The Sacramento State Associated Students, Inc. Board of Directors outlined several main goals for the student government in the coming year during its recent board retreat. While these goals have not yet been finalized, ASI President Miguel Cervantes and Executive Vice President Roberto Torres said the ASI’s strategic plan would be unveiled soon. Cervantes and Torres shared some of their expectations and several proposals for the upcoming semester. Among these are increasing campus pride, celebrating diversity, connecting with students and providing more services. The board was particularly passionate about increasing campus pride. Among Cervantes’ plans for enhancing campus pride is a university sweater exchange program. Under this proposal, students who possess apparel from other colleges and universities would have the opportunity to exchange that clothing for Sac State sweaters, T-shirts, and other items. “This would promote Sac State by having this free exchange where students can bring in their old sweaters and claim Sac State by wearing our own apparel,” Cervantes said. ASI will host a carnival on Sept. 4, as part of Hornet Welcome Week during the first week of the semester. The carnival will serve as an initial introduction to the campus and will increase awareness of the student government, Cervantes said. He said another priority in ASI’s plans was celebrating diversity, as Sacramento is a diverse community and the ASI believes students enjoy interacting with students from other parts of the world.

Both Cervantes and Torres agreed that finding out student needs was an important factor discussed during the retreat. As students themselves, they have ideas as to what students would want. As ASI directors, they look more toward what their fellow students need in order to provide them with the best services. “We’re talking about going to the students,” Cervantes said. “Finding out what they need, and then looking at ways for us to really be able to provide them those additional services.” He said providing enhanced services to students requires funding and partnerships with other groups on and off campus, such as the University Union and the Alliance for the CSU, to ensure the most valuable services can be brought to campus. Torres added that the importance of collaborating with the campus community, especially during a time when the state budget is stalled in the Legislature. He said making calls to the state government and meeting with lawmakers one-on-one to ensure funding for the California State University system would be beneficial to the student community. Students are not the only group affected by the state budget. Faculty, staff, and the campus as a whole depend on state money to ensure less crowded classrooms and a better university experience. Despite the continuing budget problems, Torres hopes the collaboration with the campus community can continue to ensure students, faculty and staff are protected, and that students are better able to succeed in school. “Ultimately, our students-the working class of California-are getting impacted with higher student fees,” Torres said. “They are getting impacted by less scholarship money available to them, and it’s affecting our classroom experience as we’ve seen with more crowded classrooms, and less class availability.” ASI also filled three vacant director positions during their first meeting of the semester on Aug. 7. The appointees to ASI’s board of directors were Sarah Couch, Director of Undeclared Students; Hitesh Dewan, Director of Engineering and Computer Sciences; and Andres Perez, Director of Arts and Letters. Their appointments came three months after the Sac State 2008 elections during which these positions were left uncontested and unfilled. The new board members also participated in the board retreat, but did not return requests for comment. In discussing board vacancies, Cervantes said the process began immediately after last Spring’s ASI election when the three posts were left open. Interested students applied through ASI’s website for the open director positions and staff positions within the student government. After investigating candidates’ school records and applications, Cervantes made recommendations to the board on who should fill the vacancies.

Ben Schilter can be reached at [email protected]