Spring Break
Student gov members run on transparency
Cece Wildeman
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: News
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As candidates for the highest offices in student government, the two said the main issue their campaign is focused on is increasing the student voice and student activism by getting students involved in decision making.
Quintana said the university has been making big decisions, such as student fee increases, without consulting the students and that they will work to change the issue if elected in April.
"These decisions should not be made entirely by the administration," Jaimes said. " It should be the students, first hand."
Quintana said it is a matter of going out and finding students who feel strongly about issues facing the university and have the time and knowledge to get involved with the proper boards and councils in order to get decisions made.
One of the ways they hope to do this is by forming a committee to search for politically affected students around campus and mobilizing them to make their voice heard.
The two said that they will work to get all students involved in the university decision-making process, not only students involved with the Associated Students of CSU.
"This will help us with our transparency," Quintana said. "Letting students in on the decision making so they can see what we do." Along with increasing student activism, Quintana and Jaimes want to propose a three-year cap on student fees, in order to keep fee increases from rising over 10 percent.
"Tuition is already high enough and the cost of living is rising, but student fees is somewhere that we really have the ability to get our voices heard," Jaimes said. Quintana and Jaimes have been involved with ASCSU and other student organizations.
Quintana has been involved with ASCSU for about a year and a half, working on student funding as well as volunteering with the 2007 campaigns. He was also president of the Interfraternity Council and served in various positions for his fraternity.
Jaimes has served with the ASCSU for three years, with positions as the assistant director of Diversity and Outreach, chair of the Diversity Advocacy Council and vice chair of the Student Fee Review Board. He also sits on the Lory Student Center Governing Board and was involved with El Centro and the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
Senior Reporter Cece Wildeman can be reached at news@collegian.com.
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