Meet the CandidatesAHEC 2015-2016 Elections

This Wednesday, 8am to 8pm in Ashdown Lobby

Meet the AHEC Candidates!

● We have 10 candidates this year and (in random order) they are:○ Orpheus Chatzivasileiou○ Anne Collin○ Calvin Sun○ Andrew Rzeznik○ Jetson Leder-Luis○ Axel Barbara○ Niklas Blomberg○ Lisa Guay○ Christopher Foy○ Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan

● Now, check out this flyer to see who they are and what they stand for!

Orpheus Chatzivasileiou

Orpheus ChatzivasileiouHi there!

My name is Orpheus; I am a 2nd year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering. I am a member of the current AHEC, the Operations Officer. I am sure you have received my e-mails alerting you about the in-house lottery. I also am Ashdown's representative in the Graduate Student Council.

I am once again running for AHEC because I love Ashdown and feel that there is still much I can offer.

Why should you vote for me?

-I already know the job. My tenure both as a member of AHEC and as a GSC representative gives me the experience required to ensure a smooth transition between AHECs.

-I want to bring clarity and transparency to Ashdown policies and regulations. Instead of a jumble of past AHEC decisions spread amongst meeting minutes we should have a continually updated index, which is accessible to all the residents who are interested in knowing how Ashdown is run.

-I believe in inter-dorm collaboration. Not only can we combine our assets to hold amazing events, but by collaborating we can make sure our voice is stronger when it comes to dealing with the administration.

-I am not afraid to be decisive. AHEC meetings will be more efficient and productive. Issues that arise will get dealt with as soon as possible, without endless debates.

-Finally, I am always open to feedback from residents, prepared to act on their ideas for events and ready to change Ashdown policies if the residents feel so.

So, I ask for your support in this effort to make Ashdown even better.

I hope that with your vote we can make a difference.

OrpheusAHEC Operations OfficerGSC Representativeorpheusc@mit.edu

Anne Collin

Anne CollinDear Ashdown residents,

My name is Anne, I am a first year student in the Technology and Policy Program (TPP - what is that? Excellent question! A full-semester course has been designed to try to answer it. Turns out policy making is actually what AHEC does all the time!).

I am running for AHEC because I love living at Ashdown, and I want all of us residents to get the most out of it during the (more-or-less) short period of time we’re there. It’s actually more than a home, it's also a place where you have the chance to meet amazing people with so many different backgrounds, and I want to give us even more chances to do so.

I love getting involved in the communities I am part of: in my undergrad, I was in the organisation team for my undergrad Gala, and in charge of the animations in the bar association. I worked in teams in many projects and it went so well that I want to do it again. It’s because Ashdown already has so many people committed to the community that I wish to serve in AHEC. You guys have great ideas and I want to give us ways to implement them really fast.

Looking forward to seeing you at Coffee Hour (or Trader Joe’s)!

Anne

Calvin Sun

Calvin SunHello dear Ashdown!

This is Calvin, currently a first year student in Nuclear Science and Engineering, and I would like to run for the Chair position for the year 2015-2016 in our Ashdown Committee.

I’d first like to “quickly” repeat a few points from my candidacy speech, as I do mean them.

1. Why working at Ashdown would be important for me and why I’d fit best as the Chair out of the other roles:

I first got involved with Ashdown with our monthly brunches. I do recall the first few times being a bit tough, taking responsibilities to prepare for and tidy up after a few hundred members of our graduate community! But I did mean it when I said I am grateful for it, because without it I would not have met and enjoyed my time with our “officers and volunteers,” who are really just us living here.

I might have underestimated how difficult it’d be to meet new people and make friends. With our incredibly busy schedule - with some of us taking 40-60 credits a term or spending more hours than that in the lab! - meeting new people does get hard.

But I think one of the biggest advantages - and the biggest fun - of being at MIT is us, the very people that make MIT MIT. To meet the people who could be there to encourage and challenge, as well as to share together the fun, stress, and just conversations - I think this has incredible value. Being at Ashdown that is 100% us, I think we can do better than now to accommodate and foster - and make comfortable - our interactions between one Ashdowner to another (whether that one time or forever), and grow out to reach our MIT community at large.

