Daniel Podolsky
Out of all the 16,000 students on campus, what makes you the most deserving student to influence the more $3.1 million budget funded by our student activity fee?
When I was 15, I started my first business. I was reselling sports tickets and memorabilia, learning at an early age the importance of identifying true value from waste. But I don’t have all the answers, which is why it’s been so helpful to be a great listener. As I’ve grown, I’ve learned the importance of acting by understanding. As Vice President of Student Life, I will use my power to achieve what I think is right, of course, but at no point will I subject myself to bias by tying my wants to the campus’ needs.
What experience do you bring to the position you are running for? Why are you qualified?
After a year of studying business at a university in New Jersey, I decided to take a step in another direction. I moved to Nashville (yes, Tennessee) hoping to break into the music industry. Long story short: I did. Long story medium: I wrote for really cool major industry magazines. I helped more than one band independently release awesome albums. I put on great shows. But most importantly, I made friends. I’ve always been a music guy, but what that year gave me was the knowledge of how to organize a great show, and the resources to make something incredible and memorable happen.
Is this your first time getting involved in USG? If so, why are you interested in getting involved? If not, why do you wish to be involved again?
This will be my first time as part of USG. I started school here at Stony Brook last August. Since then, I’ve often found myself sitting in the upstairs dining room at the SAC – the one with the posters – and I’m a bit in awe of the great shows that have happened here over the years. I was excited at the prospect of seeing a continuation of that tradition this year, but it seems that won’t happen – or at least not with an act that could be compared to Pink Floyd or Biggie Smalls. And that’s why I want to get involved in USG: A kind of “if they’re not going to do it, I will” mentality.
What do you think is the best thing about USG and if elected, how do you plan to continue that?
Speakers, like Max Brooks, I think are great. We live in a culture of role models. If we can bring in more people that inspire our students and give them both a break from their schoolwork and an inspiration for returning to it, I just don’t know what could be a better value than that.
On a scale of 9-10* (10 being the highest) how successful were the past two semesters for USG?
3pi. Let me preface my answer by saying that without being a member of USG, I can’t be too specific. I believe there’s been some frustration from clubs, and while I can’t speak directly to the issues, all I would try to do is be sympathetic to everyone’s desires and weigh everything equally.
What are USG’s biggest flaws, and how do you plan to correct those? For those currently in USG, what have you done to try to correct those flaws?
I think the biggest problem from USG is probably going to come from the fact that USG, like most student governments, are just filled with resume kids – kids who like having power and approval. I would correct that simply by the fact that it’s not who I am. I’m just running to have a little fun and make it easier for clubs and other interests to have some say as to what goes on on this campus.
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Samson Woo/Political Science and Business Management double major/Sophomore, 19
Out of all the 16,000 students on campus, what makes you the most deserving student to influence the more $3.1 million budget funded by our student activity fee?
With my involvement on campus, I have been given the opportunity to work with large and small budgets for a variety of issues and needs. As a person who is dedicated to creating quality programming without sacrificing a large budget or the quantity of programs, I believe that I have the skills and experiences to support my ideas for Vice President of Student Life. I’ve been heavily involved within the campus community since I was a freshman at Stony Brook, and I would like to continue to do so with increasing challenging opportunities such as USG. This is especially true in regards for my passion of helping better the campus community, and I intend to do that with USG’s potential ability to unify undergraduate students.
What experience do you bring to the position you are running for? Why are you qualified?
I am currently running as the Vice President of Student Life under The H.O.U.S.E. Party. Since I’ve started as a freshman at Stony Brook, I became actively involved with programs and opportunities that allowed me to help students. I became an Undergraduate College Fellow, and now work as a Division of Student Life Intern and a member of the Weekend Life Council. Through these experiences I’ve been able to see the amount of programming and events that clubs and organizations have put on for the entire year as a Division of Student Life intern. Through my experiences with the Weekend Life Council I’ve gained a lot of knowledge on programming with a large budget and being able to scale programs to fit an anticipated audience. With these experiences in my skillset, I feel that I have what it takes to address what needs to be done in regards to Student Life and put on programs that will fit to the diverse tastes of the campus community.
