MR PRESIDENT?: Engineering Science junior Misha Leybovich spent the last two years polishing his political skills as an ASUC student senator. This year he’s running for president.

Five engineers run for ASUC student government

When it comes to student government elections, the College of Engineering has the lowest voter turnout among the colleges on campus.

Because engineers make up a healthy 13 percent of the campus population, it would take votes from just half the College to elect all the engineers running to the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) senate. More engineers in the senate means more University resources and attention steered toward north campus issues, say engineering candidates.

Senatorial hopefuls are engineering undeclared sophomore Chris Abad, ME/MSE sophomore Grace Hsu, ME freshman Igor Tregub and ME/MSE freshman Peter Chung. The group is led by incumbent senator and Engineering Science junior Misha Leybovich, who is the first engineer to run for ASUC president in a decade.

“Engineers have been historically detached from student government because they don’t realize what student government can do for them,” says Leybovich, who spent the last two years spreading the word about ASUC funding opportunities to engineering student groups.

As president, Leybovich says he would focus on getting more services on the north side. He wants to extend the hours of the engineering library and establish a late-night food vendor so hungry engineers don’t have to trek to the south side of campus to get coffee and snacks.

Each candidate has ideas on how to improve the quality of life for engineering students. Chris Abad wants to publish a resource guide that will let students know what the ASUC could do for them. “Not many people know that the ASUC can provide PR for engineering events and storage space for engineering groups,” says Abad.

Grace Hsu wants to improve personal communication between student reps and students. Her idea is to hold forums where engineering students can express concerns and ask questions. She will also make herself available for one-on-one meetings. “If people have a question, they’ll know where to find me. I’m always either in Etcheverry, Hearst Mining, or in the Bechtel library,” she says.

Igor Tregub envisions an interclub council that can connect the Engineering Joint Council to other clubs on campus. He also wants to up the presence of ASUC flyers and billboards on north campus to help engineers tune into student government events.

Peter Chung decided to run for office after working as an ASUC senate aid last semester. He saw firsthand how senators flouted conventions, procedures and rules. “I want to make sure that professionalism comes back to the senate and that ASUC senators not only know the rules but also follow them,” he says.

Chung also wants to set up a UC Berkeley speakers bureau to help student groups with the arduous and costly tasks of arranging security, venues and publicity for high profile speakers.

As an engineer, Leybovich knows that numbers mean everything in this election. “If half of all engineering students vote then we are assured our community will be taken care of. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you vote,” he says.

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