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Last Updated:
February 28, 2008
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The GSG is holding
general elections for its seven officer positions: Chair, Parliamentary
Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Press
Secretary, Treasurer, and Social Chair.
Read about the duties of each of the positions below.
Each
of the candidates has submitted a statement describing why they should
get your vote. Please read them carefully and e-mail the candidates if
you have any questions.
Candidates
- Chair
- Parliamentary Secretary
- Corresponding Secretary
- Press Secretary
- Recording Secretary
- Treasurer
- Social Chair
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I am the best candidate for Chair of the GSG both because of my past experience with the GSG and my commitment to improving the quality of graduate student life and education. Over the past two years, first as the Geosciences Department representative and then the Parliamentary Secretary, I actively realized the power of the GSG to make changes on behalf of graduate students. I worked to affect real change, advocating for the new birth control subsidies, child care for graduate students' children, and the planned library renovations, among others. As chair, I would continue to be dedicated to further improving the Princeton graduate experience, including increasing availability and amount of travel stipends for conferences. My top priority, though, is to better communications between the GSG and every graduate student. The GSG is a powerful entity--in the past, we created the shuttle system and ran the housing draw-- which exists to serve you. I envision a GSG that grad students turn to more frequently and rely on to champion those needs. I envision a GSG that makes you as a graduate student feel empowered.
Chair: Christina N. Hultholm - POL - hultholm - hultholm@Princeton.EDU
This is my fourth year as a graduate student at Princeton, and my time here has given me the opportunity to make friends and colleagues in many different departments, from different places, of different ages, and with different experiences as graduate students.
My focus as Chair will be to represent the many and diverse needs of the graduate student community. As individuals and as departments, we vary significantly from one another in terms of living situation, family status, work habits, and access to resources. However, we can all benefit from comprehensive low cost healthcare, livable wages, a supportive work environment, and full access to the many opportunities that Princeton provides to members of its community. Despite the range of our backgrounds and the diversity of our experiences here, we are united by three basic problems of scarcity: not enough time, not enough resources, and not enough fun. I will work with the GSG to address these issues, in ways including but not limited to: fighting against administrative proposals that would increase the burden on graduate students' time; opposing cost increases for health insurance and housing; increasing access to and information about sources of funding that already exist; lobbying the administration to invest in providing and expanding resources for graduate students; improving the quality of student life by providing more opportunities for graduate students to integrate themselves into the wider University community; making more funds available for graduate students to plan and host social events; and promoting interdepartmental interaction to facilitate the exchange of research ideas.
Our incumbent GSG Chair, Shin-Yi Lin, has worked hard during her tenure, giving us a strong and unified voice in dealing with the University, fighting to retain and expand the benefits currently enjoyed by the graduate students, and representing us in a dignified and capable way to alumni and administrators. I am steadfast in my willingness to continue representing our interests, and I am confident in my ability to do so effectively and respectfully. Thank you for your support.
Christina N. Hultholm
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Politics
Princeton University
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Parliamentary Secretary: Ashley Thrall - CEE - athrall - athrall@Princeton.EDU
I am currently a second year in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department running for the position of Parliamentary Secretary. Over the last two years I have been impressed with the campaigns of the Graduate Student Government, such as concerns over shuttle routes and time until graduation. I am dedicated to further improving graduate student life through this organization.
I believe that I could make an effective contribution to the GSG as Parliamentary Secretary. As the treasurer of the Student Activist Union and a member of a variety of other student organizations at Vassar College, I learned of the great impact that organizations like the GSG can have on student life and would love the opportunity to participate in student government at Princeton. Between my undergraduate education and coming to Princeton, I was the Executive Assistant for a non-profit organization in Boston. In this position, I served as an assistant to both the Executive Director and the Finance Director, performing such duties as gifts and membership processing, database entry, accounts payable/receivable maintenance, and general office management. Organization was crucial for this position. The skills that I learned through this experience have been essential to me as a graduate student and I believe that they would enable me to make a valuable contribution to the GSG. Furthermore, I have been an Assistant in Instruction in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department for each of my four semesters at Princeton. This has given me valuable experience interacting with undergraduates, faculty, and staff -- relationships which have given me insight into the roles of different individuals on campus. I believe that such interactions across group boundaries are essential to the functions of the GSG and I plan to support this in any way possible if elected to the position of Parliamentary Secretary.
