Patrick TrautfieldEditor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series highlighting the candidates for ASI president. Brandon Souza will be profiled tomorrow followed by Matthew Taylor on Thursday
Civil engineering junior Arvand Sabetian wants to know what he can do for you if he is elected next year’s Associated Students Inc. president.
Sabetian is running on a platform that he believes would best represent students at Cal Poly. He feels that students fail to recognize the importance of the position of ASI president, and he hopes to educate them on how the position works.
“It’s a representative position, sort of like the student’s lawyer,” Sabetian said. “It’s supposed to represent a diverse array of students.”
Sabetian wanted students to know that the ASI president has more connections to the city of San Luis Obispo than other parts of student government, but that the position is meaningless without the support of the student population.
“If you vote for me, my voice could be your voice,” Sabetian said.
Sabetian said that he had a track record of having the “most impact on campus.” In fact, he felt that he could be highly effective in terms of getting students the necessary classes so they could graduate on time.
“I can talk with President Baker and the deans in regards to campus problems,” Sabetian said.
If elected, Sabetian said that he would try to work on issues, such as parking, textbooks and other pressing student issues.
Sabetian believed that like all the other candidates, he has the necessary experience to be qualified as the next ASI president. He has served on the ASI Board of Directors and has been involved with the Interfraternity Council, Poly Escapes and Delta Sigma Phi.
“I want to bring different types of students with varied opinions together,” Sabetian said.
He said that he had leadership training to do the job effectively.
“It doesn’t matter where the next ASI president comes from,” he said. “What matters is how that person will represent you in sticky situations.”
As part of his campaign platform, Sabetian wants to work with the Epicenter to ensure that all clubs can plan events faster and not mess with so much red tape. He also focused on the issue of on-campus activities.
For his campaign, his first stop is with campus clubs.
“Groups are votes,” Sabetian said. “I also want to see what their issues are.”
He has marketed himself to the freshmen, especially those who lived in the dorms, because he felt they were largely unrepresented in regards to campus issues.
As a Canadian who established his own Web hosting/design company, Arvix LLC., Sabetian thought that solutions to current student problems required immediate action instead of taking a long time to research the issue itself.
“There is no need for research analysis,” he said. “Its use depends on the purpose. For example, I have my ideas to improve the Cal Poly Foundation.”
Sabetian said that his experience will help him in his campaign, but ASI president is not a position that should be taken lightly.
“The next ASI president has to unite the students,” he said. “Whether you vote or not, the ASI president is the voice of 18,000 students.