ideas@nicoleandravi.com
nicoleandravi.com/ideas
(703) 942-9850Ideas?
March 21, 2008 · Add your comments!
Got an idea for Student Government to pursue next year? We’d love to hear it!
As we met with the Student Body while gearing up for our campaign, we heard lots of great ideas — things that are simple to fix, but no one is doing anything about. We’ve incorporated a lot of those ideas into our platform, but there’s always room for more. There are a few ways you can get in touch with us:
- Leave a Comment!
You can leave a comment on this page. We’re all about transparency in your student government, so we’re looking forward to a healthy and public discussion of ideas right out here in the open. - Email Us!
You can reach us at ideas@nicoleandravi.com. We promise to reply back to you within 24 hours. - Call Us!
You can leave us a voicemail at (703) 942-9850. Make sure to leave your name and number so we can call you back!
Be forewarned — however you leave a comment, we may just use it in our next video! Thanks and look out for our replies below!
-Nicole Kukuruda and Ravi Udeshi
Candidates for Student Body President and Vice President
Do you have an idea? Add it here in the comments! Thanks guys!
Just letting you all know that there is already a carpooling system that the university takes apart of. Mason will have to pay lots of money to provide its own form of carpooling due to liability issues.
http://transportation.gmu.edu/GOLOCO.html
Also upgrading current email system to gmail would be easy and cost effective but that would open up a broad range of security issues. It also violates a few law of ethics but that super technical talk. The long term solution to the horrible email system would be to upgrade or change the current email software on the mason network. The current Iplanet software that mason is using is horrible and I’m glad you guys have taken a oath of change it.
You guys are doing a GREAT job keep up the good work!
Hey! Ken, Good Point about the email system.
I agree that it would be difficult to move the network to Gmail because of security issues. But, I guess the fact that Nicole and Ravi are already taking steps to change the email system at Mason is a great initiative.
I am sure everyone will agree that the current software sucks big time, its time we upgraded. I would love to see what happens.
Again good work Nicole and Ravi. You guys are already working on three of the biggest things I have always complained about > Food, Email System and Wireless Network.
Good Luck!!
Hi Kon,
First off, thanks for commenting! I’m actually very familiar with the GoLoco system because, as a commuter, I was hoping it would be the panacea to my problems. Unfortunately, the GoLoco system is not directly affiliated with GMU and it adds an extra burden for each individual (registering and maintaining an account with GoLoco, not GMU) so its not as widely used as we’d like.
Nicole and I envision a system by which you could, for example, register your primary off-campus location (ie. my home) when signing up for a parking pass (so everyone has to participate), and then Parking & Transportation could provide a Google Map of everyone’s locations so people could find *every* nearby Mason student to try and carpool with. Something like this would not be exceedingly difficult, it’s just something the next administration has to really push and advocate for — and Nicole and I are prepared to do that.
As for the Mason email system — I’m actually very familiar with the privacy and legal implications of using a 3rd-party service for email as my own company uses it and I have been in touch with other universities and colleges across the country and their student governments who have decided to implement Google Apps for Education. The technical aspects don’t scare me — I’m more than willing to jump into it and push for Mason to adopt the best system possible, and the one that the *students* want.
Also, I actually did a presentation to the Student Senate on not only Google’s higher education offerings, but Microsoft and Yahoo’s as well. We also passed along the information to VP of TSD Walt Sevon, and a committee is being convened to investigate all options — and consider the privacy implications and legal ramifications — before picking any service. No matter what we choose, however, at least we’ll still be looking at a brand new service in Fall ‘08!
Thanks so much and, if you have any more questions, feel free to comment or email us!
-Ravi Udeshi
Candidate for Student Body Vice President
I know football is popular, and would certainly love to see a football team, but I think another varsity level is more feasible and would be more competitive: men’s lacrosse.
Our women’s lacrosse team is nationally ranked, and we could use that success to attract quality recruits.
The Washington, D.C. area is among the strongest in the nation for lacrosse. UVA, UMD, Georgetown, and even Towson are regularly nationally ranked.
The northern Virginia area abounds with talent. Robinson, which is just down the road, has an all time record of 214-49-1 with 8 state championships since 1991. Prince William and Fairfax lacrosse players, instead of traveling over an hour to UVA or UMD, would much rather watch an NCAA level game at Mason.
So, to conclude: Mason can build a nationally competitive, popular men’s lacrosse program. It will help get Mason publicity and fans. It will increase student spirit (let’s be honest: if the football team is no good, the euphoria will wear off quickly, students will lose interest and the whole thing will become a money pit).
What will you do to bring a NCAA men’s lacrosse team to Mason?
Oh, by far the best website.
@Mason Student:
I’m actually a lacrosse fan myself — my sister plays for her high school and I love to watch.
