Officers, 2003-2004
	Leira Moreno	President	Jones '04
	Victor Castillo	Internal Vice President	Brown '05
	Amada Armenta	External Vice President	Wiess '04
	Maria Garibaldi	Secretary	Baker '06
	Diego Tucker	Treasurer	Martel '04
		Historian
		Community Service Coordinator
	Josef Sifuentes	Art Director Coordinator	Martel '04

Election Candidate's Platforms

Below are the candidate's statements (blurbs). The platform meeting and voting will take place on Wednesday, March 19th at 9:00 pm in the Student Organization Space.

President

Eddie Leza (Martel '04) Blurb greetings. i am eddie leza and i am a junior at martel who is very interested in being your next HACER president. one aspect of HACER that is very near and dear to me is member involvement. creating committees which will foster more member interaction is just one of the things i plan to do if i am elected. furthermore, i would also like to change the meetings that HACER has from informational to informational and interaction because i believe hands on learning or interaction leads to effecting learning. i really feel strongly about coalition building with other student organizations because, latinos are not an island to themselves and can reach out and discover new things about themselves and connect to other groups through commons goals and heritage. vote for eddie if you want a new twist on a good thing! Leira Moreno (Jones '04) Blurb HEY HACER! This year has truly been a very exciting and eventful year for me. As HACER's Internal Vice-President, I have been able to gain a deeper insight into all HACER represents and does. My greatest responsibility this past year was coordinating Posada, but I also helped out in various other tasks, including study breaks, meetings, lectures, off-campus events, and other activities. I really never thought I would be running for President, but ever since my freshman year at Rice, I knew that I wanted to make a difference and touch people's lives. HACER is very important to me, and I have enjoyed being an officer and trying to make this organization a better and stronger one. HACER has helped me become a stronger and more determined Latina, and by being President I would like to give back what I have received. I know I am qualified for the presidential position, not only because I am dedicated and energetic, but also because I am passionate about being a voice in Rice. I also possess the leadership skills essential for leading the largest Latino organization on campus. Aside from being Internal Vice- President, I have been involved in various other organizations. I've been a member of the Undergraduate Diversity Council for two years, I have sat in President Gillis' Council on Minority Affairs, I have been a Diversity Facilitator and an O-Week Advisor, and I am involved in an off-campus organization called People 4 People which tries to unite people from different cultures, religions, and lifestyles. I am also an English tutor for three Housing employees and enjoy dancing salsa and merengue in my spare time. :-) I am running for HACER President, because I want HACER to be a greater voice here at Rice, and I believe the main way to do that is to reach out for more members. Many students feel they can't belong to HACER unless they grew up in a Mexican-American home and can speak fluent Spanish, but I would like all students to feel welcome. By reaching out to more Latinos, we will be able to reach out to other non-Hispanic students. HACER is not only for Latinos but for all those who would like to know about the Hispanic culture. I believe unity is very important, and therefore, I believe we should be more involved with HOLA, by maybe having a couple of study breaks or meetings together. We are all trying to promote the Hispanic culture and we should therefore support one another. We should also participate with BSA more and have more representation in the Student Association and the colleges. I think it is very important to reach out to the outer community as well. By having more activities like Barrio Center tutoring and maybe even a mentoring program with an elementary school, we can reach out to youngsters who might never even think about going to college. We should also have more Latino speakers come to Rice, such as politicians, writers, artists, and other leaders and maybe create more opportunities were HACER members can display their singing, poetic, artistic, and dancing talents. HACER is an awesome organization already, and with your support we can make it an even greater one for the years to come!

Internal Vice President

Victor Castillo (Brown '05) Blurb During my Freshman's Posada, the people, the mariachis, the event itself made me get goosebumps, "carne de gallina." I felt proud of being a Latino, a Latino at Rice eager to demonstrate what Latino culture was through HACER. Therefore, I became more involved by helping in the Houston Hispanic Forum, attending a Student Conference on Latino Affairs in Texas A&M, and other activities. Last year, I was elected Community Service Coordinator. What I did with such a position you all know, and I have a binder with everything I did as an officer. What I learned from this position was that I was able to coordinate several activities. I started small with Spring Fling, and then with the help of our college reps we were able to collect a sum of more than $1800 for the Toy Drive. This year, I believe I am able to coordinate the event that represents what HACER is and does, Posada. I would like to extend my duties and organize activities during Hispanic Heritage Month. I also believe we have plenty of undergraduates who are able to share their uniqueness during college lunches. HACER already has a good number of activities which need to be nurtured through better advertisement and more student input. That's what I want to do: incorporate more Latinos eager to make a difference so they too will be able to have that warm fuzzy feeling not only during Posada, but every event HACER is part of. There are many other things I desire and could list, but basically, I believe my experience, passion and dedication demonstrated through my work will give you an idea of what I am capable of doing to make HACER a well- distinguished organization not just amongst Hispanics but among the Rice Community. Thank you and please vote for me, Victor Manuel Castillo, to be your Internal Vice-President, se los pido de coraz—n.

