If you haven’t yet met the of Team CYZ, you might be the only one.
“We did not want to seem unprepared, so immediately we scheduled meetings last term and have met with everyone you could think of: student leaders, people internal to the AMS, committee chairs, clubs executives and almost every you could think of,” presidential candidate Michael Ceci said. “We’ve meet with the mayor, [city councillor] Bill Glover, Brian Cookman [of the Kingston Police] and we’ve started to ask our friends that aren’t involved what their thoughts are and what their input is.”
For their campaign, Team CYZ—Ceci, vice-president (operations) candidate Leslie Yun and vice-president (university affairs) candidate Adam Zabrodski plan to distinguish themselves by putting in face time with students and letting their platform speak for itself.
“We’ve done so much research and put a lot of work into our platforms. Students will see we’ve covered a wide range of issues that affect undergrads, and they’ll see there is a lot any student can take away,” Yun said. “This is also about recognizability and making sure people our names. We just want to do the best job in every single facet.”
Ceci, ArtSci ’09, said he, Yun and Zabrodski developed a friendly working relationship over the past two years before deciding to come together as an executive team last semester. Ceci said the three share similar visions and goals for the AMS.
“The thing that I like about Adam and Leslie is that they’re both able to have the knowledge to serve either of the VP roles,” he said. “Through their experiences, they’ve had a very diverse background with student government and are able to connect with students.”
Ceci said he’s packed his four years at Queen’s with different experiences to broaden his point of view and to be cognizant of the needs of the average student.
“My involvement started in first year as an intern for the AMS. For the last two years I’ve served as undergraduate Student Trustee, acting as a bridge between the istration and students to advocate on behalf of tuition fees and other issues of finances, as well as being part of the Queen’s Centre working group to earn about that project,” he said. “I’ve also been able to separate other parts of my life from student government. I’ve been a part of Queen’s Musical Theatre and I’m currently acting in my fifth QMT production.”
Yun, ArtSci ’10, is the AMS Communications Manager. She said her three years of experience working for the AMS have prepared her for the vice-president (operations) position.
“I started as a designer at the P&CC in first year, and I loved it and went on to become a design manager in second year. This year, I went over to the AMS as Communications Manager,” she said. “I’ve been able to see the AMS from so many different angles, and I do feel I have a comprehensive understanding and background of the AMS and its operations.”
Zabrodski, Sci ’09, is a director at the Campus Bookstore and the Engineering Society vice-president (academic), two positions he said have given him insight into how to run a corporation.
“I deal with clubs, academic issues and overall direction and strategic planning, which includes sitting down with other [of the Engineering Society] and discussing services,” he said.
Zabrodski said he’s also been involved with other facets of Applied Science during his time at Queen’s.
“For the past two years I’ve been a TA for geological sciences and engineering, which gives me the hands-on classroom experience to teach students, which I really enjoy.” As for cotton candy machines, Nintendo Wii games and other campaign gimmicks used by past AMS teams?
“We have made it our mandate not to resort to any gimmicks or tactics like that,” Ceci said. “We’re going to try to put our faces out there, talking to people every day from different groups, making sure people know our names. Gimmicks do turn a lot of people off.”
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