Are you sick of USAC elections? Boycott!

Published: Monday, May 1, 1995

By Anne Arche Goldman

It's that time of year again. Spring's in the air, the birds are singing and people are walking around donning sandwich boards, pandering to students like prostitutes on Sunset Boulevard. They want us to vote because they "care" about students. They also enjoy the stipend paychecks they receive to sit around Kerckhoff Hall pretending to be Bill Clinton or Newt Gingrich.

I'm a senior now and I've reached the profound realization that every spring, UCLA's undergraduate elections amount to nothing more than a farce. And I can no longer stomach it. Just thinking about student government elections makes me want to lose my lunch in one of our many powder rooms on campus.

The past two undergraduate student governments have been ruled by people who spout words like "unity" ... "communication" ... "dialogue."

Whatever they meant by such words no one at UCLA seems to know including those who contrived them. They never defined what they meant by such utterings. In my view, in the past two years, Presidents Kate Anderson and Rob Greenhalgh just sat and wasted thousands of dollars in student money by creating silly, self-promoting newsletters and a few forums only about 10 people on campus care about.

What about the other candidates? The ones who have been active fighting fee hikes and not cowardly when it comes to supporting things like student workers in the current SAGE strike? In my opinion, their efforts have definitely been more pro-active, honest and forthright. I do respect this particular group, but I must be realistic.

First, there is a good chance this block of candidates will not get elected because they lack the financial resources of the bureaucratic "catch phrase" block. Further, even if the progressive block does get elected, what can they really do when student lobbying power has been crushed by the Smith v. Regents decision? The power of student government in influencing the outcomes of real issues such as fee hikes is null and void.

Student government has become merely symbolic.

Is there a solution here? Of course! Boycott this year's student government elections. Avoid the ballot box like the plague and head for a local bar or pizza place instead. Election boycotts have served as one of the most salient forms of protest in countries throughout the world. In essence, passive apathy is transformed into an active expression of a deeply felt lack of confidence, if not blatant repudiation of government, politics and bureaucracy.

With fees about to go up once again, I suggest that the monies used or should I say wasted by student government should be redirected toward forming an abundant UCLA-based fund for financial aid to compensate for the deficiencies in state and federal financial aid. In light of the recent and forthcoming attacks on public education, this is what UCLA students need now more than ever.

Some of this money could also go for other things to meet students' immediate needs, such as housing assistance, expanding child care facilities on campus or even creating a battered women's shelter catering to students.

Students who choose to be "active" can continue to do so autonomously. Numerous independent organizations already exist on campus. I suggest the Rob Greenhalghs and Kate Andersons of Westwood join one of these organizations and get their hands off student money as they spew meaningless sound bites about "unity" and "communication."

Meanwhile, I am certain the people who have actively fought Gov. Pete Wilson on the issue of fee hikes and cuts in education will continue to do so through fine organizations such as the Network for Public Education and Social Justice and others.

If you're sick of student elections, as the majority of students seem to be since they don't vote, BOYCOTT. Even if you do decide to drop by the ballot box out of, oh, I don't know ... guilt, you can still express your discontent. Just write the word "boycott" or "no" and drop it in the box. Or you can just go and have a beer or a cappuccino royale instead.

Goldman is a senior art history student.