Two of the third-party candidates running for executive vice president in the ASUC elections share similar goals of mobilizing student activism, while the CalSERVE and Student Action candidates’ platforms focus more on the Lower Sproul Plaza renovation and increasing access to student resources.

The ASUC executive vice president’s responsibilities include leading and facilitating senate meetings and appointing senators to committees. Next year’s EVP will also have the responsibility of handling the movement of student groups out of Eshleman Hall and into temporary spaces during the plaza’s renovation.

Below are the five candidates running for the position, as well as their major platforms.

James Chang (Students for a Democratic University)

• Increase transparency in the communication between the ASUC and the administration
• Make the ASUC independent from the administration
• Democratize the ASUC, including allowing students to submit bills and participate in committees

Anthony Galace (CalSERVE)

• Facilitate the transition of student groups during Lower Sproul renovation
• Bridge the gap in accountability and leadership in the ASUC
• Reinvest the ASUC’s funds back into students’ interests

Erik Krasner-Karpen (SQUELCH!)

• Satirical candidate
• Erect a cathedral of sound from the Campanile to the Valley Life Sciences Building
• Replace parliamentary debate in the ASUC Senate with a cacophony of pots and pans

Jeremy Palmer (Defend Affirmative Action Party)

• Build a new student and youth-led civil rights movement
• Protect public education and lower tuition
• Stop the privatization of the university

Justin Sayarath (Student Action)

• Expand technological services to increase efficiency in student life
• Develop resources for student organizations
• Leverage commercial services in student life

“(The position will) have a lot to do with continuity and knowledge of what happened this year,” said current Student Action EVP Chris Alabastro.

Palmer and Chang share similar goals of making sure the ASUC is independent from the administration.

“I’m very familiar with how to bring the power that students have to bear against the administration,” Palmer said. He emphasized mobilizing students to lobby for government funding to ensure that the UC remains public.

Chang also pledged that he would be on the front lines with students in any protest or strike and advocated making communication with the administration more transparent.

As a senator, Galace served on this year’s Lower Sproul Working Group and said that he worked to make sure that all student input was included, which he would continue to do as EVP.

Sayarath also began projects as a senator, including starting a resource guide for student groups searching for funding and working on an online portal called CalCentral, intended “to consolidate all of our online resources into one interface,” according to his blog.

The election will be held April 10, 11 and 12.