Student Government elections are being held from Friday April 16 to Sunday April 25.
A candidate forum was held via Zoom on Thursday, April 15. The forum was hosted by Hannah Nguyen and Yanran Yan. Seven of the nine candidates for office participated in the forum.
The students who participated were Kyle Johnson running for President, Lara Wiedemeier running for Vice President, Jacqueline Carrillo running for Vice President and Director of Communication, Amy Attia running for Director of Events, Yasmeen Ibrahim for Vice President and Director of Legislation, Tyler Rivas ICC Chairman and Ilham Ansari running for student trustee. Two candidates did not participate in the forum, Sarah Kim and Nevaeha Avila both running for student trustee.
The candidates were asked questions by the hosts starting with why they were running for the position or Positions. Then each candidate was asked two questions based on their candidate statement or the duties of the position they are running for. The candidates did a good job answering the questions that they asked and it was very great to listen and watch it.
Some candidates answers were very good. Johnson said that he plans to work more with clubs and try to expand the current number of clubs. Johnson stated that many students connect with the college through the clubs. He also has lobbied with the state legislation for funds to meet basic student needs.
Wiedemeier mentioned that she is working with the library to find ways to lower prices for textbooks. She mentioned that math textbooks are very expensive and they are looking for lower prices on the math textbooks.
Attia mentioned that student government needs to connect with incoming students early so the incoming students will have a connection with the college. Ibrahim echoed this by stating she would work with connecting with the students.
Four of the seven positions are running unopposed. Only one person is running for president, Kyle Johnson who is running as a team with Lara Wiedemeier as vice president. This may make it harder for the other two candidates for vice president to win the elections as Johnson is a sure in for president.
The ICC has two candidates running which is good as this semester the ICC chair position was unfilled. This caused an extra burden on student government as the current president had to also act as ICC chair. Ironically neither candidate listed being an officer or even a member of a student club on their candidate statement.
Three students are running for student trustee to the Chabot Las Positas Community College District. This is an important position as the student trustee represents the entire Las Positas student body at the district.
The Express is endorsing four candidates. One is for Johnson for president. Johnson has extensive experience with student government as director of finance and director of legislation, Lara Wiedemeier for vice president as Johnson’s running mate, Amy Attia for office of director of events based on her qualifications and Yasmeen Ibrahim as director of legislation based on her answers to her questions.
LPC students can vote for student government on Classweb between Friday April 16 and Sunday April 25. More information on the candidates can be found on the student government page on the Las Positas College website, http://laspositascollege.edu/lpcsg/elections.php