(continued)

Calvin SunAnd for this purpose, I’d like to run for the Chair position in our committee. The main tasks of the Ashdown Committee Chair concern both the inner and outer sides of Ashdown: to together with AHEC oversee our many activities and events as well as our weekly Ashdown meetings, and as well to be the liaison between us and MIT and the grad community. Though I have do have a bit of experience in the like, I feel that the biggest reason I would excel as the Chair is that I very much enjoy working with people, a reason why many of my extracurriculars have been working with people (from helping out at the Boston Museum of Science and the annual Cambridge Science Fair, and to (soon to be) visiting a few high schools to teach a little about Einstein’s work!). Therefore at the interface between us and all of MIT (as well as between us at Ashdown), I hope to strive to do my best.

2. Current Action Plan:

I think one good goal we could embrace as AHEC and Ashdown would be that whether we, as Ashdowners, stay here a term or two or ten, we try and make it a place where we are not only welcome but also have the chance to meet (and contribute to a positive effect for) the very people that make up MIT, starting from Ashdown.

And for this theme, a few of my tentative plans I could divide into two parts: A. to increase the interactions within our dorm and B. those with our bigger MIT community. I say “tentative” as to mean that each action plan would benefit from surveying all of Ashdown’s input and responses and optimizing the best-voted plans with AHEC and the officers to yield the best results.

Regarding Part A:First, I very much appreciate the role of our officers (and Housemasters) who work that we may not, whether in planning dinners or trips to ballets, sports games, and other activities which otherwise we would not bother to try alone. And enjoying such activities (especially if free) is an an amazing excuse to meet new people we otherwise would not have the chance to.

(continued)

Calvin SunTherefore, for the goal of fostering our growth as a community and all the while enjoying something that is not work, together with AHEC I’d like to do along the lines of the following:

Because it can be demanding to be the lone floor officer in charge, we could borrow from the idea of male and female GRTs (Graduate Resident Tutors) at our undergrad dorms. Having guy and girl officers at each of our floors may be beneficial for the fact that the two could pull off a more thought-out activity that covers more interests of the floor and maximizes participation. It would also benefit in the scale of the events they could attempt as well as bring a more balanced dynamic at each outing. I think we could also initiate a show of thanks, with votes of satisfaction per floor, for our officers to acknowledge their dedication in planning for enjoyable, meaningful breaks to take us away from work. (Though this could go for all officers.)

As well, together with AHEC I would like to work towards increased events during IAP and the summer, especially for those without the chance to travel or visit back home. No matter how much we do enjoy being at the lab, we benefit from knowing there is an awesome (free) event planned for us once every other week. And whether current or temporary officers take on these roles (filled by those who want to exploit parts of Boston/Cambridge along with the Ashdown budget), I believe we could present our gratitude to them in a similar manner.

Regarding Part B:And outside enhancing our intra-community interactions, it would be amazing to do the same with MIT at large. This could be setting up a mixer night (in Hulsizer and/or the court) between us and the undergrads, primarily to share our experiences with those interested (whether regarding a specific field, industry, etc) or even stories of a life as a graduate student. With prior surveys we could match those with similar interests or experience, and it may be of help to hold these a few months before graduate school applications or career fairs. Another similar idea would be a faculty dinner night (which occurs around MIT occasionally) to be held at Ashdown with at least one faculty member per table, open mainly for the graduate community interested in the experience and advice of the current faculty. And if successful these could also become an Ashdown tradition as well.

(continued)

Calvin SunApart from these ideas, with gauged interest, we could, as opportunities (ex. competitions, volunteering, etc around the city) arise, make a platform to easily form teams within Ashdown. We should let the world know we’re here.

Thank you very much for reading. I’d like to finish with what our current AHEC member said last year: if you do vote, try to vote for the people that you think would be the best for Ashdown. I will do the same! And if you have any questions or comments, I can be reached via email below :)

Warm Regards,Won Kyu Calvin Sun wksun@mit.edu

Andrew Rzeznik

Andrew Rzeznik

Hello Ashdown! My name is Andrew Rzeznik (nickname Drew), I’m a second year PhD student in Applied Mathematics, and I want to be one of your AHEC representatives starting in the fall. I am currently a Co-chair on the Events committee, and have a history of stepping up and volunteering to help Ashdown. Some of my main points I will bring as an AHEC member:

● Easier methods for Addressing resident concerns. I don’t want residents to have to sit through a 1.5 hour AHEC meeting to have their voice heard and get changes made

● Implementation of an Ashdown E-Forum. Email lists work great for announcements, but are bad for discussion. I would have an Ashdown E-forum, where residents could post their own threads to discuss ideas/changes in Ashdown, and where they could have public discussions over AHEC meeting minutes and decisions without having to be present at meetings in person. The forum would also make it easier for small groups to flourish, and assist in finding roommates in the Lottery.

