Nikhil Pandey

Class of 2015

Brothers and Sisters of Carleton,

My desire to attain this position partly stems from an urge to feed my ego. I am not a remarkable person; I’ve done but a few good deeds for the world and the last time I had a notable leadership position in a student government organization was in fifth grade, when I was secretary/treasurer of student council at my elementary school (I was the only one who ran for the position). Indeed, becoming the Senator of the Arts would reinvigorate the pathetic sense of self-importance I possessed in fifth grade and would temporarily make me feel better about myself.

Yet my larger pull towards serving in the CSA comes from my love and history with theater and music and a desire to help these arts grow at Carleton. In high school, I performed in a total of 10 stage productions in and was even somehow awarded a Hennepin Theater Trust Spotlight Award for my cartoonish and pitiful portrayal of Horace Vandergelder in the musical “Hello, Dolly!” I also helped put together a musical with my friends this summer, and performed to a full audience for four nights at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater in Uptown Minneapolis. Finally, I performed in concert choir, participated in madrigal and chamber singer small-groups, and sang at retirement homes during the holiday season (I am so sorry for boring you with my supposed qualifications). At Carleton, my interests and identity have broadened and I am distanced somewhat from the arts. This, I wish to remedy. By joining the CSA ranks as Senator for the Arts, I endeavor to

  • Reconnect with theater and music more fully by serving as a link between the performers, musicians, and artists and the student government.
  • Learn more about how the budget is allocated and work towards funding one well-known, beloved production every academic year.
  • (While theater at Carleton certainly strong, it would benefit tremendously by producing a play or musical that is well-known. Imagine how many more people would audition for and attend a Steven Sondheim musical or Arthur Miller play! I myself dream of a day when I can grow a killer beard and portray John Proctor inThe Crucible.)
  • Augment publicity efforts and work towards a full house for every major concert, gallery, and stage production.

For these reasons, I, Nikhil Pandey would like your vote for the position of Senator of the Arts. Of course, I won’t hold it against you if you think I am unqualified or snooty; I wish you a fruitful life nonetheless.

Kaia Wahmanholm

My name is Kaia Wahmanholm; I am a sophomore and a potential Art History major from St. Paul Minnesota. I am running to be the CSA Senator for the Arts because I believe the arts are a critical part of the Carleton experience, and that they should be represented as such. In the year and a term that I have been at Carleton I have been involved in dance, Experimental Theater Board productions, and the Carleton Symphony Band. Additionally, in the winter I will begin working at The Cave. These are all aspects of the arts that I am extremely interested in, and interested in strengthening during my time in the CSA. As Senator for the Arts I would love to see music and the visual arts more strongly supported in the Carleton community. Serving as a liaison between the CSA and the Carleton Arts Committee I believe I would be able to represent the wants and needs of the various arts communities on campus. To this end I would not only pursue the Arts Committee’s interests but also seek to improve the visibility of the Arts Committee. I am a sociable person who values efficiency in communication and will always do my best to be both respectful and prompt when it comes to communication between both the Carleton Arts Committee and the CSA. With my strong communication skills, my involvement, and strong interest in many aspects of art at Carleton: studio arts, theater, dance, and music, I believe I, Kaia Wahmanholm, would be a valuable addition to the CSA in the form of Senator for the Arts. Thank you!

Peter Joy

Hi. My name is Peter Joy. I’m running for the new Senator for the Arts position, and I need your vote to make Carleton a better place. This is my platform.

  1. The Weitz center is an amazing place for artists. Which means it’s an amazing place for everyone. However, in order to fully utilize the great facilities, the Weitz needs a strong student representative. I will make sure that the spaces in the Weitz are being managed in a way that is very responsive to student needs.
  2. Performing and visual arts groups at Carleton are one of my biggest priorities. I want to make sure that it is easy for them to organize events, find great venues to perform, and get adequate funding.
  3. I want to bring great performers to Carleton! Fortunately for us, the Twin Cities is a great hub for vast amounts of creativity, and I would love to channel some of that love through Northfield.
  4. Non art majors sometimes take art courses just to fulfill the distribution requirements. I want to give them the option of making those classes a more integral part of their Carleton journey early on. I want to do this by working with professors and students to increase the variety and quantity of introductory art courses.
  5. The printing quota took some people by surprise. The latest CSA survey shows that a vast majority of students want to see major changes to this seemingly one-size-fits-all policy. I’ll do my best.
  6. People still want to see changes to the meal plans. I would like to see meal plans that are priced in between the two price points that are currently offered. I would also like to see more guest meals offered with every meal plan.
  7. Most of all, I want to hear more from you!

