Wilderness Club President Enrique Siliezar and Vice President Miles Aiello received the approval they had been working for from the senate meeting on March 13, as the club had presented to the members twice seeking supportive funding for its spring break adventure.

David Garcia, a club member since the fall of 2011, and a large percentage of the current members of the Wilderness Club engulfed BA 111/112 during a senate meeting the first week, looking to plead their case to receive assistance for their upcoming trip to Big Sur and many other camp grounds and parks.

The club, who is looking to take 24 students on the six day trip up north, asked the Associated Students of Cerritos College to put forth money required to cover both transportation and gas, which initially totaled to about $3100.

“The strong points of the Wilderness Club is that we get people to come out into the wilderness, and we expose them to places they have never seen before,” Garcia explained.

“We should get this funding because there is way more to it than just seeing places… the San Gabriel (Mountains) are great, but we will be able to see more and learn how to conserve.”

Adviser and chairman for the club, biology professor Connie Boardman, presented an explanation to the senate explaining how important this trip was to the students for both experiences and education.

“The students will have the opportunity to experience an ecosystem that they cannot here in the Coastal Redwoods. They’ll be able to hike, see coastal forests… and experience the grasslands,” Boardman explained.

“We’re looking for the students to become stewards of the natural areas.”

The importance of the word “stewards” continued throughout the presentations, with club president Siliezar later explaining that they also have to be “stewards of the environment.”

“How else would a majority of these students gain the funding to experience the mountains and other areas? They wouldn’t, and that’s something that we at this club are looking to provide,” Siliezar said.

He then showed off a blue, reusable water bottle that the club had sold to raise funds in the semester, which helped them bring in about $550. The club members will be paying for about 40 percent of the trip, with a majority of the funds from ASCC being needed to cover both the rental vans and the gas.

Garcia explained all of the fundraising the club has done to be able to take part in this important trip, explaining, “We’ve done bake sales before, sold the water bottles… and other general fundraising activities.”

Aiello felt like the presentation and statements that were made went well, and the club got its point across to the senators.

“I could see in all of the senator’s faces that they weren’t only paying attention to us, but they understood where we were coming from with how important this trip is, and that meant a lot,” Aiello said.

“We had a few members even come up to us after and tell us how great of a job we did, so I feel very confident heading into the vote (next week).”

“I feel like we all did an awesome job,” Siliezar added.

“Every trip we take, we not only bring back the memories and experiences, but we learn so much and get education from them.”

“We bring something special to Cerritos College, as (it) is predominantly surrounded by concrete. It is a concrete jungle, and how often do you walk outside of campus past redwoods or see elk run across you on the way to class. You don’t.”

After a week delay on the senate’s decision due to legislature pending, both Siliezar and Aiello returned to a second meeting on Wednesday March 20, once again trying to stress the importance of the trip one last time before the vote took place.

The importance of the trip being a learning experience, and not a vacation, was repeated throughout the four minute presentation. Aiello made a point in bringing up that at one of the places they will be staying, the Carrizo Plain, there is no running water, so a lavish trip was not the purpose behind the funds they were asking for.

The two members also explained that after some changes in transportation, the funding they were asking for would be cut in half, from a number around $3000 to just over $1500.

After Aiello returned to his seat, the senate members took a vote, and with majority, decided that the Wilderness Club was in fact worthy of the funds it was asking for. The club members will now set off for six days, traveling to Big Sur State Park, Andrew Molera State Park, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Simeon State Park, and the Carrizo Plain during the spring break vacation from classes.

“This trip is going to be so important to us and the students,” Aiello said. “We had 11 students at the meetings advocating and expressing the importance of this trip to them, and that says it all in itself.”

“It’s going to be a great experience,” Siliezar said. “We will be having a photography competition… and we have so many things lined up and planned for this trip.”