Associated Students Inc.’s (ASI) Cookie for Comments campaign is a weekly opportunity for students to voice their concerns about student government in return for a cookie. This week is the last event of the quarter and will happen in front of Campus Market Thursday at 11 a.m. More events are scheduled for Spring.
A combination of the University Union Advising Board (UUAB), ASI Board of Directors and the ASI president’s Executive Cabinet, the Cookie Campaign is an attempt both to reach students better and to improve campus with student input.
Mechanical engineering senior Kaitlin Spak, engineering representative on the ASI Board of Directors, explained.
“The idea here is that we have cookies, and people should eat them,” she said. “And in exchange for a cookie students can tell us something they like or don’t like about ASI.”
Civil engineering senior Tanner Bennett, who is also on the Board of Directors, was helping at the event.
“It’s a campaign to get in touch with what peoples’ concerns are,” he said.
The majority of the comments garnered over the last few weeks have been about registration and class availability, according to ASI Elections Committee Chair Kelsey Rice.
Some students, however, had different concerns.
City and regional planning junior Charlotte Bell, for instance, said she missed UU Hour, which has been put on hold because of construction this year.
Mechanical engineering student Brian Croshal said he thought the cookie event provided a good way for students to have accessible avenue for feedback.
“I think it’s important for ASI, which is supposedly for the people, to have the opinion of the people,” he said.
He added that he thought a common student concern might be ASI spending.
“We’re spending money on ASI, but there are events that many students never go to,” he said.
Another common comment they received, according to Rice, was many Cal Poly students don’t know much about student government, what they do, or that their meetings are public.
“They think we could improve awareness,” Rice said.
Becoming more visible to students is another of the cookie campaign’s chief goals, especially with the ASI elections coming up. Industrial technology junior Solomon Reda was helping at last week’s event.
“I was personally asking if they’d heard of elections, and depending on their reaction I’d ask them if they’re thinking of running,” he said.
Reda said, with the budget crisis, it’s even more important than ever for students to get involved.
“Issues are affecting students greatly, more than they have in years. Especially financially,” he said.
The event was developed as part of the ongoing campaign for awareness, said ASI Administrative Assistant Tracy Watson.
“It kind of fluctuates each year,” she said. “It’s an outreach campaign, but they tend to call it something different each time.”
This is the first year ASI has used the Cookies for Comments idea.
Croshall said he thought it was a good idea.
“Cookie incentives are always good for college students,” he said.