Students gathered on the Library Lawn on Wednesday, Oct. 18 for the annual ASB Awareness Fair.
The ASB Awareness Fair started 14 years ago and its purpose since then has been to help students understand what ASB is.
“ASB stands for Auxiliary Service Benefit so, in other words, extracurricular benefits,” ASB project coordinator, Lawrence Moreno said. “Benefits like Knotts Berry Farms, Seaworld, Six Flags, McDonald’s, to Tillys Taco.”
Gedy Arroyo, 23, physiology major said, “Honestly I don’t know what ASB is and I’ve been here for three years.”
She isn’t alone in her thinking. In fact, 70 percent of students have an ASB sticker but don’t know how to use it, Lawrence said.
One of the perks that come with purchasing an ASB sticker is the ability to receive discounts to many amusement parks and restaurants. The fair gives students the opportunity to learn about these benefits.
“It’s so that people could find out what ASB is about,” Moreno said. “What is the value of it? Why buy something if you don’t know what it is? Why get something if you don’t know how to use it?”
Another perk that comes with having an ASB sticker is that students can gain entry into sporting and art events either half off or for free.
“I think it’s important that they see where the money goes, which goes to sports and fine arts departments,” Moreno said.
The fair isn’t just about informing students about ASB but it’s also an opportunity for ASB to host raffles.
“A lot of students don’t know this, but we give stuff away all semester,” Moreno said. “So anytime you see the ASB table out there advertising ASB and explaining to the student how to use it and why they should use it, we are usually giving stuff away.”
Some of the prizes that have been given out are AMC, Knott’s Scary Farm, and Aquarium of the Pacific tickets. Many of the vendors were there to give out both information and free prizes.
“I once won AMC movie tickets, so I think it’s a cool thing to do,” Alfonso Sanchez, 22, biology major, said. “I keep coming back to see if I’ll win something again.”
ASB money also helps support co-curricular activities like student government, clubs, The Union newspaper, plays, athletic teams and the debate team.
“It’s beneficial because it gets us discounts into school events that would be too expensive for us,” Susan Suarez, 23, health major, said. “It helps both the students and the school.”
The ASB Awareness fair will be back next semester. More information could be found here.
