Greg Donnell / Roundup
The ASO election brought in a new treasurer, one who wants to change the school and do his best to help students at Pierce College.
His name is Ivan Alvarez and his mission is to make the college experience accessible to everyone.
“It is a pretty big job,” said Alvarez. “But I am going to do my best and hopefully with the leadership of me and other office candidates we can help the school.”
Alvarez, a Reseda High school graduate, is active in many clubs at Pierce. He wants to see changes made that will benefit all students learning experiences.
“My main goal is to have the library buy five books for every class,” said Alvarez when referencing the course reserves that teachers control at Pierce. “Now they only have three books on reserve. I want students to be able to access them if they don’t have enough money to purchase the books.”
The engineering major is good with numbers and wants to do his best with the money that they will have coming in next year.
The $155,000 budget is a sharp decrease from the $177,000 of a year ago. However, Alvarez believes that the ASO money was well spent.
“The bus pass was made affordable to students who may not have had access to transportation,” said Alvarez. “I’m glad that it benefitted so many students.”
While Alvarez recognizes the responsibilities the office of treasurer will bring, he looks forwards to the new endeavor and believes that he will gain life experience from holding office.
“I hope to gain new experiences with this position,” said Alvarez. “I want to gain more leadership skills and I hope to follow up on my experience by running for office when I transfer to a four-year university.”
Leadership has never been problem for Alvarez and his peers believe that he is fully capable of handling his new position.
“I think Ivan is going to do a really good job, because I know that he likes getting involved and he likes to know what is going on and he really likes to help,” said Victor Garcia. “I see him taking that next step and becoming a real leader.”
The strong leadership sentiment was echoed by fellow senator Raymond Pajounia, mathematics major.
“I believe Ivan will do good things in the future because he is always dedicated to his work and he is always willing to help out,” said Pajounia. “He is always ready to help out with things that need to be done. He speaks out, makes his voice heard, and pushes himself 110 percent.”
Alvarez is going into next year with high hopes for the future and a willingness to make changes that will help the entire school.
An engineering major, Ivan Alvarez, was elected ASO treasurer. (Arash Akhtari-Rad / Roundup)