MCR General Elections Candidates 2018
Dear Clare,
I am pleased to announce the nominations for the MCR Committee General Elections 2018.
The online voting will open on Thursday 26 April at 9am for 72 hours.
The list of candidates for available positions can be seen below, as well as the manifestos for Executive Positions and contested Non-Executive Positions.
Executive Positions
President
- Nick Wise (nominated and seconded by Aneesh Naik, Paola Velasco Herrejón)
Vice-President
- Andrea Paterlini (nominated and seconded by Sam Cabot, Jonty Townson)
Secretary
- Daniel Muthukrishna (nominated and seconded by Andrea Paterlini, Sam Cabot)
Treasurer
- Eyal Fisher (nominated and seconded by Katerina Pavlidi, Tyler Brunet)
Social Secretary
- Lydia Parkinson (nominated and seconded by Jonty Townson, Andrea Paterlini)
Bar Managers (x2)
- Jonty Townson (nominated and seconded by Andrea Paterlini, Lydia Parkinson)
- Aneesh Naik (nominated and seconded by Nick Wise, Andrea Paterlini)
Non-Executive Positions
Library Officer
- Philip Leung
- Maxwell Jones
Welfare (LGBT+)
- Pedro Vianez
Computing Officer
- Daniel Muthukrishna
Clareity President
- Paola Velasco Herrejón
Green Officer
- Daniel Whitaker
Mature Students Officer
- Peter Asimov
Exchange/Swaps Officer
- Lena Morrill
Manifestos
President
Nick Wise
As well as being a second year PhD student in engineering, this year I have posted “the bar is open” in the MCR Facebook group and spent too much time trying to keep the coffee machine going. During the past year of bar managing, my favourite part of the job has been all the emails and admin, so for the coming year I am seeking to maximise that without the annoyance of having to try lots of different beer.
Since arriving in 2010 I have been fortunate to call Clare my home, or at least my home from home, and in that time I have come to know many members of staff and how the college functions (or doesn’t). I believe that this experience will be useful for knowing who to speak to get stuff done.
Clare is rightly renowned for being one of the friendliest colleges in Cambridge, with, in my opinion, the best MCR, and I intend to ensure that it remains so. Although the efforts of previous presidents and committees have prevented us being evicted underground, I am sure there will be issues this year arising from the Old Court renovations and I will work to maintain current facilities and access as far as possible. I will also work with the committee to deal with accommodation problems caused by the demolition of St. Regis, in particular the expensive and limited options offered to those forced to move out.
I would be honoured to represent the MCR for the coming year and I hope you will be happy to have me working with the committee for you.
Vice-President
Andrea Paterlini
Hi everyone!
I hope that most of you know me. I’m Andrea, second year PhD student in Biology. I was your welfare office during this academic year. I’ve had a great time meeting and talking to so many of you at the various welfare events and non. Quite a few of the master students are already talking about leaving and my heart is breaking. You came as students, I hope you leave as friend (and fear me, I will try to visit you wherever you end up, no hiding). One of the great privileges of being a committee member is indeed the ease of meeting people early on, helping them to settle in and forming strong bonds. And after that you can subject them to terrible movies for the movie night and they don’t even complain! Jokes apart I hope that in this year I have shown how much I care for the MCR community and how keen I am for it to thrive. Clare is such a key part of my experience here in Cambridge!
I would like to continue to have an active role in the committee and carry though some projects that we started (We are considerings some drama therapy for more creative relaxation, along with existing activities). I am running for Vice President this year. I feel I have gained a good understanding of the college dynamics to contribute even more than before.
The coming year in general will be indeed a complicated one for the MCR community and Clare in general. The redevelopment of St Regis (with concomitant issues in housing) and renovation of old court itself will pose challenges. The aim of the future committee will be to try and mitigate the impact of these on the experience of future and current student. I hope I will be able to make an active contribution in this sense by supporting the president and the other committee members. We will have to all work together to keep the MCR the lively and welcoming place that it has always been. Openness and efficient communication will be essential. I will try to get a box in the MCR for anonymous feedbacks/idea from students. This will strengthen our ability to detect issues and address them but also to improve things in general. I will also try to get more out of our connections with CUSU and the graduate union. Lastly, together with the future president we will try to protect students’ interests in college meetings. We will keep fighting the rent battles for example. We might not be victorious but we will do our best. We have spoken to the graduate tutors and they have offered further support for these situations.
Thank you for reading this and remember to vote in the elections, regardless of how you vote!
Andrea
Secretary
Daniel Muthukrishna
I’m Dan, a PhD student at the Institute of Astronomy. My research involves using machine learning and statistical techniques to analyse exploding stars, and to understand more about the mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe!
I’m also from Australia, which means that I can often be found riding Kangaroos to work, fighting off mammoth spiders, or speaking kind of funny with words like ‘arvo’ or ‘brekkie’ (afternoon/breakfast) or some strange word for flip-flops (which I won’t mention here after the dirty looks I got the first time I used it).
I think the MCR offers an amazingly unique opportunity to collaborate beyond our own departments by sharing discoveries, creating ideas, and forming bonds with people from an incredibly diverse and multi-disciplinary group. I look forward to the opportunity to support this experience by serving as the next MCR Secretary and Computing Officer!
