This Friday, students will vote in the first round of the Student Union's spring elections. Open positions include president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and seats on the Finance Board, representatives to the Board of Trustees, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board.

President
This year's Student Union presidential candidates are Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia '15, Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf and Terrell Gilkey '15.

Walia said in an interview with the Justice that her platform is "student-focused."

While it includes goals related to more specific issues such as dining and transportation, Walia said that she also wants to focus on "tangibly" achieving transparency between the Union and the student body, encouraging student participation in committees and supporting co-sponsorships of clubs and large campus events.

In an email to the Justice, Gilkey wrote that he wants to "make sure that every student at Brandeis ... know[s] that someone cares enough about what matters to them to try to make sure that every one of their concerns with Brandeis has been addressed and hopefully resolved."

In an interview with the Justice, Bessendorf said that she is "passionate about ... improving the day-to-day lives of students," including issues such as dorm renovations, meal plan prices, BranVan schedules and transparency on executive compensation.

Vice President
Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina '16 and Sofia Muhlmann '16 are running for the position of vice president.

DePina said in an interview with the Justice that she wants to focus on clarifying the processes of club recognition and chartering, improving the quality of dining stations and showcasing diversity of the student body through clubs.

In an interview with the Justice, Muhlmann, who has not had experience on the Student Union, described herself as a mediator and "intense problem solver."

Muhlmann, a community advisor, said that she believes she can serve as a liaison between the Executive Board of the Union and the Senate.

While Muhlmann's Facebook page outlines her specific goals, she said that she believes she would need to address the "broader" objectives of the position before focusing on more specific goals if she were elected.

Secretary
The candidates for secretary are Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 and Arlene Cordoves '17.

In an email to the Justice, Franco wrote that she "wanted to be in a position where I could not only effect change on the University as a whole, but for the Union itself." Franco wrote that she wants to focus on providing additional materials in the Romper Room, a rental system for clubs to borrow equipment from the Union and a review of the club system and club recognition and chartering processes. "I will continue to be a voice for the students with administration and push for further transparency on decisions that are being made that affect all of campus," she wrote.

Cordoves did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Treasurer
The sole candidate for treasurer is current Assistant Treasurer Andrew Miller '16.

In an interview with the Justice, Miller said that he wants to "clean up a lot of the treasury" by utilizing all its resources and improving organization, and expressed a desire to make the Romper Room more accessible to club treasurers.

Finance Board
There are 12 candidates running for the four seats on F-Board.

In an interview with the Justice, Class of 2016 Senator and Director of Communications Jonathan Jacob said that while the University is home to several clubs, some clubs do not "receive the funding they need or the funding they deserve."

Specifically, Jacob said that he wants to promote cohesion on F-Board, help performance clubs receive funding and educate smaller cultural clubs on how to obtain more funding.

Several candidates are running on experience as club leaders. Elad Ohayon '17 wrote in an email to the Justice that as a board member of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization, he has found the allocation process to be "confusing and quite lengthy" and hopes to make that process "smoother."

Judy Nam '16, who has been running for a position on F-Board since her first year, wrote in an email to the Justice that she would aim to make F-Board an "open, friendly resource for clubs." Specifically, she wrote that not only would she like to increase funding for clubs, but she also would want to educate clubs about alternative sources of funding.

In an interview with the Justice, Andrew An '16 also expressed a willingness to be an approachable resource for clubs. A treasurer for the Brandeis Asian American Student Association, An wrote that he understands that a club treasurer's "work isn't easy."

Ari Ben-Elazar '17 wrote in an email to the Justice that he "see[s] potential for change with respect to smarter spending," working with clubs to help them to take advantage of their funds and increase efficiency. "Rather than just allocating funds, I hope to connect with clubs and make their budget work for them, especially if it isn't already," he wrote.

Jeffrey Cherkin '16 wrote in an email to the Justice that he would "maintain and increase the extracurricular opportunities on campus" for all students. "Every club on campus deserves to receive a fair portion of the Student Union budget to achieve its specific academic, athletic, or social goals," he wrote.
Alex Mitchell '17, who is a current F-Board member, wrote in an email to the Justice that he originally ran because there were no first-years on the board and he feels that it is important to represent "all four classes" on the board.

Mitchell wrote that he hopes to work with clubs on more "big-ticket capital items or major events," which "can affect the entire campus."

The other candidates for the position, Andre Bourne '16, Evelyn Beard '17, Hanchen Zhao '16 and Evans Agbonsalo (TYP) did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Xinyu Annie Li '17, an executive board member of the Brandeis Chinese Culture Connection, is the only candidate running for the racial minority F-Board position. Li wrote in an email to the Justice that she would aim to be "highly involved in the financial cases of students' group."

Board of Trustees
There are three candidates for the one junior representative to the Board of Trustees position. In separate emails to the Justice, both Zachary Anziska '16 and Grady Ward '16 wrote that they would like to focus on increasing budget transparency and sexual assault prevention. The third candidate, Shaoleen Khaled '16 wrote that she would like to see more funding for renovations of residential and academic buildings, as well as improving meal plan and dining options.

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
There are two candidates running for the position of junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.
Zack Weaver '16 wrote in an email to the Justice that as an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Physics department, he is aware of the difficulty of scheduling classes to meet various requirements. Weaver wrote that he would like to see the University expand its cross-registration network.

Class of 2016 Senator Kathy Nguyen wrote in an email to the Justice that she would like to "bring a greater diversity of courses offered on campus to attract more interest in students."
There are no candidates running for the two open seats for the representatives to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board.

-Jessie Miller and Marissa Ditkowsky contributed reporting.

Editor's Note: Zachary Anziska '16 is a Justice staff photographer.