The Associated Students Inc. elections are coming up soon but I’m not exactly excited. First off let me say that I think student government is extremely important for a variety of reasons. I think we need good representation with the administration and we should be in control of much of how our school is run, because after all Cal Poly is a public school and it serves us. I think there is much room for improvement at Cal Poly and student government is a great place for us to turn our goals into reality.
However, I’m extremely disappointed in the situation regarding the ASI president’s seat. I wish there were more than two candidates to start with, and I wish we didn’t end up with only one “choice” for president. It’s not even really an election anymore for that seat, which I think is unfortunate. I’m surprised more students didn’t run for the position, especially with all of our business and political science majors.
I’d like to make a few suggestions to the next ASI president; first, the sky is the limit and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. I know there are certain rules and regulations about what an ASI president can and cannot do, but if you have a goal that you think will benefit Cal Poly as a whole, then please don’t let the rules hold you back. While I recognize certain limitations on the ASI president’s seat, you can always help organize rallies for good causes. The administration needs to be held accountable to the students, and we have a duty to see to it that we are treated properly. I’m tired of people rolling over at the sight of a little red tape when much of it needs to be cut through.
We need to give our class registration process a good, hard look. It’s not terrible in my opinion, but it’s far from perfect. I think this should be of utmost importance to any ASI president, as registration seems like a battle every quarter for many students and is a vital part of our educations. I’ve heard some great ideas from my peers on how things could be improved and I know great ideas aren’t hard to come by when it comes to registration. This is a perfect example of something an ASI president might not explicitly have any control over, but I’m pretty sure if a petition was drafted with recommendations for how to modify the registration process and a decent portion of the student population signed it, that we stand a good chance of improving class registration.
Another topic I think could use some improvement is transportation. I walk to class which I think is the easiest way to get to campus (if you’re fortunate to live close enough where walking is a practical), but for all the people who drive or bike I think there is a great deal of room for improvement. (No, I’m not forgetting all the students who take the bus, but I think you guys have it relatively easy, at least from the perspective of what Cal Poly can do to improve the bus system.) I regularly walk by Campus Market and see a huge line of cars waiting to enter or exit the upper parking lots. The gridlock is pretty bad. As much as I hate traffic lights, I wonder how far two signals lights (one at Highland and University Drive and another at Highland Drive and California Boulevard) might go in substantially reducing the amount of time it takes to get from Santa Rosa to the parking lots, while minimally impacting pedestrians. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be when there’s a long line of cars, all funneling through two stop signs, and with pedestrians regularly crossing so that the times when the cars can actually proceed through the intersections is minimal.
As far as biking goes, we purport to be a sustainable and biking-friendly campus, but in my opinion we really aren’t. I was shocked when the multi-million dollar housing project that is Poly Canyon was built and yet there was no bike lane to the complex. I’d like to see a bike lane established around Poly View Drive. It amazes me that service vehicles regularly drive on Poly View (despite the prohibition) between ten minutes before until ten minutes after the hour and yet bikes are supposed to be walked all the time. A bike lane would allow bikers to get to where they’re going faster (and without weaving in and out of groups of pedestrians or fearing a ticket) while minimally impacting pedestrians. I think Via Carta is a great example of how bikes and pedestrians can coexist just fine.
I’ve merely touched the surface of the topics of transportation and registration that I think concern a great deal of students. There are certainly many more topics that are of importance to the student population and certainly many suggestions on how to improve our school. I hope that a free speech hour is implemented, and I hope that it’s implemented so that the student government will hear from students and act on what they’re hearing, rather than just being an empty program that gives a false appearance of improvement.