CSA elections begin Sunday: President, VP and Treasurer each have two candidates in race

President:

Jinai Bharucha

My fellow Carleton students,

I am writing to ask you to vote for me, Jinai Bharucha, for CSA President. While I have worked on numerous projects in the last two years, I would like to emphasize that I have many goals to follow through on during my last year at Carleton. I believe that my experience with the difficulties of making CSA an accountable and successful venue for student voices make me the best candidate for President. In this editorial, I have included not only my experience, but also a few of my concrete goals in the coming year. Most importantly, I will do my best to listen to all of your concerns and follow up with each one. I am extremely passionate about improving student life at Carleton and am committed to making CSA a place that you feel like you can come to with your concerns.

Even if you have never considered voting before, please consider taking two minutes to read platforms and cast your ballot at csa.carleton.edu between Sunday and Wednesday! If elected, I promise that I will do my best with enthusiasm.

In my two and a half years at Carleton, I have:

* Served as your CSA Vice President for the past year (Spring 2009-Winter 2010),

* Served on the College Budget Committee and chaired the CSA Budget Committee during my Vice Presidency,

* Served as a CSA senator for a year prior to being Vice President (Spring 2008-Winter 2009),

* Served on CSA Budget Committee for two terms (Fall 2008-Winter 2009) prior to chairing,

* And served on the Committee for Student Life and the Constitutional Review Board.

How will I improve your life as a student? I will:

1. Support the pilot program of Intergroup Dialogue and work with other campus organizations to increase the number of opportunities and participation of students in dialogue surrounding privilege, gender, race, and sexual harassment.

2. Make the Day of Service a tradition and work with the ACT Center to ensure that everyone who wants to participate can.

3. Oversee the completion of the textbook exchange so that students will have an easier time trading textbooks and saving money.

4. Continue my work with Student Financial Services to ensure the continuation of the Student Activity Support Fund, which effectively provided financial aid for the Student Activity Fee for over a hundred students this past fall.

5. Continue to host the town hall meetings and other CSA-sponsored events that involve all the students and allow YOU to be heard on a variety of topics that affect the campus.

6. Increase senator accountability to you by leading CSA through the pilot year of the new class representative structure of senate.

I also plan to increase the voice of the student body on College Council, implement active use of the Green Fund, work toward implementation of a uniform evaluation system for professors, collaborate more effectively with other campus offices, and continue to utilize the senator office hours system.

My experience as Vice President over the last three terms has exposed me to the duties and expectations of the President. As your President, I will continue to be an available resource to individuals and organizations just as I have over the past year. I am committed to working tirelessly to make all Carleton students feel supported by senate. Your concerns and ideas will be my guiding principles as I actively pursue issues that arise in the coming year.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my goals and to vote this weekend! I am so excited to work with all of you.

David Heifetz

I want to be CSA President because CSA can and should be a powerful voice for the student body and I believe I can help give it that voice. I completely love this school, and at the very same time there are challenges and opportunities which all of us can see. Among them are increasing diversity (a challenge driven home by the campus climate survey of a few years ago), improving administrative accountability and transparency, the development of a comprehensive course and teacher review system, and better ways this campus could communicate. We can only accomplish these, however, if Senate, as the main intermediary between the student body and the administration, does a better job of engaging all of us on campus.

Throughout my tenure as a Senator, I have focused on learning about how the school works and figuring out how Senate can more successfully fulfill its mandate. These efforts culminated in the bylaw reforms that I led this past fall term. The reforms move the Senate from an at-large senator structure to one where specific grades elect senate representatives, a system where senators will have more defined constituencies and responsibilities. The reforms, therefore, will fundamentally change the way Senate interacts with and represents the student body and its interests. Although every Senator comes with ideas of their own for improving the school, the new system will not only bring new issues to Senate’s attention but will also bring new solutions and proposals to problems we are already aware of. This increase in the availability of information and feedback among students and their representatives in the Senate will make CSA a more dynamic and powerful organization.

My job as President then, is to lead Senate in doing everything it can to take advantage of these opportunities and meet these challenges. Achieving this goal will involve making Senator responsibilities well defined and working with Senators to figure out new ways of engagement with the student body as well as with the faculty. My role will also include acting as the main representative of the Senate to the administration, and therefore serving as the main intermediary between students and administration. I believe I can succeed in this role because I have good working relationships with my fellow senators and many members of the administration, and a track record of innovation — solving problems through action and negotiation as we did in crafting the bylaw reforms. In addition, as President, I will be in a position where I can put more pressure on the administration to improve its transparency and accountability, and this I intend to do.

Regarding issues of diversity in this school, the problems are multi-faceted. Our faculty lacks sufficient ethnic and intellectual diversity, our classrooms often lack diversity of thought, and our campus culture is often segregated along various lines that can make students feel uncomfortable, out of place, and misunderstood. In addition, these social separations severely hurt the school’s mandate to graduate well-rounded and educated citizens of the world. For all of these issues, I believe continued dialogue is key and I will work with CEDI (Community, Equity, and Diversity Initiative), the Office of Intercultural Life, the Faculty and Administration, and of course the student body to continue moving to make this a campus that always feels like home. Also, I plan on participating in the inter-group dialogue pilot program next fall, a good first step to that goal.

