The Daily Forty-Niner will be featuring profiles of ASI presidential candidates Christopher Chavez (Monday), Avis Atkins (Tuesday), Ricardo Linarez (Wednesday) and Raul Preciado (Thursday). The Daily Forty-Niner will also publish an ASI election guide on Monday, April 13.
Christopher Chavez
As the current Associated Students Inc. vice president at Cal State Long Beach, Christopher Chavez said he has the experience to serve as the 2009-2010 ASI president.
Chavez, who has been involved in politics since his freshman year at CSULB, said he believes he has the vision and experience to serve the student body as ASI president because of his service on the Academic Senate, as a member of the Political Science Student Association and as a disc jockey for the K-Beach radio station on campus.
“There’s a difference between complaining about something and doing something about it,” Chavez said.
Chavez said he has already been a part of change at CSULB and said he would continue these actions if elected.
Last December, Chavez helped organize rallies against the California State University budget cuts.
“I helped organize those rallies in which we were able to bring three constituencies — which included administration, faculty and the students — to really speak up on these budget cuts,” Chavez said.
Chavez said his involvement in the policy revisions of the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) and his desire to implement “more student-friendly policies,” at the university “will heavily invest in making sure that whatever the Academic Senate produces — that it’s going to make sure [it is] taking into account our students.”
The campus harbors many non-native English speaking students and Chavez hopes to accommodate those students with certain needs while also making sure the school has a rigorous GWAR policy.
Chavez said he also wants the campus to get over the idea that CSULB is a commuter campus.
“There’s hundreds of student organization events occurring on campus, and we really need to show the students what these events are, where they can go to partake in them, and also how to get involved on campus,” Chavez said.
Chavez said he wants to emphasize the roles of student representatives and campus organizations in order to increase the amount of information disseminated to all students.
“My personal belief is that there’s no substitute for human interaction,” Chavez said. “I’ve visited a number of student groups to find out what their opinions are and letting them know when the issues that are affecting them are coming up.”
Chavez has also built a rapport with campus administration officials through ASI.
“I’ve developed a lot of relationships, a lot of working relationships with the administration, with the faculty and the staff at the Chancellor’s office and in the end, I know how to pursue my vision,” Chavez said.
Current/Previous ASI Positions: Vice President of ASI
Major/Minor: Political Science/Economics
Year: Senior
High School Government Positions: None
GPA: 3.5
On-/Off-Campus Organizations: La Raza Student Association (officer for 2 years), KBeach
ASI elections will take place from April 13 to April 15.
Other ASI presidential candidate profiles:
I don’t know if I can support someone who is against hats. I’m with Zorba with this one, I love my derby too much 🙁
haha, Zorba, you are definitely an idiot. Chris is an amazing guy that is supportive of people from all walks of life. Based on a comment like that, you might want to take a look at your on tolerance of others.
La Raza is a great student organization that operates as an independent entity to further the aims of it’s members and of the campus. Involvement of student organizations like La Raza and NAACP are vital on our campus and give students a place to come together as a community and family. On such a large campus, it’s cultural organizations, fraternities and sororities, and clubs that connect students who may otherwise be lost in the mix. Student organizations play a strong role in student retention and to be faulted for coming together based on culture and heritage is a great hindrance to our sense of community as a campus. Additionally, La Raza at CSULB has a 40+ year history of community service and advancement of Latinos through education and improved access to opportunities of advancement as a culture.
Chris, best of luck. You work hard for this campus and the insight that you’ve gained from your experiences with a variety of different organizations is a great asset that we’re lucky you’ll share.
He had my vote until I saw he was a member of the violent Anti-American hat group La Raza. CSULB doesn’t need a racist in a position of political power.
Good luck!