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1. • CommentAuthorHermes
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   Dear Extension Students,

   I want to announce to you that I have decided to run for HESA President. This is in part due to my listening to your voices on this site and to the fact that some of you indicated that you wanted to see me run. Furthermore, having seen the need for good leadership, I felt the call to duty as a student leader with the requisite experience, track record and know-how here at the Extension School.

   Having served as Vice President of HESA in 2007 - 2008, I decided not to run in the 2008 - 2009 elections because, as President of HESLS, I wanted to focus on serving the student body by taking the Negotiation & Leadership Conference 2009 to the next level of success. And though this year there are also many other things that I could focus on, I have now decided to give a year of my life to making things better for HESA and the student body. So now I come to you to ask for your vote and, if you believe I am the best choice, also your support in passing the word on. I have set up for the first time in HESA election/campaign history an interactive online mechanism on my campaign website (http://abcampaign.homestad.com) that will allow you to easily voice your ideas, suggestions and concerns that you would like to see addressed or implemented in the upcoming year. I believe student government is a partnership between elected officials and the student body, which sometimes student governments can easily lose sight of. This is my way of ensuring that my plan also takes into consideration the things most important to student body.

   Also please see my candidate statement below:

   Candidate Statement For Andre Bisasor:

   With the same passion, determination and drive as well as management skill that I employed to put on the Negotiation & Leadership Conference 2009, I plan to take HESA to the next level of organization and success by focusing on ethics reform, substantive development of community interaction and substantive leadership development of students. For more on my plan, see http://abcampaign.homestead.com. Having been the Vice President of HESA in 2007 - 2008, I have a unique view into the HESA organization and how to bring improvement. I also have the unique view of having been a student club leader and so I know what students, who want to get involved, need in order to be successful for student-led endeavors. I have a vision for HESA that is not based on mere campaign promises but on actual demonstrated leadership capability and a reputation for getting things done successfully. If elected, I will work hard to increase the level of participation by extension students in the same way that I have found a way to stimulate interest/participation at unprecedented levels with over 300 attendees in the Negotiation & Leadership Conference 2009, quadrupling the turnout of and breaking all records for attendance for any student-run event in the entire history of the Harvard Extension School. In 2008, I had similar success with over 240 attendees and was able to attract coverage from the Harvard Gazette which elevated the university-wide profile of professionalism and leadership role of Harvard Extension School students.

   I also have the real-world experience and education that I can draw upon for the role of HESA President. With an MBA in marketing management and a Masters of Science in Finance, I have been involved in the venture capital field, where I structured seed-stage capital for multimillion dollar projects ranging from real estate to technology startups, also serving as a board director and developing successful business plans. I also have experience in the management consulting field, where I helped SME firms to realign corporate missions and to develop strategy/vision for successful turnarounds. My experience includes work for Andersen Consulting, Terrafly Inc. (a joint venture between NASA and The National Science Foundation), and Cingular/AT&T Wireless. I also demonstrated a commitment to public service as a teacher/tutor to inner-city, high-school students in the Miami-Dade public school system via the federally-funded GEAR-UP initiative. In an academic context, I have previously served in many leadership roles, including: 1) MBA Team Leader for the National Dell/Microsoft MBA marketing case competition, leading my team to place 1 in the final 6 out of 100's of students from over 38 teams across the nation's top MBA programs; 2) Graduate Finance Tutor for Behavioral Finance 3) Political Op Ed Newspaper Columnist. 4) Marketing coordinator for on-campus recruitment.

   I therefore ask for your vote for HESA President and support for the coming year as we make our student government more ethical, accessible and responsible - the way it should be.

   Andre Bisasor
   Candidate for HESA President (2009 - 2010)
   President of HESLS
   Former Vice President of HESA (2007 - 2008)

2. • CommentAuthorilamont
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   Andre, the link to your website is broken, I believe owing to a missing letter.

   This works:

   http://abcampaign.homestead.com/

3. • CommentAuthorHermes
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   Thanks much, ilamont. The first link had the missing letter but the second link had it ok.

4. • CommentAuthorBrandon Ruse
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   Andre, given your skills, previous attempts and overwhelming success at running a Forum and as the Vice President for HESA as well as a budding club rep. here at HES, I think you're in front. Your thought out, structured, and all-encompassing skill-set give you the ability to run the office in due course such was the same case with Ashley Pollock and Carlos as well as Lorena. I see no front runners who can touch you in this race but we will see. I'm so far leaning towards you due to experience but I'd like to see the other contenders walk up to the plate. We will see! Good luck! If you need any suggestions, let me know! I feel that there are many different things that should be impressed upon as high priorities in the upcoming year and you've highlighted some of those on your website. Good times.

