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Supporters help raise a signboard for Peter Bautista at 12:39 a.m. on Thursday. Campaigning for U

At midnight on any given Thursday, Bruin Walk is silent and tranquil, traversed by only a handful of students on their way home from Night Powell.

This past Thursday, the scene was somewhat more chaotic, as the campaign period for Undergraduate Students Association Council officially began with the raising of candidate signboards. An army of supporters of the Student Power! slate wielded shovels, and the squad from Bruins United, an opposing slate, came armed with a jackhammer.

In their digging efforts last year, students struck a water main, but this year’s efforts appeared to go much smoother. The only water obstacle was sporadic sprinkler blasts.

Candidates from four slates as well as independents will be campaigning in full force through elections next week.

The overall sentiment from slates is that running as a coalition not only makes candidates more visible to students through pooled campaign funds, shared advertising and greater manpower available for outreach, but also serves as a group with which to share their experiences.

Slates provide the moral support that candidates need, especially when they’re trying to balance all of their commitments and their campaign, said Kristina Doan, the internal vice president candidate with Bruins United.

Slate members and supporters not only serve as a network of ideas, but also as a source of assistance for various aspects of campaigning.

“Being with a slate is really great because you have people who understand what you’re going through, who are cheering for you at endorsement hearings, who are helping you with your statement,” Doan said.

Running with a slate is also a great way to tap into everyone’s individual expertise in hopes of having the most successful campaign possible, said Tommy Tseng, a current general representative and the internal vice president candidate with Student Power!

Independent candidates, however don’t see their lack of affiliation as a stumbling block in their campaign.

Since all independent candidates are running for commissioner positions unopposed, it allows them to use campaign resources to publicize their causes instead of becoming entrenched in political battles, said Farheen Malik, an independent candidate for Community Service commissioner.

While critics of the slate system say that it disadvantages independent candidates, Malik said that her campaign is unaffected.

“I look at it like I represent the 22 (community service) projects, and the 600 volunteers in those 22 projects, rather than a certain slate or a certain number of people,” Malik said.

As far as funding, candidates said that their resources come from appealing to their friends and family.

“We’ve been really reaching out to our family and friends – telling them what we’ve done, why we’re doing it,” Doan said.

All candidates from Student Power! and the Future Front, as well as several independents, have pledged their commitment to a voluntary spending cap of $600 for presidential candidates, and $400 for all others.

Members of Student Power! said that spending less than some of their competition, such as Bruins United, won’t hurt their campaigns.

“We make it work under the voluntary spending cap because we really feel that it’s important to have equity in the elections process, and that every student should have a fair chance at the elections process,” said Jenny Wood, the presidential candidate for Student Power! and a current general representative.

There are areas in which costs can easily be cut, such as producing your own signboards, as candidates with Student Power! and the Future Front did, Wood said.