● Regular Casual Monthly Repeating Floor event. I’d like to implement floor events that happen once a month where all the members of a floor can meet and socialize in the kitchen/lounge while enjoying some Ashdown-provided food. Think of it like a mini-floor coffee hour

● Easier Ashdown Funding of Resident Events. I want to also streamline the process of residents running their own small events in Ashdown and getting funding to do so.

● A General Desire to Help Ashdown. In the past I have always stepped up to help Ashdown when in need, starting when the July 4th BBQ had no one to run it and I volunteered, and I would bring the same sense of duty to my work on AHEC.

In summary, I hope you will give me the further opportunity to serve you, the residents, as a member of the Ashdown House Executive Council.

Jetson Leder-Luis

Jetson Leder-LuisDear Ashdown Residents,

My name is Jetson, and I'd like to be on AHEC. If I'm elected, my biggest goals would be ensuring the quality and accountability of

services in AHEC. As a living space for grad students, what we need is the ability to live in comfort and get work done, more than any number of events. Therefore, my goals would be:

- A 100% working laundry room with fast repairs for any broken items.

- Well-stocked vending machines which take credit cards and TechCash

- Well-maintained athletics and recreational facilities

- Negotiating with the EZ ride bus to linger at the Ashdown stop for 30 seconds

- Weekend garbage and recycling collection

- Fast AHEC response to resident complaints

These little inconveniences add up to a frustrating living experience. I would make it my goal to make life in Ashdown run smoother.

I don't really care about the politics of this whole situation. I just want these issues fixed. If you think I could do a good job representing your needs, I hope you vote for me.

Jet

Axel Barbara

...is running for AHEC 2015-2016

Niklas Blomberg

...is running for AHEC 2015-2016

Lisa Guay

Lisa GuayDear fellow Ashdown residents,

My name is Lisa Guay, and I am a second-year chemical engineering PhD student. I have lived in Ashdown for as long as I’ve been at MIT, and you know as well as I do that this is a special place. The community we have here is what sets us apart from other graduate residence halls, and I was elated last May to receive continuing status in the housing lottery. When I was nominated for AHEC, I chose to run because I care deeply about the future trajectory of our House, and I feel I have the ability to help shape that future for the better.

I would make a valuable addition to AHEC because I am good at working with people. First and foremost, I am an excellent listener. I am sensitive to others’ concerns and eager to gather the relevant information and opinions before making a decision. Second, I am detail-oriented. The details really matter when broaching a difficult subject, planning events, or implementing a solution to a problem. Third, I have follow-through. I do what I say I will, and I don’t commit to something unless I can do it, and do it well.

I also would bring experience to AHEC. While I’m not an Ashdown officer, I volunteer, interact with the officer team, and make an effort to stay informed. I am currently on the chemical engineering graduate student council, which has made me proficient in event planning here at MIT. In undergrad, I served as both the secretary and executive vice president of our Tau Beta Pi chapter (engineering honors society), managing more than 50 active members. I also spent two years on our Engineering Student Council. During my tenure, I almost single-handedly organized a career fair with over 40 companies and 700 student attendees, and I learned how to work with other organizations and make budget decisions.

Finally, a few specific things I would work towards improving at Ashdown include:1. Laundry Room Logistics – I want to gather usage and repair statistics and analyze what the problems are, when they occur, and

whether the current maintenance schedule makes sense. I also think we need to make it easier for residents to respectfully move abandoned loads out of the way.

2. AHEC Transparency – AHEC’s meeting minutes and internal records are woefully incomplete, and its budget is not accessible to residents. I want to establish guidelines for more comprehensive reporting and get resident input on budget proposals.