5. • CommentAuthoronuf
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   I am voting for you.

6. •  
     CommentAuthorshaggylocks
   • CommentTimeMay 15th 2009

    

   You've landed the highly sought after shaggylocks endorsement.

7. • CommentAuthorHermes
   • CommentTimeMay 16th 2009

    

   Thank you Brandon, Onuf and Shaggylocks for your support and/or encouragement. Feel free to let me know your suggestions or ideas either by email or through my website. I will look to you and others from this forum for
   ways to incorporate and give voice to students' ideas to help shape policy and initiatives for the future.

   By the way, based on how the debates went last night, I would not be surprised if more of the other candidates start to approach their campaign in a similar way to mine. Based on feedback that I received, many felt that it was clear who had the most organized, better planned campaign and who had the better vision for the future - yours truly! No one else even had a basic website ready. No one else had a brochure handout with a detailed plan outlined.

   This is why this year, more than ever, experience is critical. Because there is no-on else running for president that has ever been involved in HESA at any level at all before or that could intelligently demonstrate an understanding of how HESA actually works or functions. When the issue arose of how many had even read the constitution, none of other the presidential candidates (from what I could see) raised their hand or took the opportunity to indicate an affirmative answer, except for one VP candidate. I have studied the constitution and the bylaws very closely and know where some amendments might need to be proposed. But that aside, it seems to me to be very logical question - how can someone who has never been involved in HESA (or who has not even read the constitution) effectively know or understand how to lead the organization? Selah

8. • CommentAuthorJay
   • CommentTimeMay 16th 2009

    
   Privileges Revoked for Repeated Violation of Forum Rules

   Andre- I am inclined to agree with you regarding those who lack HESA experience..however there is once obstacle I am having a hard time overcoming. Perhaps you can "show me the way..."

   I will grant that HESA is indeed a "different" sort of organization..but then again, aren't all organizations? With that being said...if you would allow me...let's table that contention for now..and move on.

   1. Do you intend on introducing and or supporting legislation that would mandate that a person hold another office prior to the office of HESA President?
   2. If not, what other ideas do you have to solve this problem...clearly this problem will continue to persist for years to come unless something is done about it.

   Thanks!
   J

9. •  
     CommentAuthorcomebackkid
   • CommentTimeMay 16th 2009

    

   When will they announce the election results?

10. • CommentAuthorJay
    • CommentTimeMay 20th 2009

     
    Privileges Revoked for Repeated Violation of Forum Rules

    hmm I guess I don't get any answers... :(

11. •  
      CommentAuthorshaggylocks
    • CommentTimeMay 20th 2009

     

    Comebackkid:

    HESA email

    Electronic ballots will be mailed out to current degree and certificate students Monday, May 25th. While all registered students are members of HESA, only matriculated students have voting priveldges. The election period runs from May 25th through May 29th at 12:00pm. The results will be announced at the Barbeque on May 30th (details to follow)*.

12. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 20th 2009

     

    New2Town

    It has been a daunting task trying to finishing up finals while conducting a campaign - just another one of the problems with such a late election. In any case, thanks for your good questions. I will do my best to answer:

    1) I would NOT mandate legislation that a person hold another office prior to the Office of HESA President. The voters should retain the flexibility to choose who they want and I don't think it necessary to circumvent the collective common sense of the student body by mandating legislation on this matter. Also, If no one with HESA experience is running then HESA would have to rely on those with no previous experience to step up to the plate. However, it seems to be a very basic proposition that if you have ambitions of running for office you need to do some homework first, at least? How will the student body know if a person is simply wanting to pad their resume, if they have not shown some interest in the organization before running? There is another reason why those who want to run should try to learn and get involved at least a little - it also lets others see whether they are competent. It provides an introduction to other students to be exposed to their commitment, work ethic, intellectual capability and leadership skill. Without this introduction, we have to rely on claims on his/her resume.

    Look at what I did - I ran for VP first, then while VP, I founded a club and figured out a way to solve one of HESA longstanding problems - low student turnout not passing the 100 attendee mark. What this did is make people feel comfortable with my leadership abilities. I then went on to do it again, even surpassing my previous achievement, the second time around which demonstrates that the first time was not just a fluke.