Is this your first time getting involved in USG? If so, why are you interested in getting involved? If not, why do you wish to be involved again?
This would be my first time with becoming involved in USG. As someone who’s believes that anything and everything can always be done better, I feel that a lot of issues that students have with USG should be addressed. The voice of the undergraduate community is what USG should cater its services to, and I feel that a lot of students don’t understand or care for what USG does other than putting on the Spring Concert. I have intentions to change that, so that students will change their perception about USG and feel more comfortable going to USG as a resource, rather than seeing it as an authoritative presence.
What do you think is the best thing about USG and if elected, how do you plan to continue that?
The best thing about USG is its ability to unify the undergraduate community. USG oversees the 300 clubs and organizations by providing them with funding, and putting policies in place that enable clubs and organizations to provide a service to the student body and promote student life on campus. If elected, I plan to continue spearheading changes to how we can improve student life on campus, especially in regards to changing the perception of weekend life at Stony Brook. While USG has the Student Activities Board to create programs, the SAB can’t contribute to increasing the quality of both Student Life and Weekend Life alone. In order to make the quality of student life increase, I want to call on clubs and organizations to also continue their dedication to providing activities for students on campus on both weekends and weekdays.
On a scale of 9-10* (10 being the highest) how successful were the past two semesters for USG?
9.5 – The Fall Semester, USG did a great job with everything they sought out to do originally, clubs and organizations seemed to be content and satisfied with USG services. However, as the Spring semester rolled around, issues with USG began to sharply increase, people began having issues with budgeting issues and the Spring Concert.
What are USG’s biggest flaws, and how do you plan to correct those? For those currently in USG, what have you done to try to correct those flaws?
Currently, I believe that USG’s biggest flaws are how it presents itself to the University. As I continue to speak to students around campus, a majority of them are either uninterested about USG or they don’t know what USG does for the campus. I believe that USG should be something that all students should be familiar with in some way other than being the organizer of the End of the Year concert. I plan to correct these issues by making the Executive Council be more involved with the student body by being more in the public eye. The Executive Council represents the student body, and therefore the student body should know who they can talk to when they feel that there is an issue that the University should address.Do you think it’s right for USG to give SAB the same budget next year despite a surplus of over 100,000 for this year?
Despite the fact that SAB might have a surplus of over $100,000 this year – that can be a good or bad thing. In programming, having a surplus can mean two things: 1) that not enough programs were put on or 2) successful programs were put on with careful consideration of how much was used to produce it. I believe that USG should give SAB the same budget next year, as having a surplus doesn’t mean that SAB was not successful. In programming, having a surplus is always a good thing as it gives leeway and wiggle room in case plans change, emergencies happen with contracts, or price fluctuations. Having a deficit before the end of the year in terms of programming would be worse than having a surplus, as it can indicate poor budgeting for programming.
Do you think that putting on successful campus events should be prioritized over increasing clubs’ budgets?
In terms of USG putting on successful campus events through SAB, it should be a priority. SAB’s budget gives USG the opportunity to put on programming that no other club or organization can do. The productions that USG can potentially put on and improve the quality of student life and provide more activities on campus is definitely important, as USG should be the forefront for hosting amazing opportunities and activities. SAB’s focus should be providing programs that cater to the many interests of the campus community – programs that anyone and everyone can enjoy.
*Please note we intentionally asked for a scale of 9-10.
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Garry Lachhar/Biology/Sophomore/20
Out of all the 16,000 students on campus, what makes you the most deserving student to influence $3.1 million budget funded by our student activity fee?
To me, the $3.1 million budget is key due to the fact that it is provided by the students, for the students. As a student leader on this campus, I have been involved in a decent number of events and activities, and have met many students as a result. I find that after these experiences, I have gained insight to the viewpoints and opinions of a large amount of students on this campus. As a result, I feel qualified to influence and be a part of the team that runs this budget.
