#sydneyfang

"For the first time in his 15 years as a Berkeley City Council member, Kriss Worthington has endorsed student candidates for the ASUC elections at UC Berkeley.

Berkeley’s Biggest Secret? Every Ethnic Group Left Behind

STUDENT STUDY SHOWS SHOCKING STATISTICS!

Preliminary findings of a recent UC Berkeley student study of racial and age diversity in Berkeley commissions revealed that African Americans, Latinos, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and students are severely underrepresented in Berkeley City Commissions. 4 Councilmembers had zero Latino appointees and 3 Councilmembers had zero Black appointees.  Several others had only one Black and one Latina appointee. Each gets to appoint 34 commissioners!

Even in Berkeley, a city renowned for diversity and progressive ideas, the politicians don’t always live up to their rhetoric. Even if each Councilmember had one person from each group, that would not come close to fair representation for 45% of the city residents.

(2010 Census counts 19% API, 11 Latino, 10% African American, 5% Bi-Racial).

“As a Chinese and Vietnamese American woman, I know that the Asian/Pacific Islander and Latino communities have grown to 30% of Berkeley.  We demand a seat at the table. We stand in solidarity with the African American community which even today still does not have a fair share of appointments,” said study co-author Sydney Fang. “Our work to fight injustice and underrepresentation must start here in the City of Berkeley.”

Study authors Sydney Fang and Alice Lin also wrote an action plan to address these disparities:

1.      Educating the Council and the public on these shocking numbers.

2.      Lobbying the Council to meet with the community and commit to improvements.

3.      Recruiting neighborhood, student, religious and Civil Rights leaders to identify talented potential applicants and help them to apply.

4.      Flooding the City Council with applications for all 58 current vacancies.

5.      Outreaching and providing assistance to student applicants to increase student representation as well as racial diversity.

6.      Demanding the City Clerk better publicize vacancies and provide Council with a biennial report on the diversity breakdown of commissions by Councilmember.

"We must strive to empower students of color to fight against historical marginalization and represent their communities and their needs, said Stefan Monmouth, the Operations Director of the bridges Multicultural Resource Center at UC Berkeley. “While we are conscious everyday of our privilege in being a student at UC Berkeley, we are also reminded of how much more work there is to be done."

The Student Diversity Study was compiled by students at UC Berkeley in Sydney's office using information from the City Clerk and correspondence with Berkeley City Council Members and their staff.

Sydney Fang and the CalSERVE Executive Slate sat down with Caliber Magazine to share their vision for how Cal can serve students. Sydney shared her goals for the EAVP Office and who her least favorite celebrity is! Watch to learn how she will amplify YOUR voice in the ASUC, the City of Berkeley, and Sacramento. 

For more information on the CalSERVE Executive Slate, watch Caliber's interviews with them here! Remember to vote CalSERVE - Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education on April 10, 11, and 12!

                           The Bay Area Reporter:

A gay student at UC Berkeley is looking to make history this spring as the East Bay campus' first out student body president.

Andrew Albright, 20, a political science and sociology major, is running to be the next president of what is known as the Associated Students of the University of California, or ASUC for short. Currently serving as a senator on the governmental body, Albright is heading up the slate of candidates from CalSERVE, one of four political parties at UC Berkeley, running for four executive positions.

CalSERVE, which stands for Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education, is the more progressive of the two main parties but has faired poorly in presidential races. Its main rival, Student Action, has dominated the political scene at Cal since its founding in 1995, noted a recent article in the campus paper.

This is the third time the CalSERVE's presidential candidate has been an LGBT student – in 2010 Eunice Kwon, a queer student, lost her bid for the post.

"Honestly, I am not sure why there has been no gay president yet," said Albright, who grew up in Folsom, during a recent interview with theBay Area Reporter.

On his senator's blog Albright boasts that he is "representing Cal's queer community, as well as progressive, politically-minded students and communities on campus." He said one of his goals he had after being elected a senator last year was to unite Cal's disparate LGBT groups under the banner of the Queer Alliance and Resource Center.

"I ran for senate on a queer platform. There are quite a number of LGBT groups on campus but none talked to one another," said Albright, a member of the gay fraternity Sigma Epsilon Omega. "There was no centralized voice. I worked to create a central organization to act as an umbrella."

While he said his candidacy is not as important as the fight for marriage equality or electing the first out person to the U.S. Senate, Albright acknowledged his winning would be symbolic and have an impact.

"Things even as little as a campus election can change people's perceptions," he said. "Things that happen on a small scale can have the biggest impact on people's attitudes and beliefs in my opinion."

Yet Albright doesn't intend to play up his sexual orientation and the historic significance his victory would mean in the presidential race.

"I didn't focus on the idea of being the first queer president," said Albright. "I do want to represent the entire student body. There are real issues students are facing now."

Chief among them is the rising cost of tuition at the state's universities as lawmakers in Sacramento continue to cut spending on higher education. College students recently converged on the state Capitol to demand more financing from the Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown (D).

Already in town for a student leadership conference, Albright joined in the protest.

"I have focused a lot this year on getting students out to lobby at Sacramento," he said. "The affordability of textbooks and dorms is something I want to focus on as president."

He has spoken out in favor of asking incoming Cal students about their sexual orientation, something currently being considered.

"It could provide a lot of good options in terms of the university knowing how many students are LGBT or queer-identified on campus and providing more resources for them," he said.

But Albright is not in favor of asking applicants if they are LGBT, as he believes many students fill out the forms with their parents and may not be comfortable or able to disclose their sexual orientation on their application.

"My mom was sitting with me when I filled out my applications to college. If I wasn't out, I would have said straight," said Albright, who came out prior to his senior year in high school.

Voting for the ASUC election will take place April 10-12. Even if Albright falls short, his supporters expect he will win public office one day.

As an example they point to gay state Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles). He was a CalSERVE member when he attended UC Berkeley.

"I just think Andy will have a lot of potential in the future. He will be one of our LGBT leaders in the very near future," said Nicholas Gonzalez, 20, a gay student who is serving as Albright's campaign manager.

In celebration of Spring Break, we are kicking off our FUN FACT FRIDAY series with a video!

Sydney invites YOU to learn about her passions, experiences, and quirks. Every Friday, we will feature exclusive fun facts about Sydney on her tumblr and facebook in hopes that you will connect with Sydney as a person and get a sense of the values and consciousness that she will bring to the ASUC if elected EAVP.