Author: Lakeside Apartments Committee

My name is Sarah Kwartler and I am a fourth-year graduate student in the Molecular Biology Department. I am running for Treasurer to help the Lakeside Committee manage our funds so that we may efficiently apply them for community building purposes. As the President of Princeton’s Graduate Women in STEM, I am familiar with the Graduate School’s financial transactions procedures as well as the opportunity for us to apply for additional event funding through the Graduate Student Government. I know how to balance a budget in order to spread funding across the span of a year, as well as obtain quotes from vendors as needed. As a scientist, I am an avid note-taker and I am ready to bring my organizational skills to the Lakeside Committee. Beyond that, I am also aware of the various needs of our population and active on the Lakeside Slack channel. From acquiring sports equipment or gardening supplies to funding socials, I would look forward to representing our community as Lakeside Treasurer and working with the other committee members. Please feel free to reach out to me via email (sk8317@princeton.edu) if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!

Thank you.

Hello, I’m Pearl! I’m a G4 in the Physics department, running to be the Garden Coordinator. I’ve been living at Lakeside for the past two years, throughout which I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the Lakeside garden. Gardening has been a wonderful outlet for me throughout my life, both growing up in Washington state and in all the places I’ve lived and studied since – it’s a great way to be immersed in the environment and find peace (or peas!). I’ve worked in college gardens as an undergrad, and was enthusiastic about making them a fun place to enjoy nature, be outdoors, and take part in rewarding activities for everyone living there. At Lakeside, the garden has been a wonderful refuge from the pressures of academic life for me, as I know it is for many of us, and I would love the opportunity to ensure that it continues to be a welcoming and enjoyable space for everyone.

As the Garden Coordinator, I would love to introduce some new ideas to build on the many aspects that have made the garden successful so far. To make more efficient use of communal spaces and promote local biodiversity, I’d like to try planting some small native flowers or herbs in unused areas such as near empty fences (that don’t border on any plots) and the shed to attract beneficial pollinators. To reduce erosion and absorb excess water on some pathways, I would trial using stones and slow-growing ground covers to shore up the pathways. In addition, I’d love to create more opportunities to share knowledge and promote a sense of community via garden events. As well as continuing existing events such as seed starting and cleanup, I would like to organize a seed-saving event at the end of the season, and seed-swapping in the spring. This would both promote more sustainable and rewarding gardening practices and create a venue through which gardeners can exchange their knowledge and experiences with gardening at Lakeside. Finally, as I’ve been enjoying growing lots of native plants and edible flowers as well as odd varieties you won’t find in the grocery store over the past few years, I’d love to support any other gardeners who would like to experiment with different unique, easy-to-grow plants to make the garden more diverse and personal for everyone!

See you all in the garden! 🙂

Pearl T.

Hi! I’m Emily, a G4 in English. I’m from Scotland and have loved being part of the Lakeside community for the past two-and-a-bit years. In my free time, you can find me exploring New Jersey towns, art museums and restaurants.

It would be my pleasure to be the Lakeside Vice Chair, supporting the Chair in their initiatives and responsibilities. I have organised and hosted events for the Princeton Contemporary Poetry Colloquium and the Graduate Princeton Christian Fellowship, including spearheading a weekly breakfast event that runs for members of the Graduate College community.

As Vice Chair, my priorities would be: 

1. Working with the Office of Sustainability to make our lives at Lakeside greener. This work would range from reducing waste at social events to improving composting facilities to coordinating greener move-outs as residents seek to get rid of furniture. 
2. Working with maintenance to ensure timely solutions to residents’ housing problems — having fought a war against ants in my own Lakeside home, I know the need for swift resolution to these issues, and hope to see more access to pest control (which is currently only available on Wednesdays).
3. Improving equipment in the Lakeside gym. Many residents have encountered issues with broken equipment, lack of cleaning supplies and so forth. I would prioritise surveying the Lakeside community to better understand residents’ gym needs and coordinating with Lakeside administration to meet them.