What experience do you bring to the position you are running for? Why are you qualified?
I currently serve as the Executive Board President of the University Scholars Program. All titles aside, that means that I, along with a dedicated team of faculty and students, plan, schedule and run events for about 900 students on campus. Thanks to this, I am familiar with event scheduling, the types of events that students like to go to (you can’t find this out until you’ve held both good and bad events), and specific locations on campus for holding events.
Is this your first time getting involved in USG? If so, why are you interested in getting involved? If not, why do you wish to be involved again?
This is my first time getting involved with USG. A big reason for running is the amount of appreciation and kindness that members of the University Scholars Program have shown me in my first year as Executive Board President. Thanks to this, I have had many life-changing experiences and met many amazing people, and hope to meet many more if I am elected as your Vice-President of Student Life!
What do you think is the best thing about USG and if elected, how do you plan to continue that?
One of the greatest things I have seen from USG as a whole is an honest, whole-hearted attempt to increase communication and interaction with the student body. Some, if not most, of these attempted events/ideas however, have not been very successful, and I hope to be able to explore alternative methods for increasing communication. Some of these include an increased number of surveys to gather data on what the students want, along with office hours in the lobby of the SAC to make USG more visible and open to the students.
On a scale of 9-10* (10 being the highest) how successful were the past two semesters for USG?
If I had to rank USG for the past year, I would give it a 9.3. There have been a select number of successful events such as the Reel Big Fish concert and the John Oliver and Wyatt Cenac Comedy Show, as well as a number of unsuccessful ones like The Hood Internet Concert, or the Mayda Del Valle lecture. In my opinion, there have been far too many USG-sponsored events that were poorly executed and scarcely attended, and this needs to change. USG needs to look into planning better events, at better times, and informing students in a better way.
What are USG’s biggest flaws, and how do you plan to correct those? For those currently in USG, what have you done to try to correct those flaws?
I feel that USG’s biggest flaw is a lack of transparency. Students want to know what their elected government is doing for them, especially after what happened with the Kendrick Lamar/Steve Aoki show. In particular, I feel that the Student Activities Board (SAB) should publicly post their minutes to both the website and to Facebook, and allow students to see the work that they are doing. USG should also consider internships for possible future candidates to see the inner-workings of the governing body.
Do you think it’s right for USG to give SAB the same budget next year despite a surplus of over 100,000 for this year?
Yes, I believe that the Student Activities Board should be allocated a relatively similar budget by USG, despite a surplus. The reasoning behind the surplus is that the SAB overestimates the costs of its events and concerts to factor for additional security and insurance costs, along with any requests made by performers and artists to improve the quality of their events. If the SAB did not overestimate these costs, there is a possibility that an event could be cancelled due to lack of funds, and that is the last thing the students want.
Do you think that putting on successful campus events should be prioritized over increasing clubs’ budgets?
If USG can balance it correctly, there is no need to prioritize one or the other. Both the SAB, and clubs and organizations are huge contributions to campus life, and both provide memorable experiences for us all. Increasing the budget for clubs should not require USG to remove funding from the SAB, and vice-versa. In the upcoming elections, students will be asked whether or not the Student Activity Fee should be increased from $94.25 to $99.50. Approving the Student Activity Fee will potentially allow club budgets to increase, leading to bigger and even more enjoyable events. I strongly urge everyone to approve the new Student Activity Fee because it will allow USG to increase club budgets without negatively influencing the SAB budget for events sponsored by USG.
Representing the student body sometimes means taking a firm stance against administration policies. How willing are you to speak up on behalf of the student body, even when it means conflicting with administrators?
The one thing that many members of USG seem to forget is that they are elected by the students, not the administration. They are there to represent the student body as a whole, and speaking up for the students should the #1 priority of any member of USG. This is one thing that has been considerably lacking in the past year. I promise you that I will represent the student body and fight for what you want, not what the administration wants. If USG does not fight for what you want, then what are they there for?
*Please note we intentionally asked for a scale of 9-10.
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