Associated Student Council votes in new senators

Members of the Associated Student Council of Ocean Campus (from left to right) Max Hirschfeld, Cody Miracle, Hanna Battla, Kei McHale, Angelica Campos interview student senatorial candidate Drew Min on September 5, 2018. Photo by Matthew Cardoza/The Guardsman

By Lisa Martin

lisamartin.562@gmail.com

The Associated Student Council of Ocean Campus held a general meeting on Sept. 5 to interview candidates for open senator positions, recognize new clubs and hear comments from the college community.

The main order of business involved interviewing and voting on applicants interested in one of 11 open Senate seats.

A president and five vice presidents preside over the student government, serving as chairs to seven subcommittees — Resource Centers and Programs United, Rules and Regulations, Finance, Public Relations, Multicultural Affairs, the Inter-Club Council and the Vice President Cabinet. The subcommittees are comprised of senators who vote during council meetings.

Each of the Senate hopefuls submitted their application before the meeting. Because of high interest in senatorial positions, two rounds of interviews were scheduled to take place.

Thirteen students from a range of backgrounds were interviewed. Some were San Francisco natives, though commuters, interstate and international students also applied to become student senators.

While some were fresh from high school, others were older students returning to school after a hiatus in their education. One student was a veteran.

Each candidate was asked to provide a personal mission statement for the job, and tell why they were interested, how they had overcome a major obstacle and how they had been involved in the City College community.

 Members of the Associated Student Council of Ocean Campus (from left to right) Max Hirschfeld, Cody Miracle, Hanna Battla, Kei McHale, Angelica Campos interview student senatorial candidate Drew Min on September 5, 2018. Photo by Matthew Cardoza/The Guardsman
Members of the Associated Student Council of Ocean Campus (from left to right) Max Hirschfeld, Cody Miracle, Hanna Battla, Kei McHale, Angelica Campos interview student senatorial candidate Drew Min on September 5, 2018. Photo by Matthew Cardoza/The Guardsman

 

For candidate Hafsah Syed, student government was appealing because it could positively impact City College’s diverse community.

“I really want to preserve that to make sure everyone has the resources to feel included,” Syed said.

Community was a topic that many candidates touched on.

“When I first started, I felt really isolated on campus,” candidate Matthew Echols said. He wanted to change that experience for future students.

After interviewing candidates, the council deliberated on their choices for Senate appointments.

“These were really good candidates,” ASC President Hanna Battla said.

It was a difficult decision for the council, which continued discussion for roughly 45 minutes.

Council members showed concern over the unfairness of filling many Senate positions during the first round of votes when there was still a second round of candidates to interview.

“It’s wrong to let this group go in the hopes that something better will come along,” Battla said.

The council ultimately compromised by appointing seven candidates as senators and automatically entering four others into the second round for further consideration.

The appointed ASC senators are Drew Min, Linore Rong, Pauline Maninang, Hafsah Syed, Abigail Mranda, Joseph Otayde and Isaac Loyer. At the time of press, the second round of interviews were not completed.

The council also voted to recognize three clubs — Philosophy Club, RamCamp and Alpha Beta Gamma — and approved their $200 allocations.

Engineering and technology professor Wynd Kaufmyn addressed the council as the faculty union’s vice president to express the union’s desire to work collaboratively with students on campus issues. Terry Lee presented the Ace Project, a proposal to improve the ambience of the City Cafe room in the Student Union.