The Associated Student Union met in LA-204 at 3 p.m. on Aug. 19 and 26 to discuss upcoming campus events, vacancies and the organizations’ designed purpose with a former ASU president as a guest speaker. 

The first meeting of the fall 2015 semester consisted of six returning ASU members, two petitioning senators, ASU Director Luanna Waters and Student Life Coordinator Erika Greene.

Dean of Student Services Vicki Ferguson and Interim President Mojdeh Mehdizadeh also attended the meeting to swear in student representatives at the end of the meeting and both sat near the rear of the sparsely filled classroom.

By the second meeting, however, the ASU had two more petitioning senators when computer science major Francis Sansong and Middle College High School student Addy Brien asked for the required paperwork.

During the first meeting, ASU President Nakari Syon proposed his idea of having the ASU use this semester to create a campuswide event calendar in hopes of having a better informed student body.

Syon said he planned to email every department and ask about any important event, meeting or program within the department and then have officers compile that information onto a single platform.

These would be other events apart from ASU sponsored Constitution Day on September 16, Transfer Day set for Oct. 6 and Fall Festival on Oct. 27 and 28, or its weekly meetings held in LA-204 at 2:30 p.m.; or community events related to the campus, like the Get Ready for College Conference at the Richmond Civic Center on Sept. 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At last week’s meeting, Greene said Club Rush, which was going to be combined with Constitution Day, is postponed until funds are allocated from the ASU’s budget for jumpers, food and games.

But while Waters, Mojdeh and Greene said Syon’s plan to spread information about events would benefit CCC students, they advised against the campuswide calendar because that is the job of CCC’s webmaster, fine and media arts department Chairperson Ellen Seidler, to transfer information sent from departments onto the college website’s calendar.

They promptly introduced the guest speaker, who was active within the ASU for three years. 

“Just remember you don’t work for them,” former ASU president Rodney C. Wilson said as he whipped a coy grin behind him and then tracked his head back toward the small group ASU officers.

Wilson then said to beware of tangling your responsibilities as an ASU officer with those of faculty, staff or administrators because not only would that impede the organization’s purpose, but there is no need to add on needless work.

“Understand that you are an independent body here to advocate for students,” Wilson said. “So before every decision you make as a board you should ask yourselves, is what we are doing the best for students or just a ruse to maintain a friendly relationship with (administrators) that we should be respecting?”

He said he understands the organization is hard to manage with so few people, especially while CCC is undergoing the construction of a new Campus Center, but it is possible if you advertise effectively.

“Not much has changed since I was ASU president,” he said.