Yours by the lake,

Emily

Hi All!,

My name is Chris and I’m a 3rd year PhD student in the Computer Science Department.
I’ve been a Lakeside resident since the beginning of my second year (and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future), hence I am deeply invested in the financial health of the community as a whole.

I am running for the position of treasurer. I bring a keen, analytical eye to the role, honed by years of spreadsheet wrangling and tedious calculations. I have experience managing funds for events that my research group holds, as well as experience trudging through bureaucracy (I’ve been a student for a while). Under my watchful eye, not a single cent will slip by! 

Hi all! I am a 4th year PhD student in the Politics department, and I would love to be your new committee Social Chair. I have loved being a part of the Lakeside community for the past 3 years, and I would be eager to give back by serving on the Lakeside Committee. As Social Chair, I would focus on trying to bring us closer together as a community. I would love to plan engaging and fun events that would give us a chance to make friendships across departments — something I know can make all the difference in our grad school experience. 

I believe strongly in the importance of community building. Within the Politics department, I have been the chair of the Graduate Student Committee and a co-organizer of Princeton Women in Politics for the past 4 years. As part of the graduate student committee, I successfully lobbied the department to create a social events budget, and have used it to plan a range of events including barbecues, Halloween parties, and off-campus activities like kayaking. With Princeton Women in Politics, I have hosted several successful student-faculty mixers and dinners. I have seen firsthand how impactful these events can be in forming long-lasting friendships and giving people the opportunity to de-stress during the semester. I would love to replicate that success for the Lakeside community. 

I plan to solicit resident feedback to determine what kinds of events would best suit people’s interests and schedules. I would then aim to host a range of events, expanding on the types and frequency of events offered in the past. I envision these events including social hours with free meals and/or snacks in the common room, monthly game nights, friendly competitions such as a volleyball tournament or a Bake-Off, and parties around times like Halloween or Election Day. My experience planning department events has given me insight into how to optimally plan events — I have learned the best food options for catering in Princeton, the optimal times of the semester to host things, and the way to most efficiently spend a social budget (and how to ask for more). I plan to bring all of this to my position as Social Chair. 

More broadly, as a committee member I would strive to work with the rest of the committee to make sure all resident issues at Lakeside are promptly taken into account and addressed. I plan to be active on slack and offline in soliciting feedback and communicating it to the rest of the committee, as well as to ACC and the university when needed. I will aim to address issues like delivery problems, the recent mold concerns and other maintenance issues, give-aways and transferring furniture during move out times, and potentially getting a vending machine and expanded sports/gym equipment. In my roles within my department, I have served as a liaison between students and my department, and ensured that students’ concerns are heard and taken seriously. Drawing on this experience, I promise to be a strong and responsive advocate for Lakeside’s residents.

In short, I hope to use my position on the Lakeside committee to build up the social life of our community and advocate for the needs of its residents whenever possible. I promise to be an engaged and active committee member, and would be grateful for the trust of the community in representing you all! 

Hi! I’m Kush, a G3 in Plasma Physics. For some background, I’ve been living in Lakeside for 1 year. In my department, I’ve been collaborating to organize a series of professional development workshops led by department faculty and staff scientists. I also lead a journal club over the summers in my research group that solicits presentations from members of our group and outside researchers weekly. These experiences have helped me develop a detail-oriented approach to organization. I can bring this approach to the Secretary role, which relies on these skills in note-taking and communication.  

Since in the past, the Lakeside Secretary has also worked on new initiatives for the Committee, I would continue the trend. For one, I can support the Greening initiative, which I appreciated a great deal (I got two very trendy and *on-theme* emerald green throw pillows that complement my completely barren and scuffed walls well). Per the Lakeside Constitution, the Secretary has no core responsibilities in developing new initiatives, so I view the Secretary as someone who can pursue pie-in-the-sky objectives. Primarily, I’m interested in improving maintenance servicing. For example, as someone who was pulled into a unit with a common room that hasn’t been completely serviced by maintenance (since the unit has been occupied) in several years (according to my unit’s Lore), I would work with management and Housing to revise this policy to the extent possible and push them create a database of maintenance service items for units that have pulled people in so that the unit’s maintenance doesn’t fall through the cracks. In my unit, I discovered that the dryer duct was completely torn in half with lint blown everywhere (fire hazard) after almost a full year of living there!

