By Ryan Russell
I was going to do a running live-blog, but there was just too much information to process; luckily, I took decent notes so I’ll share my impressions of the meeting…
President:
Katrina Landeta:
– Initial Impressions: Dressed professionally and spoke confidently despite being the first up.
– Content: Katrina attempted to distinguish herself as a YCC outsider because she, “Is the only candidate who has been a president of a student organization outside the YCC.” The relevance to this distinction is certainly debatable considering the important leadership positions her opponents have held.
– Overall (B+): Katrina was assertive and confident, but didn’t say enough to distinguish herself from her opponents.
Harrison Marks:
– Initial Impressions: Harrison had a lot to say so he talked REALLY FAST. He’s also got this Euro polo shirt thing going on that Matty Eissen was a big fan of.
– Content: Took credit for student development directive, dvd library, and u-haul lobbying. Apparently, Harrison knew he was destined for the Presidency when he stood in front of the DVD library and realized, “I can really make changes at this school.”
– Overall (A-): Harrison got his message across, emphasized his track record on the executive board and displayed a ton of passion for YCC.
Rich Tao:
– Initial Impressions: Rich brought out the shirt and tie for his speech and delivered it confidently.
– Content: It was a very progressive and lofty speech. Rich began by talking about how Yale was now at a crossroads and later discussed abolishing gender binary distinctions. Finally, he distinguished himself from the other two candidates by emphasizing his experience in formulating policies with the administration.
– Overall (A-): Rich has taken a “visionary” approach to his candidacy and his speech was an adequate reflection. My criticism of Rich from the beginning has been whether or not he can get the student body to buy into his vision, which may appear overly idealistic.
Vice-President
Jarrett Burks
– Initial Impressions: Jarrett switched it up a bit by going without the microphone and standing in the center where everyone can see him. Plus, he gives me a shout out in the back of the room just to make sure I can hear (immediate bonus points).
– Content: Jarrett addressed why he was away from student government for the past year (admirably working in the community) and his reasons for desiring to come back.
– Overall (B+): It appears Jarrett’s goal is to structure the YCC through the VP position to improve the Yale social community. He cited his experiences outside of student government as his relevant qualifications and his informal speech was a solid step in the right direction to making this happen.
Emily Schofield:
– Initial Impressions: Emily was very confident and clearly knew what she was talking about.
– Content: Cited 3 reasons why Vice President was the right position for her and included her realistic goals for the future.
– Overall (A): This wasn’t necessarily an exciting speech, but it was as solid a statement for the technical responsibilities of the Vice-President position as you could probably have.
Treasurer:
Will Alexander:
– Initial Impressions: Will “I’m a normal guy” Alexander was the first of the candidates to give his speech in a business suit.
– Content: Will holds the treasurer position as the most accountable to the student population because of the $50 student activity fee. Also pointed to the Student Development Directive as a means of promoting initial student investment and ideas while allowing the administration bankroll in perpetuity.
– Overall (B+): Will adequately demonstrated his understanding for the Treasurer position.
Jon Wu:
– Initial Impressions: Jon Wu was also dressed in a suit and confidently projected his voice better than any candidate up to that point (which I appreciated sitting in the back).
– Content: Jon Wu contributed three ideas including making student budget more readily available to students: creating a database to list funding options for organizations and collecting student input through more focus groups.
– Overall (A): Solid Speech, tangible ideas, very comfortable in front of large audience.
Secretary:
Abigail Cheung:
– Initial Impressions: Dressed casually, seemed a little nervous.
– Content: Cited FCC leadership position and presence at most YCC meetings. Suggested subsidiary groups being forced to head to YCC meetings and wanted to publicize the successes of the YCC so that more students were in the know.
– Overall (B): Speech was Vanilla… but I’m giving her points for making that sweet CD mix (although, I’m not sure it is legal in the international copyright sense… )
Jasper Wang:
– Initial Impressions: Jasper appeared very confident in his business casual wardrobe and his voice projected very well.
– Content: Didn’t want to discuss experience since most of the candidates had it, but separated himself in terms of vision.
– Overall (A-): Solid speech, Jasper sought to distinguish his innovative expertise from his candidate and was successful.
YSAC Chair:
Kristian Henderson: Inspiring speech about her experience securing corporate sponsorships, connections with MTV and VH1, and … BRINGING LUPE FIASCO TO YALE!!!!! Only problem is, I’m not sure that it is possible to secure corporate sponsorships on behalf of Yale College… much more plausible to do it for minority student groups. Great idea though! And it will probably be enough to sway a few votes…
Colin Leatherbury: Cited YSAC experience and passed out a flier outlining his plans for next year.
Travis Long: Hands down, BEST SPEECH OF THE NIGHT! Let me share a few excerpts: “I can get in contact with politicians, bankers, and entertainers! I know these people!! MONEY WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE!!!” It basically went like that for a good 3 minutes… Extremely entertaining.
Jon Tarenzetti: Davenport YSAC representative… had a tough act to follow.
UOFC Chair: I was fading by now…
Matt Marr: Collects money.
Bryan Twarek: All his friends call him BT.
Anne Xu: Was shocked at the UOFC problems and wants to clean it up!
Anxiously awaiting your angry responses…
-Ryan