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Corresponding Secretary: Ankit Gupta - ELE - ankitg@
Candidacy withdrawn on February 28, 2008.
Corresponding Secretary: Jenna Losh - GEO - jlosh - jenna.losh@gmail.com
Hello! I am a first year student in the Geosciences Department and am very excited to be running for the position of GSG Corresponding Secretary. After attending the GSG retreat earlier this year, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to seek a leadership role within the GSG. I was impressed with this organization's success in advocating for graduate student concerns and I would be fully committed to actively uniting the graduate student community. Having spoken with the current officer in this position, I feel I understand the responsibilities of the Corresponding Secretary and am confident I can accomplish them well. Like many of my peers, I compulsively check my email and will carry this over to managing the GSG email account and website, and also in putting together the monthly E-bulletin.
During my undergraduate career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I dedicated my time to a similar organization where I gained experience in communicating with University staff and administrators, voicing student issues. I feel I understand the tact and finesse that accompany these privileged interactions and I would be excited to serve on the behalf of Princeton's graduate student population. In addition to my role as corresponding secretary, I would be eager to join the executive board team and contribute to the mission of the organization as a whole. If elected, I hope to gain experience during the coming year and run for a position with more responsibility for the following term. In short, I would be delighted to serve as the GSG's corresponding secretary. Thank you!
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Press Secretary: Stephanie Budijono - CHE - budijono - budijono@Princeton.EDU
Dear friends,
I am Stephanie Budijono, a third year graduate student in Chemical Engineering Department. I am running for Press Secretary position in GSG and I believe I am best suited for the position.
I have seen many instances where graduate students are treated differently on campus. Here is one example. I attended a talk by David Duchovny in Theatre departments in Princeton University in my first year (for some of you who are big fans of sitcoms, he is Mulder in the series The X-Files). It was advertised that the event was open to campus community and the public. The talk started at 5PM, I came at 4.30PM. A line was formed in front of the department. Guess what happened at 4.45PM? All of the theatre students had priorities to enter the talk. This makes sense. After all theatre students were filed in, an administrator announced, "Next! Priorities for Princeton students! General Public, please wait outside". I was excited. I went through the line and flashed my orange Princeton ID, with the description "Student G" below my ID number. The administrator then blurted "General Public, please wait outside". I was in total shock; my eyes had never been bigger before. I once again flashed my ID in front of her, and she once again said "General Public, please wait here" I pointed out I was a graduate student and she made her final remark, "We still have space for general public, Ma'am. Priorities go for undergraduate".
This event left a strong impression on me. I hate to have graduate students be classified as general public by some people on campus. Not only we are part of Princeton University; we are an important part of the campus community.
As a GSG Press Secretary, I would like to improve the visibility of graduate students, making sure that graduate students existence are known and respected. I will whole-heartedly make contacts with the right people to ensure our needs and what we can offer are heard of.
With this, please vote for me and I thank you.
Press Secretary: Kevin Collins - POL - kwcollin - kwcollin@Princeton.EDU
I seek this position out of a strong conviction that a well-designed and professionally-executed media strategy is a central -- but too frequently undervalued -- component in the GSG's broader objective of advancing graduate student interests. Toward these goals, I offer up my candidacy with a two-pronged approach to media relations.
First, I believe that we need to explicitly outline media strategies for any and all projects the GSG chooses to undertake. While any such task necessarily involves multiple channels of communication -- including direct discussions with administrators and internal communications with graduate students -- in order to obtain resources we also need to foster a broader of understanding across the University community of (a) why we need resources and (b) that we put the resources we do get to good use. If elected I will work to ensure a public relations strategy is integrated into all strategic plans created by the GSG and its executive board.
