While President Chris Chavez said Associated Students Inc. will not officially know the decision until next Wednesday, proposed changes affecting Route D of Long Beach Transit could be approved.
Chavez is optimistic about the proposed changes to city bus routes after meeting with Guy Heston, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Long Beach Transit.
Changes to this route, called the “Ximeno Compromise,” would benefit many Cal State Long Beach students living in apartment complexes near campus.
“It seems like our biggest potential opposition in the Long Beach City Council is willing to accept that compromise, so we’re very happy about that,” Chavez said.
Still, transit officials have not yet made a final decision, and any approved changes would not be implemented until February 2010.
“It’s been an interesting ride, and I think we’ve done well,” Chavez said. “I feel that we’ve done what we can to really push for this proposal, so no matter what, at the end of the day we did our part.”
To re-address concerns on the proposed unit cap, ASI is collaborating with the university to hold meeting grounds for students and campus administration.
Styled after a town hall meeting, discussion forums will be held to “make sure we are getting the message out there that we are not kicking out students,” Chavez said. These meetings are scheduled to take place within the next three weeks.
Additionally, to clear up confusion between the proposed cap and what is currently being enacted, Sens. Jameson Nyeholt from the College of Liberal Arts and David Stout from the College of Engineering accompanied Chavez in a meeting with Lynn Mahoney, associate vice president for undergraduate studies, and Tom Enders, associate vice president for enrollment services.
ASI learned that the actual unit cap is a proposal still in the legislative process, which has yet to be finished. The recent e-mails sent to students with more than 140 units is a “separate project” geared mainly toward developing plans for graduation.
In a follow-up to last week’s State of the AS Address, which highlighted arming students with resources to deal with the budget crisis, plans for a finance workshop were introduced at the ASI meeting. Called “College Capitalism,” this first financial literacy workshop will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Oct. 27 in the USU Ballrooms.
Senior communications major Katie Hohman was also selected as the new government elections official at the meeting.
Hohman said the position allows her to “get the opportunity to shape the ways students view things.”