The following are the responses by candidate for vice-president internal Lawrence Lam to the UWS questionnaire.
1. Describe the essence of your platform in 30 words or
fewer.
Essentially all my platform items are directed at breaking down the barriers that stand in the way for students who want to be full participants in strengthening the UW Community.
2. What are the three most important issues in this
election? List your
answers and write 50 words or fewer on each.
Improve the relationship between governing bodies and students. There has been a perception that FEDS is more interested in exercising authority and maintaining a bureaucracy rather than working with students and helping them with their initiatives. I’ve been hearing this especially from student societies and from club execs.
Security at large events. It's too bad that WIPAC had to pay so much for security when for an event last Fall. We need a deal to make sure that students are not overburdened financially when bringing in a speaker. We need to keep free speech free.
Community Awareness. It was great that there we hosted three world-class speakers last week but this also meant that if you attended one talk, you missed out on another. I will look for ways to improve communication on campus so that everybody can know what's on at UW.
3. What is your most important contribution to the
university community
that qualifies you for the position for which you are
running? State it
and write 50 words or fewer to describe it.
When I was a FEDS Councillor, I co-created a committee to streamline the administration of Clubs and Services. I also created a committee to take care of special projects funding. The VP Internal chairs these committees, one of which I presently sit on.
4. What are Feds' three most significant failures this
year? List them
and write 30 words or fewer on each.
The handling of the Embassy Students Association was disastrous. It's almost inexcusable that the issue is still unresolved to this day, especially given the nature of the infractions.
Many groups have complained about the red tape that has been set up to run events. The paperwork required of execs is just unnecessary.
Public relations was poor. Most students aren’t able to remember anything promised nor can they name three accomplishments. Also, many students felt alienated by the heavy-handedness of the executive.
5. Describe the two, most important, specific things you
would change to
make Feds more effective. List them and write 30 words
or fewer on each.
I would make the administration and funding committees more transparent to avoid the PR problems that this year's secretive committee experienced.
I will advertise the resources that are available to students. Students have many exciting ideas and they should know we can help get them off the ground.
http://old.uwstudent.org/article.php?story=20050209132726768