ASG Prez debates: first-hand look at candidates

Safety, tuition, and communication took center stage as candidates for the positions of MHCC Associated Student Government (ASG) president and vice president took part in debates earlier this week.

Seth Albert and Lindsay Patiño are running on a ticket with the slogan “Strength in Unity.” Albert’s leadership experience comes from his time as the Student Activities Board wellness programs coordinator this school year, and serving as the ASG senator for health, physical education and athletics in 2013-14. Patiño has experience founding Mt. Hood’s chapter of the American Association of University Women and as a Portland Rose Festival Ambassador (Princess) while at Madison High School.

They will compete with Jhoselyn Hernandez and Jewel Denney, also campaigning for president and vice president. Hernandez has been the ASG community affairs director this year. She has worked closely with Denney, currently the ASG senator of legislation.

“A little bit of our platform: Our main goals are safety and connecting diversity and culture around campus,” Hernandez said at the presidential debate on Tuesday. “Safety is tackled head on. Jewel was actually a personal victim of getting her car broken into.”

Denney said the incident inspired her to find solutions. “I want to work with Public Safety and see if we can get more security cameras because where my stuff was stolen is in the back parking lot and they don’t have any cameras out there,” she said.

Last year, Albert said that he had tried to work with safety staff, while serving on the MHCC facilities council, to install cameras in the Aquatic Center parking lot and around campus.

Hernandez and Denney also want to put first aid kits around campus. “Just ensuring if someone falls down, if someone gets hurt, they have the necessary things they need to be able to get better,” said Hernandez.

As to whether or not supplies would be taken from the kits by people who don’t need them, Albert suggested implementing the idea on a trial basis. “Maybe see how those went, keep an eye on them and see if students are actually using them before we really expand those and put those out,” he said.

The issue of a proposed $3.50 per-credit hour tuition increase for next school year was brought up, and all candidates agreed that any raise in tuition would be a detriment to student education and success.

“I think that we have a lot of debt and that we have a lot of students who find it very intimidating,’ said Patiño. “I would like to know why that’s happening, I want to know if it’s going to be beneficial to the students.”

Denney shared her own difficulties she said she goes through paying for school.

“I am working pretty much two jobs here just to pay for my current tuition, on top of getting scholarships, too, and I’m struggling,” she said. She offered two alternatives to a tuition increase: One is to increase recruitment so that Mt. Hood’s enrollment can stay level or increase. The other is to work with the board of education to put a bond to a vote by the community, she said.

For his part, Albert said that he has already been championing the cause.

“I went down to Salem a couple of weeks ago, and advocated (at the Oregon Legislature) for freezing tuition and making sure tuition didn’t get [any] higher from the state cutting our funding,” he said.

As part of the tuition fight, Hernandez also said she would work towards tuition equity for students who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally, often called “Dreamers.” These students are protected under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act of 2013, which provides Dreamers pathways to citizenship and protection from deportation.

Hernandez said that students in that situation now have only three years to obtain a degree. After that, Dreamers must pay out-of-state tuition, which adds to the burden of education costs.

“A lot of people don’t know (about the DACA rule). I didn’t know until this year and this is my second year in college,” said Hernandez. “I’m an undocumented person, and I know the struggles.”

In terms of communicating information such as that to DACA students, improved marketing of club and athletic events on campus, and getting the word out about financial assistance, both tickets emphasized communication.

In order to promote unity on campus, Albert wants to bring campus organizations together to increase awareness on campus.

“I want to see all the student leadership on campus under one open line of communication,” he said. “Programs like ASG, clubs, co-curricular and athletics should be connected somehow, because we are all meant to benefit the students.”

Albert says he would “compile all of the things that ASG has done that week and then the president would send out an email on Friday so that everybody can know what each branch is doing,” and then expand that practice to clubs and leadership organizations.

His plan came out of an experience he had organizing an event for the Ultimate Frisbee Club earlier this year. He didn’t find out until it was too late that multiple events conflicted with each other and impacted the turnout.

Many other topics were covered at the debate, such as the status of the Oohlala app introduced to students last fall; current ASG President Alma Pacheco’s plan to bring a medical van on campus; the students’ use of WiFi and lack of Internet access; the cost of food in the cafeterias on campus, and much more.

Student voting for the ASG positions starts at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and polls close at 11:59 p.m. Friday. Ballots may be cast in the Student Union, or online at mhcc.edu/vote.

Voting is open May 4 – 8. Results announced May 11.