Predictably, Garcia is a member of the SAAC and progressive communities. She’s involved with Chicano/a group MEChA (and endured grief over it after being attacked as a racist on her Facebook event pages), attended quarterly Campus Climate Meetings and worked with issues involving the privatization of the UC system. Her platform is politically focused — she hopes to collaborate with the Student Organized Voter Access Committee to bring a presidential candidate to campus, create an initially unfunded Associate Vice President of Sustainability to focus on issues of environmental and social justice, lobby for more student representation on transportation committees and revise election bylaws to increase the 20-percent voter turnout necessary to pass a student fee referendum. In short, Garcia’s politics mirror that of the typical Student Voice candidate, but her background and experience in council set her apart. As the sitting Muir Senator, Garcia has the name recognition and direct council experience that candidates such as TIDE candidate and sitting Marshall College Council chair Meggie Le and Innovate candidate Ali Athar lack. Le is a strong candidate as well: Her platform’s focus on transportation and parking issue are admirable, and her slate strikes a good mix between strong ideology and strong experience. But her focus on integrating with college councils is better utilized in TIDE’s many excellent campuswide senatorial candidates, and largely negligible for the transfer and off-campus communities. And while Athar’s entrepreneurial ideas (biofuels, bike-sharing and research) are a breath of fresh air that could have great benefits for UCSD, his highly specialized politics make him a better fit for the AVP of Enterprises position, while his lack of prior experience in council would create a steep learning curve that would hinder the effectiveness of his term. Current campuswide senator Karen Liang will undoubtedly, and rightly, garner a large proportion of votes as the face of the student life and spirit-focused “bold.” slate. Her history as ERC Senator and Senate Chair and years on council give her the experience necessary to carry through her visibility- and spirit-focused initiatives with the same effectiveness that current A.S. President Alyssa Wing has shown. But while this board was impressed with her experience — and endorsed several candidates who shared her views and will work for increased visibility, Greek initiatives and better athletic relations — we believe it is more important for the university’s figurehead to be dedicated to political activism. After a failed campuswide senatorial bid in 2010, Garcia became the Chief of Staff and right-hand woman for 2010-11 A.S. President Wafa Ben Hassine during a now infamously contentious year. This has heavily influenced her conduct this year, and emphasis on building rapport and eschewing slate politics. Garcia’s been through the worst, so with a strong, multi-slate council behind her, she’s ready to try to lead us to a more politically active, more effective year. Vice President of Student Life: Cody Marshall – Independent It’s immediately noticeable that Cody Marshall is running for Vice President of Student Life as an independent. According to Marshall, his decision to go slate-less lies in the nature of the position — as VP of Student Life he must bridge the slate divides and run a unified council — logic which makes him an appealing candidate, though it also might give him less power when it comes to campaigning. Regardless, Marshall has the clearest vision and most concrete goals when it comes to running the three distinct segments of his office — athletics, diversity and concerts and events. His stance on diversity is refreshing, with the Sixth College senator advocating for more education and a critical look at the meaning of diversity instead of programs that are simply “watered down multiculturalism” (i.e. foreign film nights and special dining hall menus). He’s largely focused on athletics as well; though an initial supporter of the D-I referendum, Marshall was prominent in running informative campaigns for both the pro and con sides. In the wake of the referendum’s failure, Marshall has a clear focus on supporting our current teams by pursuing televising sporting events through a collaboration with Triton Television. Marshall won’t mess with any of our current concert traditions, but rather build new traditions that focus on more specific communities across campus, such as transfer students and the student-run spaces of the Old Student Center. While the other candidates — Bold’s Clinton Rodriguez and TIDE’s Jeremy Akiyama — have great ideas of their own (Rodriguez has a focus on Greek housing and Akiyama envisions a student life office which intersects with the external office), their lack of specificity when it comes to their goals makes them less feasible. But Marshall, as an extremely visible member of council this year (numerous candidates pointed to his D-I mixer event as a high point), will be able ignore slate politics and build a council we can rally behind. Vice President of External Affairs: Olamide Noah – TIDEAfter a year marked by intense political activism and social movements, Olamide Noah is the best candidate to continue the momentum that previous VP External Samer Naji has created. While Noah’s background, as current Vice Chair of the Black Student Union and the Students for Affirmative Action Committee, seems very in tune with the ideals of Student Voice, Noah stated that she chose TIDE to step outside of her comfort zone and act as a bridge for different communities. This stated commitment in connecting groups from the Greek community to SAAC and the athletes will be effective in institutionalizing political engagement as important for every student. Further, Noah recognizes that social activism can take many different roles and is interested in offering various avenues of activism for those who may not be comfortable with walkouts and protests. Her plans to work closely with the new VP of Student Life to increase awareness through student events like Bear Gardens and Sun God provide a fresh idea — Noah is fully ready to work with her fellow VPs to create a climate comfortable for people who are just beginning to be involved in activism. Noah’s two main goals as VP External are to spread awareness about the Fund the UC Campaign, especially in regard to promoting the middle class scholarship. She also hopes to bring greater visibility to the VP External office, rebrand the AVP of Local Affairs position and increase UCSD’s presence in the greater San Diego community. Further, Noah’s background as a member of the Campus Climate Committee shows that she c
learly knows how to create bargaining power with administration. She plans to increase accountability by building coalitions, meeting frequently with admin and emphasizing the importance of institutional memory for orgs. Noah’s multi-faceted background, willingness to communicate with her divided constituents and solid plans makes her the best candidate to tackle the job of VP External on next year’s A.S. Council. Vice President of Finance and Resources: Pauline Nuth – BoldWith three years of council experience, current Associate Vice President of Student Organizations Pauline Nuth has the background to know the weaknesses in the A.S. budget, the fiscal conservatism to ensure that council doesn’t overallocate and the know-how to increase efficiency and transparency. The AVP of Student Orgs position — a key force in working with funding —is a logical stepping stone to the VP of Finance position. Over the past year, Nuth has worked to publicize the funding sources available to student orgs and manage all financial requests from student orgs on behalf of council. In essence, she has been the main liaison between A.S. Council and student organizations throughout campus. As VP of Finance, Nuth intends to reorganize the A.S. funding guidelines to clearly articulate the financial process to orgs, and create a streamlined online process for funding appeals. Aside from this specialized knowledge, Nuth’s previous work as ERC senator ensures that she understands legislation and the rules of council as well. When we handed Nuth a copy of last year’s budget and asked her to critique it, she immediately whipped out a pen and started bracketing line items and offices that she felt were due for reevaluation. Her main assessment: more frugality with college programming and more money to the external office and SOVAC in particular. With both the specialized and general knowledge to accomplish her goals, and the institutional knowledge to avoid repeating the mistakes of her predecessors, Nuth is the best choice for VP of Finance.