Want to know about the other candidates? Read about Diana Inzunza’s approach to uniting commuter students and the Downtown campus and Joseph Grossman’s plan to fight back against rising tuition.
If elected, journalism sophomore and now two-time presidential candidate Andres Cano said he would focus on student-fee reduction, better communication between ASASUD and the students and strengthening ASASUD’s involvement in the downtown Phoenix community.
With much of the rhetoric during the campaign involving the rising cost of tuition, Cano decided to focus his attention on reducing another aspect of ASU’s overall cost of attendancel.
Tuition is a set amount and in difficult economic times, as Arizona is in now, it is inevitable for tuition to rise, Cano said.
However, student fees, which are added on top of tuition, are where Cano said ASASUD could reduce Downtown students’ cost of attendance. Also, with cuts being handed down by the state legislature as early as the end of the week, getting ASU to practice fiscal responsibility is important.
Cutting duplicate programs and “getting the most bang for our buck,” as well as reducing student fees that Cano said “don’t make sense,” are some ways Cano suggested to reduce the cost of attendance.
“We can do this as a student government, and if we’re serious about tackling those issues that are tacked on, I think we’re going to do a fantastic job next year,” Cano said. “That’s what we’re focused on, that’s why we’re running.”
Cano said he is also frustrated by the disconnect between ASASUD and the Downtown students.
Specifically, Cano said he wants students to know where their money is going, which they are currently unable to do. Cano also said better advertisement to students for events and what is happening in ASASUD is crucial.
“I like the fact that he wants transparency and for college to be accessible to all financially,” presidential candidate and nutrition freshman Diana Inzunza said. “But, I think what makes my platform different is I’m staying on a very realistic level.”
However, Cano also said that having substantial goals is what sets his campaign apart from Inzunza’s and criminal justice sophomore Joseph Grossman’s respective campaigns.
Some of these goals include working with ASU and Aramark to get more restaurants around the Downtown campus using Maroon & Gold Dollar options and financial-aid workshops.
“Andres and I want to bridge the gap (between ASASUD and students) that has formed over the last year,” said Cano’s running mate and journalism freshman Brittany Morris. “We want to facilitate to (students’) needs on a smaller level.”
Cano also ran for president last year, but was disqualified less than 30 minutes before the polls closed because of too many campaign violations.
“We’re in a different time and era. I’m not running the same campaign,” Cano said. “This is a completely different time and we have different issues we have to work with.”
At time of publication, no violations to Cano’s campaign or the other campaigns have been reported.
The last major issue Cano is working on is getting ASASUD involved with the downtown Phoenix community.
“ASASUD has to play a role in transforming this campus … and what we’ve consistently seen is ASASUD fail to do its job of representing students,” Cano said. “There is still work that has to be done.”
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
