Because of that, the first Directorship to be analyzed is the Director of Community Relations. This position's purpose is to reach out to the various community groups (pan-hellenic, Intra-Fraternity Councy, Ethnic Cultural Center, the Residence Hall Student Association, and the ever elusive Commuter Constituency) and help make their issues known to the ASUW at large, perhaps even solving some of their problems. In this role, the CR often works closely with the President to advertise initiatives the ASUW is taking o
n, with the VP to select volunteers from a broad pool of applicants, and the Director of Programming to bring interesting events to the different communities.Candidates: Tunny Vann (One Campus), Pasha Kazerouni (Husky Nation), and Yong Cho (Team Legacy).
Current Positions: Tunny is the sitting Director of Community Relations, which is an excellent point in favor of his candidacy for re-election.
Pasha does not hold a current position within the ASUW, but tells me he has been working within his Fraternity on the Miss Greek Charity event, which as the Daily reports, brought in $92,000 for cancer research.
Yong Cho is heavily involved in the Hip Hop Student Association and is Co-President of the east2west production company. He also serves as an ASUW mentor and is part of the UW Leaders program.
Strengths: Pasha's strengths come from two sources, I think. First his recent activity within the Greek Community in the Miss Greek philanthropy event will have put his face out in that community, and the success of the event will lend him some prestige and credibility. Secondly, the fact that he is a new voice to ASUW, not having been involved in other ASUW programs. If addressed correctly, this will be seen as a strength because he is bringing fresh ideas and a more solid connection to the Greek Community.
Yong Cho is an interesting candidate, in my mind, because his residential community is the Residence Halls. It's been three years since a Director of CR came from the dorms, and it might be time for another one. He has also been involved all over the place this year, and will be able to tap different communities than are traditionally brought in to support a candidate for CR.
Tunny has the seat currently, which is a difficult position to assail. Other candidates wi
ll have to walk carefully around critiquing the position's recent history or else they will be seen as attacking Tunny. The fact that Tunny is currently in the position means he will be able to demonstrate that not only can he do the job, but he is doing it well. He will also have guaranteed face time with the different communities because he holds the position.Weaknesses: Yong Cho's weakness might be that he is over committed. He is highly involved in two organizations, and less involved in several others. No one wants to force someone to quit their involvement in their passions to take on a role in student government. He will also suffer from a lack of name recognition in the general student body, but that can be overcome with advertising and face time.
Tunny's strength could turn into his weakness. He has a year on record in the position, and if a student who is paying close attention decided to dig into the Board minutes I am sure they could find something damaging. I say that because, as anyone who has spoken at a Board Meeting knows, what you mean to say, what comes out, and what the person taking minutes writes down are not always the same thing. Taken out of context, the most benign comment could be construed to devastating effect.
Pasha's weakness is mostly along the lines of Yong Cho's weakness: he will need to work on his name recognition outside of the Greek Community. His lack of ASUW experience could also be seen as a weakness, even though I listed it as a strength too. If addressed improperly, if Pasha does not frame it as being a fresh voice, but rather lets another ticket describe him as too new, too inexperienced, his lack of ASUW experience could be a pitfall.
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