ASG presidential candidates take the spotlight

Sporting a cumulative three years of student leadership at MHCC, Associated Student Government (ASG) candidates Laura Aguon and Nathan Doering seek to implement a five-point platform next year.

Aguon, the presidential candidate, and Doering, the vice-president hopeful, are both currently in ASG, with Aguon serving as Director of State and Federal Affairs and Doering as Senator of Student Life. Aguon is also an Oregon Community College Student Association Board representative and she served as its communications director last year. Doering is currently president of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at MHCC, having been the president of Reynolds High School’s GSA.

The five-point platform for Aguon and Doering is: to reinvest in Public Safety on campus, to provide more opportunities for students to stay active and fit, look for alternative funding sources for the Veterans Services office on campus, to continue and grow lobbying efforts for students on state and national levels, and to initiate what they call “inclusive engagement” by providing resources for students, increasing awareness of campus activities and making multi-media communications from ASG more active.

“In light of recent events, it’s so crucial that it (campus safety) stays Number One and that we implement state-of-the-art procedures and plans that show students that it’s okay to be on campus at night,” said Aguon. She said she and Doering would like to add more security cameras and safety call centers on campus, modeled on those at Portland State University, and they also would like to increase Public Safety staffing by adding more patrol volunteers and work-study positions.

Doering said about veterans’ concerns on campus, “The veterans center (budget) is in threat of being slashed. We want to make sure that it is staying where it (Veterans Services) is, that it isn’t going anywhere but up.”

Aguon mentioned adding intramural sports. “I played sports in high school and I didn’t think I was good enough to go out for a college team, but I still want to play and I still want to be active and get out there and rub elbows with somebody and break a sweat.”

The inclusive engagement initiative plan for Aguon and Doering centers on their so-called Three Cs: culture, as in getting students engaged on campus through activities; commitment, by providing students resources that they require to advance through higher education; and community, by making MHCC more inclusive to the surrounding community by advertising campus events.

They also want to add gender-neutral and family locking bathrooms on campus.

As for increasing awareness of events on campus, Doering said, “We’ve had events that have fallen through because of the (lack) of advertising. We haven’t had the Senate, the EC (Executive Cabinet), SAB (Student Activities Board) and SOC (Student Organizations and Clubs) coming together and promoting each event together.”

Aguon and Doering have a history of working together, even before MHCC.

“Me and Nathan actually got to be teachers and student leaders together at outdoor school (during high school), and that’s where we met,” Aguon said. She said the two reconnected this year when she was registering students to vote.