Additionally, I think we all experience occasional, if not frequent, frustration with getting information at our school. Whether it is about policies and procedures, campus events or campus news, the amount of disconnected sources—whether they are different websites, posters or booklets—are enough to confuse anybody. In the end we wind up not knowing things we should and missing events on campus we might enjoy. As President, therefore, I am committed to working with all of the relevant organizations, like SCIC and Campus Activities, to consolidate and simplify the school’s mediums for intra-campus communication. Jonathan Carter’s Carleton blog project is also a great start to moving the school’s information into an organized web source.

Lastly, I feel strongly that there needs to be a thorough course and professor evaluation process that increases faculty accountability by making the results available to both the administration and student body. The caucus system for student-to-student reviews is outdated, unorganized, and not very scientific. A formal and uniform way, therefore, for students to provide feedback on classes to both the faculty and administration is a huge opportunity before us in the ongoing process of improving courses and teaching. As President I will lead Senate in doing everything it can to make this change.

As a Carl I have spent a lot of time getting to know numerous parts of the student body and the administration through my roles as a Senator, a Career Center Advisor (come to me anytime for resume help), and a baseball player. In my role as a Senator I have worked to both understand the school’s operations better and make Senate a more effective body in its engagement of students. Understanding the different parts of the school’s culture and its inner workings is vital for any CSA President. Although I would expect to learn more and more as President, I surely have the experience and appreciation for the school to be able to start in that role now. Improving our education, the school’s environment, communication on campus, and strengthening the student voice will all be tough work. We can only start to do it, however, if we are all working together. We need a President who can bring Senate and the student body together to work productively towards our goals, and I believe I am the President who can do that.

Vice-President

Isaac Hodes

My name is Isaac Hodes. I’m a sophomore Math major from Kentucky who’s been crunching numbers on Budget Committee and representing you in the CSA Senate for the past year. I am writing to ask you to vote for me for CSA Vice President.

Experience:

• Year on Senate

• Year on Budget Committee

• Year on Governance Committe

• Currently on the IRC Board (organizing Model UN and Coffee Hours)

• Sit on the Sustainability Revolving Fund Committee

• Sat on the Summer At Carleton College Council working group

• Worked to increase newspaper readership and recycling

• Working on bringing a textbook exchange system (à la Craigslist) to Carleton

• Was on working group for Senate Reorganization

• Was a member of Carleton’s Forensic Debate Team (before CSA obligation forced me to stop)

•Worked (and working on still) expanding storage space for Carleton students and their organization

•Working on changing/expanding/revitalizing Sayles-Hill

My goals are summarized like so:

1) Clarification of the process to achieving something at Carleton: Want to do X? Then go to Y.

2) Begin the discussion and start the process for a new Campus Center/Sayles Hill that better serves our needs on campus.

I’ve spent the last year and a half trying to learn my way around this campus, and I’m still learning more every day: where to go if you’re in need of funding for an event or a trip or for some large drums and gongs; if you want to start a Wiffle Ball™ club or a Euchre group; if you feel like you’re not getting the food you need. Who you talk to if you can’t find a place to store your gongs; who to chat with if you’re unsure about the College’s investments; who to write to if you want to publicize an event.

But it’s not always easy to find out what you need to do to get something you’re passionate about done here: it’s usually discouragingly hard.

My goal is to make this easier. Not only do I encourage you to shoot me an email (even now) if you have a question, but I will make sure that by the end of my term as VP there will be an online “map” of sorts that lays out a path to getting something done, in a clear way. It shouldn’t take a lot of work just to find out what you need to do in order to get something done.

My other primary goal is a bit more difficult; I would like to initiate the conversation and fight for what students deserve at Carleton – a new student union building. There’s no way this can be done within the time we’re students here, but it needs to be done, and we need to start planning and pushing for one now.

Conversations with my peers here been really enlightening in terms of letting me know what kind of things are missing from Sayles right now: a dedicated cultural center, a jam room for bands to practice in, extra storage for student organization owned goods, a building that isn’t freezing in the winter and sweltering in the spring… the ideas go on and on. I’d like to hear more, and I’d like to work with you and the administration to see where we can go next to get this project rolling.

I hope to work with all of you to make these things possible in the coming year.

Moshe Lavi

My name is Moshe Emilio Lavi and I am running for the CSA Vice-President position. I have vast experience in student government and in leadership roles at Carleton College and in previous institutions, and I wish to continue the mutual efforts made by the former administration to shape a better and more accessible CSA Senate. I was/am involved in the following activities on campus: Former elected Senator (as part of this role I was member of the Global Engagement working group and Governance Committee); member of the Education and Curriculum Committee; member of the Dean of Students Search Committee; former chair of STAND; ISO Leader; member of the Lens Magazine Business Team; member of the IRC; and member of the JSC Board.

