My name is Alex Ostrega and I’m the director of finance for Associated Students Organization (ASO). As some of you may know or are just finding out, our Auxiliary Services Board (ASB) sticker is increasing by 50% next year and, as representatives of El Camino students, ASO and I are here to inform you why.

The funds collected from our sticker goes towards ASB, who then contributes 35% to ASO and Inter-Club Council (ICC). It’s been ASB, ASO, and ICC’s (Inter-Club Council) ongoing mission to increase the sticker price for a multitude of reasons I’ll outline in this column.

I’m sure many of you are curious as to why the sticker price is going up and why you shouldn’t opt-out. Programs funded by ASB, including athletics, journalism, and fine arts will receive budget cuts which will not only affect you and your programs, but the programs your friends are involved with as well. With our percentage of funding from ASB, we’ve been able to purchase and install those bright blue water refill stations you see on campus called FloWater, conserving +20,000 water bottles per month and serving hundreds of students daily. We also fund Warrior Pantry, a food pantry for EC students with food insecurities, that has collectively fed +1,000 ECC students and their families.

These ongoing initiatives are possible with your support by purchasing the ASB sticker. If all of these hugely impactful initiatives are possible with the limited budget we have now, imagine what we’ll be able to accomplish with our increased funds and zero budget cuts next school year.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding how the funds will be used, please contact ASO at [email protected].

-Alex Ostrega, 21, business administration-marketing major