Rui Su

I am Rui Su, class of 2016 from China. I am running for the position of Senator for the Arts. My extensive experience in event-planning, interest in the arts, and the will to improve the arts scene at Carleton are the main reasons why I run for this position. Currently I am working as a journalist for The Schiller Report, a news program in KRLX. By reporting campus news every week I am always concerned about what is going on around Carls. Also I am the secretary of Chinese club and am getting familiar with organizing activities in college. In high school I was involved in the Students’ Union. During my work in the union, I organized various activities ranging from fund-raising to volunteering, which became the primary reason why I was elected as the Ambassador of Project Care of the city. By planning these activities I gained experience in coordinating staff, planning events with teammates, and dealing with all the possible situations that might happen during activities. Besides I took part in art organizations as well. I worked in Design & Publicity Association in high school, which is an organization for designing the posters on campus. I also worked for an electronic magazine named Present, which included a lot of art elements such as digital designing and videos. I worked as the executive director and the music director. These organizations were where my interest in the arts started.If elected, I will try my best to improve the art scene, especially the visual arts aspect. Although there are a lot of arts activities going on, student involvement isn’t active enough. Therefore I will make the visual arts scene more visible to students in a lot of ways. For example I will cooperate with various resources on campus such as the arts department and other students in arts. Apart from that I can also promote some art activities that are more accessible to students who are not professional in the arts. Also for performing arts and music, which are already popular among students, I will keep encouraging students or faculty to commit to these events, and add more ways to publicize these events.In a word, my enthusiasm in the arts and my willingness to commit to the improvement in the arts are the predominant motivation to work as the Senator for the Arts. Also I am happy to talk about any question you have for the arts at Carleton, because we share the same goal: make Carleton a more artistic place.

Suyu Meng

Hi Carls! Have you ever wondered what is the Carleton Arts Committee? Do you want to see Carleton College with a bit more sense of art? If the answer is yes, then we are on the same boat. My name is Suyu Meng, and I’m running for the Senator of Arts position in CSA.

Experienced in Arts

I’ve always been interested in improving the arts environment on campus, because I’ve always been interested in art. I grew up in Beijing, which is the ancient and modern art center of China. Arts have become part of me. I remember spending time in different galleries, theaters, exhibitions and performances with my friends during gap year; I remember coming across film stars or famous artists in restaurants; I remember modeling in 798, the modern arts center of China.

Eager to Make a Difference

After I came here, I’ve continued practicing art (link to my projects down below), but I feel that the arts activities have not reached enough to different students yet, so the overall artistic environment is not satisfying enough. I will be honored if I can improve this situation, if I can become a liaison the between the different theater groups and artists performing or holding exhibitions here in Carleton, and improve the quality of arts here.

Experienced for This Position

Although this is a new position, I’ve had a lot of experience in art (my projects), so I know what I’m doing; as the founder of the first Model US Senate conference in China, I enjoy working with people and like to take initiatives. As the youngest employee in one of the largest education company in the world, I am eager to face challenges and fully understand the meaning of responsibility. I would love to answer if you have any questions. Feel free to talk to me. My email ismengs@carleton.edu, and thanks for your time!

Hiyanthi Peiris

Hey Carleton Students,

My name is Hiyanthi Peiris (Class of 2015) and I am running for the position of CSA Senator of the Arts. I am very enthusiastic about being more involved in the Carleton student body and in the student government. As former Head Prefect (leader of the student body and Prefects’ Guild) of Bishop’s College, Colombo and a Founding member of the Youth Music Council of Sri Lanka, I have experience communicating the needs of the student body to authority figures and getting such issues solved. I also have experience with the establishment and proliferation of arts in student bodies.

