By Ignangeli Salinas
Voting season begins on campus this week, from Monday April 3rd to Friday 7th. The candidates’ faces will flash through our portal screens, forcing us to vote. Carlos Nahyr Vega is a third year Political Science major who is running for Arts Senator of the UPRM Student Council. While his famous cat photo has called the attention of many, it’s about time we get the story behind the picture.
What is the role of a Senator of the Arts?
We go to the Academic Senate and we debate different issues that affect the program in the university. For example, they’re talking about facilitating dual bachelor’s degrees and that can be very beneficial for a lot of people because, right now, there is a lot of red tape and bureaucracy and a lot of people can’t get their double bachelor’s degrees. I have a lot of friends who would be very grateful if we could clear up some of that mess.
Can the role apply to any other matters, such as dealing with the university’s crisis, like the budget cuts?
Yeah. That’s a bigger picture. That’s going to take everybody and, of course, I want to be actively involved in this, so that is definitely something I have in mind. In order to challenge something this big, is threatening, this unprecedented event in our history, we need everyone’s support on this.
What’s your take on the budget crisis?
I don’t think the budget cuts should be allowed; we are already dealing with low budgets as it is. We have a lot of problems in this university in terms of old technology, classroom materials; some things need a desperate update, starting with the program curriculums. Maybe offer more sections, hire more professors, and offer more variety within our programs. So, in other words, we cannot afford to lose a single cent.
Why are you running for Senator?
I did not plan this, a friend of mine signed up for council first and the thought hadn’t occurred to me, until he suggested, “hey, you should run for something too, there is nobody running for senator, you’ll have no competition.” I was sure someone would sign up, but I decided to do so to see what would happen. I’ve been thinking a lot about what motivates me, what keeps me going, what my endgame is, and I really like to think that I can bring something different to the table, that I’m not some career politician with the same ideas and the same approach to everything. I can try to do things from other perspectives.
Do you have a platform?
I do, I shared some preliminary ideas that I had on my Facebook page. One of the things that I find most important, that I would really like to deal with and work with, is the handicapped access in this university. I’ve been thinking about this a lot since my first year, because I have an aunt who has multiple sclerosis and she always has her little scooter to move around in public places, so I have always noticed these things. There is a very visible lack of ramps and working elevators, and some times I have though: “how would a student that can’t walk or who has difficulty going up stairs be able to reach a lot of the different areas in the university?” For example, if you wanted to get from one side of Chardón to the other, you would have to leave the building and take the long way around Stefani and Chardón, which I don’t think is fair to them.
That sounds great, it might be a little difficult given the university’s economic crisis, but even so, that’s no reason to stop fighting.
Yeah, I agree. One thing that doesn’t require any money is that I want to improve cooperation between faculties, because I feel there is a lot of division and rivalry sometimes. We can get a lot done in this university, not necessarily asking the university to do things for us, if we just work together. If I win, I would talk to the other senators, representatives and councils to improve cooperation between different departments and try to help come up with solutions. For example, I talked about how I wanted to help create an electronic voting systems for the student assemblies. This would work best if I talk to the people from Computer Science or Computer Engineering fields. I don’t have the solutions to all these problems, but I can definitely find the people who can help find solutions.
Do you have any specific plan in mind as a prospective Senator of the Arts?
Yes, I do. I feel a lot of the attention in this Universty goes to Engineering. I’m not saying that’s bad, because it is an engineering-based university, but we have a lot of talented colegiales who could definitely use more attention, a lot of talented artists, musicians, painters, and all kinds of people. I would really like to expand these programs, offer more workshops, invite more people to come to the university to speak, and raise more awareness in the community about the importance of art.
Describe yourself in 3 words:
Unorthodox. Motivated. Determined.
Makak, rescued from Mayagüez Terrace, is now a celebrity.
What’s the story behind the cat in your posters?
The cat is Makak, my housemate’s cat. I thought, I needed to do something different. Everybody takes the same picture, in a suit, in front of El Pórtico, and in the green background, everybody has the same poster. So, I thought, “I’ll take a picture with the cat”, it’ll make me stand out, though I certainly didn’t realize it would reach this level of attention.
Any last statement you would like to say?
Make sure you vote with your conscience. I’m not saying you have to vote for me, but make sure you inform yourselves on all the candidates. If anybody has any questions, you can always come to me, write to me on Facebook or Twitter and I would be more than happy to discuss anything with anyone.