YCC candidates ponder changes, victory

HYURA CHOI/YH

Hot issues this year have included reforming financial aid, recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and procuring soap dispensers for dormitory bathrooms. While these topics have united different student organizations on campus, the lagging progress has prompted some to question the Yale College Council's (YCC) ability to provide any more than Spring Fling.

Offering promises to act on these issues, candidates with experience in student government and the YCC campaigned this week. "In the past there have always been candidates outside the YCC and we do not have that as much this year," current YCC President Libby Smiley, JE '02, said.

Slow progress on major issues has inspired most candidates to promise to strengthen the YCC. Candidates cited poor communication as the main weakness in the YCC's relationship with the student body. "Too often the resolutions drafted and passed by the YCC do not reflect the concerns of students outside the YCC," treasurer candidate Alexis Hoag, SM '04, said. "The potential for real change is there, but that potential is not always met."

Vice-presidential candidate Ted Wit-tenstein, BK '04, agrees that greater communication is necessary to increase student support for the YCC. "The reason why the YCC is not powerful this year is because they have not gotten the support from students," he said. "Unless there is unified support for an issue, change is not going to happen."

Wittenstein added that he believes the YCC, which can influence administrative decisions, needs to take more initiative to see that its resolutions are enacted and that student concerns reach the Administration. "Our promises are ones that can be delivered, but they need to be delivered with the right kind of leadership," he said.

While Smiley said she could not yet comment on this year's election, she agreed that the YCC is capable of implementing many of its resolutions. "A strong group of officers and a strong council have a lot of potential to make things happen," she said.

Wittenstein said that in addition to the current issues, his agenda includes capping section class sizes, tenuring more faculty, including minorities, increasing student representation on standing committees, and improving student access to Yale's resources, such as performance spaces. He added that, if elected, he plans to work with various student groups to gain unified support for various issues and then present appeals to the Administration.

Hoag added that she plans to seek student groups as co-sponsors for events such as Spring Fling, which can benefit both the organization and the YCC. "The groups can set up a booth to promote their own organizations," she said.

Proposed solutions include increasing publicity of the YCC agenda and encouraging involvement from students and campus organizations. "By working together through activities, the YCC and other groups can form an understanding relationship that can cross over when it comes to issues," Hoag said.

"If a group sees something they are interested in joining forces with, such as financial aid or the MLK Day resolution, they can come to the meeting in which that topic will be discussed," Hoag added. Wittenstein and secretary candidate Ryan Sheely, MC '04, both said they plan to e-mail a regular YCC update to provide students with the most information about council activities. Sheely added that if elected, he will update the YCC website frequently. Wittenstein noted that the YCC constitution mandates a student newsletter, although a regular one has not been issued this year.

In addition, a few candidates who are current YCC representatives believe that more research is necessary to strengthen initiatives that the Administration has denied in the past. Wittenstein said that the YCC researched the actual cost of soap for dormitory bathrooms this year and "set the framework for acquiring soap next year."

Hoag added that the YCC issues committee recently spoke with GESO representatives and Yale-New Haven Hospital workers and drafted a well-informed resolution on Yale's position in the matter.

"That needs to happen across the board with all issues and it can with proper planning and communication," she said. With the promise of greater initiatives also came a new method of voting this year. A large percentage of voters are freshmen, who are less familiar with the college Pantheon network because many instead use Internet e-mail service, Smiley said. After candidates inquired about the voting process, Alexander Clark, PC '04, designed the Internet system to increase voter turnout.

Following a large voter turnout last year due to an increased number of candidates, Smiley said that she hopes the easier voting system will maintain the turnout and keep students' interest in the elections. 

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