Candidate list will be updated as entries come in. The list will be finalized at 8pm on Dec 5. Candidates will have an opportunity to switch positions between 8pm Dec 5 and 8pm Dec 7.
President
Yavuz Yetim
This is my fourth year in our great community and hopefully will be my third year in the Lawrence Committee. I have previously served as the social chair in the committee and I have been the committee president for the last year. As the president, you need to know how things work and I-am-experienced :)
Last year, we solved many important issues that have been bothering the community. Previously, shovels were poorly managed, the WiFi was very slow and did not even work for some apartments. Now, the committee took the responsibility of handling the snow shovels and for every major snow, we are prepared to supply more than twice shovels that were previously available. Communicating with the OIT revealed that the WiFi system was not going to be upgraded in at least two more years because they were not aware of the problem. Our webmaster prepared the WiFi form and we made the OIT aware of the poor WiFi conditions. As a result, an upgrade was made available to the residents in just a few weeks. I have also taken actions on other issues, such as getting scanners for the clusters and fixing the shuttle schedule that sometimes changes in a bad way to cause inconvenience for us.
Following my statement from two years ago when I was a candidate for the social chair; I think one of the most important of the Lawrence Buildings, especially for people who switch from the GC, is that there is basically nothing fun to do. When I was the social chair, I proposed to get a nice TV with a DVD player for the common room (which we did) but this is not enough. Currently, I am actively pursuing to improve one of the common rooms to have a D-Bar-like place so that our community can be socially more active. It is difficult to do this with our own budget since we would like to give you the best social events. For this, our GSG representative and I are actively having discussions with the new manager of graduate housing, James Poole who is very helpful and deeply interested in having the apartment complex to be a real community, more than only housing for students.
With a responsible, enthusiastic committee and an active community, I will have the chance to execute these plans to make the Lawrence a fun place to live and solve all of our other problems as soon as possible.
Vice-President
Andra Geana
My name is Andra Geana, and for the past year I have served as the GSG Rep for our lovely Lawrence community. In that time, I heard several issues that residents brought up (such as poor wireless, laundry room or mail room problems, and general questions about residential life), and worked with the rest of the Committee to address those concerns and make living in Lawrence an enjoyable experience for everyone. In particular, I worked to make sure that our residents had a voice in the grad student government, and to convey all the important information discussed at the monthly GSG meetings back to the committee and to the community. Through my position, I learned about a series of issues that our community will be facing in the near future, such as significant changes to housing policies, health plan changes, new staff in key departments (e.g. housing!) and a series of construction and building function plans that will affect everyone living in grad campus housing.
I believe it's essential for our residents to be kept up to date on all the new and updated procedures, and have an input in the policies that will affect their living situation. This is why I am applying for the position of Vice-President of Lawrence Committee. I will work to keep everyone aware and informed during this transition period, and make sure that none of the upcoming changes negatively impact the Lawrence community. At the same time, I believe now is also the best chance to push for new improvements to our residential life. Along with our current president, I have been planning a meeting with the new housing director to discuss several exciting plans for Lawrence (among other ideas, significant improvements to the community rooms!). In short, I would like to serve a new term on the Lawrence committee as Vice President, and make sure that our residents continue to have a voice in the policy decisions that will impact them directly, make the best of this transition period in grad housing, and see if we can use it to get an even better housing experience for the Lawrence community.
Secretary
Hyungwon Kim
My name is Hyungwon Kim. I have served lawrence community as the
secretary for the past year. Since I have already worked as the
secretary, I fully understand the importance and essential tasks of the
position.
As a committee member, I have worked with other committee members this
spring to improve the wireless reception in the apartment complex, which
had been one of largest problems. Although still imperfect, we have
experienced enhanced wireless reception after the committee worked hard
with the university. This is what I am proud of being a member of the
current committee. On top of that, I will keep lawrence residents
updated with important issues and serve as a first contact point in case
residents have troubles or suggestions.
Jason Brodsky
My name is Jason Brodsky and I am running for secretary of the Lawrence Apartments committee. As the minutes-keeper for the committee, the secretary is necessary to make sure the many matters the committee deals with are all recorded and tracked.
When a resident brings up a concern at a community meeting, a good secretary makes sure that concern doesn't fall through the cracks and get forgotten as soon as the meeting is over. When University administrators make new policies or solicit feedback for future plans, a good secretary makes sure these issues end up on the committee's "to do" list. If you are ever wondering "what has the committee done for me lately?" the secretary is the one who should know.
I'm familiar with the nitty-gritty requirements of getting work done in a committee. In the past year, I've organized a three-day, 50-person club reunion and managed ten volunteer cooks producing food for a weeklong party. In fact, I've even taken some notes for the Lawrence committee already! Take a look at the November meeting minutes at
http://blogs.princeton.edu/lawrapts/
Thanks for your vote!
