Mesa’s Associated Students welcomed in 11 newly elected cabinet members, making this the first time the cabinet has been fully staffed since the beginning of the Fall semester.
Elections were held from Sept. 20-24 and the results were announced to the public on Oct. 1. This diverse group of students that comprise the AS, serve as Mesa’s student government, a group of students, elected by the students to represent the students.
The results are in and Wencit Quino Hersh has been elected as Mesa’s Associated Students vice president. Hersh is a Filipina mother of one, in her third semester at Mesa completing her certificate in accounting. She served as a senator two times before being elected as VP, and she also serves as a student senate delegate for The Student Senate for California Community Colleges, a nonprofit student organization that allows students of California to have a formal and effective means for participating in the formation of state policies that have or may have a significant impact on students. The vice president’s role in the AS falls under the Executive Council, and their main responsibilities are to execute and administer all AS business and affairs, and to ensure that legislation of the AS senate is executed accurately and expeditiously.
As newly elected VP, one thing Hersh felt strongly about was Mesa beginning to execute the Climate Crisis plan that was included in the 2030 Comprehensive Master Plan. “I am really passionate about climate change and what we can do to alleviate the problem,” she said. “Focusing more on sustainability in terms of food, and also as a student, innovating something we can move forward with in the future.” Hersh says the climate crisis was added to the Master Plan because there is a disparity in who it affects, specifically those with lower incomes.
The AS also welcomed 10 new senators. These representatives are Daniela Castellanos, Elisa Correa, Husnia Ahmadi, Manuela Cerciello Rahbari, Maryam Fazel, Omar Rodriguez Mendoza, Osten Carlton, Phoebe Truong, Sophia Summer Fiorini, and Tara Yousefi Nejad. The role of the senators in AS is to initiate legislation dealing with general activities of the AS, i.e., homecoming, or spirit week. Once their weekly meeting was called to order, the newly elected senators introduced themselves and were able to get their feet wet with what would be coming up in terms of events, and meetings in the near future.
Carlton, a native of San Diego and a physical therapy major is now a part of the AS after 3 years at Mesa. When asked what his main reason was for getting involved in the AS, he said “I want to help change and make the community better and happier. I just would like to make an impact somehow.” Hersh shared similar sentiments. “I want to find the sweet spot between what the students need and what the administration can implement,” she says. “What I want to be a lasting legacy for me is to be able to work with people; with kindness and compassion…to be able to understand where people are coming from. Just to be kind.”
Current AS President Natalia Trinh, a second-year neurobiology major, spoke on what she wanted the new electees to take away from their AS experiences. “I want them to push themselves… in a way that they’re content with…to be happy with the work that they put in,” she said. “I want them to see that anything is possible, no matter what major you’re from, what background you come from, anyone can do anything.” She goes on to explain why they changed the name from Associated Student Government to simply, Associated Students. “We call it AS instead of ASG because the ‘G’ stands for government, but we wanted to make it more like a community feel.”
