Elections for new senators to take place on Thursday
Elections for the vacant positions on the Student Union and the Brandeis Sustainability Fund, as well as for the senior representative to the Board of Trustees, will be held on Thursday.
Two Class of 2018 senators, one North Quad senator, one Massell Quad senator, one Rosenthal Quad senator, one Castle senator, one East Quad senator, one Village senator, one 567 and Charles River Apartments senator, one Ridgewood Quad senator, one Ziv Quad senator, one Mods senator and one off-campus senator will be elected.
Two new members of the Brandeis Sustainability Fund and a new senior representative to the Board of Trustees will also be elected.
Keturah Walker, Skye Golann, Luxi Wen, Bryan Baratian, Kevin Healey, Shayna Lyandvert and Nicolas Falkson are all running for the two Class of 2018 Senator positions.
In an email to the Justice, Golann wrote that she is running for the position “in order to make our Brandeis experience better from day one!” Her goals include improving dining hall hours, reducing the University’s impact on the environment by expanding the use of composting, especially in the dining halls, and improving quad resources by furnishing the lounges and adding cookware and sporting goods like frisbees, ping pong paddles and soccer balls for resident use.
Healey wrote in an email to the Justice that he decided to run because of his experiences at Brandeis so far. He wrote, “I was in the closet in high school, and even though I was ready to be open and accepting of my sexuality I wasn’t sure if I would be accepted here, since I knew I wouldn’t be accepted in my hometown.” He continued, “I’ve been really overwhelmed with the support and friendship of everyone here, and that campus attitude is what has motivated me to run.” He said that he wanted to give back by helping institute policies that will improve the shared experience at Brandeis.
Lyandvert wrote in an email to the Justice that she chose to run in order to get to know and represent everyone in her class. Her goals include improving dining quality and hours, continuing sustainability efforts, elongating library hours on weekends and adding recreational equipment to residential quads.
Falkson wrote in an email to the Justice that he hopes to keep a neat campus environment, plan exciting class events and to personally get to know his class and represent them well. “Whether issues pertain to the environment, social or student life, or just having an idea to help better our freshman year, I am determined to work hard and find a way to incorporate everybody’s interests,” he wrote.
Walker, Wen and Baratian did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Noah Hessdorf ’18, Anisa Haque ’18, Lauren Li ’18, Mingyong Tong ’18, Zidong Yang ’18, Lorenzo Finamore ’18 and William Jones ’18 are all running for the position of North Quad senator.
Hessdorf wrote in an email to the Justice, “I am running as part of the Ping Pong Party. It is my belief that one of the biggest issues in North Quad is that there are no ping-pong paddles to go along with the ping-pong table in Polaris lounge.” He added, “If elected I promise to finally put an end to this ugly situation.” He also wrote that he hopes to organize more social events for North Quad such as ice cream socials.
Li wrote in an email to the Justice that her goals for North Quad are to get cleaner shower stalls, upgrade to window shades that actually pull up and provide every hall with a communal vacuum. She added, “I genuinely care that everyone is having as great of a time here as I am. I’m passionate but also realistic; I have a knack for understanding others and the ability to turn ideas into reality.”
Tong wrote in an email to the Justice that she is running for senator because she wants to do something meaningful other than schoolwork. She said that her goals mainly include improving residence halls and hosting events that allow first-years to socialize between quads.
Finamore wrote in an email to the Justice that he wants to bring together the North Quad community. He wrote, “If I were elected my primary goals would be to generate as many funds as possible for our quad through micro-efficient adjustments, and to become interconnected with the denizens of North Quad.” He added that he would like to put hammocks in the quad, improve lounges and have a fund to keep community food in Polaris Lounge. On a larger scale, he hopes to improve dining conditions.
Haque, Yang and Jones did not respond to request for comment by press time.
Nolan Murray ’18, Zain Walker ’18, Ana Miletic ’18, Amber Abernathy ’18, Millie (Mengyuan) Wu ’18 and Leah Sussman ’18 are running for the position of Massell Quad senator.
Murray wrote in an email to the Justice that he hopes “to bridge the gap between the voices of the student and faculty population.” He added that he wants to make sure that every voice in Massell Quad is heard and every problem solved.
Miletic wrote in an email to the Justice that she hopes to “ensure that every voice is heard and respected by gathering opinions on certain topics and issues we may encounter as residents of this quad.” She said that has already created a Facebook group for Massell Quad in order to create discussion about issues and plans to continue the discussion and address any concerns residents of the quad may have.
Wu wrote in an email to the Justice that she hopes to add pool tables, air conditioning and Xboxes to Massell common rooms, improve mail services, improve food quality and establish an effective communication system between students and the school regarding dorm complaints.
Walker, Abernathy and Sussman did not respond to request for comment by press time.
Charles Flomenhoft ’17 and David Herbstritt ’17 are running for the position of Castle Quad senator.
In an email to the Justice, Flomenhoft wrote that he hopes to improve conditions on campus, namely issues with Sodexo and the mailroom, as well as organize intra-school events. “Boston has a ridiculously high population density of college students and if we could have a multi-college gathering, perhaps a dance, I think it would allow students at Brandeis to meet and make connections with a lot of other peers their own age,” he wrote.
Herbstritt wrote in an email to the Justice that he decided to run for Senator when a friend on the senate suggested he run due to his interest in student affairs. He wrote that his goals as senator include improving meal plans, bringing back meal equivalencies and making sure arts programs continue to flourish by organizing events throughout the year.
Lauren Phillips ’15 is running unopposed for the position of 567 and Charles River Apartments senator. “I am running because I would like to bring the Charles River community closer. We’re a bit geographically isolated (by a striking six-tenths of a mile!) so I think it would be really great if we could all enjoy the convenience of each other’s company,” she wrote in an email to the Justice. She wrote that her goals are to host quad-wide events throughout the year and to have the University put picnic tables between the buildings. She also hopes to have streetlamps and more blue-light emergency stations added to the area for safety.
Mary Michalos ’16 is running unopposed for the position of off-campus senator. She wrote in an email to the Justice that she wanted to run to make sure that the off-campus student population does not feel forgotten. She hopes to add more BranVan stops that cover more of Waltham, institute earlier Waltham BranVan hours for those commuters with early classes, provide more meal plan options for off-campus students and institute a better network referral system for students who are looking to move off campus.
Michelle Schein ’18, Annie Abrams ’17 and Stephanie Weinstein ’17 are running for the positions available on the Brandeis Sustainability Fund.
Weinstein wrote in an email to the Justice that she is running because she is passionate about the environment. “I think it is so wonderful that Brandeis has created a means for students to make sustainable changes on campus and I want to be able to spread awareness of this opportunity and help make sure funding for projects is distributed fairly,” she wrote.
She also said that she wants to increase the awareness of the grant on campus so students know they can make a difference.
Abrams and Weinstein did not respond to request for comment by press time.
Mitchell Beers ’17 and Kiara (Kiki) Tringali ’17 are running for the position of East Quad senator but did not respond to request for comment by press time.
Jennifer Almodovar ’17 and Nimisha Shinday ’17 are running for the position of Rosenthal Quad senator but did not respond to request for comment by press time.
Mohamed Sidique ’15 is running unopposed for the position of Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees, but he did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
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