I view the CSA Senate as a platform in which the elected representatives should empower and embody students’ opinions. However, I do have in mind some of my own proposals:

1. Student Parliament: As a senator, I introduced the idea of establishing an all-student assembly in order to further democratise our student community and increase the level of civic and communal engagement. I am hoping that I’ll be able to materialise the idea as a VP by institutionalising a Student Parliament, through a referendum, that will convene once a term and grant all students attending the political power to vote upon important issues. This will benefit our community by both limiting the power of the CSA Senate and educating ourselves on how truly communal and democratic processes work.

2. Budget Committee: As a VP and Chair of the Budget Committee I will pursue an equal distribution of funds throughout the term, although I do wish to increase the financial support for groups that foster global, civic and cultural engagement. I also hope to examine the possibility of establishing a new fund, channelled to groups that plan to hold an event that aims to raise awareness to both global and local issues and/or fundraise money/goods for victims of natural and human-made disasters.

3. Transparency and Visibility: Increasing the level of transparency and visibility of the CSA Senate on campus can be done by updating the website on a more regular basis, publishing all the documents used in the meetings, solicit students opinion, online and in person, more often, and continue the work of the former administration to improve the accessibility of the CSA website. Furthermore, the establishment of a student parliament will ensure the Senate will be more accountable for its actions and will allow students to voice their opinions, concerns and suggestions in a more communal, power-sharing and welcoming manner.

Alongside the aforesaid, I am also planning to (1) continue working on the issue of divestment from Sudan, (2) strive towards the improvement of the Wellness Centre (by adding hours and number of workshops and lectures), (3) promote and implement my proposal to provide sheltered smoking areas on campus and (4) be attentive to any sensible suggestion or proposal you, my fellow students, may have.

Please do feel free to contact me (in person, via email or via facebook) in order to ask questions about my platform and the general vision I have. I would appreciate your support and hope to win the mandate for this position.

Treasurer

Sarah Duane

For the past eight terms I have been a Student-At-Large on the CSA Budget Committee and for the last three I have served as Treasurer. In this capacity, I have overseen the multitude of amazing projects and events that the Carleton student body has hosted. This experience has afforded me an intimate knowledge of the CSA financial operations, and during this time I have developed and maintained excellent relationships with the heads of student organizations, the business office and Campus Activities. I believe that it is CSA’s job to promote quality student projects and represent the needs of the student body when working with the college.

If re-elected to a second term as treasurer, there are two things I will do to achieve these goals:

1) Make the Budget Committee process more visible, accessible, and transparent to students

2) Use my experience as Treasurer and my relationships with the Business Office and Campus Activities to continue working on long term projects such as:

·   Streamlining the Budget Committee request process to cut down on confusion and save time
·   Simplifying the reimbursement process to free up more money for student organizations
·   Promoting the use of the Green Funding and the Diversity Initiative Fund

As CSA Treasurer, my goal is to guide students through the Budget Committee process so that financial logistics are not a hindrance. I want increase the visibility of Budget Committee to promote the creative student use of CSA funds. Over the past three terms I have accomplished this goal through individual meetings with students, faculty and significant website updates. In addition, I will continue my campaign to promote the use of Third-Center Fund, Metro-Arts Access Fund and Alt-Bev.

If you elect me treasurer I will continue to be open, honest and most importantly, represent the needs of the student body. My preexisting relationships with important campus offices and my previous experience as CSA Treasurer will go a long way towards accomplishing these goals.

Charlie Liu

I am sending my platform to run for the Treasurer of CSA Senate. I believe that my experience in CSA Senate and Budget Committee, my background in budget planning and quantitative analysis, and my passion in CSA will qualify me as a strong candidate for this position.

As a both Senator in CSA Senate and member of CSA Budget Committee, I have been involved in committees and groups such as CSL, AFAC, Career Center Committee, and Budget Committee, in which I gained precious perspective of the interactions of CSA Senate and different committees. With these experiences, I am confident that I will be fitting in the role of Treasurer very soon. Besides, being a leader of student organizations, I will also bring in the interests of student organizations so that both the Senate and the Budget Committee will function more smoothly.

As a double major in Economics and Mathematics, I have also been interested in financial analysis. I have taken accounting course and business decision making course and worked in General Electric as Financial Planning & Analysis Intern in which I have dealt with intensive Excel spreadsheet work in auditing revenues and profits. Hence, I am also confident in my finance background and shall integrate my finance skills in the job of Treasurer.

If I were to be elected as the Treasurer, I would work hard with student organization leaders to help them better understand the funding request guideline and better plan fixed costs, variable costs, and financial management of individual groups. I understand that we are facing bigger challenge of tight total funding cap and increasingly more wonderful events that student organizations plan to do, and I will try my best to tackle it!

Thanks for your attention! I am looking forward to working on the position that I feel passionate for and with people I really love to work with! Please vote for me!

The Carletonian

The Carletonian

The Carletonian

CSA elections begin Sunday: President, VP and Treasurer each have two candidates in race

President:

Vice-President

Treasurer

The Carletonian

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