Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News

Hi to anyone who is actually reading this. ;) Just a warning, my blogs are extremely informal, probably grammatically incorrect and usually straight to the point. This is because I spend most of my time on higher education bills, collaborating with university persons, and trying to stay academically healthy. Additionally, I would rather this be an opportunity where I am addressing students informally without having to worry about formalities.

So here is some updated news on events that have taken place:

Office of the President held an ASI day in the quad called "Meet the Hornets." Together, ASI and Athletics held this event. It was great! There was food (although not enough), athletes, and 49er girls!! They were a big HIT. ;)

I attended the monthly California State Student Association (CSSA) meeting from Sept. 14 through Sept. 17. CSSA is the sole statewide student voice for the CSU. Basically, the meetings are about students coming together to discuss issues on a state wide level. Anyhow, the big theme this month seemed to be executive compensation. There was a lot of debate at the table because our Student Trustee, Jennifer Reimer, announced that she would be voting in favor of the proposed executive compensation. She felt that having higher paid CSU executives would adversely increase our quality of education. If anyone has any questions for Trustee Reimer, I would be happy to forward her information to you. On Sunday at 12:30 p.m., CSSA Board of Directors held an emergency meeting after the regular meeting to take a stand on the issue. Sacramento State (along with 9 other campuses out of the 13 that were there) voted against the increase in compensation. There were many reasons for this and I would be happy to explain them to you if you e-mail me. In the end, unfortunately, the Board of Trustees did vote in favor of giving CSU Executives a pay increase, despite CSSA's opposition.

I recently spoke at press conference held by California Student Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. The conference was in regards to Senate Bill 832, the "College Textbook Affordability Act" which requires "publishers to disclose the price of their products in the marketing materials and on their website so that faculty can make informed decisions about the books they assign to students" (CALPIRG SB 832 fact sheet). The press conference was held at the State Capitol in room 2040. After official support of the bill was voted on by ASCSUS Board of Directors at Wednesday's meeting, I spoke on behalf of Sac State students in support of the bill. Senate Bill 832 is currently sitting on Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk waiting to be signed. Direct quote: "Gov. Schwarzenegger, please sign and keep students in mind!" Lol.

"Constitution Week" is currently in progress as you will see Voter Registration students out and around campus...This is a week where different departments/organizations collaborate in order to educate students on the constitution, governmental procedures and voter registration. Please contact our Assistant Director Erica in Office of Governmental Affairs at (916) 278-3924 if you would like to get involved. Please take the time to register to vote; it's your right and it's your voice.

Finally, on Wednesday Sept. 19, Associated Students Board of Directors voted on what we thought very important internal and external issues that have a direct effect on students. These issues included: ASI's Strategic Plan for 2007- 2008, recommendations for ASI Board Members and taking a stand on SB 832 which is related to college textbook affordability. Although we advertise all our board meetings online and post them in the union we rarely have students show to our weekly meetings. This is unfortunate because we as student representatives want to hear feedback from our peers in order to better serve our student members.

Thank you for your time; all thoughtful, intellectual and constructive feedback is welcome. And no, "bull" does not count but is definitely considered! ;P

Christina Romero can be reached at asipresident@csus.edu

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