ASG Senate Recap

Student leaders host guest speaker at first meeting of the quarter

MarkAnthony VogelAssociate ReporterOctober 6, 2016With local elections just around the corner, the Associated Student Government is already preparing to vote on a resolution that would support a local ballot measure.Measure B, a Santa Clara County initiative that aims to reduce traffic, increase public transportation and improve roads and funding, was pitched to ASG senators by Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino.SVLG is one of many that has endorsed and advocated for the measure. Now, he is looking to earn the support of college students across the Silicon Valley.At ASG’s first meeting of the quarter on Sept. 29, Guardino spoke to student senators about the planned Bay Area Rapid Transit extension to Santa Clara.The BART station would be built across the street from campus where the current Santa Clara Caltrain Station is located.The station, Guardino said, would provide students with more opportunities to explore the Bay Area and escape what many refer to as the “Santa Clara bubble.”After Guardino’s presentation, junior senator Jack Herstam introduced a resolution to endorse Measure B. The resolution was co-sponsored by ASG president Lidia Diaz-Fong and Gemi Griffin, the at-large senator for city relations.If the resolution passes, it will be the first of its kind in ASG history.“If the Measure B resolution passes, then our endorsement of Measure B would be the first time that ASG has endorsed such a measure,” said senate chair Neil Datar.The resolution will be debated and likely voted on during ASG’s meeting tonight at 7 p.m. Last week, student senators were expected to speak to their constituents and seek out differing opinions.Following Guardino’s talk, clubs and organizations seeking ASG approval had the opportunity to make their case to senators.These included Net Impact, Ignite, Curious Catholics, Club Tennis, Students Educating Students and Theta Tau, an engineering fraternity.Groups with approved constitutions will also be voted on during their next meeting on Oct. 6.Going forward, Datar says that ASG is seeking to increase transparency and represent a broad range of concerns for all students.With the local election approaching, ASG is also looking to encourage civic engagement by providing a polling location in Benson.“We’re looking to increase collaboration between various groups on campus,” as well as “between the branches of student government,” Datar said.Contact MarkAnthony Vogel at mvogel@ scu.edu