Name: Yoon Minn Lai Age: 22Major: UndeclaredPrevious posts held before (positions of leadership): President of Student Council at Methodist Boys School in Malaysia.1. Why are you running for executive vice president? Since I came in the fall, I’ve attended several DASB meetings but I wasn’t certain in joining because I was disenchanted with the atmosphere of the meeting. It seemed like people were there just to pass time. They did not have a lot of energy or enthusiasm. I always had the idea of joining the DASB at the back of my mind so when the elections came a DASB member approached me to join his coalition. His plans for change were concrete to transform the DASB from a more of a rubber-stamp organization to a dynamic activist work team. The current DASB decision making process is very slow hindering more proactive action. So that’s why the DAASB has lost touch with the student population and most students feel that it doesn’t have a presence. I want to truly change that by having DASB connect back to students who care which are generally in socially active clubs like Wise 37 and SFJ (Students for Justice) I want to have the DASB legitimate authority that represents the student community like a few years ago when the DASB was successful in hindering of the removal of the multicultural curriculum requirement for graduation. That was when the DASB was truly alive and stood up against authority. 2. What are your plans for the DASB as executive vice president? I wish to loosen the bureaucracy of the current procedures parliamentary which binds the hands of the DASB. I wish to incrementally lower the restrictions and give empowerment to the DASB senators which I propose in the form of action groups where senators are free to make most decision-making on their own without the scrutinization of parliamentary procedures although there is merit in that form of governance certain areas of it are more suited for institutions such as the city council but lesser for the DASB that does not have the support of full time staff. 3. Which projects of the DASB do you support and why? I definitely support the US Bank and Farmer’s market projects which will add value to the student community. The successful budget cut march was a blast and I am especially thankful to the DASB for providing the opportunity if not I wouldn’t have been able to participate in the protest and learn the valuable lesson of student voice power. At current I had read that senators were proposing to reduce a billion from the budget cut to education. I feel very satisfied to see the fruits of democratic action. 4. Which qualities do you have that will help you become successful as an executive vice president? I believe one of the biggest problems in the current senate is the current intercultural barrier between international students and local students. Being able to communicate effectively in four languages which are English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay, I can be the effective bridge between those two continents. I can be the rally point to tear those barriers away to unite the DASB as an effective cohesive group. 5. What are your weaknesses that might hinder you from being an effective leader?Sometimes I have been overly brash to push issues that I am passionate about I have learned from those experiences to be more observant of the sensitivities and subtleties of the audience. 6. Why did you pick David as a running mate? Because we have two different personalities but complimenting each other. Our two separate cultural backgrounds are just a representation of the diversity in our coalition which has Hispanics, Caucasians, Mediterraneans and Middle Eastern. We are a perfect marriage. He has yellow fever and I have white fever but let me spell out that we are not queens.