  • Leadership Experience · Head Prefect- 2010- Head of the student body at Bishop’s College, Colombo · School Prefect- 2009- A member of the Prefects’ Guild at Bishop’s College, Colombo · Sub Committee Member Henley House – 2009·   Secretary UN Club – 2009/2010 · President One World Youth Club – 2007/2008 (A sister school project that linked Bishop’s College with a school in the US to work on a focus UN Millennium Development Goal annually). · Asst. Secretary One World Youth Club – 2006/2007 · Patrol Leader Girl Guide Troupe- 2008 (similar to Girl Scouting in USA) · President Mediation Circle- 2010
  • Arts experience · Awarded an Honorable Mention for Grade 5 Speech and Drama (Trinity Guildhall)- 2006 · Awarded Island highest points for highest level of Communication Skills (Trinity Guildhall)- 2009 · Member of the School Cast for the Production of Bernard Shaw’s ‘The Arms and the Man’ at the Bishop’s College Interschool Drama Festival. (2009) · Has an ATCL degree in Speech and Drama awarded by Trinity Guildhall, London-2011 · Founding member of the Youth Music Council, Sri Lanka- 2010 (a club that strives to inspire and help young musicians in Sri Lanka)Current Extra-curricular Activities · Member- Model UN (2011/2012) · Program Director- Kids for Conservation (2012/2013) · Organization Leader- Mosaic for South Asian Students at Carleton (MOSAIC) (2012/2013) · Member, Organizing Committee for Volunteer for Carleton (2011/2012)· Member, cast of Oresteia (2011/2012) · Participant, Ebony II (2011/2012) · Participant, dance performances done by MOSAIC (2011/2012)
  • Goals as CSA Senator of Arts · Communication of arts related needs of student body to the Carleton Arts Committee and the CSA · Provide students with frequent and comprehensive updates of activities organized by the Carleton Arts Committee·   Focus on a more culturally diverse approach to the arts at Carleton- organize performances by multi-cultural groups both on and off campus, work in affiliation with groups like Latin American Students’ Organization, Mosaic of South Asian Students At Carleton, African Students’ Association and Asian Students in America, propose new and better funding for multi-cultural organizations to promote cultural diversity in arts. · Organize more opportunities for students at Carleton to explore their artistic abilities and talents at Carleton- poetry recitals, experimental theatre productions and provide opportunities for students to try their hand out at directing, singing, writing, listen to different types of music, etc.

Thank you for reading my platform. If elected, I promise to work hard to promote the artistic interests of the student body to the best of my ability. Please email me if you have any concerns or require more information about my platform and other specific issues. Have a wonderful day!

Yours truly,

Hiyanthi Peiris

Stephanie Lee

Hey Carleton! My name is Stephanie Lee and I’m a potential Art History/Religion major, with a love for medieval Europe, Sriracha, and the automated water fountains in Weitz. I would like the opportunity to represent you all as the Senator for the Arts this year. Though I haven’t been involved in Carleton’s formal governing body, I am very involved on campus. I prance around in Ebony, work for the Studio Art department, play field hockey and lacrosse, am a member of Schiller Society, and get all dramatic in mock trial. In high school I was vice president of Wind Ensemble and president of Gastronome Guild, a food club that tried out new recipes and wrote reviews on restaurants. I think I’ll be able to represent a variety of concerns and interests regarding the arts at Carleton. As your Senator for the Arts, here are some ideas I plan to propose to strengthen the arts in student life:

  1. Increase awareness and transparency of Carleton’s own collection and events. Did you know that we have our own art collection? You can go check it out tomorrow, and the following two Tuesdays (10/23, 10/20, 11/6.) How often have you went inside the Perlman Teaching Museum? Have you seen a Carleton Players production, or taken part in Chelsea 11:17? Often times during our busy terms, a zimbra email to one or two listservs doesn’t effectively get the word out of what’s available to us. I want to improve communication and advertising of showings, events, clubs, etc. so that more of the Carleton community can take advantage of what’s in our own backyard.
  2. Making arts in the Twin Cities more accessible. The hope is to work with SAO to have a weekly bus that will have regular stops at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Guthrie Theatre, and the Walker Art Theatre, allowing students to enjoy the beaux-arts as well as performances without worrying about hiking up to the cities.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding my ideas, drop me a line atleest@carleton.edu<. And of course, I would love to hear yours as well!

Cheers, Stephanie Lee

Mamoru Kanazawa

Hey my name is Mamoru Kanazawa and I’m here to ask you to choose me to be your Senator of the Arts.

