Today I saw the first DONE! flyer of the year. CalSERVE starting flyering last Monday so the ASUC elections are in the paper phase. Since they put up flyers first, today I will say a few words on CalSERVE.

The flyers they have put up so far are simply to get their name out there. They say 5 weeks until Real Student Power.

They are setting themselves up as the not Student Action party. Which is better then their pointless ideological statements from last year including gender neutral restrooms and a “womyn’s right to chose.”

On Friday there was a crowd of people chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, CalSERVE is good to go!” I don’t think anyone who did not already know what CalSERVE was got excited or interested in asking questions about them.

This is the second time I have seen Van led a group of people through Sproul.

The Slate

CalSERVE announced their executive slate very early, almost a month ago. They picked up on the experience factor and are running three senators for the executive offices. The fact CS is even running executives is an improvement over last year. Since three of the executives are senators they had campaign goals from last year. I have linked to their earlier platforms and given a quick summary of their three main points from last year.

When you read think of two questions: Has s/he accomplished this? Is this something the ASUC should be doing?

President: Van Nguyen
Word on the street is Van is smart. However Van “Repeal Prop 209” Nguyen did not repeal the proposition. For better or worse, he is the only one on the slate I am facebook friends with.

Platform from last year:
Access to Higher Education
Freeze student fees and increase funding of recruitment and retention centers.

Student Empowerment: Providing a Space for Student Activism
More students and people of color on city commissions, forums on 209, and a sweatfree UC.

Campus Climate: Fighting for Diversity
Ensure there is a vice chancellor of Diversity and create a safe space for Asian and Pacific Islander students.

Executive VP: Taylor Allbright
For an aspiring vice president and current senator she has a surprisingly private facebook profile. Taylor definitely knows the senate from being a senator and also lobbying extensively before that. I have been to senate meetings a couple of times this year. Every time I have been there to support or oppose a bill on ideological grounds Taylor has strongly championed the opposing side. (The SA should not get $22,000 bill was an issue of common sense we were both on the same side of.)

From last year:
Empowerment through community
Create a safe space for the forty women’s issue groups on campus to build a community.

A campus free of violence
Provide more resources to prevent violence and give support to survivors.

Systemwide Justice
Respecting human rights by ending the contract with Coca-Cola, a sweat-free UC, and a living wage for UC employees.

External Affairs VP: Daniel Montes
I don’t know anything about him. Like Taylor he is one of those private facebook profile people. Outside of his profile but still on facebook I learned he is CalSERVE’s issues coordinator and like Caro below is in two groups supporting Barack Obama. He is majoring in Ethnic Studies and Public Policy. He did have an editorial in the Daily Cal which was unimpressive.

Academic Affairs VP: Carolina Jauregui
She is a senator and from Southern California; otherwise I don’t know anything about her. Facebook says she is doing Peace and Conflict Studies and Public Policy.

Her three campaign issues last year:
Academic Environment for All
Push the drop deadline for classes back beyond the fifth week.

Health Services for Women and Queer Community
Get the Tang Center to provide more services for people.

Faculty, Staff, and Student Diversity
Push for a diverse population at Cal at all levels, including forums on higher education. Also a “real” Multicultural Center needs to be implemented.

Before you decide who to vote for be sure to check out the opposition. Student Action has not officially announced who they will run but Beetle has rumors. If the SA website is updated before the slate is officially announced fear not; I have saved many files.

The Campaign

It will be interesting to see how CS runs their campaign this year. They practically collapsed last year running no executive candidates and less senators then normal. They were only holding signs on campus for a day or two compared to the two weeks of SA saturating campus with their people and materials.

If CalSERVE wants to do well in the election they need a two-fold strategy. First they have to capitalize on anti-SA sentiment. They need to remind students and educate them about the events of the summer where SA decided it was too important to follow the constitution. This involves things like fliers with $22,000 on them. Second, they have to talk about the qualifications and achievements of the people they will be running. It is not enough to say they are different; they have to put their ideas and strengths out there.

Tomorrow we will have a look at the other large party, Student Action. They have a DONE! flyer you are going to love.