Lack
of communication stops Beach pride
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
Beach
Pride Day, sponsored by the Associated Students
Inc. has found itself stuck in the mud.
The program, a 2001-2002 government initiative,
has been overshadowed by other objectives
the A.S.I. has set to accomplish this year.
“With so much stuff going on it is very
easy for a project to fall through the cracks,”
said Raul Alcala, adviser for the Beach
Pride Center.
According to Alcala, the delay in organization
of a Beach Pride Day is owed in some part
to the maternity leave of Brigette Wong,
another Beach Pride Center adviser.
“I’m not the lead on that project [Beach
Pride Day],” said Alcala. “Brigette would
know more about it, but she is out on maternity
leave.”
Alcala later confirmed that Wong had no
knowledge of the program.
“There has been a communications breakdown,”
Alcala said. “Somehow the information did
not get from the A.S.I. to the Beach Pride
Center.”
According to Alcala, the Beach Pride Day
program was an initiative from the previous
A.S.I. government body. With the transition
to the new government, many of the initiatives
set in motion by the old elected officials
have been neglected by the incoming officials
as they get accommodated to their positions.
However, at a Senate meeting held Sept.
18 Senate Chair and A.S.I. Vice President
Sharouk Sheik stressed to the Senate that
they must achieve the initiatives left to
them by the previous government. Beach Pride
Day was one of the objectives mentioned
in his comments.
According to Sheik the focus on old initiatives
has kept the A.S.I. from concentrating on
the new goals they have set for their term.
“We need to increase A.S.I. involvement,
A.S.I. awareness and overall Beach pride,”
Sheik said at the meeting.
The project was designed to declare Wednesday
of every week during the school year Beach
Pride Day.
The program would progress the activities
of the year-old Beach Patrol by incorporating
the use of the Beach Patrol sticker with
the incentive of discounts at on- and off-campus
venues.
The Beach Pride Day program was supposed
to incorporate discounts from five on-campus
and 10 off-campus vendors in hopes of generating
more school spirit and a higher volume of
beach pride.
In defense of the Beach Pride Center and
the A.S.I., Alcala said the program is something
they can get off the ground rather quickly.
“The hard part is getting the discounts,”
Alcala said. “The first few are difficult,
but once you get those, the process gets
easier. We are developing other programs
to enhance beach pride such as the Beach
Patrol and Sport n’ Spirit.”
The Beach Patrol was erected last year to
reward students for participating in campus
activities and attending campus-sporting
events. Sport n’ Spirit includes events
like campus pep rally, encouraging students
to go to games, taking a bus of CSULB students
to the away games, and the biggest function
the committee helps put on is homecoming
in the spring semester.
“We just want to reward students for being
a fan,” said former A.S.I. President Robert
Garcia.
Students however, have mixed feelings about
the lack of organization of a Beach Pride
Day and the delay of other Beach Pride Center
activities.
When told about the additional fee of $44
in her tuition for A.S.I and Beach Pride-related
activities, international student Mahtab
Ghafoori was un-phased.
“Being an international student I already
pay some $4,000 to $5,000 a semester,” Ghafoori
said. “The additional $44 doesn’t affect
me the way it would a resident student.
If it helps the campus and the students
so be it.”
Resident student Kim Jacobs felt more strongly
about the Beach Pride program and the fee.
“If they’re not doing anything with the
money I want it back,” said Jacobs half
jokingly. “Beach Pride Day seems like a
really good idea and they need to do it.
I think it could be a great thing for the
students and the campus.”
According to the A.S.I. Beach Pride Day
and the Beach Patrol, rewards were to be
organized and in progress beginning fall
2002. Three Beach Pride Wednesdays into
the fall term and students have yet to be
informed of the event or rewarded by it.
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