Catching flights for advocacy

ASO headed to Washington D.C.

to lobby for community colleges

BY ALEJANDRA AGUILERA

On March 13, eight members of the Associated Student Organization (ASO) will be packing their luggage instead of their backpacks to catch a flight to Washington D.C. and attend a community college conference.

The American Student Association of Community Colleges (ASACC) hosts the National Student Advocacy Conference yearly and this year, the ASO will attend to advocate an increase in funding for community colleges.

From March 14 through March 17, the ASO will attend workshops to learn what issues to lobby for and how to lobby, because on March 16 they will be lobbying to state representatives on Capitol Hill.

“Being able to hear all these different colleges and what they’re doing, we’ll be able to take that back to our college and try to make Pierce College a better place,” ASO President Vivian Yee said.

Yee is one of the eight ASO members attending alongside Dean of Student Engagement Juan Carlos Astorga and the ASO’s support staff Geremy Mason.

Mason filed the paperwork for the conference, made hotel accommodations, booked flight tickets and prepared meal plans, which is paid for by the ASO.

“It will be an interesting trip,” Mason said. “We actually have a meeting with one of our senator’s offices, so we’ll be taking the students and they'll be getting to speak with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s representative that handles educational matters.” aaguilera.roundupnews@gmail.com

According to the ASACC website, more than 400 students will be attending but the trip won’t be all business since there will be scheduled times to go sightseeing and go on a walking tour of Washington D.C.

For ASO Senator Jenni Severin, speaking up for the students at Pierce is what she is most excited for.

“We really get to exchange over the three days with the other community colleges and focus on the issues we’re having here and in other schools and bring it all together,” Severin said.