(continued)

Lisa Guay 3. Support for Small Groups – Small groups help people find their niche within a larger community. A few special interest groups exist, but many have fizzled out. More support from Ashdown for leadership and meeting space may make the difference. I also want to see programming aimed at “nearest neighbors” – the people living on the same floor in the same building. 4. Event Calendar – We need a centralized event calendar so that residents can see everything in one place. We currently have at least two calendars, neither of which is complete. I would also like to include events at neighboring grad dorms.

I welcome your questions and comments, and I would be honored to have your vote.

Thank you,Lisa Guay

Christopher Foy

Christopher Foy (english)Hello,

My name is Christopher Foy and I hope to be your future AHEC chair. Hopefully, you have met me at an Ashdown event or received one of my previous emails asking you to attend one of the event committee's events. In either case, hopefully my fun loving demeanor and passion toward improving the Ashdown community has made a positive impact. While I have currently served as an officer for two years at Ashdown, I am now running for AHEC's chair and I need your vote. When I first arrived at Ashdown, I didn't have many friends. My first friends were made through volunteering at Ashdown's events. I will always remember grilling during the Fourth of July BBQ with Brando Luders. Ever since that day, I have been heavily involved in the Ashdown government and have worked to improve the Ashdown community. Over the course of my two years at Ashdown, I have been the Thirsty Ear's representative, where I got Ashdown's pool table, which was in bad shape, refelted and releveled. I also volunteered at many of the social committee's events. This culminated in me becoming the expanded events committee chair. In this position I heavily emphasized volunteering, as I feel volunteering is the life-blood of the Ashdown community and where our future leadership comes from. I worked toward volunteer recruitment as I simultaneously helped organized Ashdown's Orientation: The Ikea trip, Dessert Night, Dance Party, speed friending and floor cup. I also have organized the Ashdown Fourth of July BBQ and Ashdown's Superbowl party. Now I would like to continue this record of service by being this building's chair. In that role I would like to push for many reforms. These reforms include: making the washing machine room more efficient, adding a credit card reader onto the soda vending machine, overhauling the volunteering system at Ashdown and having it be integrated into the website, overhauling the website, creating an events and officer training wiki so that we have better information retention of our officers, creating a fiscal officer position so that all reimbursements for the building are not handled by one person (that one is for you Ho-Jun: Ashdown's treasurer), buying carts that can be checked out and used for grocery shopping at Shaws, and just all around better organization and management of AHEC in general. I will work toward these reforms by setting out clear long terms goals for each of these projects and working towards them each week so that by the end of my tenure as AHEC chair, there is a clear list of deliverables to the Ashdown community.

If you like these initiatives, or simply think I am a nice guy, please vote for me (Christopher Foy) next Wednesday on February 25th in the Ashdown lobby. Thank you and have a good day.

Christopher Foy (mandarin)大家好，

我的名字叫Christopher Foy，我希望可以成为你们未来的 AHEC主席。你们应该在AHEC的活动中见过我，或者收到过我邀请你们参加活动的电邮。希望我的友善和对于改进 Ashdown社区的热忱给大家留下了一个好印象。我在 Ashdown当了两年的负责人，现在我想成为主席并且我需要你们的投票。

我刚来Ashdown的时候并没有很多朋友。我是通过在 Ashdown的活动中当志愿者开始结识了新朋友。我一直都会记得国庆节和Brando Luders的那次烧烤。从那天起，我便开始积极地参与 Ashdown的学生会并努力地改善我们的社区。

在这两年间，我当过 Thirsty Ear的代表，我把变了形的台球桌修整好了。同时我也在很多活动中当过志愿者，于是我成为了expanded events committee的主席。在这个职位上我着重强调做志愿服务的意义，因为我觉得志愿者是 Ashdown社区不可或缺的血液，也是未来领导阶层的基础。在我组织 Ashdown活动的时候，我也致力于志愿者招募。我组织过的活动有： Ikea trip，甜点之夜，Dance Party，闪电交友， floor cup，当然还有国庆节烧烤和超级碗派对。

