Almost a thousand students cast their votes for a new group of Associated Student (ASGCC) officers for the upcoming academic year.
Elections were held on Dec. 6 and 7 at Plaza Vaquero. Polling booths were set up alongside the administration building and were open from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. on both days.
“It’s important for students to vote,” said senatorial candidate Araz Megerdichian. “With student officers, GCC could be more under control, more organized.” The candidate believes that students should exercise their right to vote so that they can be represented by the officers they elect.
The 24 candidates for election began campaigning on Nov. 27; colorful flyers, signs, posters and classroom visits were all part of this year’s election publicity.
Of the 24 candidates, six were running for a vice presidential position and 18 ran for senator. A few, such as Vice President of Campus Organizations Karla Mercado and Vice President of Administration Carolina Yernazian, ran for re-election for their second terms as officers.
“The candidates are really talented and involved in campus activities,” said Paul Schlossman, Dean of Student Affairs. Schlossman was responsible for preparing and approving the ballots and voting materials, as mandated by the ASGCC Constitution.
Schlossman added that “there [were] lots of students voting. There was a strong turnout. The number is comparable to that of previous years.”
A total of 933 votes were counted, 240 votes less than last year’s 1,170-vote record.
The ballots were counted on Friday morning; the counting and validation of the votes were done by Schlossman, Police Capt. Nidal Kobaissi and Student Affairs Administrative Assistant, Aida Avanousian.
Most of the candidates were present outside the ASGCC office when president David Arakelyan posted the results at noon. The results were greeted by exclamations of joy from the winning candidates.
Arieneh Tahmasian, who was elected Senator of Relations, said she was “really excited” about winning. “The experience is going to be great,” Tahmasian said.
“I’m happy to be starting my next term,” said re-elected Vice President of Activities Sevada Begijanyan. “I look forward to representing the students again.”

And the Winners Are…

Vice President of
Administration
Carolina Yernazian
Vice President of Campus Activities Sevada Begijanyan
Vice President of Campus
Relations
Tamara Baskin

Vice President of Campus
Organizations
Karla Mercado

Senators of Administration:
Gayane Aghajanyan
Christine Gharibian
Ani Mehrabian

Senators of Finance:
Albert Bagdasarian
Lia Thorosian
The third candidate for Senator of Finance was considered ineligible for the position. A special appointment will be made next semester for the third senator.

Senators of Campus Activities:
Felipe Martinez
John Melikyan
Hrach Orujyan

Senators of Campus
Relations:
Jennifer Ghezal
Christopher Khriobian
Arieneh Tahmasian

Senators of Campus
Organizations:
Paolo Banaag
Ani Keshishian
Mitzi Mendoza