Elected ASU board to receive stipends

The ASU board for the upcoming school year will be the first to receive stipends.

By Gabriel Arizon, Staff Writer

For the first time in Valley College's history the newly elected ASU board will receive stipends for their work.

With a total of 325 student votes, all 10 of the ASU candidates who ran in the Spring 2018 election won their seats. In addition to the candidates, students voted to add two new amendments to the school’s ASU constitution. One was to add the Commission of Ethnic and Cultural Affairs, while the other was Article 18, which allows the ASU members to collect stipends.

“To me, that is sort of a form of incentive," said elected Commissioner of Student Life, Matthew Carranza. "I want to be acknowledged as commissioner of student life, that’s why I signed up, but the fact that I also get a stipend is even more gratifying.”

According to Article 18, officers and commissioners will only be able to receive their stipends if they fulfill their duties and responsibilities as board members. According to unofficial documents, a board member's payment could be docked for inappropriate behavior or anything not complying with to District Regulations, the Student Code of Conduct, or the ASU Constitution. Elizabeth Negrete, the Dean of Student Life, will be the person who determines if an officer is eligible to receive their stipend for the month. The president, vice president and treasurer will collect a stipend of $150 per month, while the other commissioners will earn $100 per month.

During last year’s election, the amendment to approve stipends was voted down but this year’s election ended in a win with the amendment being approved in a 253-59 vote. Though more students voted in this election than in last year's spring election, the number of votes is still less than two percent of the student population.

Oscar Juvera will become the new president of the ASU, while Rafi Sharafyan and Kiran Mehr will retain their positions of treasurer and commissioner of political and external affairs, respectively.

“More than anything, [I'm] grateful because I had the opportunity of other students who trusted me, and I think that’s how I got elected,” Juvera said upon learning he won.

The elected ASU board was sworn in during a banquet on May 15, and their term will begin on July  1.