ASO plans to create senator task forces to help target and combat specific issues that are ailing the school.
ASO Sen. Tracy Johnson has used the resources available to him to poll students to find what fixes are most wanted on campus.
Johnson produced a list that has issues such as Wi-Fi, Free Speech Area enhancement and enforcement, and resources for students such as: easier access to scholarship information, the extension of library hours and more embedded tutoring options.
Johnson explained that the idea came to him as he was filling out the application to become a senator. He had to answer an essay question about issues important to students.
“I knew a couple things that bothered me, but I had no idea what other students thought,” Johnson said. “But as a senator, I am representing the students. I am not just here for what I want.
“I came to the senate and I asked them to poll the student body to see what the issues are. I was told that we have a thing called Awareness Day already, but nobody really had taken the ball on it. I took control of it and allowed the students to express their issues.”
The ASO would like to quickly implement these groups, but given the amount of time that they have left in the semester, they know that they cannot complete everything on their to-do list they said in their meeting on April 11.
ASO President Amir Haghi said that something has to be done before the end of the semester.
“We have to get something started or else the project will definitely die. The senators won’t have any idea how or what to implement,” Haghi predicted. “How far we take it depends on how much manpower we get and how the senators want to go about it. We’re definitely going to leave an impression and start something so the next ASO group can take a part in it.”
President-elect Efren Lopez said that he is going to tackle these task forces by allowing senators to create different groups to tackle the tasks.
“The main way to incorporate these tasks forces for next year would be to create a separate committee that will focus on working on these things,” Lopez said. “They will also take this to the Participatory Committee and ask for their guidance on how to bring about these changes. We want to fix the things that the students want to see changed.”
Haghi said he hopes to see this implemented to help change the school for the better.
“It is taking what the students want and putting it into play,” Haghi said. “We have to build bridges for what we want to accomplish, and this is definitely a bridge that we want to see built.”