    2) I would encourage those who know they would like to run for office to find a way to learn about the organization by: a) getting involved in a student club or b) helping HESA with organizing simple events such as the First Fridays or c) attending board meetings or d) forming a committee to investigate some aspect of student life or e) volunteering for the election committee, etc. Otherwise, we would be setting the bar too low for HESA leadership. Moreover, this informal sense of the need to get involved before throwing one's hat in an election is a beneficial system because it encourages more people to get involved with HESA early - and trust me HESA needs all the helping hands it can get. Why not channel the ambitions of office seekers in the aggregate and direct it towards the benefit of the whole organization?

    BTW, other Harvard student governments do not operate like this - the people running for office have been involved at some level before. This could add to a sense of lack of serious professionalism at the extension school when we have very low standards for leadership transition. Similarly, how many would try to become mayor for a town you have never lived in? How many would want to start a business with a product you knew nothing about? In every other area of life, it strikes me as an odd thing that one would feel so confident about leading something with no foundation of knowledge or experience with that particular thing. I am not saying the foundation has to be extraordinary like having been the VP - but there should be some, maybe even a little foundation at least?

    What I am suggesting is that generally the best choice for a leadership position in an organization like HESA is the one with the experience in the organization (especially when comparing one candidate that has experience with 5 others that do not have any at all). Experience in this case is a "sufficient but not necessary" condition, to use the parlance of formal logic. In some cases, there could be a situation where someone with no previous HESA experience might be a better choice than someone with experience. But then that would still be a gamble because you really don't know what you are getting at the end of the day.

    Moreover, I am not only running on "HESA experience" but also on a track record of record-breaking success that demonstrates competence, entrepreneurial drive, determination, willingness to work hard, leadership skill, innovative thinking and trailblazing vision. This added element of "experience plus success" is key to understanding what it is that I bring to the table. The success piece shows that I have a good understanding of how to overcome challenges, obstacles and curve-balls that will come while in this position. An incoming HESA President with no previous experience will invariably end up spending too much precious time during the first semester just trying to figure things out - when the time could be spent trying to solve other more long-term problems and trying to move the entire organization forward or to the next level.

    I hope this clarifies the point

    Andre Bisasor

13. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2009

     

    Here is a Campaign Update:

    We have a new campaign page on Facebook. Please check it out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Andre-Bisasor-for-HESA-President-2009/114066249072 and, if you believe in my campaign for ethics-accessibility-responsibility in student government, click on become a "fan" to show your support. By doing so you can help my campaign move forward. For those of you so inclined, it would also be helpful to send an invite to other friends in your network on facebook in order to spread the word. If you want to, remember you can also visit my official campaign website at http://abcampaign.homestead.com and sign up to become a supporter or to give us your online feedback in real-time.

    Even though my prospects are decent, we cannot take anything for granted. I will continue to provide updates on this thread.

    Thanks much

    Andre Bisasor

14. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2009

     

    Has anyone decided who they are voting for?

    I've decided to cast my vote for Andre since it's my opinion that he has done the most to advance the cause of HES within the University. The HESLS and Negotiation and Leadership conference was a wild success and convinced me that Andre could handle the tremendous challenge that HESA represents.

15. • CommentAuthorkoujin
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2009

     

    I would like to hear the candidates' thoughts on socially-oriented community-building events such as those held at 51 Grossman and other locations this past academic year. I think these are valuable and provide an opportunity to network with other HES students and alumni and exchange conversation, ideas and views.

16. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2009

     

    Posted By: koujin

    I would like to hear the candidates' thoughts on socially-oriented community-building events such as those held at 51 Grossman and other locations this past academic year. I think these are valuable and provide an opportunity to network with other HES students and alumni and exchange conversation, ideas and views.

    Koujin,

    Which event are you referring to?

17. • CommentAuthorTLP
    • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2009

     

    I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be joining Andre Bisasor in his campaign efforts and I would like to announce my withdrawal from the race for President of Harvard Extension Student Association. My name is Trevor Law Pogue, and though I have not posted a lot on this site before, many of you may know of me because of my candidacy for President of HESA 2009- 2010.

