New ASMCC offices built with hopes of increasing interaction
Ben Garcia
Walking into and through the Kirk Student Center, students might have noticed something new. Next to the Navajo room is the future site of the new offices of the Associated Students of Mesa Community College (ASMCC).According to Richard Cluff, the director of facilities, the new ASMCC offices have been given a budget of $50,000, which is coming directly from the MCC budget.
“The $50,000 is the price out the door . lighting, new furniture, ceiling tiles, everything,” Cluff said.
This is tough to comprehend and not to be sensitive to the given economic situation, according to Steven Maliarakis, an astrophysics major from Greece.
Maliarakis believes the $50,000 can be used in more beneficial ways than for new ASMCC offices.
“If they (MCC) are able to build offices then they should be able to help students,” he said. “Looking at the economy, it’s not good . the school could help people like in my case who are struggling students.”
Like many others, when Maliarakis was asked if he knew where the ASMCC offices are currently located, his stare was blank and lost.
Little did he know the interview he was partaking in was just a few yards at most from the current ASMCC offices.
People like Maliarakis aren’t to blame for not knowing where MCC’s representative student-body government is located, as the current ASMCC Vice President of Communications Jennifer Baily put it, “we are kinda hard to find.”
Meredith Warner, student life and leadership program specialist, said the design of the new ASMCC offices is to “promote the notion of student advocacy on campus.”
“Student government without students is nothing . they (ASMCC) want to let students know they are listening,” she said.
Warner believes the locations of the current offices are not very open and accessible to students.
On the other hand, the new location is what she would consider “prime real estate.” She is hoping to raise the awareness of students, especially those who walk in and through the Kirk Student Center, about ASMCC by 100 percent.
One of the goals of the new location, according to Antwan Bear, current ASMCC secretary of involvement, is to increase the ASMCC’s presence on campus by allowing them to be more visible to students. As Bear put it, “it’s really important to be noticed more.”
According to Warner, the “storefront” look of the new ASMCC offices will be more inviting for students to interact with the student government.
