Spring quarter has just begun and it’s yet again that time of the year; time for Bellevue College’s ASG elections. With responsibilities varying from being the voice of the students to overall trying their best to make the campus a better place to be, ASG is an important part of the environment at BC.
With elections closing on April 5, campaigning for positions beginning on April 10, voting starting on the 25 and ending on May 3, and last but not least, finding out the elected winners on May 6 BC will welcome new faces to ASG. There are 10 positions total available in ASG, with four positions being a little bit harder to obtain because they require more prerequisites. These positions are Chief Justice, President, and the two vice presidents.
These positions require qualifications such as more experience and seniority. Like many positions at BC, everyone who is a part of ASG is actually applying for a job. ASG members are employed at 16 and19 hours a week at $12 an hour, no matter what position you hold.An example of a past project that ASG worked on was allowing students to park for free on campus during breaks. More times than one it has been reported that students will come onto campus to buy books, find locations of their classes, or just explore the campus in general and come back to the bright orange ticket that every student despises.
As a result of this, ASG fought very hard to make it so students can park for free during break without worrying about being ticketed and at the end of winter quarter, BC President David Rule announced it as an official change. Additionally, ASG has brought extended library times to the students, making it so the Tutoring Academic Success Center is open until 10 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.Taking it outside of the BC campus, the members of ASG have had chances to talk to big names in politics and power in Washington such as Senator Patty Murray. When meeting with members such as Murray, ASG spoke about lowering tuition and making it easier to receive financial aid for those students who are just on the brink of being able to acquire the help that they need.
On top of having their own responsibilities, ASG aids other BC clubs in whatever way they can. Each year ASG is given $150,000 to budget and disperse over the year to help clubs or students at BC put on events for the school. Members of ASG oversee the budgeting for these projects and decide if giving the money to these events will benefit the school and individuals at BC.
Annually, ASG has plenty of events of their own on their hands. They host the Clothes Swap, Food and Toy drive, events during Martin Luther King, Jr. week, sit on various committees throughout BC and figure out space and times for clubs that need places to meet or host an event. With new faces and new names rapidly approaching ASG, make sure to keep an eye on the winners of every position here at BC, which will be announced on May 6.
