South county freshman named to student government

SAN LUIS, Ariz. - Maura Martinez plans to be the voice for the students attending Arizona Western College's south county campus here.

Martinez, a first-year finance student at the south county campus, has been named as vice president of the Students Government Association, the college's student governing body.

She will become the first student from the south county campus to hold the vice presidency when she assumes the position later this month.

It is one of two recent honors for the 18-year-old San Luis High School graduate, whose academic achievements and leadership potential led to her selection as a Rotary Student of the Month.

"I feel like all the work these years have paid off and I'm pleased to make my parents proud," said Martinez.

Martinez concedes she will have a huge task in front of her in representing the interests of more than 2,000 students at the south county campus, which serves not only San Luis but also Somerton and Gadsden.

"First of all, it's necessary to know that it is the students want," she said.

One thing she already knows, she said, is that those students want the south county campus to begin offering a wider range of academic programs so they can stay at home to take classes that are now available only in Yuma.

"Right now at the college, it's hard for many to go up to the main campus. Here they have one or two classes - there's nothing more here to take.

"We should try to make it so there are more programs here," she said. "I know many people who says they don't have gas to go to the main campus, or they don't have a way to go."

Being a voice and a vote on the student council puts Martinez in advantageous position to push for more academic programs at the south county campus, said Everardo Martinez, the campus director.

He said Maura Martinez is the right person and the right time to sit on the board. She is "the student who right now is the most prepared, has the widest knowledge of the college and is the most capable one we could select."

The enrollment at the south county campus has grown to almost half that of the main campus, he said, and for that reason it's necessary to increase academic offerings there.

Nonetheless, the growth in San Luis has not been reflected in representation in student government, he said.

"There's a shortage of leadership development opportunities in south county," he added. "There are few opportunities for students to learn how to manage an agenda, how an organization is developed, how a board of directors operates. I believe the college has a good opportunity to help to promote that development of personal skills in the students."

"Therefore, this representation is important," Everardo Martinez said. "We need to involve youth in civic life, because that's where future administrators and political and opinion leaders come from."