While transfer students stereotypically struggle to embrace campus life and get involved with extracurricular activities in their new environment, Earl Warren College junior Mike “”Hershey”” Hirshman has become an active member of UCSD.

Student opinion is always evolving, so I would continue working my heart out to meet club after club to make sure I can be students’ advocate as well as the advocate for [my ideas].””
– Michael Hirshman, Warren College junior

“”Having seen how another school works, a school that is very different than UCSD, gives me the kind of insight to our own campus that I think would be harder to arrive at if you had [only been exposed to one college],”” Hirshman said.

Hirshman’s background of student government extends back to high school, where he attended La Jolla Country Day School. As president of the school’s student council, he completely restructured the school’s constitution. He furthered his experience at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he served as Associated Student secretary.

“”I think the experience of being involved with student council, and also having founded and led a student organization, better prepares one for a job like A.S. president than simply serving on student council for a couple years,”” Hirshman said. “”I think you bring a certain realism and understanding to the table [if you have dealt with the challenges that face student organizations].””

Apart from his in-depth experience with student government, Hirshman has established himself as an on campus club leader and participant. He is co-founder and editor of The Triton, a bi-quarterly student newspaper that began publishing this year; head of their discussion group called the Symposium; a member of the Warren Provost Student Advisory Council; and leader of the Union of Jewish Students.

As presidential candidate, Hirshman said one of his headlining campaign efforts will be focused on transportation at UCSD. If elected, he said he is going to work toward expanding the bus and shuttle services operating on campus. This would include adding an extra shuttle on each route and expanding weekend shuttles. Hirshman mentioned that strengthening access to transportation is a way to improve the experience of underclassmen that reside on campus during the weekends.

Another aspect of Hirshman’s campaign is strengthening the student organizations that already exist on campus.

“”There is a widespread feeling that UCSD lacks a sense of community,”” Hirshman said. “”I would address this by strengthening student organizations, which are currently vibrant communities [and] are succeeding in this area where the overall campus falls short.””

According to Hirshman, layers of red tape burden the funding and operation of clubs and organizations at UCSD. Although there has been a dramatic increase in the number of clubs on campus within the past few years, the logistics required to conduct weekly meetings can be inconvenient and repetitive. One way Hirshman hopes to solve the problem is by allowing a flat operating cost for clubs for the whole year.

Hirshman’s last campaign issue is revitalizing campus life for undergraduate students. He mentioned that since the 1960s, UCSD has lost its vibrancy. As a result, A.S. leaders have to put forth a lot of energy and change the atmosphere.

“”[This] is the kind of thing that really takes a meticulousness to deliver and that’s the kind of thing that I will bring as a candidate,”” Hirshman said. “”To really revitalize this campus, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We have to use the resources we already have and [get everyone involved on campus].””

In an attempt to solve this problem, Hirshman proposed to increase the frequency of Bear Gardens, a campus event incorporating pizza and beer, to a weekly event, in addition to his plan to strengthen individual student organizations. From his perspective, strong individual student communities formed through UCSD clubs and organizations will function to create a stronger wide-scale community.

As a presidential candidate, Hirshman aims to encourage undergraduate students to share their ideas and eventually implement them. If elected, he will carry out both platform ideas and meet with leaders of student organizations about their issues in order to help solve them.

“”Student opinion is always evolving, so I would continue working my heart out to meet club after club to make sure I can be students’ advocate as well as the advocate for any of the ideas I have mentioned,”” Hirshman said.