Goals:

  • Many students though not in classes are interested in arts. There are resources that are available but not known. I would like to work with the Art department to make use of these available resources and expand them.
  • I have heard many students having troubles with the new PaperCut implementation mainly the new account system and the limit of number of pages we can print. I want to work with ITS and the college if we can improve on this system.
  • Recently Bon Apetite has raised their prices, which I believe was confusing and upsetting. Upon being elected I want to work with them to create a better understanding of pricing and the food quality.
  • The new Weitz Center has a lot of potential that are yet to be seen. I would like to make use of this new building full of resources that can be used.
  • I would like to get CSA and the student body more involved in the arts. Carleton is currently putting more efforts in investing in the arts. I would like to better direct the funding that Carleton is putting in arts. I’m on the budget committee and I help direct funds to student organizations.
  • Getting into art classes can be very frustrating and opaque, especially for students who have never taken art classes. The process should be more transparent.

Changes:

  • I would try setting up art workshops where we can call art professionals. Having a small art department one of the downsides is that when art professors leave for sabbaticals, we lose one whole area of art, by having workshops I hope to cover this downside, and also bring in more interest in the area.
  • I want to work with ITS and the college to so that the Paper Cut system will be more user friendly, and transparent. I would also want to talk to them about how we can adjust the limit so that it won’t place undue pressure on Carleton students by forcing us to print less; we should print less I agree, but we shouldn’t be forced
  • I want to work with Bon Appetite to make their system more transparent so we know where our money is going to and what we are eating.

Experience:

  • Having experience in arts the application process for these art classes seems a bit confusing and unfriendly. I have heard stories (and myself have also experienced this) of students who don’t apply or who do but give up on applying for classes because of it. I have talked to the art department before, and as a senate hope to make the process friendlier.
  • Desktop Systems: I work for the Desktop Systems in ITS. Digital Arts can require many high cost software that us students can have a hard time affording. I am in a position to request and deploy these software so that much more students can have access to these software.
  • ITS: I worked at the ITS over the past summer when we implemented the PaperCut System. I know who to go ask for help and I have talked about the new system and how we can improve/alter it. Again the system should somehow accommodate for those who need to print and regulate those who are abusing it.
  • I used to work at Sayles and have talked with many Bon Apetite managers. I hope to use this experience and connections to bring Bon Apetite closer and more transparent so we understand where are money is going to, what we eat, and how we can get better food options.

Avery Rux, 2015

(Prospective) Major: English

Austin, TX, 78732

ruxa@carleton.edu

My primary motivation for applying for the position of Senator of the Arts is that I have been severely disappointed with the outlets Carleton provides its students for creative and artistic expression. Literature, theatre, and art have yet to, in my mind, crack the main stream of Carleton’s social consciousness, and I have several ideas to help change this. First, I’d like to provide greater incentive for artistic creation by hosting a number of contests in various arts: fiction, playwriting, visual art, etc. I think students would respond with their own creativity if only the school provided them with more chances to express themselves. I’d also help to promote the already existing but under-publicized art contests like the annual writing contests sponsored by the English Department. Second, I’d like to turn more public campus spaces into areas where student art can be exhibited. While the Pearlman museum in Weitz is nice, I’d love to see student art exhibited in Sayles, and in the academic buildings if any student art is relevant to certain departments.

I have no formal experience in student government, but I’d love to do whatever I can to help make a difference at Carleton in an area that I think sorely needs improvement!

– Avery Rux

Elizabeth (Liza) Davis

Hello fellow Carls! My name is Elizabeth (Liza) Davis. I’m a freshman hoping to major in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology. I am running to represent the student body as your Senator for the Arts. I have a strong passion for both music and people and hope to bring both interests together through this position. Though I obviously have limited experience working with Carleton student government, I bring leadership experience with me from high school. I served on the executive council of my school’s Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter, was a collaborative piano and leadership intern at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was on the executive board of Globally Minded Student Activists at my high school. I was also heavily involved in band, choir, and theatre, lettering in all three activities. Here at Carleton, I am a member of both the Concert Choir and Carleton Singers and work as a member of the choir staff as an accompanist.

As your Senator for the Arts, I hope to acquaint myself with the artistic interests of the student body and find ways to deeper infuse the arts with learning. Since I am already deeply involved with the choral program, I would love to bring more opportunities for outside artists and ensembles to work with the choir. Besides choir, I have a great passion for theatre; I would try to organize more opportunities for student s to view professional theatre. Overall, I would work make sure that all fields of artistic exploration are represented and appreciated here at Carleton.

I would be overjoyed to meet with my fellow students and learn what art areas interest them the most; as your Senator for the Arts, I would work my hardest to ensure that you have opportunities to explore and learn more about what interests you the most. I love this school, I love music, and I love working with people. Thank you for your consideration!