Second, even when not directed at a specific project, I believe that graduate student academic and community contributions need more coverage in campus media, which currently pales in comparison to grad student coverage at peer institutions. Press matters, as a continuing effort to raise the profile of graduate student contributions to the University will help legitimate future requests made to the administration. To this end, if elected I will work with the representatives of the GSG to bring grad-student-relevant stories from our diverse departments and communities to broader audiences, as well as work to foster a better ongoing relationship with the various campus news outlets.
Press Secretary: Hagar ElBishlawi - CEE - helbishl - helbishl@Princeton.EDU
My name is Hagar ElBishlawi, a first year graduate student in Civil and Environmental Engineering. I am running for GSG Press secretary because I have the experience and drive to perform this responsibility. Some of my past roles include Vice President of the New York/Long Island Zone of the National Society of Black Engineers. I also have a wide range of experiences from organizing community service events to professional conferences. Part of planning events of this size includes communicating with your fellow members, university students, administration, local community, and the press. As GSG Press Secretary, I hope to transfer the skills I have acquired to help promote what the Princeton Graduate Community is doing, not only within the university, but also to the outside world. More than just writing press releases, I intend on working with my fellow GSG members to help improve your graduate life at Princeton.
Press Secretary: Noah T. Jafferis - ELE - jafferis - jafferis@Princeton.EDU
I am a second year PhD student in the Electrical Engineering Department, and I feel that I would be a very good Press Secretary. I will relay information concerning GSG to the appropriate agencies. I know how much I appreciate seeing various posters and communications regarding GSG activities, and I will therefore be attuned to disseminating this information to the students of the Graduate School. I have also had some prior experience as recording secretary for IEEE student branch a number of years ago.
Thank you for your consideration,
Noah T. Jafferis
Press Secretary: Praveena Joseph-de Saram - MOL - pjoseph - pjoseph@Princeton.EDU
I am a second year in the Department of Molecular Biology and I have been a member of the GSG Assembly since I was elected representative of my department two years ago. I am committed to advocating for issues concerning graduate students and I am very impressed by how effective the GSG is in getting graduate student voices heard. I am also the Vice Chair of my department's Graduate Student Committee and an active member of the graduate community. My experience with student advocacy extends to several years on the Joint Consultative Committee (a student-faculty committee overseeing the undergraduate course) of the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, including one year as Chair. I look forward to representing you as Press Secretary.
Press Secretary: Anne Twitty - HIS - atwitty - atwitty@Princeton.EDU
Since arriving in Princeton more than three years ago I've been an active participant in the University's social and intellectual community. I've served the Graduate History Association as both program committee member and library liaison. I've organized picnics, parties, and happy hours, facilitated communication between library staff and history graduate students, and helped create a productive work environment in my department's study room. I was also one of two graduate students who reconstituted Princeton Pro-Choice Vox (PPCV), the University's pro-choice organization for both undergraduate and graduate students. As graduate co-chair of PPCV I have been frequently called upon to speak to the Daily Princetonian on behalf of my organization. It's a role in which I've excelled. In addition to these experiences, before coming to Princeton, I was employed as a research assistant and legislative correspondent in my congressman's Washington office. As such, it was my job to speak on behalf of the congressman regarding his legislative activities, answer the entirety of the congressman's constituent e-mail, and ensure those who wrote in received an informative, timely response.
As many of you know, the perception of graduate students on campus, especially among undergraduates, leaves something to be desired. In order to improve our public image and secure graduate students the benefits Princeton can offer us, we need an impassioned advocate with experience speaking to the press as our spokesperson. I will bring these qualities to the office of GSG Press Secretary with your support.
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Recording Secretary: Tomiko Ballantyne - HIS - tomiko - mikoism@gmail.com
Dear Graduate Student Body,
I am a fourth year PhD student in the history department and interested in the position of recording secretary. For the past 4 years I have been an engaged member of the graduate student body through the Black Graduate Caucus, the Graduate School, the Department of History and as a resident in the graduate student housing community. While working with the graduate school's Diversity Committee I have demonstrated my pledge to student needs by advocating for scholars of color and women. I am organized and committed to taking notes at meetings and working closely with other members of the GSG to ensure that the committee's decisions reflect the expressed needs of the entire student body. I look forward to the opportunity to work for the Graduate Student Government.
