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news
Treasurer candidates
discuss goals
By Sé J.
Reed
On-line Forty-Niner
In a continuing
series on the Associated Students Inc. elections, to be held
April 2, 3 and 4, the On-line Forty-Niner is profiling the
candidates for treasurer and senator-at-large. A.S.I. treasurer
is responsible for the fiscal operations of A.S.I. The senator
at-large is elected to be a representative of the entire student
body, rather than a specific college.
All of the candidates
will be given an opportunity to explain their platforms today
at noon in the USU West Terrace.
A.S.I.
Treasurer
Rosa Hernandez
"Senators
have a job description. A lot of senators don't do anything.
Some try and some do the job," said Hernandez, current
senator for the College of Natural Sciences. "Some do
more than their job. I feel I've done more."
Hernandez, a microbiology
major, admits she was not initially as involved in senate
activities as she is now. Her co-senator quit in the beginning
of their first semester, leaving her with little idea of what
needed to be done.
But, she said,
she has met with every organization in her college, writing
up budgets for some and voicing funding requests at A.S.I.
Board of Control meetings.
Dissatisfied with
the role the senate plays in A.S.I., Hernandez wants to take
a more active role.
"As senator,
I can do some things," she said, "but if you're
an executive, you're not limited."
Hernandez's platform
focuses primarily on' improving the accessibility of A.S.I.
funding.
She wants to use
beachpride.com as a resource for all of A.S.I., especially
for distribution of funding.
"We spend
so much on beachpride.com and, for whatever reason, it's not
even used," she said. "I want to have all applications
online, hold workshops online, have a question and answer
page, and a calendar."
She also wants
to make the funding applications process easier to understand.
Organizations may not be getting all the funding possible,
she said, simply because students do not understand the application
process.
"This organization
is supposed to be for students and by students, but in reality
it's not," she said. "That's what I want to change."
She also wants
to begin an audit policy for all organizations that receive
A.S.I. funds, to ensure that the money is being used for its
intended purpose.
"I want frequent
reports of where money is going," she said. "How
much the stipend for executive officers is, for example."
Hernandez knows
that all her plans are possible and she wants to implement
them, whether elected treasurer or not.
"To be honest,"
she said, "I've started talking to people already."
Jonteyn Prewitt
Prewitt is a junior
criminal justice/black studies double major, who has prior
experience in both academic and professional financial management.
"I'm used
to handling multi-millions of dollars," she said. "I
use to work for Bank of America in the Los Angeles cash vault."
Additionally, she
was treasurer in both junior high school and high school.
Her main focus
if elected, she said, would be to promote campus unity.
"I think I
can bring the students of CSULB together through different
programs that would disperse funds to benefit the entire campus,"
she said.
"A.S.I. is
lacking multiculturalism," she added. "I want to
have a multicultural event that would benefit all groups not
just individual groups."
During her four
years at CSULB, Prewitt has been an active participant in
campus organizations.
For example, she
has been a member of the Criminal Justice Student Association,
Black Student Union, Black Studies Student Association, CSULB
debate team, law society and the 49er choir.
Ultimately Prewitt
said she wants to be a spokeswoman for a 30,000-plus student
body.
"I'm not afraid
to express my love for fellow students, I want to represent
the entire campus."
Amy Wiedemann
"A.S.I. can
be a closed organization and I might be a product of that,"
she said, "but as treasurer, I get to work with organizations
and take opportunities to get other people involved."
Wiedemann has been
planning to run all year. As a third-year President's Scholar,
she said she feels Cal State Long Beach has given her a great
deal, and now she wants to give back.
Wiedemann, the
current new student orientation commissioner, admits that
she does not have the experience to run for a top executive
office, such as president or vice president, but she said
she feels she is qualified to be treasurer. She did not want
to run for senator, because she wants a more hands-on experience.
"I don't like
what they do," she said of the senators' role. "They
sit around and talk a lot. It's too administrative."
She wants to cut
unnecessary spending. For example, the spring concert at The
Pyramid, which lost about $56,000 last year and has yet to
be finalized this year.
"I feel two
ways on that," she said. "One, we should scrap it
completely and not have any more. The money could definitely
be better spent.
"Two, don't
have one this year, save the money, and roll it over. Then
you've doubled your budget. Or, stick the money in an endowment
and in five or 10 years the concert will be completely paid
for."
She also wants
to ensure that A.S.I. money is distributed fairly.
"There is
more money than ever in our budget," she said, but still
"a lot of cultural groups and academic groups are under-funded."
She cited an example
of a student in the Associated Student Engineering Society
who felt slighted when he was denied funds to build a model
car for a contest, but a sports team was granted funds for
new boats.
She does not want
to end funding of the bigger student organizations, she said,
but does want to ensure that every organization, regardless
of size, is aware of the funding possibilities.
"I want to
give specific how-to's," she said, "because if you
don't fill it out correctly, you can be denied funding."
Sen.-at-large
Monica Little is
always on campus late at night.
"I'm here
late — until the library closes, most of the time," said
Sen.-at-large candidate Little, a senior black studies major.
"I notice the shuttle stops running and by the time the
library closes there are no escorts or shuttles or anything.
That is an issue I want to push. They act like no one is here
until 12 a.m."
Currently vice
president of Student Support Services council and member of
the Associated Students Inc. media board, Little said she
wants to change that if she gets elected.
"I think we've
had all the Beach Pride and that's fine and dandy," she
said. "But I think we should put the money more to the
escort problems. A lot of students are here late. I don't
get how there can't be anybody around."
Little also wants
to bring a cultural emphasis to the Senate, through lectures
and events.
"I know we
have some and it's great, but we should have more," she
said. "History for each culture, through music, art showcases,
lectures and slide shows."
Candidates Andria
Borba, Sean McLean, Tiffany Leneaus, Denard McKinley, James
Stasher, Jasmine Norman, Hemarun Som, Timetria Jones and Jorge
Torres were unavailable for comment. Candidate Jamaal Brown
was contacted, but the interview was delayed by scheduling
conflicts.
Chris Lew and
Marten Lewerth contributed to this story.
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