Jarrett Burks ’10 wants to add a personal touch to the office of YCC vice president.

“People can come to me with their complaints as a friend, and I’ll take them to the YCC,” Burks said.

Burks explained that his personable nature, charisma and open ear allow him to take into consideration the opinions of Yale’s large student body.

Burks said his campaign revolves around two issues: greater YCC transparency through works with a lasting impact and greater sense of community among Yale College students.

The ability to pay using Flex dollars should be expanded to include additional shops, such as Gourmet Heaven, Burks said. He also said the meal-plan policy could be used outside the dining halls.

“Shouldn’t you be able to skip breakfast or lunch and take that $5 or $7 [to spend] at Durfee’s or the Thain Family Cafe?” he asked.

Burks also has ideas for academic changes. Yale students should be able to take classes Credit/D/Fail and still count them towards their distributional requirements, he said.

With regards to fostering community, Burks said he felt the response of the YCC and administration to acts of intolerance this year were “meager at best.” Burks said he would put together a grievance board and address these problems before they arose by speaking to freshmen about being open-minded.

“My approach would be a preventive approach with a student-run panel mandatory for all freshmen to attend,” said Burks.

Burks has kept himself busy at Yale with student government, club sports and service. He served on the Freshman Class Council last year, plays club basketball, serves weekly at a soup kitchen and is a charter member of the Yale Black Men’s Union.

“[His] dealing with conflict and problems in a non-traditional way make him a great candidate,” said Casey Gerald ’09, the founder of the Black Men’s Union.