Juniors Michelle Lee and Lauren Gonzalez are vying for Senior President and Vice President, respectively, along with juniors Andrew Kim and Vivian Luu. Though both tickets have commendable abilities, enthusiasm for their positions and a firm knowledge of what their responsibilities would entail, The Spectator endorses Lee as President and Gonzalez as Vice President (VP). Lee has proven herself as Junior President and her ability to provide strong leadership, and Lee and Gonzalez enjoy a powerful dynamic.
Lee, as the current Junior President, has had a large hand in planning this year’s college trips, and has shown her ability to resolve problems pertaining to her grade. She has promised a Southern trip in the fall, which will give preference to the large number of juniors who could not make the February college trip due to late registration. She has also shown initiative by speaking with Assistant Principal Pupil Personnel Services Eleanor Archie to begin planning this trip.
Lee-Gonzalez, like most tickets, promise a more enjoyable year for current juniors. More importantly, they intend to revamp the class of 2008 Web site, www.stuy08.com, which Lee set up in fall 2006 and currently administers. Lee- Gonzalez wants to make the Web site more interactive and use it as a medium to alert next year’s seniors of special events and to poll them. In fact, Lee and Gonzalez, as well as Kim and Luu, stress gauging the opinions of their fellow classmates in making their decisions.
Lee has developed a strong can-do attitude and has gained a vast amount of experience in her first year in a Student Union (SU) office—a marked improvement from her inexperience at the beginning of the school year—and has made the most of her presidency.
The Kim-Luu ticket has a weak and unrealizable platform compared to that of Lee- Gonzalez. Kim and Luu promise to establish a Clean Sweep Committee that will utilize the Senior Advisory Council to keep areas cleaner, though they outlined no way as to how they would attract council members. “Jazzing up” Open Mic, according to their pamphlet, when it is under the jurisdiction of other students, and offering to serve refreshments is a far stretch from grade-specific goals.
Kim and Luu claim to provide a more diverse spectrum of leadership skills, in which Kim will handle more of the practical and administrative aspects, while Luu will provide the ideas and the creativity. However, during the candidates’ interview, Luu overshadowed Kim— her enthusiasm and vision as well as her commanding presence were qualities that were missing from Kim. Although The Spectator does not endorse their ticket, we strongly urge the Student Union to include Luu as a valuable addition to its staff.
Together, Lee and Gonzalez also offer more SU experience. Gonzalez has served as Freshman VP and Sophomore VP, while Lee is currently serving as Junior President. Though Kim is currently serving as Junior VP, he has taken little initiative, which is the very characteristic that is necessary to lead a grade.
Gonzalez and Lee also have a unique dynamic and have worked closely with each other in event-organizing committees. Their ticket promises a more mutually understanding and balanced leadership that can only benefit their grade members. This is a stark contrast to Kim-Luu, who have a weaker dynamic and unbalanced leadership, since Luu emerged as the stronger counterpart during the interviews.
Overall, both tickets have the potential to mold an exceptional year for the class of 2008. However, Lee and Gonzalez’s experience, energy, unmatched dynamic, and Lee’s initiative and actions as Junior President clearly forecast an able Senior Caucus in their hands.
