The Business Economics Student Association (BESA) has received $20,000 in funds from the Associated Student Organization for the club’s startup business, according to ASO President Amir Haghi.
Haghi announced the decision to give the club funding at the Pierce College Council meeting on April 27.
Haghi said that BESA originally asked for $30,000, but after negotiating with them, ASO gave them $20,000. He said that the board carefully looked at the club’s business plan before making their decision.
“On paper, everything looks awesome,” Haghi said. “They have a solid plan. They’ve chosen very logical things to buy for this. While they’re not the cheapest materials, they’ll definitely last long enough for the future. They took the smart road in that perspective.”
Haghi said the club intends to construct their business around selling fruit juices on campus.
According to Associate Vice President of Administrative Services Bruce Rosky, there will be a class to go along with the club’s business. Students in the class will learn what goes into running a business with the help of advisors.
“The class will be like a business practicum class,” Rosky said.
Haghi said that students who would like to work for the business will need to enroll in the class that will be offered alongside it in the future, and they need to be a part of BESA. He said that he doesn’t know exactly what the class will be called.
“To my knowledge, anyone who enrolls in the class can get in,” Haghi said. “There may be some prerequisites or students may need to meet with their counselor to get enrolled.”
Haghi also said he hopes to see the club thrive in the future because ASO put a lot of money into helping them get a head start.
“This is a big investment that ASO has made, so we can only hope for the best,” Haghi said.
At the meeting, Haghi also mentioned that the ASO board would like to see more specific areas for recycling on campus and have crews pick up the recycling on a regular basis.
This raised a slight concern with Vice President of Administrative Services Rolf Schleicher, who said that there have been problems with dumpster diving in the past.
“We have so many people that dive into trash cans and pull recyclables out, so there’s no recyclables left,” Schleicher said. “Whenever we’ve had a program put into place, crews come out here to pick it up, and there’s nothing really here. When we did it in the past, it just fell apart.”
Schleicher also said that recycling is happening on campus, but there is not enough money to cover the cost of hiring people to help recycle.
“It’s just not really happening in a structured, uniform way,” Schleicher said. “We could work with ASO to see if there may be a club who wants to volunteer to do some of the work and then keep some of the money.”
Haghi said that ASO asked Santa Monica College for advice on how Pierce can become a more environmentally friendly campus.
“They have a really small parking lot where there is space for bikes, and they have very specific recycling bins for glass, and things like that,” Haghi said. “I think Pierce can learn a little bit from them.”
The next Pierce College Council meeting is on May 25.
