By Erica Wong |Staff Writer|
Newly elected Associated Students Incorporated (ASI) president Alfredo Barcenas promotes positive change amongst the student body.
As a third year political science major, Barcenas has been involved in ASI for as long as he’s been on campus.
ASI is a nonprofit student organization with the motto “for the students, by the students.”
It’s “student government and student representation at its finest,” said Barcenas. “But it’s also much more than that.”
ASI makes sures that the student voice is heard when dealing with educational issues. Students are appointed to various committees with administrators and the president of the university to make sure their opinions are taken into account.
Students are represented at the state level as well.
Tuition, campus concerns, and bottleneck courses are all concerns that are addressed with state legislators to decide how to resolve these issues and keep in mind what’s best for students.
ASI is mainly known for their events promoting school spirit and the box office, but they also have other useful resources available to students.
The College Legal Clinic offers free legal consultation for students, and they have a graphics department that charges a reduced fee for students or faculty that may need visual art.
When running for president, Barcenas told students, “I don’t want to promise you things, because it makes me sound like a politician,” but he has many things on the agenda for his upcoming term.
Barcenas wants to extend library hours in order to give students a place to study during late hours.
Additionally, Barcenas is looking into graduation commencement to see if students would prefer graduation off or on campus, and trying to work with the University to give students more than the three tickets that are normally allotted.
Throughout the interview, Barcenas was adamant about the importance of student representation. He hopes to have students involved in committees and to start attending statewide meetings. Many students aren’t aware that there is a big effort made by student government officials to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown to include $95 million in the new budget.
According to Barcenas, many students don’t feel as if the new budget is tangible, but the inclusion will mean that CSU can hire more faculty, eliminate bottleneck courses that are preventing students graduating on time, and adding more effective online education.
“If students have concerns, and I have the power to do things and fight for it, I’ll go the extra mile because it’ll be worth it,” said Barcenas.
Promoting events, informing students about ASI’s plans and different events on other CSU campuses is important for Barcenas to make a lasting impact on our campus.
Barcenas appreciates all student feedback in an attempt to improve policies and find a solution for problems across the CSU.
He is very receptive and attentive about the concerns of his peers.
Students are encouraged to look into their site, asi.csusb.edu and learn more about ASI.
Barcenas wants more students to come into his office in SMSU-108 and tell him directly what’s happening. Input is valuable, as it proves there are more students backing the policies Barcenas is trying to change.
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