现在我想担任这幢楼的主席，我想延续对大家的服务。如果我能当主席，我会推动一系列改革，这些改革包括：——把洗衣房变得更有效率——可以用信用卡从自动售货机买汽水——网络化志愿服务系统——翻修我们的网站，尤其是记录各项活动以及相关负责人当值的信息——增加一个财务负责人的职位，目前一切报销都只有一人负责——购买一些可在前台借用的推车以便大家去 Shaw’s买菜总而言之呢，就是会带来更好的组织和管理。我一定会努力地促进以上的每一项改革，我会明确长期目标，然后尽力让每周都有所改善。这样在我任期结束的时候，我为 Ashdown社区所做的贡献就会一目了然。

如果你欣赏以上的这些提议，或者只是简单地认为我是个很好的人，请于下周三（ 2月25日）在Ashdown大厅投我一票吧。我叫Christopher Foy。谢谢你们的支持！唔该嗮！

Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan

Sai Gautam GopalakrishnanDear Ashdown,

I am Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan (short version: Sai/Ψ), a second year PhD student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), MIT. I have spent my last two years at Ashdown and am currently its Cherry Pie Society (CPS) Chair. For those unaware of CPS: it is the intellectual discussion group that meets ~biweekly discussing topics over dinner and/or desserts.

I broadly want to answer three questions on my candidacy for AHEC: why, what and how?

Why do I want to run for AHEC?Friends:As with most international students, I came into Ashdown with very few friends and created some amazing friendships here.

Ideas and Discussions:Being involved with Cherry Pie for the last 2 years especially helped me in meeting new people and discussing ideas. To hear different perspectives, sometimes opposing, from different people really opened me up and made me grow intellectually.

Social events:I am big fan of the social events that Ashdown throws up, not only because of the amazing food but also because of the diversity in the events and the chance to meet new people outside my regular friend and work circles.

Giving back to the community:Ashdown has a very nice sense of community, which I have fed upon and would love to give back in terms of creating an even stronger sense of togetherness.

(continued)

Sai Gautam GopalakrishnanWhat are my ideas?Small communities:I am a big fan of small communities, where a small set of residents (often different groups) get together and do a task they like (e.g., playing board games, going to a musical, watching a movie, doing a ski trip, etc.). I strongly feel that these small communities contribute heavily in making Ashdown a better place to reside in. There have been attempts in the past in creating these small communities, which have had varying measures of success. I will learn lessons from them and try and create better communities.

Lounges:More lounges (MIT housing permitting) and/or better lounges (improving upon the current ones. Example: designating lounges as study-only and entertainment-only).

Speech Nights:Invite current students/recent alumni/Professors/Research staff at MIT to talk about cool ideas (on the lines of a TED talk perhaps?). The talk can be anything: right from a cool startup idea to a high impact research publication and can be highly informal facilitating discussion.

Getfit @Ashdown:I really liked the Yoga classes that happened in Ashdown in Fall 2014 and would love to replicate more of such fitness classes at Ashdown. Perhaps a fitness challenge among residents?

Floor-based communities:More inter floor events like the Floor cup to promote floor-based community building.

Collaborations with other dorms:Follow up on events like NW leaders meet. Create more events involving other grad dorm communities.

(continued)

Sai Gautam GopalakrishnanHow am I going to do (skills I bring in)?Leadership qualities:Other leadership positions I hold at MIT include being the student representative at the Departmental Committee for Graduate Students (DCGS) for DMSE and being the Publicity Chair at MIT Sangam (the Indian students association). I have done leadership stints similar to AHEC in my undergrad.

Argumentative/Rationalizing skills:I feel a strong leader is someone who can absorb opposing views, rationalize them and take a balanced decision. Quality discussions I have had at CPS and in my undergrad have helped me build this unique skill. My argumentative skills help in being a constructive problem solver.

Collaboration creation:As part of being the CPS chair, I set up collaborative events with Sid-pac’s environmental committee and their Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI) and other organizations like Fossilfree MIT. All collaborative events were a success and I feel that I can create strong and stable bridges across different communities.

Thanks for reading through my ideas and please do vote for me!

Cheers,Sai

Come vote!

● Wednesday, 8am to 8pm in Ashdown Lobby

● Voting rules:1. The AHEC Chair position is offered to the candidate with the most

votes2. You have up to 5 votes that you can give to different candidates.

a. You can cast less than 5 votes, if you want.3. You cannot give a candidate more than one vote. 4. You are voting for a candidate to be on AHEC. You cannot vote for a

candidate to receive a specific position within AHEC.