Name: Jackie Carter
Residential college: Saybrook
Class year: 2007
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Major: Ethics, politics and economics
Current YSAC secretary Jackie Carter ’07 said she wants YSAC to reach out to other campus groups.
“We have the potential to go into other student activities and use our connection with the administration to our advantage,” Carter said.
A member of Kappa Alpha Theta and the market analyst for the Yale Investment Club, Carter said that the tripling of YSAC funds next year because of the new student activities fee will finally allow the committee to fund projects such as a “Yale Idol” competition, a weekly newsletter of weekend events distributed in the dining halls, an Iron Chef competition and basketball tournaments.
Pointing to this year’s first annual Winter Arts Festival, Carter said she also wants to plan events with an emphasis on community service — possibly a large-scale fast modeled on those organized by the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project culminating with a picnic on Old Campus.
A member of YSAC since the committee’s conception in the fall of 2003, Carter said her experience and vision — as well as an ability to work as a team player — would make her an effective YSAC chair.
Name: Lina Chen
Residential college: Trumbull
Class year: 2008
Hometown: East London, South Africa
Major: undeclared
Lina Chen ’08, the current YSAC representative for Trumbull College, said she wants to inject energy into Yale’s social scene by adding her own personal touch on campus events.
“One of my goals is to create new events, improve old events and add sparkle,” Chen said. “I really love new stuff.”
A former representative on the Trumbull Student Activities Committee and the executive producer of the YTV interactive soap opera “Ivy University,” Chen said she believes her organizational skills and experience will help her to create new events and develop new ideas.
Among her proposals are an increased number of theme parties in the vein of Silliman’s ’80s-themed “Safety Dance.” Chen hopes to make such events a monthly tradition and wants to throw “traffic light” parties — in which people dress up in red, yellow or green to signify their availability.
Most of all, Chen said she just wants to help everyone to have fun.
“I have all these ideas,” Chen said. “I feel that [YSAC] did a lot of stuff that wasn’t necessary. We spent money that could have been used more resourcefully.”
Name: Ivan Dremov
Residential college: Pierson
Class year: 2007
Hometown: Indianapolis, Ind.
Major: Economics and international studies
Most people can’t even tell the difference between Yale Student Environmental Coalition and the YSAC, Ivan Dremov ’07 said. The co-chair of the Pierson College Student Activities Committee, Dremov said he wants to change this and expand YSAC’s presence on campus.
“Not many people know about YSAC,” Dremov said. “They confuse it with YSEC. The YSAC is more practical than the YCC. We’re not thinkers; we’re doers.”
Citing complaints that the YCC and student organizations don’t work together, Dremov said he wants to reach out to student organizations and use YSAC funding to help organizations that can’t afford to fund big events.
Dremov wants to combat the insularity of residential colleges by organizing more campus-wide events, including game shows, a paintball competition and a talent show.
His other priorities include encouraging interaction between YSAC and residential college SACs, making the YSAC financially solvent and cultivating a love of Yale.
“I really want to bring back that love for school,” Dremov said. “There’s too much stress and not enough spirit at Yale.”
Name: Lauren Ezell
Residential college: Jonathan Edwards
Class year: 2007
Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.
Major: History
Lauren Ezell ’07, one of the co-chairs of this year’s Spring Fling, said her leadership roles qualify her for a place on the executive committee next year.
Ezzell, who participated in the T.I.E.S. tutoring program last year, said that YSAC is now her primary commitment, a distinguishing point for her candidacy. She also planned the Yale Jam at Cafe Bottega as part of this year’s Winter Arts Festival
Improvements to the organization, including energizing the YSAC at the beginning of the year and expanding the role of YSAC on campus, comprise some of the items on her agenda, she said.
“We really got a late start this year. I think that’s one of the things we can work on getting on top of things at the beginning of the year. I feel like next year we have a lot of big steps to take that we are ready to take,” Ezell said
The recently agreed-upon student activities fee will be an important resource from which to draw, she said, but dispensing and managing the funds appropriately requires a unique set of skills which she believes she has.
“More money is one thing, but organizing that money and the effort put behind it is a whole other thing,” Ezell said.
Name: Liz Kennard
Residential college: Timothy Dwight
Class year: 2007
Hometown: Plano, Texas
Major: Molecular biophysics and biochemistry
Liz Kennard ’07, who was the Yale Student Activities Committee’s secretary for the first semester of this year and co-chair of last year’s Winter Ball as a member of the then newly formed YSAC, said that coordinating the logistics of the ball equipped her with the skills necessary to be a successful candidate.
The current YSAC system, Kennard said, is not always conducive to communication, and she hopes to better that environment this year. Her plans include a “College Council Night” to be held once every two weeks in each of the colleges where representatives from the Yale College Council and YSAC can inform students and discuss with them current and prospective issues.
“I feel like YSAC needs someone to be dedicated, who knows how to lead a group, is determined to make sure things get done and will take the burden if things don’t get done, and I feel like I’d be fully willing to do that,” Kennard said.
Kennard, who also dances in Yaledancers and Rhythmic Blue in addition to serving as a publicity chair for Yale’s United Way Student Campaign, said that she would most likely drop involvement in one of her dancing groups if elected.