Best,
Tomiko Ballantyne
Recording Secretary: Marina Paul - MOL - mnpaul - mnpaul@Princeton.EDU
I am a fourth year graduate student in the molecular biology department and am running for the position of recording secretary. As the current GSG recording secretary, I take detailed minutes at the monthly assembly meetings and work with the rest of the Executive committee to help run the meetings. I have worked with Exec to publish GSG Assembly meeting minutes for the first time in over a year; together with the GSG, I am committed to further improving this process.
A major role of being part of the GSG Executive committee has been to help improve graduate student life at Princeton. By helping run GSG-sponsored social events, and writing to / meeting with University administrators to campaign for improvements to graduate housing and student health issues, I have enjoyed some really great opportunities to advocate for change. I look forward to contributing to the GSG again next year.
Thanks,
Marina Paul
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Treasurer: Andrew McElroy - BCF - amcelroy - amcelroy@Princeton.EDU
Hello, my name is Andrew McElroy; I'm a first year master-in-finance student, I live in the New Grad College, and I'd like to be your Treasurer. I'm very organized and would handle all the financial records and budget information in a timely manner. I'm approachable, usually smiling, and very much hoping to be your next Treasurer. I would greatly appreciate your vote.
Kindest regards,
Andrew
Treasurer: Emmanouil ("Manos") Koukoumidis - ELE - ekoukoum - ekoukoum@Princeton.EDU
My name is Emmanouil Koukoumidis (www.princeton.edu/~ekoukoum) or as some of you might know me (instead of this lengthy Greek name); "Manos". Yeah....I know that "Manos" in Spanish means "hands"...
So "Manos" (that's me) would be very excited to run as the new treasurer and get his hands on managing the GSG budget! I had this in mind for a long time now as I knew that our current treasurer and dearest friend Alex Ntelekos would be graduating... Therefore, I have already started getting involved in the GSG as a member of the GSG Events Board that along with the other members and the treasurer takes on the decisions of which events will receive GSG funding. I have been a member of this board since the beginning of the academic year while also serving at the same time as a member of the Electrical Engineering Graduate Student Committee. I have really enjoyed so far advocating for the benefit of my fellow Electrical Engineers and would be very happy to extend this to all graduate students by becoming a GSG officer.
Alex had done great work the last 2 years as the GSG treasurer and I am hoping that I will manage to live up to my, his and all the students expectations as the new treasurer. So far, I have attended several GSG Assembly meetings and enjoyed a lot getting involved in improving the life of graduate students. Also as a member of the Events Board, I am well aware of the responsibilities that a treasurer has and would be very excited to assume them! I hope that you are equally excited to vote for me! :)
Thanks!
Manos
www.princeton.edu/~ekoukoum
Treasurer: Raghuveer K Vinukollu - CEE - rvinukol - rvinukol@Princeton.EDU
Hello All,
I am a second year graduate student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, and am accepting the nomination to run for the position of the Treasurer for the GSG. I have been a part of the GSG (as the CEE deparment rep.) since last 6 months. Previously I was a part of the Graduate Student Senate at Utah State University, where I pursued my MS degree. So with this experience, I feel myself confident to perform the duties of a treasurer. I have taken self-initiative to know more about the budget and the various accounts of the GSG from the current treasurer. With that being said, I look forward to work for the GSG in the executive committee and keep maintaining the monetory records as has been done in the past.
Cheers
~Raghuveer K Vinukollu
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Social Chair: Konstantinos ("Kostas") Aisopos - ELE - kaisopos - kaisopos@Princeton.EDU
Hey guys,
I am one of these grads that always complain about how hard they work, but then try not to miss a single social event. I love to interact with people, and once I break the ice, I talk non-stop until they tell me "shut up!"... I have been a member of the GSG Assembly since Oct'07. I have also been a member of the GSG Events Board (http://www.princeton.edu/~eboard/) since Sept'07. The GSG Events Board was established in 2006 to help organizations and individual students at Princeton fund and plan social events. My current involvement with the GSG has been an exciting and fun experience and I would like to take it a step further and become a member of the GSG executive committee.
