A journalism freshman was appointed Friday as Freshman Senator for the ASASUD Senate, filling the last senate seat available to the freshman student body.
The ASASUD Senate appointed Vivian Padilla, a freshman commuter student, at their bi-weekly meeting after Padilla beat out eight other applicants for the position.
Christian Vasquez, ASASUD President, interviewed each candidate for the position but said he felt Padilla was the most qualified.
At the meeting, Vasquez said he liked the fact that she was willing to put in the effort to interact with her peers even though she does not live on campus.
ASASUD Vice President Jessica Abercrombie said she agreed that Padilla was the best candidate for the position.
“The one element lacking for each applicant during the interviews was that they didn’t quite address how they would reach out to their constituents–those who live on campus and those who live off campus,” Abercrombie said. “With that, Vivian had a plan, which is something that really stuck out to me.”
Padilla said her plan is to effectively communicate with all students on the Downtown campus and actively get to know as many as she can. Padilla said she understands the disconnect some commuter students feel since they do not live in the dorms, so her goal is to communicate everything to every student.
“A lot of commuter students are more than willing to participate in events, but they just don’t know everything that is going on,” she said. “So it’s just a matter of getting them involved and making them feel included.”
Sen. Michelle Lauer, of the Walter Cronkite School, said she was pleased Padilla was appointed.
“She seemed like a very eligible candidate, and I hope she really tries to reach out to the freshman class and represents them every time we vote,” Lauer said.
Other matters addressed at the meeting included funding requests from student organizations.
The student organizations requesting money were the Student Nutrition Council, Residential Hall Association, MECHa, Downtown Dance Team, Exercise and Wellness Organization, and National Residence Hall Honorary.
All funding requests were approved as is, except for the Student Nutrition Council’s request for money to have 12 students attend a conference in Boston.
Many senators had an issue with the amount of money SNC requested. They said it was too much money to provide.
At the meeting Sen. Dustin Volz of Barrett, the Honors College, expressed concerns about the amount the organization requested.
“Our job is to use the money the most appropriate way that will enhance the student life and the academic pursuits of the downtown students,” Volz said. “We need to take into account we have 13,000 students on this campus and this is for either six or 12 or four, and it’s still a very high amount per student.”
Some senators suggested ways that SNC could cut some trip costs by putting more students in a room and by making cost-efficient food choices while at the conference.
After some discussion, the money SNC originally requested was amended to a lower amount. The senate eventually voted and granted the funding of the amended amount to SNC for the conference.
Contact the reporter at jehoagla@asu.edu
