College/Year: Berkeley ’03

Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Major: architecture

If all goes as planned, the fact that secretary candidate Naved Sheikh ’03 did not serve on the Yale College Council last year will work to his advantage.

Sheikh was first elected as a YCC representative from Berkeley College last semester, and he said the “outside perspective” he had during his freshman year gives him a unique take on the race for secretary.

“I’m just not as entrenched in YCC as the other candidates,” said Sheikh, who also participates in Sigma Chi and the Yale Model Congress. “I’ve used time and an outsider’s eye to look at problems, and I think I have some solutions.”

Sheikh, who has served in Berkeley College’s own student government, said the YCC must use whatever resources it has at its disposal since the body has limited power.

He said issuing resolutions on key campus issues as the YCC did this past semester can be highly productive, but only if the council involves outside experts from all sides of every issue.

“We need to build trust with the administration and make sure they know we’re going to take our responsibility seriously,” he said.

If elected, Sheikh said he will focus on “key quality of life issues” such as improving the Yale shuttle service and improving food quality in Yale’s dining halls.

— James Collins