A.S.I.
seeking students to fill vacant positions
Jon
Cook/Daily Forty-Niner
More
than 20 positions at the Associated Students
Inc. will open at the end of this semester,
including Guido Piotti's position as A.S.I.
vice president.
By
Gerry Wachovsky
Daily Forty-Niner
It
is time once again for Associated Students,
Inc. to hold its annual elections, where
all positions become open and available
for students wishing to have a direct say
in the legislative process.
The positions, which include three executive
offices — president, vice president,
and treasurer, 20 senators — two from
each college and six at-large, and board
of director jobs for various departments,
are open to any student who meets certain
GPA and minimum class unit requirements,
and fills out an application in USU-311.
The filing period to apply for a student
government position lasts from Feb. 17 to
Feb. 26, and the general election is held
toward the end of the semester.
The
competition for prospective office-holders
is already heating up, however, as several
incumbents plan to run for new positions.
One such incumbent is Erik Jolliff, senator
at-large for Greek affairs, who will be
running for office of vice president of
A.S.I., which is currently held by Guido
Piotti. The vice president of A.S.I., in
addition to all the prescribed duties, is
also the acting chairman or
woman of the Senate, but this is a job Jolliff
said he is confident he can handle.
“[Serving
on] the Senate is one of the best positions
I’ve had on campus so far, and being
the chair[man] would be very rewarding,”
Jolliff said. “I enjoyed helping the
Greeks out and making sure that their concerns
were represented,” Jolliff continued,
noting that his current position has allowed
him to be “a representative of every
student and it gave me a chance to interact
with them.”
Mike
Johnson, current A.S.I. treasurer, will
also be making a bid for a new office, this
time A.S.I. president.
“I
feel it is my duty and obligation to continue
to use my experience and motivate my peers
to protect students,” Johnson said,
detailing why he wants to be president of
A.S.I. “Working with students is very
rewarding,” Johnson continued, noting,
“I have the best intentions for the
student body and understand what students
want and need.”
It
is a preconceived notion among many people
that students in school government positions
have no real power and do not accomplish
anything, but Johnson said he believes this
to be completely false.
“The
power that a student leader can achieve
is profound,” Johnson said, “and
CSULB is a flagship university of the largest
public school system in the world, and with
this a well intentioned student with passion
and heart can serve as a catalyst for positive
educational and social change.”
Johnson,
who feels that it is crucial for the students
to represent themselves, said, “There
are many issues that directly affect all
students, and it is important to keep in
mind that the politicians, administration,
faculty, corporations and others may not
always have the students’ best interest
in mind.”
A.S.I.
Vice President Guido Piotti is one student
that will not be running for re-election.
Piotti, who will be applying to law school
in the fall and taking the LSAT, said that
he cherishes “[being vice president]
every day, but I wouldn’t be able
to give the time necessary to the position
of president if I ran [and won]. If I went
ahead and ran anyway knowing that I didn’t
have time,” Piotti continued, “I
wouldn’t be doing it for the right
reasons, and that is not fair to the students
who elect their officials.”
Piotti,
along with Johnson, said he believes it
to be imperative for students to be involved
in school elections.
“I
can’t stress enough to students reading
this that either you should try and [run
for office] if it is something you want
to do, or you should vote for a candidate
which you honestly and deep down inside
believe will earn every penny and perk that
he is given,” Piotti said.
Piotti
said he feels that an important thing to
consider about his particular position is
that it serves as “the glue for the
organization” because he gets to work
with so many different people and is not
limited to only one department. Also, since
he will be leaving student government, Piotti
noted that he and A.S.I. President Danny
Vivian are considering making public endorsements
of certain candidates that they feel “will
steer the ship in the right direction for
future years.”
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