Yeah, you’ve seen them. Blue shirts, black shirts, orange shirts. Posters, booths, loud music, flyers all over the place. Ugh, ASUCI elections. Not again, you think. Please allow me to walk to class today. No, thank you very much but I do not want your flyer. NO, I said I don’t want one, didn’t you just ask me an hour ago when I was walking past you to class? What are you still doing here anyway? Do I even know you?
Okay, okay. I understand. ASUCI elections can be a pain. How do they pertain to you anyway, right? UCI seems to be doing just fine the way it is, year after year, regardless of who is in office. Sure, our parking rates are increasing exponentially. Alright, our classes are being cut and our professors are being laid off. Oh, and our rent is going up too. Not to mention our student life could possibly be suffering from a lack of funds. But you don’t go to Shocktoberfest usually anyway, so what does it matter to you that we won’t be able to get Bruno Mars this year? What does ASUCI really have to do with anything, anyway?
The truth is, ASUCI really does have a huge impact on all of us. ASUCI is the voice that fights for the students on the CA budget allocation issue. It decides what to do with your tuition money (besides paying for itself – yeah, that’s right, your tuition money is paying for other students to hold these offices). It is the distributor of funds to different groups on campus. It creates programs, events, vendor fairs, concerts, etc. for the students. It even fights for better parking rates (and oversees the student center, bren events center and arc). Yes, ASUCI does so much and more.
Yet regardless of the impact ASUCI has on the student body, students continue to be apathetic toward ASUCI elections. Last year alone, only about 10%-15% of the student body voted. And do you know who mostly makes up these numbers? Greeks, Clubs, and ASUCI. How biased is that vote? Are these the people you want deciding where your money goes each year?
Ok, Resham. I get the point, you think. My vote is important. But who do I even vote for? How do I know which candidate will be the best for the job? There are so many!
Have no fear, young Anteater. After being a part of ASUCI for three years, I’ve noticed 5 qualities that important to look for in your ASUCI candidates.
- Experience – Experience is the most important quality of any candidate. An ASUCI position is a full time job and can be incredibly stressful at times. The ideal candidate will know the inside workings of the office they are running for (ie. has probably been working in the office for a while and has held other positions within the office itself), and has held higher positions either in the ASUCI office or in other organizations on campus.
- Dedication – A valuable candidate is able to not only get the job done, but do it well and in a timely manner. The ideal candidate is always reliable, on time, proactive, and dedicated.
- Passion – Passion is not easy to detect for those of you who do not know the candidates on a personal basis. But watch the candidates campaign and maybe you can see for yourself how passionate a candidate and his/her team is about the office they are running for. The hard work and effort a candidate puts into his/her campaign will be reflected in the hard work and effort a candidate puts into his/her position.
- ASUCI Support – Members of ASUCI are sometimes split between candidates, but there is often a preference for one candidate over another. Look toward former Vice Presidents, Commissioners, and Interns (in that order) for their opinions on which candidates will be best for their office. The higher the officer, the more insight he/she may have on the candidates’ qualifications and work habits. This is because best ASUCI candidates have already been a part of ASUCI – they joined early on and have worked their butts off to get to this point!
- UCI Pride – The ideal candidate loves UCI and demonstrates UCI pride. This can be done through his/her involvements on campus, goals to improve the school for its students, appearance at major UCI events, etc.
Now for the good part. I can take this opportunity to explore all of the 50+ candidates and their qualifications, but who really has time for that? So let’s cut to the chase and talk about what really matters. Which candidates have captured Her Campus.. and why?
- Jun Wang for Vice President of Student Services – Remember Jun Wang, our Campus Celebrity from not too long ago? If any candidate has every one of the qualities mentioned above, it’s Jun. Jun’s accomplishments exceed those of most people on our campus. In high school, Jun was President of ASB and created a district-wide philanthropic event that has since been repeated every year after his graduation. Once he got to UCI, Jun joined ASUCI and has worked so hard that he has been promoted every year. In his second year, Jun was already a Commissioner for Student Services. Now, in his third year, Jun is Chief of Staff – the highest position in the office other than the Vice President herself. This is without mentioning all of the other leadership positions he holds on campus (which is just too much to go over in this article). Basically, well, Jun is The Man.
- Genevieve Galman for Vice President of Admin Affairs – Genevieve has been involved with ASUCI since the very first week she arrived at UCI. In her own words, “Over the past three years, I have loved every moment on this campus — with everything from student government to intramural athletics. My closest friends and best times have been made here at UCI….” Talk about true anteater pride! This year in particular, Genevieve has worked closely with the current VP of Admin Affairs. She is an experienced and passionate candidate who is so honest, approachable, and down to earth!
- Kamrin Klauschie for Vice President of Academic Affairs – Kamrin has always been Miss Proactive in ASUCI. She took charge of and expanded the UCI Vendor Fair and also collaborated with The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) to found that lovely Farmer’s Market on campus. Kamrin has still found time to collaborate with ASUCI’s Student Services and Hip Hop Congress to execute UCI’s biggest Urban Arts Festival in 2010 and to take charge of the marketing for UCI Alumni Association’s charity event UCI Care-A-Thon 2010. She not only is an experienced and dedicated candidate, but also one with tons of Anteater Pride!
- Rachel Tong for Executive Vice President – Rachel has been a part of ASUCI for nearly 3 years now, first as an Intern and then as Campaign Manager. Last year, she helped save our very precious Cal Grant (yup, that was her fighting for the UCI students’ financial aid). She puts effort, time, and dedication into everything she does. Despite her busy schedule, she always makes time for people!
Happy Voting!
Vote now: www.elections.uci.edu
http://www.voteworkhard-playhard.com/