New APSC leaders detail goals for next year

On Wednesday, the Asian Pacific Student coalition, an umbrella organization for 20 Asian-Pacific student organizations, elected Wharton junior Raymond Flores as its new chairman.

Flores, who is originally from the Philippines, currently serves as the vice president of Cultural Programming for the Penn Philippine Association and is a member of the bid team to bring the East Coast Asian American Students Union Conference to Penn.

Daily Pennsylvanian: Why did you decide to run?

Raymond Flores: I've been involved within the Asian Pacific American community throughout my time here at Penn. I really want to make a positive impact within the community. I will be able to serve and unite the coalition.

DP: What are your goals for the next year for APSC?

RF: One of the goals I've set forth has been to strengthen the coalition's communication both internally and externally. This will greatly affect the way our constituents establish and develop relationships within the constituency and groups external to APSC.

In addition to that, the coalition has to take more proactive measures to address effectively the accurate representation of Asian Pacific American students on campus specifically through working with Admissions and the Asian American Studies department.

We need to maintain constant communication with the Asian American Studies department to ensure its sustainability and make sure that something like the Asian American Studies proposed budget cut doesn't blindside [us].

DP: What made people more aware of APSC in the last year?

RF: The outgoing board has done a great job of stimulating community interest with the coalition. It was seen through the Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. Being able to draw the community to protect the budget cut has been uniting.

DP: Do you have an agenda for the spring?

RF: We hold Catapult, which is a daylong conference that brings the APSC liaison and the president of each constituent group together in one setting to discuss leadership within the organizations, how to really create an impact for their organizations. This time around we want to infuse a more social aspect to the initiative and the day to make sure that we're developing relationships organically and that these relationships will eventually ultimately help to spur on further collaborative work among our constituent groups.

I want to make sure we revamp our Web site so that it's clearer and more dynamic. I [also] think it's important that APSC continues to work with the architects and administrators on planning renovations for ARCH. Right now cultural resource centers are divided by walls. It would be nice to see a resource center doesn't inhibit intercultural interaction.

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