Thanks for your consideration,

Kush Maheshwari

Hi Everyone! I’m Satya, a fourth year PhD candidate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and I am running for Treasurer of the Lakeside committee. I have thoroughly enjoyed living in Lakeside for over two years now and am excited at the opportunity to serve our community and improve your experience here.

I will apply my acumen for numbers, precise attention to detail, and past experience to be an effective treasurer. Previously, I worked in private industry where I helped manage grant funding and create reports for federal funding agencies. I also worked in retail where I was responsible for handling customer transactions and inventory. Here at Princeton I have been a key member of my lab for budgeting and distributing research grant money. My experience has given me the practical skills and confidence to effectively serve you on the Lakeside committee.

Thank you for your consideration!

Hi! My name’s Cece, I’m a G3 PhD student, and I’ve been calling Lakeside home since year one. If you’ve seen me around, then you’ve surely met my dog, Grey, who will be serving as my sidekick as I run for Secretary. Things I can bring to the table: I’m organized, I value open and transparent communication, and I have ample experience with serving on committees in the past. As Secretary, I’ll do my best to keep thorough records, and to make communications clear and concise when I’m sending you the info you need to make your lives at Lakeside a little easier. Things Grey can bring to the table: she’s great at eating food off sidewalks and dragging sticks back home (okay, so she’s mostly here for moral support, but that’s everything, right?). In sum, we’d be honored to serve our community. Be sure to say hi if you see me out walking with an adorable black dog, we’d be glad to meet you.

Hi everyone! My name is Sophia Koval and I’m a 4^th year grad student in molecular biology. I’ve lived in Lakeside for over two years and from the garden plots to the grill, I absolutely love living here. I would love to be a part of the Lakeside committee to help improve the experience of all residents in our neighborhood.

As secretary, my priorities would be:

1)    Keeping and distributing detailed committee meeting minutes

2)    Following up on unresolved issues and advocating to management/housing on behalf of residents

3)    Promptly responding to resident questions on the Slack/Lakeside email

4)    Creating centralized, easily accessible, and updated resources for new/current residents to address common issues and questions (what to do if you can’t find your package, how to use the Lakeside grill, how to access the communal sports equipment, etc.)

I know a consistent issue that residents face is being brushed off or ignored by management (I’ve been there). In this role, I would make it a priority to follow up with residents, management, and housing to ensure that Lakeside residents’ concerns are taken seriously and addressed adequately. In the circulated meeting minutes, I would highlight all action items and bring them up to management/housing at the following meeting to ensure they’ve been addressed.

In the past, secretaries have also spearheaded new initiatives. I look forward to supporting and growing the Grad Greening initiative that Isabel lead, which set up tents for residents to leave or take unwanted items.

An additional role I would take on as secretary would be creating more written resources that residents can easily access about common issues. As an active member of the Slack channel, I see that the same questions often come up. Whether they’re compiled into a handbook that’s updated yearly or added to the Lakeside Committee website, a centralized resource would make it easier for residents to solve problems quickly and make use of Lakeside amenities.

I look forward to advocating on the behalf of residents and making Lakeside an even better place to spend our graduate years. Thanks for reading!

Hello! My name is Lauren Bunce, and I’m running for Treasurer on the Lakeside Apartments Committee. I’m a fourth year PhD candidate in Princeton’s English Department and have lived in Lakeside for the past two years. My experiences organizing colloquia and working with department administrators to ensure compliance with university spending and purchasing policies gives me tangible, hands-on familiarity navigating the role of a treasurer. I have additional experience managing and recording budgets for afterschool activities and extracurricular clubs from my time as a high school English teacher.

Please reach out to me at bunce@princeton.edu if you have any further questions about my candidacy. Thank you for your consideration!