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Tarzan may be running the national government, but Peter Rabbit is running UCLA’s student government.

At least, “Peter Rabbit” is what one student guessed on an informal survey that I, with the help of my former editor Colleen Honigsberg, conducted Friday. The answer was in response to a question that asked, “Do you know who the president of USAC is?” Another humorous answer was “Students First!”

In reply to another question that asked whether the student was planning to vote in the upcoming election, another student left a note on the side reading, “There’s an election?”

This lack of knowledge about student government was very common among the students we surveyed. Out of 80 students, 72.5 percent did not know who Undergraduate Students Association Council President Allende Palma/Saracho was at all, and 50 percent had no idea what USAC does.

Despite this statistic, 58.3 percent showed at least some interest in learning about USAC’s functions. Most importantly, 42.5 percent were planning to vote, and 21.3 percent were still undecided.

Each slate is running campaigns claiming to represent the student population and accusing each other of not understanding or advocating students’ interests. Still, those candidates who I spoke to either didn’t know of or vaguely remembered that a survey had recently been conducted to gauge the issue of student experiences with school government.

The survey I found, the University of California Undergraduate Experiences Survey, administered at UCLA in 2004, found that 51.8 percent of the survey’s sample population felt they were “not that well informed,” and that 19.4 percent described themselves as “not at all informed” about campus issues and politics.

The survey also gauged satisfaction in other areas of the educational experience, including quality of life, education and social experiences. The survey is an easy resource that USAC should use to gain a sense of what students on campus need and want improved.

My survey in no way claims to be representative of anything, as it was administered only on one Friday, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., to students sitting at various spots on North and South Campus. However, it whetted my appetite for some sort of quantitative (and qualitative) research for UCLA. Though any form of statistics can be plagued by issues of validity, mine give at least a base of information to analyze, criticize and, hopefully, improve representation.

Even though my own survey was, at best, a review of some individual students and their knowledge of USAC, it was at least a pretext that allowed me to talk to some students and gain a sense of their opinions.

When asked about surveys to learn of campus trends, Palma/Saracho tried to appease me by agreeing that statistics can be useful, but warned me gently that they are costly, bureaucratic and difficult to set up. He advocated “other avenues” of reaching students through activities.

“For me, it’s more that they don’t have to worry about certain issues,” he said. “Because we’re working on it, we’re trying to make it better for them ... and we’re trying to engage students in the process.”

When I asked what Palma/Saracho thought of the Bruins United campaign, which pledges to reach a larger majority of students at UCLA – “a philosophy of ensuring that USAC works for each and every student,” as its platform suggests, Palma/Saracho called it “empty rhetoric.”

Alex Gruenberg, the current Financial Supports commissioner and the Bruins United candidate for president, was not so easily baited against the other slate. He was careful to say that USAC under Students First! was successful in varying degrees from program to program.

For him, “the individual perspectives people (who are on slates) have ... are not what are most important.” Gruenberg was concerned with the relationship USAC currently has with students, both on the board as well as those unaffiliated with student government, and said he wants to foster more productive relationships with the campus.

“To me, that’s more important than one-shot programs – because that’s leadership,” he said.

In terms of statistics, he also saw the problems associated with surveys (Impossible, I thought – different slates, similar concerns.) However, he expressed interest in my ideas about the use of statistics.

Though my loyalties were subtly questioned by Palma/Saracho, this article is not advocating one slate over the other. My concern is exploring how each slate promises to work for the students, because I want all students to be represented fairly.

I fear that slates dismiss one another too easily. If Bruins United should sweep the elections, I would not want the concerns that SF! voices to be swept under the rug. I don’t want power to change hands; I want its dynamics to change.

Personally, I would advocate the use of all resources – events and activities, as well as satisfaction surveys and other statistics – to reach and understand students beyond our circles of affiliation, and then to work for their needs.

Maybe I should run. I could have a cute little sign, with my head next to the words “Vote for Peter Rabbit,” who of course will be holding an iPod in one hand and the earth with a miniature UCLA on the top in the other.

Vote for Hashem by e-mailing nhashem@media.ucla.edu.