With the upcoming elections for the Associated Students Organization here at ECC, which starts Monday, May 10 at 9:00a.m., there are several candidates running with several positions still unfilled.

“To be a candidate you have to get 50 signatures or more,” Ryan Balhazar, 19, Political Science, said.

Balhazar, along with Kimberly Berry and Damien McDowell, who were not available to comment, are running to be senator of the behavioral and social science.

For right now, Balhazar is commissioner of activities of the ICC, Balhazar said.

“There’s the ASO and the ICC, the ICC is over the little smaller clubs that come to us for budget requests or to make activities we would know about, they would have to go through us; for ICC we have to go through ASO for our money and for our budget requests so I feel this is just one up from ICC,” Balhazar said.

With my experience with the ICC as commissioner of activities, it will definitely promote me to a better leader in the department of behavior and social sciences, Balhazar said.

For right now I have been budgeting my time pretty well between school and my job in which I have a two-hour break in between and I think I can maintain the responsibilities, Balhazar said.

Gabriela Lopez and Noor Bala, who was not available to comment, are both running against each other to be the senator of natural science.

“I wanted to know what was out there for people under my major and under the sciences; I want to know what opportunities we have, I know for science majors we have MESA and my friend and I have recently been trying to open a chapter of a science club and internships for minorities; so basically I just want to get the word out for what different things are out there for my major,” Gabriela Lopez, 20, biology, said.

Recently, one of the previous senators of the division spoke about the responsibilities, which are tuff though if it’s going to make a change for the school in some way or another it’s worth it and it would make me willing to put forth the time and effort into it, Lopez said.

Vito Iaia is running to be senator of mathematical sciences.

I want to make a difference at school, wherever I go I try to make my mark, Vito Iaia, 21, physics, said.

“I recently talked to one the senators; I see that I have to be part of a committees and help out with different activities at school and I am willing to put forth the effort to do that, like I put forth the effort to do all my classes, I just kind of put all the time into the same realm; I put 110 percent into whatever I do,” Iaia said.

Recently the issue about recycling was brought to my attention; especially in MESA where we just throw away a bunch of paper that we could recycle, Iaia said.

Another candidate up for election, running against Timothy Linehan, who was not available for comment, to be an executive officer as the vice president is Lucy Rivera.

For the last two years, I have been in student government; my first year I was in ICC council, I was commissioner of students and then in ASO I was commissioner of PR, Lucy Rivera, 22, bio. -chem., said.

“Right now the issue that is coming up that they really haven’t decided on is the bungalows on Manhattan Beach Boulevard and its health hazards because there are a few chemistry classes in them and with the air ventilation in there and the one door and incase something does happen it would be hard for everyone to get out that one door and there’s no windows and the air; so that’s what we are trying to work on,” Rivera said.

For the moment, there’s a rumor about there being no winter session so it would definitely be good to have a say in that to keep it, Rivera said.

“This is just a little bit different because this is a real election and you have to actually campaign; with ICC it was more private and this is more public,” Balhazar said.

As noted not all candidates running for an executive chair or senators were available to comment and voting will be taking place Monday, May 10 through Thursday, May 13 on the library lawn form 9:00a.m. till 2:00p.m. and form 4:00p.m. till 6:00p.m. in the Activities Center.