Marisol Ornelas

Marisol Ornelas is an independent candidate for ASUCD Senate in the Fall 2009 ASUCD election.

Candidate Statement

My name is Marisol Ornelas and I am a fourth year student double majoring in Chicana/o Studies and International Relations. I am from Los Angeles and currently work at The Student Recruitment and Retention Center (SRRC) as the Student Director for Yik’al Kuyum. I am running for Senate because I want to create more services to help students navigate through their college experience.

Book Scholarships

Students have had to deal with recent fee increases. These fee increases heavily affect a student’s finances specifically by interfering with their ability to buy books. Many students compromise their grades by not purchasing the books needed for their courses. For this reason, I will advocate for Book Scholarships. The scholarships will allow students to apply for up to $250 in book purchasing credit under the condition that they return the books at the end of the quarter. Returned books will then be eligible for rent by the general student body on a first-come-first-serve basis at 75% reduced price.

Accessible Course Materials

Course Readers are expensive and cannot be sold back. As an ASUCD Senator, I will lobby faculty to post class readers on Smartsite for students to download at their leisure. Students will also have the option to pre-order readers if they choose to have one printed. This will dramatically reduce the number of readers printed per quarter and will also give students a cheaper and more eco-friendly option if they choose not to print the pages.

Transfer-Graduate Mentorship Program

As senator, I will also implement a Transfer-Graduate Mentorship program which will allow transfer students to maximize their 2-3 years at Davis and ensure that they do not fall behind in preparing for graduate and professional school. Because traditional students are encouraged to begin making their graduate school plans during their third year, transfer students are especially disadvantaged because most enter during their third undergraduate year. Transfer students must adjust to a new school, keep up with the fast-paced quarter system and prepare for graduate school at the same time. The mentorship program will pair transfer students with graduate students in the field that they are interested in, allowing them to be prepared for the application process.

Raise Student Awareness of ASUCD Service

I will raise student awareness of ASUCD Services by having monthly Senate meetings outside of the 3rd floor of the MU. I want to move the meetings to heavily populated areas to make ASUCD more accessible to students. Another way I would like to make ASUCD services visible to students would be by having ASUCD services presented at freshman/transfer orientation through workshops that will allow students to become aware of the different services they are able to take part of as ASUCD members, allowing students to use ASUCD resources to their full potential. Make sure to Vote Marisol Ornelas #1 for ASUCD Senate on Nov. 10th- 13th and vote Joel Juarez and Abrham Castillo-Ruiz #2-#3. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them on the wall and I will get back to you or you can also e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you!!!

Thanks, Marisol Ornelas

2009-11-11 01:36:46   I see no reason why you would need to be a senator in order to lobby members of the faculty to post readers online. I doubt saying that you are a senator would have more weight than saying you are a starving student. —hankim