Mark Sands was chosen to replace Mike Viola as a representative for the Class of 2016 by a SG vote last week. Viola vacated the position to serve as the chair of College Council (CC).

CC voted for Sands out of a pool of 13 second-years who expressed interest in the position after a class-wide e-mail announced the need for a new representative.

Prior to last week, Viola was officially designated “Interim Chair” and could thus retain his representative seat. However, after officially becoming the permanent CC chair, he was required to vacate his representative seat in accordance with the rules and regulations of SG.

Sands, in his new role, hopes to increase the larger student body’s awareness of SG initiatives. “I’m hoping to explore how SG can serve as a way for administrators to get input from and disseminate information to the student body,” he said in an e-mail.

Sands further noted that he was drawn to the position by the recent Hallowed Grounds and UCSC incidents. He said that after these events, he became interested in the problem of “how student input is obtained (or not obtained) when administrators are making decisions that affect student life.”

Sands introduced a resolution for the creation of a UCSC advisory board at the latest SG General Assembly meeting last night, which passed 17 to 5.