:: Kerckhoff Journal ::

:: 5.14.2002 ::

Student Empowerment!'s Final Move

Well at long last, the day has come. Student Empowerment! has a chance to line up all its midnight judges, all it's little last minute stunts before David Dahle and the new SURE government is installed possibly as early as May 21. So what will they do tonight to end their "only God knowns how long" reign. One theory out there is that in time for "Anti-Zionism" week, the Council will issue it's most damning attack on Israel and Justin Levi yet. They don't have much time left to act, so tonight ought to be mighty interesting. Also, there is word that Samahang Pilipino is being ripped apart by internal discord. Will it go public before the Culture Night on Sunday the 19th???

It turns out also that a special, online election will occur on the 29th and 30th to determine a fee increase referendum. This fee increase is minor, about $9.00, but crucial to the survival of the student government as ASUCLA continues to fall down the rabbit hole. Don't bother asking why there is a $100,000 shortfall, just understand that now all the Student Empowerment! types now get to eat crow after being forced to accept this online method because they can't get the poll workers out there. Revenge is sweeter than honey.
:: Thomas 14:54 [+] ::
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T.J. Cordero Takes Vice Presidency; Next Election Pending

This time the crowd was much smaller, and Andy Jones was on his best behavior. With a not so stunning victory, Terence Cordero managed to defeat Justin Levi 58% to 42%. This of course means that Now the Undergraduate Student Council is balanced with 5 SURE slate members, and 5 Student Empowerment! members and three independents, two of whom are allied with the opposing slates. So, now that the battle is over, can we get back to business? Think again. Various commissions had sought to add a referendum to the ballot and failed. This referenedum would increase student fees for programming (concerts, film series) etc. not student advocacy groups. As a result, the Council was reluctant to add it without "consulting their constituencies". So of course, they go about doing this and in the end, have a whole other election (another $25,000 down the drain) in two weeks' time.

So here is the conspiracy theory: The current Council, which is still dominated by Student Empowerment! still has to certify the election results. Consider that they could delay the vote on certification until next Tuesday, the 21st. (USAC meets on Tuesday nights.) At that meeting then, they would be certifying the ballot for the referendum and certifying the previous election results. Should the Council seek to be devious, it could not certify the election and simply add the old ballot to the new ballot and then let the election commence the next day without telling anyone. With people caught unawares outside of the SE! junta, you can see how they could undo some of the closer races and keep their majority. Will it happen, I doubt so, only because they are not that smart to figure it out.

FYI: Andy is gone, but maybe not forever from the pages of the student paper.
:: Thomas 22:52 [+] ::
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Alert: Bryant Tan Asks for Recount; Andy Jones Prepares to Fight Dismissal

It turns out the Election Day shenanigans of 2002 are far from over. First and foremost, Andy Jones reported on Saturday that apparently he volunteered to resign his post with the the Bruin Republicans to keep his columnist job. He alleges that Viewpoint Editor Maegan Carberry allowed this to continue, and that he was gladly willing to resign still if asked. He also disputes that Carberry ever told him anything about backing off during the Election Night debacle. She maintains she warned Jones several times to back off from his stunts, but to no avail. Jones maintains that he did do some pretty nutty things: yelling once "Hate me because I hate all of you" to the Student Empowerment! crowd, but that Carberry never warned or discussed with him any of what she alleges to. Jones is angry and wants to be reinstated internally. If this does not occur, he's ready to take it to the Ombuds office and file a grievance with the newspaper.

And it turns out that the Student Empowerment! types have pulled one out of the Cal Berkeley campus politics playbook to delay the inevitable. Bryant Tan has asked the Election Board for a recount, and he's liable to get it. The problem is, if SE! doesn't win, do they try something else to block Dahle's inaguration on June 1, or just let it be? Already it appears that Tan is ready to fight for his office all the way to the ...Judicial Board. At least there are less votes to count over and over again, right?


:: Thomas 00:34 [+] ::
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Election Goes to Overtime; Andy Gets Fired

For those complaining about a lack of activity, fear not. There was a serious "Earthquake" in politics recently, and we are not talking about Jean-Marie Le Pen. Last night, the unthinkable happened, with David Dahle winning a hotly contested election by a mere 37 votes. I cannot give enough justice to this event, so please feel free to peruse the article from the school paper. However, as you might notice, there is still one race left to be decided, the Internal Vice President's office. Student Empowerment! leaders are adamant that they will win, but as it stands, the margin is razor-thin between Samahang's Pilipino's Terence Cordero and Jewish Student Union's Justin Levi. But this is no ordinary run-off. In 2000, Liz Houston narrowly defeated Katanja McCory she had to deal with every other major office being against her. This time Dahle has two General Representatives, a couple commissioners, and a chance to get the IVP on his side. It's huge, to say the least, but the tally for slates is as such: 5 offices in the hands of SURE, and 4 in the hands of SE!. Add to the fact that of the independents, one commissioner is likely to vote with the slates...bumping the it to 6-5. Should Levi win, then SURE will have the door open to a lot of reforms with a 7-6 majority. If Cordero wins, then the slates will be split at 6-6. This then asks the question what young Suzanne Yu of the Community Service Commission will vote. Her data in the Bruin seems to indicate that she will go with whomever wants to do more for the CSC. In the event she leans toward either slate, then that slate will become supreme. In the sense, SURE still may not have enough votes. Still with Yu as kingmaker, and Karren Lane putting her reputation on the line to campaign for Cordero means....stay tuned kids. This election is not over.

Incidentially, the first casualty of the new administration proved to be the Journal's biggest fan. That's right, Andy Jones was fired after a long dispute with his editors about his relationships to political groups on campus. A sign waving stunt was the straw that broke the camel's back, and now that Andy is done...questions abound. Also at the event were other columnists, namely Shirin Vossoughi, but we aren't going to name names are we? Apparently though, there is word inside the Bruin that this harsh treatment for Jones stemmed from the practices of former Viewpoint head Jonah Lalas, and his cronyism back in the days of the Houston regime. Poor Andy, he had such a great piece coming up too.

Also, in case you were wondering...it turns out that the infraction for SE! was more leinent than for independent candidates. Empowerment lost half and hour of campaigning time for their infraction, whereas independent candidates lost a full hour. Also, after Mike Cohn announced that the results would be delayed until 12:30am last night, it was a sign that the E-Board expected trouble and called out law enforcement. The presence was hardly draconain, but the UCPD was nervous and made sure people "stayed cool". It appears too that the big appointment that Matt Kaczmarek hoped to get once Student Empowerment romped in the polls. Kaczmerak also is no friend of David Dahle, and so as a result, the political career of Matty K is finished. Sayonarra.
:: Thomas 17:05 [+] ::
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