The Cuestonian sat down and talked with Associated Students of Cuesta College (ASCC) President, Lucia Landeros. Landeros is a geography and engineering major who has been a student at Cuesta College for three years. In addition to providing insight into her roles as both president and a student, Landeros shared information about key student events on campus, upcoming elections, the importance of student government and how to get involved.
Q: What’s your relationship with the student government? Why did you decide to run?
A: This was my first time being involved in student government. As more of a STEM student, I never quite was drawn to the “political science” aspect of things. Coming to Cuesta, I needed something to boost my resume because I was applying to internships and jobs over the summer, and people would ask me, “What have been some of the leadership positions you’ve had?; Tell us of a time you helped solve a problem or be a mediator.” To be very honest, I didn’t have very much besides my activities in high school. I decided that I needed something to help show that I am capable of all these things. So I decided to apply for student government. At first, I was applying just to be a senator, but after I realized the depth of the president role, I decided to run for that position.
Q: Was there anything about Cuesta and its campus that inspired you to run for president?
A: It was more because I’ve been here as a student on campus full-time for three years. I’ve been involved in different clubs, I’ve talked to different people, taken different classes and I saw potential areas of improvement. Just being a part of clubs, and getting to know people, you start to understand that certain groups need more of certain things, or how certain programs could benefit from different resources. It was really just seeing the gaps and then campaigning based on that.
Q: What are some hobbies you have outside of being a student and ASCC president here on campus?
A: I love to swim, and I am also a lifeguard. I was also very involved in Girl Scouts. A fun fact is that I ran my campaign the same way someone sells Girl Scout cookies. I got a bunch of candy, and I would go around to people and ask, “Hey, can I interest you in a snack?” Then I would let them know that there were ASCC elections going on, and that they should consider voting for me. The reasons I campaigned with were more free food, better access to basic needs, better access to resources and internships. Twelve years of having to pedal your Thin Mints definitely helps.
Q: What role do you play on campus?
A: My role is up to interpretation for every president that comes in. What I want my role to be is the person that communicates between what the students need and admin. I have my opinions and ideas of what students would like to see, but I really do try to make an effort to sit down one-on-one with officers of clubs and talk to professors about what they see that their students need. It’s just about having different conversations with students and being open to any suggestions and concerns, because I will advocate for that.
Q: What does your average week look like as an ASCC president?
A: In terms of what my day to day looks like, it’s a lot of meetings – a lot of getting information from one group of people to another. This means going to club meetings and senate meetings for student government where we make decisions on how to spend our budget and how to allocate funds to certain organizations on campus. I have to be very aware of what’s happening on campus, Cuesta programs and student clubs, and then be aware of what everyone needs to facilitate them and run smoothly. I basically get the right information to the right people.
Q: How do you balance being ASCC president as well as being a student here on campus?
A: I am a student, as well as one of the chemistry tutors, and I also work at the city pool. So I use Google Calendar a lot. Because there’s a lot of meetings, I have to schedule them far in advance, just to know ahead of time where I have to be at a certain time, and on a certain day. I also do a lot of meal prepping — it’s a savior. This is because I have to be on campus all the time. But it’s worth it. I get to be involved, I get to help students and I have set goals I want to accomplish. So far, it’s going pretty good.
Q: Why should students be more aware of ASCC?
A: It’s definitely important to be more aware of what’s going on on campus for many reasons. The first one is because there are so many resources out there that can help you. You want to be aware of those because there might be a time [at] Cuesta where you need those resources and then you know where and who to reach out to. I would say that’s the biggest reason because it can directly benefit you to be aware of what’s happening and you can make use of those resources. The second reason would be because it’s in your benefit to be aware of student government because if there are any concerns as a student, such as things you want to see on campus, student government is there to advocate for your needs. It’s very important for you to voice them to us. That doesn’t require much commitment or time from the students. You let us know what you need, and we’re going to do our best to accommodate that.
Q: What are some key upcoming events in the fall semester that students should be aware of?
A: Our biggest one is we have a special election coming up. Typically our student government elections for ASCC are during the spring semester every year. This last year, we ended up with about eight vacant senate seats, so those seats weren’t filled during that election. For this fall semester, overall ASCC, we’ve been putting in a lot of effort to recruit more students to fill those eight vacant senate seats. As of now, we’re on track to fill them, but what we do need is cooperation with the student body. This means when students get their election ballot in their emails, we want them to open it and vote. Please vote. It should not take more than 30 seconds, but we need students to be aware of those elections and to vote in those elections. Ideally, it would be great if you have some time to be able to read up on who’s running, but if not, just vote. We want the students to be involved. Some other events are Cougar Social Hours, which are every Wednesday from 11-1 pm. Lately, we’ve had a lot of different events each week, and there’s free food. It’s fun, and students should go and check it out. It’s usually located by the flagpoles, or the ASCC courtyard. If it changes to another location, it will be on Cuesta’s weekly newsletter.
Q: Can students be a part of the student government meetings? How can they be involved?
A: What I would advise if students have any concerns or want to be involved on campus is to read the agendas beforehand. They are usually posted about five business days before the meeting, and on those agendas, that’s where we list exactly what’s going to be discussed at those meetings. If you review those agendas, and there’s an issue that comes up that you’re very passionate about, then we would love for you to come to public comment and speak on that. If there is something you would like to be put on the agenda, we would like you to contact ASCC and you can submit an “agenda item request form” to then be put on the agenda and then to make a formal presentation to the student government. If you have a stake in a specific issue, definitely make yourself heard. If students ever want to get in touch with any of the officers, we all have office hours posted on our website. We are typically over in the ASCC offices.
Q: What is public comment?
A: Public comment is at the beginning of our senate meetings when any member of the public who shows up and wants to address the Student Senate can do so. They have around two minutes to address any items on the agenda.
Q: Where can students find out when/where student government meetings are held?
A: If you type in to Google, “ASCC agenda Cuesta College,” the first link that pops up is agendas and minutes for student government. The location is always in the same place every time. It’s in the Martinez Math building. It’s a conference room on the second floor of the math building. It’s always there on every other Thursday from 2:30-3:30 p.m. It’s a small conference room, so it’s nothing too intimidating. If students are interested, we’d love for them to come out. It is great for the campus if people are aware.