We’d love to talk to you more about the expansion of lacrosse at Mason — having a passionate advocate for a cause can make all the difference in seeing it happen. Please shoot us an email at ideas@nicoleandravi.com or leave us your name and number at (703) 942-9850 so we can discuss this further and find out how to petition for the administration to make this happen.
If you have any other suggestions, we’d also love to hear them!
I cannot vote for a candidate that supports concealed carry of guns on campus. While there are many great ideas on this platform, there are also great ones on the platforms of other candidates. Unfortunately, I worry that individual politics will come in to play when dealing with university issues and organizations.
@Student
First of all, thank you for your comment — you bring up a very valid point, which is the intersection of personal politics and college student government.
Nicole and I have discussed this issue at length. Yes, she supports concealed carry on campus; for the record, I am 100% against the idea. However, we not only respect each other’s opinions on the matter, but recognize that student government is not the place to advocate for such partisan causes; other student organizations exist for expressly that matter.
Last year, the Student Senate passed a resolution regarding the Israel-Palestine issue; we both felt that time spent discussing a clearly political issue only took time away from discussing real issues that directly impact the student body. In our administration, we would not involve personal politics; if ever a situation came up that our personal ideology could influence, we would recuse ourselves from the discussion.
I hope this allays your concerns. As you noted, we have many great ideas on our platform, and we look forward to working hard next year to implement them and bringing real solutions to the student body.
Thank you so much for visiting our site and we look forward to being just as open and transparent about any and all issues next year!
-Ravi Udeshi
Candidate for Student Body Vice President
Love u guys!!!
Add me to your list of endorsements:
James Fowler
Past President of Jewish Student Association,
Current Israel Club Webmaster
a lot of students and administrators have been pushing to stop the circus from coming to campus for a variety of different reasons…
1.with more parking lot closures it’s extremely difficult to find parking during the two weeks that they’re here
2.our water runoff has tested positive for abnormal amounts of animal waste
3.students are concerned with the excessive animal abuse record that ringling has.
What stance do you guys take on this issue?
Questions:
1) Nicole- are you a libertarian? (it’s not a good/bad thing, I’m just curious)
2) In the national elections, I would like to know whom each of you endorse between McCain, Hillary, or Obama. Again, just curious.
3) Your only mention of “greening” mason on the platform page was mentioning installing the compartmentalized trash/recycling bins on campus (which is a really good idea), however I would also like to see student government pressuring the university into building more LEED certified buildings, and pushing them more towards sustainability. Please hold President Merten accountable to the Presidents Climate Commitment which he signed.
4) As ‘Student’ posted on April 4th, I have trouble voting for a candidate that supports concealed carry of guns on campus. I read over your response Ravi, and I am glad to hear that you are 100% against it. I’ve decided you may have my vote if both of you are willing to make a promise on this message board to remain completely non-partisan on the issue, and not push for/or against the issue.
@masonjunior
We agree that the circus is a very contentious issue, for students and the university administration alike. The largest concern for the administration is that the circus brings in revenue for the university in excess of $1 million dollars, and if the circus were no longer allowed to come, that money would have to be made up elsewhere — likely, more expensive parking passes. For the students, our concern is parking availability — as a commuter, I had to deal with it every day for the last 2 weeks, and I am very much in support of ensuring parking is not comprised while the circus is here.
I actually have some good news for you — the university administration is reconsidering inviting the circus back for future years as a result of the contracted parking situation. Even if they return next year, we hope that our parking proposals — like the increased shuttles — would provide an acceptable alternative to lost parking in Lot A.
As for your other concerns, I think those are issues that every student would agree with — if we were to continue inviting the circus back, I would hope we could ensure they satisfy all environmental and animal safety regulations, the ones you mentioned and more.
Thank you for commenting and don’t forget to vote!
-Ravi Udeshi
Candidate for Student Body Vice President
@Colin Meloy
Let me try to tackle your points in order:
1) I can’t speak for Nicole, you’ll have to wait for her to reply!
2) For what its worth, I am an active College Democrat, but consider myself relatively independent. I am a Biden-turned-Obama supporter.
3) We absolutely agree that greening Mason is an important objective — Nicole has been very active working to green Mason and I will even be participating in Bike to Mason Day. We hope to continue working with the Environmental Awareness Group and Broadside to ensure we do everything in our power to make Mason as “green” as possible.
4) I believe I noted exactly what you asked, but I am more than happy to re-affirm it here: in our administration, we would both remain completly non-partisan on the matter and neither push for nor against it, as that is an issue for other student organizations to take up, not Student Government.
Thanks and make sure you VOTE today!
-Ravi Udeshi
Candidate for Student Body Vice President