...but why Social Chair?
I think the biggest problem that grad students face is the limited opportunity for social activity: Being the ELE department's GSG representative for the first time, I got to solve everyday problems of graduate students in my department. Thus, I have chatted with many students in my department and have bombarded them via personal discussions or emails to let me know of their *real* problems, so I could express them at the GSG Assembly meetings. Although some problems have come up, my general impression is that students are generally happy at Princeton. There's one exception to this rule: Social life. No matter how hard Princeton tries to enhance grad social life, there is still a lot of room for improvement. For me, the GSG-organized events (Wine & Cheese, Valentine's party, Frolic at Frist) are the GSG's greatest contribution to the quality of student life. This is exactly why I would like to be the Social Chair. I want to take social life of grad students a step further.
So, what do I promise to accomplish if I get voted as the Social Chair of the GSG? Let me point out 2 things:
1st and hard): Nobody can deny that Jenny was an awesome Social Chair for 2007! If she was running again I would vote her - not me :) I will do my best to match her excellent organization and creativity in the 2007 events. It's a great time commitment, but I am willing to make it because I enjoy it! I plan also to explore additional sources of funding to hopefully expand our events.
2nd and harder): I hope to move one step closer to breaking the undergrad-grad interaction barrier. I am one of these people who get mad when meeting grads that think that all undergrads call them 'sketchy', or look down on them. The first thing I was told when I came to Princeton was that undergrads and grads "mix like water and oil and this is never going to change". But guess what!? It has started changing! Did you read the latest article in the Daily Princetonian about undergrad-grad interaction? Did you know that for the first time *ever* the GSG invited the USG to dbar..!? I was there that day, witnessing this wonderful change! So, maybe the time has come, after hundreds of years, for a social event to be co-organized by USG and GSG! It's hard change and maybe it won't happen, but I will do my best to make it happen. I have already started working in this direction, by recruiting grad students to serve on the joint undergrad-grad advisory board for Campus Club, the new common social space opening in the fall!
Hope my work will fulfill your (as well as mine) expectations ;)
-Kostas
www.princeton.edu/~kaisopos
Hello, my name is Yi Wang and I'm a third-year graduate student in Computer Science. I ask for your support to be the next GSG Social Chair. I'm passionate about contributing my organization skills, experience, and energy to improve graduate social life. If elected, I would:
- Make good use of the new Campus Club (which is anticipated to open in the fall of 2008) and help graduate students meet/socialize with people outside their departments.
- Bring new, diversified events, e.g., poker night, Olympics night and other events to offer alternative social options.
- Bridge the gap between grads and undergrads, alumni, and postdocs by co-organizing events with the Undergraduate Student Government, Alumni Association of Princeton University, Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni, etc.
My past experiences in organizing events, including cultural, sports and volunteering activities, make me qualified to be the next GSG social chair. Prior to Princeton, I organized a variety of social activities at Tsinghua University, China as the liaison secretary of the Undergraduate Student Government (serving over 11,000 students). More recently, I served as the Social co-Chair of the Association of Chinese Students & Scholars at Princeton (ACSSPU). Working with other students, I organized the Moon Festival Party and Chinese New Years Party: both included shows and receptions, and drew an audience of over 400 and 300 people respectively.
Besides social life, I care about giving a voice to graduate students in general. I'm currently serving on the Graduate Engineering Council and the Graduate Engineering Ambassadors (GEA). If elected, I plan to actively participate in addressing graduate student issues such as:
- Make the campus shuttle more punctual (at least not leaving earlier than the scheduled time).
- Make the housing draw less confusing and more efficient.
- Provide more support for graduate students with children.
In my years at Princeton, I have observed many improvement brought about by the GSG such as the Whole Food market shuttle, the increase of OIT email quota, the birth control subsidy. I would like to be part of this collective effort and in particular, I want to improve the communication channels between the GSG and the student body as a whole. I welcome suggestions and complaints about any aspect of your experience as a graduate student (my email is yiwang@).
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to serving you on the GSG.
Yi Wang
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