GSG representative
Dima Gorenshteyn
My name is Dima and I am eagerly announcing that I am running for the GSG representative position of the Lawrence Committee.
First and foremost, I believe in the value of this committee for the Lawrence community, having been to several meetings I have seen how many fun events get planned and how prevalent issues can get resolved by the creativity and dedication of the group as a whole. As vice president, I plan to not only accept these values, but to contribute to the betterment of the living experience of the Lawrence residents.
As a sample of things to come, I present to you a short outline of my idea to improve the laundry room experience. I propose to build a simple, low-cost, automated system that could track the availability of washing machines. By utilizing an inexpensive microcontroller and a motion sensor near the coin slot, it would be very feasible to report to a web-accessible system when a washing machine gets loaded, allowing residents to see whether any machines are in use as well as estimate their availability. By leveraging my programming expertise and hobby electronics skills, I would be able to implement such a tool for the benefit of all of us.
In a previous career, I have earned a degree in Finance and have experience working for a major national bank's corporate office as a liaison between the financial and the computation fields. These experiences stand as support that I will be prepared to work with the GSG to obtain the best results for the Lawrence community.
If elected, I will work diligently to improve the living experience here for all of us!
Social Chair
Daniell Rowles
Hi all,
My name is Daniell Rowles and I hope to serve another year as Lawrence Social Chair. Since coming to Princeton I have always been interested in improving student life. I started at the University level as the GSG Social Chair and member of the GSG Events Board. After several years in these positions, I decided to challenge myself with new projects working at the community level in Lawrence where I have lived since moving on campus.
Last year I had a blast meeting new people in the community at events and I got disappointed when I realized that my term would end before I would get to organize any events in the spring. In addition, I'm always looking for ways to help the community in small ways in addition to the larger activities. Last year I volunteered to manage the distribution of community owned snow shovels. I get crazy excited when it snows and was actually disappointed I only got to do my job once last winter. Additionally, as someone who has been serving as a student volunteer for many years, I am always quick to help respond to student questions sent to the Lawrence Committee because, chances are, I've encountered the same problems in the past.
Overall, I hope to continue serving the community and hopefully improve upon my accomplishments in previous years. Thank you for reading.
Webmaster
Sarah Grady
My name is Sarah Grady, and for the past several years, I have had the opportunity to live in, and enjoy the community atmosphere of the Lawrence Apartments. This experience has led to me to realize just how important a role local community organization has on a resident's quality of life. It is for this reason that I have become motivated to run for the position of Webmaster of the Lawrence Committee.
Over the past year, I have been serving as the Communications Director of the Graduate Student Government (GSG). As a member of the Executive Committee, my main role has been to serve as the liaison between the administration and the student body. All of those colorful emails advertising Wine and Cheese Night, the first-year ice cream social and free pizza at assembly meetings came from me-hopefully that's a good thing! I was also in charge of responding to all student inquiries sent to the GSG email account, and maintaining the current GSG website. These responsibilities have strengthened my network within the campus community as well as my ability to present information in a straightforward manner.
I hope to be able to continue to use these skills at a more local level, while providing necessary information to current and prospective Lawrence residents on the apartment's website. I look forward to taking this opportunity to become more involved with graduate student life here at Princeton and I appreciate your consideration for the position of Webmaster on the Lawrence Committee.
Garden Coordinator
Allison Chaney
I have lived and gardened at Lawrence for two years. I love everything about gardening--from sprouting to harvest. I've been known to chase rabbits through the garden, and have caught two bunnies at Lawrence with my (gloved) hands. I've also been plotting to build a cold frame for a while, and would like to make one for general use of Lawrence gardeners to help get seedlings started. I'd be happy to arrange bulk seed orders and organize tutorials or Q&A sessions for gardeners, depending on interest. In short, if my life had a soundtrack, this song wo
uld be on it.
Patrick Ishizuka
As candidate for garden coordinator, I intend to make substantial improvements to serve the needs of both new and experienced gardeners. I'm very passionate about gardening, and have experience working in both the Lawrence garden and on a large farm in France. As a result, I understand the needs of small gardeners as well as how to manage a large plot like the Lawrence garden.
I want to make gardening as approachable as possible for new gardeners, so I plan to organize workshops to make it more accessible for everyone to participate. I believe that the input of both experienced and potential gardeners is crucial, and I will collect your thoughts and opinions in a systematic way in order to ensure that the garden serves your needs. As a member of my department's graduate student advisory committee this past year, I collected information about students' needs and then designed programs to address them - an approach I hope to continue as garden coordinator.
I look forward to this opportunity to improve the usefulness and accessibility of the Lawrence garden. Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to earn your vote on election day!
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