Associated Students, Inc. is your student government. Their main purpose is to contribute to the welfare of the Sacramento State students.

ASI is governed by a board of directors made up of students, which meets twice a month to make policy decisions for the corporation. Their officers are elected in the spring semester of each academic school year.

Why am I telling you this? Because you probably didn’t know.Unless you have just happened to walk into one of their bi-monthly meetings held on the third floor of the University Union, you probably have no idea how the $107 you give to ASI is spent.Seven million of your dollars, tucked away on the third floor of the Union, are being used by a board of directors you have never heard of.

Other than helping fund programs such as the athletic department, ASI serves as the students’ voice to President Donald Gerth‘s administration.

But wait, they must not be doing so good of a job in that area, considering that ASI president Artemio Pimentel is the only ASI board member to spend any real time speaking with Gerth face-to-face.

Then again, it must be tough to stay in touch with administration, considering their offices are located on the opposite side of campus in Sacramento Hall.

My problem with ASI does not evolve around where they spend their money, or how much they spend, but rather the fact that nobody knows about it.

They could give $6, 999,999 to the Sacramento State Midget Oil Wrestling Club while reserving the final dollar toward academic achievement, and we would probably never know.

So if ASI is not going to take the initiative to go out to reach the students, I guess it is up to the students to go out and see what ASI is all about. And with elections coming up on April 23 and 24, this is the perfect time to make your opinions count.

Make your vote count for ASI president. Hey, you can even pencil in your own name if you feel you’re up to the challenge. Make ASI a true student government, where all students get a say in how their money is spent. Unless, of course, you are OK with midget oil wrestling.

Disagree? Contact “Slick Nick” at [email protected].

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