Disabled Student Services rep. Addresses ASI Senate

Published in the CSULB Daily 49er newspaper Nov. 15.

The director of Disabled Student Services David Sanfilippo addressed the Associated Students, Inc. Senate Wednesday to review the progression of services for disabled students since the 1970s.

Sanfilippo also discussed the upcoming decision the Senate will make regarding the bylaw amendment, which will possibly add more positions to the ASI president's cabinet.

"Students have a great amount of power to be a voice," Sanfilippo said. "We trust you'll do the right thing. This board has never failed my belief in that."

Following his speech, Sanfilippo said the Disabled Student Services will begin organizing awareness days. Part of the education will include putting ASI President Mark Andrews and senators in wheelchairs in order for them to experience what some students deal with every day.

"If they decide whether or not it will be a committee or commission, I trust there will always be a voice for our students," Sanfilippo said.

After his departure, the Senate passed a vote to send the bylaw amendment to the newly formed Committee on Bylaws, created by ASI Chairwoman and Vice President Lucy Montano.

Currently, the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, the Committee on Disabilities Affairs and the Committee on Women Affairs fall under the umbrella of Campus Diversity Relations.

"The secretary for Campus Diversity Relations is concentrating a lot on cultural diversity," Montano said after the meeting adjourned. "Having a disability doesn't make you part of a culture."

Montano said she is aiming to move the three committees out from under the umbrella in order to isolate them and allow them a stronger voice.

"I want them to be on their own, and maybe having a secretary position isn't the correct place to be at, but I don't want them to be under anything," Montano said. "That's why the [ASI] president and I don't agree, because he's OK with putting them under a big umbrella."

The new committee will debate and solve the issue, then bring its decision back to the Senate for additional discussion and a vote.

"Basically, instead of having 20 people argue, we're going to have six people argue," Montano said. "They get to decide how it will get fixed."