University fairgrounds expansion on student government’s radar

Photo by Eduardo Merille, courtesy of Creative Commons

Adrian Suarez-Avila/Staff Writer

The Student Government Council at Modesto Maidique Campus cabinet welcomed the new academic year with the goal of gaining support for the University’s expansion into the fairgrounds.

Dayra Carvajal, governmental relations coordinator, and SGC-MMC President Alexis Calatayud, both stressed the importance of encouraging students to voice their opinions on the issue by drawing attention to next week’s County Commission meeting.

At the meeting, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez will share the final relocation site that his office has chosen for the Fair to move to.

If the County Commission approves, it will be up to the Miami-Dade County voters to decide if FIU gets the fairgrounds.

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Carvajal and Calatayud suggested how students can get involved—sending out letters to county representatives and media outlets.

“The purpose of sending letters to the commissioner and to the Miami Herald is so we can demonstrate FIU’s interest for  expansion,” said Carvajal. “And, more than anything, to give students the opportunity to express themselves, to give them a space where they can personalize their opinions.”

Students can also go to the meeting.

Calatayud joined forces with Student Government Council President Jazmin Felix to address all students at the University by e-mail.

They reminded students that they are free to attend the County Commission meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 8:30 a.m. at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center located in 111 NW 1st Street, Miami, FL.

The University will provide shuttles for students to go to the meeting.

In their e-mail, Felix and Calatayud offer students a way to reserve their seat in the shuttle. The buses leave both the MMC and the Biscayne Bay Campus at 7 a.m.

The meeting could drag out the entire day, Felix and Calatayud warn students in their e-mail.

They also ask students to display their school pride by wearing clothes that flaunt blue and gold.

“[Expansion into the fairgrounds] is best for the community, best for FIU,” Calatayud said. “We are hoping, based on the recommendation of the mayor, that the relocation site will also be to the benefit of the Fair.”

The cabinet members are also whipping things up for the semester.

Since Daniela Bernal, former intern coordinator, resigned from her position to join the Provost’s Office, Breanna Grey was newly appointed to fill the vacant position, while also holding her original position as student development coordinator.

Grey has already created a calendar of events for the future interns in the fall semester.

Among her plans are to invite various speakers, including President Mark B. Rosenberg, to offer advice to the students, and to educate the interns on the mechanisms of SGA.

“A lot of students coming in from high school don’t have much of an idea of how [SGA] works at the university level,” Grey said.

Applications for the intern program, which are due on Sept. 8, are already available online on the SGA website.

 

-news@fiusm.com

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