Treasurer
Eyal Fisher
I am Eyal Fisher, a 1st year PhD student in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine. Since I was a child I enjoyed manipulating and keeping track of numbers. Personally, I enjoy nothing more than finding the best solution to a constrained optimization problem. However, I understand that not everyone enjoys numbers as much as I do, and the eventually, the purpose of the MCR is to maximize the enjoyment of all MCR members over the course of their graduate studies. Unfortunately, the MCR is also constrained to use only as much money as it has available. I hope to use my affection to numbers in a way that allows the maximization of fun experienced by MCR members, while still keeping financial responsibility.
For this purpose, I would like to look into a couple of things:
- Keeping the prices that MCR members pay for food and rent in line with the rise in their scholarships (this might prove challenging).
- Setting up an efficient book-keeping and forecasting system for the MCR finances.
- Working with the college to ensure that the new accommodations will be suitable for the MCR member’s needs, both in term of quality and price.
- Looking for creative ways to increase the MCR’s revenue.
Thanks for reading,
Eyal Fisher
Social Secretary
Lydia Parkinson
I am Lydia, I like gin and I like organising people which are two qualities I think are very important for Social Sec!
One of the best parts of my college experience this year has been formals, I would love to be involved in organising these and making sure they are as fun and enjoyable as they have been this year. I will aim to continue to regularly include themed formals which seem to have been very popular! As well as this, I will do my best to organise cocktail nights and try and get some gin tasting in there too!
Aside from this, I would like to organise more events such as quiz nights and brunches to try and bring the whole MCR community together. I would also look for feedback to ensure that the events being organised were what you actually want and if not, I will do my absolute best to address this.
I have had such a great start to college life, met some amazing people and attended some great events. I would love to be your social sec, help to provide the events that you want and ensure the Clare MCR remains the best in Cambridge! 🙂
Bar Managers
Jonty Townson
Dear Clare MCR,
For those who do not know me, I am Jonty, a first year PhD student in the department of Physiology, Development, & Neuroscience, where I work with flies.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the MCR and believe our bar is one of the cornerstones to fostering a highly social and inclusive atmosphere. Working on bar since the start of my time here has been great fun and I am eager to continue the smooth running of the bar.
As bar manager I will continue to maintain good relations with college. I also want to bring in more drinks requested by members of the MCR. One major change I hope to make is to start selling bottles of wine before formal for those not satisfied with the current allocation.
Whether you are using the bar for post-formal drinks or your own social event. I want it to remain a central and loved part of the MCR that welcomes all for a good time.
Thank you for reading this!
Jonty
Aneesh Naik
I’m a second year PhD student at the Institute of Astronomy, specialising mostly in the cryptic crossword. I love the bar. I think it’s pretty great. If elected, I promise to follow Nick and Zach’s examples and continue to run the bar. In addition to this, I promise the following:
1. A fortnightly QUIZ
2. Home-made liqueurs (I once placed second in a vodka-infusing contest!)
3. Freedom from tyranny
Library Officer
Philip Leung
Why library officer?
Hi, I am Philip, a 1st year PhD student in astrophysics. Having done my undergraduate and masters at Clare, I appreciate the enormous difference a welcoming and accessible library can make on both the academic and social aspects of life for myself and many of my friends. Our friendly and helpful library staff and their hard work in organising activities such as doughnut teas and free massages are blessings which I believe we should not take for granted. It is my hope that as your library officer, I may partner with both you and our wonderful library staff team in finding ever more creative ways to make our library an oasis of learning and rest.
As your library officer, I set myself the following goals:
‣ To be a friendly and accessible bridge between the MCR community and the library staff, reflecting views from both
‣ To encourage MCR members to explore the vast resources the FML has through library visits and workshops
‣ To coordinate with library staff in organising creative social events in the LCR, and having special events with a more MCR focus
‣ To expand our LCR light fiction collection and encourage MCR members to share our favourite books and themes!
‣ To think of ways of making the FML and books more accessible in light of accomodation changes this coming year
‣ To be a useful member of the MCR committee and a helpful face around college
The FML is a wonderful place for both study and relaxing in times of stress.
Please help me to continue and improve this reputation by voting for me as library officer!
Maxwell Jones
Hi all,
For those who haven’t met me yet, I’m a first year PhD in History researching early nineteenth-century pessimists in Germany and Italy. You can often find me in the MCR trying to convince people that pessimism is more fun than it sounds. If, like me, you spend all your time reading gloomy books by miserable people, it really helps to have a nice library to do it in. I’m keen to work with the librarians to make sure that everyone in the MCR has access to the resources and assistance they need to get the most out of their time here at Clare.
As Library Officer, I’d be the point of contact with the Clare librarians. My aims would be to make sure your library needs are being met, to flag up and help resolve any issues that might arise, and to try to promote book culture around college in general. In my experience people are often unaware of many of the resources available to them, such as software and training courses, so I see spreading awareness and maximising access as an important part of the role. Equally important is making sure graduates have sufficient access to workspaces even at busy times of the year.
Aside from the FML, I think the MCR could really benefit from setting up a book exchange – a ‘take a book, leave a book’ shelf – which is a great (and free!) way of coming across new books, fostering a sense of community, and promoting recycling. I’d also like to arrange visits to the Fellows’ library so MCR members get the chance to see Clare’s beautiful collection of rare books before they get destroyed in the inevitable fire caused by keeping them straight above the kitchens.
Given that the Library Officer has relatively few official duties, it’s also a great position for lending a hand wherever the committee needs one. I look forward to getting involved.
