Vacancies plague AS before elections

With the Associated Student elections a few months away, the need for students to fill vacant spots on the AS Board is more felt. Applications for next year's AS Board are due next Wednesday for students wanting to run for a director position.

AS Director of Student Advocacy, Academic Support and Shared Governance, and the Vice President have vacated their positions since the start of Spring term. Okky Jaya, Maryam Allameh and Alex Vandertol held those positions respectively.

"I ended up leaving because I had too many responsibilities I was juggling," said Vandertol. "I wasn't able to put the time in one of my classes."

The AS Constitution states that directors and Inter-Club Council officers have to pass eight units worth of classes in order to maintain their position. Vandertol ended Fall semester with only three units of school credit, and "got kicked."

"It wasn't what I thought it would be," Vandertol said of his run as VP. "It wasn't what I campaigned on, I didn't do what I said I would do."

Vandertol's lackluster semester was due to insufficient time to complete the projects he picked up, like the Civic Engagement Program, which aided students in finding volunteer opportunities.

"It would be possible to have kept my position, but what I would have had to do for that is not do a good job," he said.

The new VP will be concerning himself with the new AS end of the year thing, he said.

"We are excited to have a full board representing the students," Michael Greenberg, AS director of publicity, said of filling the empty slots. So far, six applications have been submitted for the three positions.

However, the slate will be wiped clean, as applications for next year's Board are due Wednesday, March 19.

"My hope for this year is to do a better job reaching out to students who are already engaged at the college," Inter-Club Council Chair Jasmine Jafari said.

15 students have started the application process, which requires recruiting 50 signatures from SMC students to be eligible. It is against election rules to start campaigning before applications are due on March 19, but the 50 signatures allow students to get their name out before campaigning begins.

She said in previous years, commissioners have banked on their previous position to win them the race when they weren't the most qualified. Her aim is to hire "people who had experience in different parts of the college because they can bring new things to the table."