External Vice President

Amada Armenta (Wiess '04) Blurb Hi! My name is Amada and I would like to be your External VP next year. Who am I you may be wondering (or maybe not but I'll tell you anyway) I'm currently the External VP, but I was abroad last semester. I've been involved in several activities on campus from PowderPuff to University Council to the Ethnic Studies Task Force. If elected, I have two projects for next year- 1. I'd like to make sure some HACER members make it to really awesome national Hispanic conferences through HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities), NCLR (National Council of La Raza), or USHLI (United States Hispanic Leadership Institute). 2. I'd like to make sure you all are aware of scholarships, fellowships, and internships that are available for minority students. There are lots of opportunities, and I would make it my mission to let you all know about deadlines, websites, and applications. Thanks everyone.

Secretary

Maria Garibaldi (Baker '05) Blurb My name is Maria Garibaldi, and I'm a sophomore at Baker College. I love the Hispanic culture and the many diverse countries that comprise it. I have grown up in a large, Spanish-speaking family, and it is a very important part of my identity. As a Latina and as an American, I would love to contribute to the Rice Hispanic community. In the past year or so, I have tutored with HACER at Barrio Center, and I am currently going to participate in Colores Latinos. With my free time, I enjoy helping out with activities that come up at my college and just random activities at Rice. Outside of the Rice community, I am a member of a Houston-wide organization, Casa Argentina. One way to become more involved and also to be of service to the HACER organization is to apply for the position of secretary. I will work hard, if appointed, and will try my best to fulfill the position's duties and expectations. I am extremely organized-a little too organized-which is why I feel like I am secretary-material. One of my goals as secretary would be to keep you informed of what is going on and to also publicize to the entire Rice community about HACER by way of flyers and other means. I think that HACER should try to reach out to others-to everyone. Diversity within the club is very important and would make the experience richer for everyone. I feel like HACER is really something that I would love to be more involved in, and I would love to get to know the members of the organization better. I see the position of secretary as a means to that end. Thank you for your consideration.

Treasurer

Diego Tucker (Will Rice '06) Blurb I am running for the position of treasurer of HACER for the 2003-2004 term As treasurer, my duties include being responsible for all money issues with HACER as well as organizing fundraisers etc. In the past years, I have held several leadership positions. I was treasurer of the school paper as well as president of the St. Pius Music club. During this term, I helped fundraise for and organize and parochial school tour with our music program. I have an affinity for math and claculations, I am hardworking, resposible but not stingy, and I believe I will be an appropriate candidate for the position of HACER treasurer. I also enjoy social activites, and am currently active in HACER participating in any performances etc.

Community Service Coordinator

Veronica Flores (Lovett '05) Blurb Hi! My name is Veronica Flores and I am running for Community Service Coordinator. I have volunteered in a number of different venues and each experience is always extremely rewarding and wonderful; I've volunteered often at our city library and church at home, I'm an active volunteer at the Houston SPCA, and I've participated in activities at various Star of Hope shelters, the Barrio Center, Ben Taub Hospital, and Casa Juan Diego. As students at a prestigious university, we have all been blessed with so much: a supportive group of family and friends, the gift of a love for learning, and the daily comforts of food and shelter. It is our duty and responsibility to share and give what we can to those who are not as fortunate. Not only are we providing a service to the community, but we'd be touching the hearts of every child we help with their homework, each woman whose story we listen to, and each man whose only meal of the day we serve. In a city as diverse as Houston, there are so many projects HACER can participate in, and I would love to try to have a larger number of HACER members involved in those activities.

Historian

Noemi De La Cruz (Hanszen '06) Blurb I would like to run for HACER historian for various reasons. I am one of those people that needs to feel that I am really apart of something to work hard for it. I always felt welcome among the HACER members and would like a chance to become more active within HACER. I would like to help improve HACER with new ideas and become a more active HACER member. I believe that I would make a great Historian and am willing to give my time to HACER. Thanks Jessica Flores (Lovett '06) and Maribel Robledo (Jones '03) Blurb Hi, I am Jessica Flores and I am new to the HACER family, but I would really like to get involved. I would love to be your historian this upcoming year. I love to take pictures and think I would be really good in this position. I am really energetic and would like to get to know all of you and make sure that all of you are included in the scrapbook since it is supposed to represent the club as a whole. I am really energetic will put a lot of effort into making sure that our memories can be preserved as best as possible. I am very open and approachable so if anyone would like to talk to me about what they think should be included, I will always be open to any suggestions. Thanks for your time. Jess Hi, I am Maribel Robledo. In the four years that I have been at Rice, I have seen and taken part in the growth of HACER. Like Jess, I love taking pictures. HACER, the people and what we stand for is a beautiful thing, and therefore it is important to efficiently capture and record that for the generations to come. In that way, beautiful memories are never lost. In teaming up with Jessica, we can offer two creative and documentative perspectives on the events of HACER. Therefore nothing is missed, and even more is gained. Mari

Art Director

Josef Sifuentes (Martel '04) Blurb My name is Josef Sifuentes, I am the current art director, I would like to run for art director again. This year as Art director and in the previous year, I have organized to bring artist Luis Jimenez to an HACER lunch, organized a trip to see the Frida movie, organized a trip to SanAntonio to see art, and to the MFA to see the Latino Photo exhbibit. I organized the East Houston Tour of Artwork and murals. I put together the flyers, media campaign, banner for Posada and a skit. In addition just as a general member and officer I am working to put together focus study sessions for freshman classes. In the future I am planning to bring an expert speak on the folk art of Chiapas, and another excursion to see a photo exhbit on Frida Kahlo.

Website Editor (new position)
	Esmeralda Martinez (Martel '04)