Presidential Candidate: Agatha Gucyski

Name: Agatha Gucyski
Running for: President
Year: Junior
Major: Finance and Human Resource Management
GPA: 3.45
Ticket: Gucyski/ Tran/ Clark

Q: How is your candidacy different from that of your competitor?
A: We’ve been in ASI for the same length of time, but the amount of things I’ve been able to accomplish have been quite a lot. I’ve fixed forms that hadn’t been updated in over 30 years. I fixed the funding issue for organizations that was a problem for about 10 years. I also more than doubled the number of scholarship applicants from the year before. I sit on the CSSA as the Academic Senate liaison. I’ve been able to network with a lot of different campus presidents.

Q: How will you advocate against budget cuts on behalf of students
A: It’s hard to stop budget cuts from happening, but I’ll continue doing what we can do, which is lobbying for the state. Different campuses are facing hundreds of dollars of potential fee increases, and that’s really scary. … [Student Excellence Fee] was proposed very last minute. It was very unclear what the fee was about. I spoke very strongly against it … When a fee isn’t clear of what it’s actually going to be doing for this campus … if there’s no transparency, that makes me worried. I’m going to continue making sure that anything that comes forward, that we’re completely transparent about it.

Q: What would be your main focus during your term?
A: The president is coming in, and it’s very important that we are meeting with her regularly so that she remembers that the students’ issues do come first. With the new revenue coming in with the ASI fee increase, it’s also important that not only do we give the students everything that we promised but we ask them, ‘What things do you want to be available?’ … So really, just making sure that we’re doing our best to serve the students.

Q: Has there been a time that you conformed to an idea or went along with something even though you didn’t agree with it? Can you give an example?
A: A couple years ago when I was a senator, there was a resolution to put the smoking ban on the spring election ballot, and … I’m not in favor of a smoking ban. At the same time, I can’t say I will not vote in favor of a smoking referendum because a referendum, the whole point of it is to hear the students’ opinions on it. You have to make sure that you’re speaking on not what you want, but what people have proven that that they wanted.

Q: What do you want the students to know about you?
A: I didn’t come into ASI for a title. I didn’t come into ASI for something to put on my resume. Everything that I do is because I love service, and I love helping other people, and I know my purpose in life is to live for other people.