A.S.I. on the Web

By John Caldwell
Daily Forty-Niner

As part of its weekly senate meeting, Associated Students Inc. welcomed A. S. I. President Robert Garcia to unveil its new Web site Wednesday at the University Student Union.

Beachpride.com is intended to create a better way of reaching students by providing them with easier access to information, Garcia said.

In his presentation, Garcia stressed that the Web site is still in its final stages of development, and that he and his colleagues need constructive feedback to polish it.

"We expect a lot of suggestions," Garcia said. "We want a lot of feedback from the senate and the students."

The site, which is scheduled to go online today, will contain contact information, links to organizations on and off campus, and senate voting results. It will also offer an extensive calendar of events where organizations that receive approval from A. S. I. can add listings.

The site will not be linked to the Cal Sate Long Beach Web site until the spring 2001 semester, and Garcia does not plan to market it until he is sure that it is working properly.

"We want you guys to go on there and say, ëthis is working and this is not,'" Garcia told the senate. "We want to work out all the bugs before we do any marketing."

The new Web site incorporates flashy graphics to present student-related services and information like online polls, roommate ads and scholarships.

Other items of business at Wednesday's meeting included the appointment of Kimberly Rogers, a junior Nutrition major, as Senator for the College of Health and Human Services.

Treasurer Sal Ayon informed the senate that A. S. I. has a monetary surplus of approximately $12,000, which will be used to augment the funding of specific programs during the course of the semester.

"In the A. S. I., we not only give organizations financial support," Ayon said, "we give them emotional and spiritual support."

Alicia Jimenez came to promote the Interdisciplinary Studies program at CSULB, describing to the senate a program for students who do not want to be locked into a specific major. The program allows students to design their own major in which they study a wide spectrum of subject matter for their degree.

"Every Student comes in with their own unique idea," Jimenez said. "They pick their classes and write a proposal."