, sorry. But someone else can nominate you AND give an awesome speech about you too. Nominate someone on this form here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEdLMF9uYUZXWlBhMnR0OXB1MmNUTHc6MQ#gid=0
Who has been nominated already?
Check here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArGCqohLva2vdEdLMF9uYUZXWlBhMnR0OXB1MmNUTHc&authkey=CP_5utIH&hl=en#gid=0
What positions can I run for?
President
Internal Vice President
External Vice President
Administrative Coordinator
Cultural Coordinator
Financial Coordinator
Community Projects Coordinator
Activities Coordinator
Pinays Coordinator
Kabalikat Coordinator
**(Access Coordinator, Retention Coordinator, Education Coordinator, SPCN coordinator, and Youth Component Coordinator (appointed) are year-long positions)
Am I eligible to vote?
If you have gone to 3 or more GMs this quarter you can vote (including elections i.e. GM Wk3 + GM Wk7 + Elections = You can vote!)
If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask any Board member! See you at elections!!
That’s right!
Show how much you care about your board members with PIE!
If each board member raises a certain amount of donations (price TBD), the person who donates the most gets the wonderful opportunity to smash a pie in their face.
Pie-ing will take place at our last general meeting, week 10. 6-8pm, Ackerman Viewpoint conference rooms! :)
Feels as good as it tastes. #YUM.
Hey Everyone,
Here are the open positions we’ll be voting on during Friday’s elections:
President
Internal Vice President
External Vice President
Administrative Coordinator
Cultural Coordinator
Financial Coordinator
Community Projects Coordinator
Activities Coordinator
Pinays Coordinator
Kabalikat Coordinator
(Access Coordinator, Retention Coordinator, Education Coordinator, SPCN coordinator, and Youth Component Coordinator (appointed) are year-long positions)
***If you are interested in ANY of the positions, please do not hesitate to ask any of the current board members! Our contact info is located on the right side under “about me.” OR, just ask us when you see us in person! :)
If you haven’t done so yet, please fill out the nomination form:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEdLMF9uYUZXWlBhMnR0OXB1MmNUTHc6MQ#gid=0
(remember, your nomination must be seconded in order for the candidate to be eligible to run)
Access Coordinator: Joaquin ‘Jake’ Suaverdez
Hey, folks! My name is Joaquin ‘Jake’ Suaverdez. I am a fourth-year International Development Studies major and I am your Access Coordinator for the 2010-2011 school year. As AC, my mission in the simplest sense is to make sure that higher education is equitably accessible for all Pilipinos. I do this by advocating for policies that benefit the Pilipino community in terms of college accessibility and affordability. My duties also include overseeing our access project, Samahang Pilipino Advancing Community Empowerment (SPACE), which serves high school and community college students in Pilipinotown and the South Bay providing peer tutoring, peer advising, and various other programming. Being Access Coordinator also gives me the opportunity to be on the UCLA Student Initiated Access Committee (SIAC), on which I am the Vice Chair. The SIAC is comprised of individuals from organizations representing various communities advocating to make access to higher education equitable for all.