    I believe Andre's experience and track record speaks for itself and with Andre as HESA President, HESA will have the leadership needed to overcome its challenges and to make the necessary improvements for the student body. Andre is the best choice for president because of his previous experience in office. His previous experience would allow him to start getting things done immediately without suffering from the need to be on any learning curve. His high regard for reform and transparency will allow for you (Members of HESA) to have a better understanding of what your student government is doing and allow for better and more responsive feedback for students.

    Although it has not been announced until now, efforts to work together have been underway since shortly after the debates as I found myself in agreement with most of Andre's agenda for an ethical, accessible, and responsible student government. For me running for president was not about being able to put things down on my resume but instead because I was just really tired of how things were run this year especially in the social aspects and I really needed to make sure that, if not by my own means, someone would make things better this next year. Having met Andre at the debates, I have confidence that with him as President, we can accomplish all of our goals. I am a strong believer that above all else, as a leader in the Harvard community, one should look to the best interests of the community itself. During my campaign for HESA presidency, I explicitly stated my commitment to representing the student body and with such a goal I have found it may be best for me to serve the community in another capacity.

    For those of you who could not make it to the debates, I mentioned that I would make myself available for contact on a more personal basis and still plan to be available for direct contact. My major motivation in running for president was to increase participation at events and in doing so I wanted to have a conversation with you to hear what kind of events you would like to see this next year. By working with Andre, I can still focus on these goals on community building with the ultimate beneficiaries being those of the Harvard Extension Student Association.

    I would like to thank all of those who have supported me in my efforts and hope that you will continue to support me through the election of Andre Bisasor. With him go my thoughts and ideas as I join him in his campaign. This is a great chance for the Harvard community. I hope we have your continued support. So, Vote Andre for President!

    Sincerely,

    Trevor Law Pogue

18. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    TLP,

    I'm glad to have you join me in supporting Andre. I would encourage you to direct your friends at HES to register at his website:

    Andre Bisasor for HESA President

    Andre is our best choice to keep the momentum going that Carlos developed. I'm confident that he's committed to the success of HESA.

19. • CommentAuthorBrandon Ruse
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    I'm also announcing my support for Andre in this election. Good luck Andre!

20. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009 edited

     

    Hi Everyone,

    This is Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas, your candidate for President of the Harvard Extension Students Association. I hope all of you have had a chance to check out my website If you havent ,I would urge you to be part of the movement (www.lavanyathomas.com)and feel free to contact me on laviethomas@gmail.com with any queries.

    I would like to add to the questions raised above on prior experience required....its great that we have candidates like Andre who have had the chance to be part of HESA.I am sure he came in with qualities like grit ,determination and novel ideas but with no prominent (HESA) experience when he was elected for the first time as VP. I think what New2town brought up was a valid point. You need organizational experience in handling a team,leadership qualities (honed or intrinsic) combined with a clear vision of where you want to take the body during your tenure.If anything new leaders come with a new perspective and that will only help HESA. A smart President will be able to garner the workings of the body instantly and will definately add value in due course.

    Give a new person a chance. Give a new idea the momentum required.

    I trust you all with your ability to gauge and vote for the right candidate to represent your'll.

    Please join me on facebook by clicking on the following link:

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boston-MA/Elizabeth-Lavanya-Thomas-for-President-of-Harvard-Ext-Student-Association/102026861400?ref=ts

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas.

21. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    Posted By: Lavie

    Hi Everyone,

    This is Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas, your candidate for President of the Harvard Extension Students Association. I hope all of you have had a chance to check out my website If you havent ,I would urge you to be part of the movement (www.lavanyathomas.com)and feel free to contact me onlaviethomas@gmail.comwith any queries.

    I would like to add to the questions raised above on prior experience required....its great that we have candidates like Andre who have had the chance to be part of HESA.I am sure he came in with qualities like grit ,determination and novel ideas but with no prominent (HESA) experience when he was elected for the first time as VP. I think what New2town brought up was a valid point. You need organizational experience in handling a team,leadership qualities (honed or intrinsic) combined with a clear vision of where you want to take the body during your tenure.If anything new leaders come with a new perspective and that will only help HESA. A smart President will be able to garner the workings of the body instantly and will definately add value in due course.

    Give a new person a chance. Give a new idea the momentum required.

    I trust you all with your ability to gauge and vote for the right candidate to represent your'll.

    Please join me on facebook by clicking on the following link:

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boston-MA/Elizabeth-Lavanya-Thomas-for-President-of-Harvard-Ext-Student-Association/102026861400?ref=ts

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas.

    Lavie,

    You make a good point: Andre started his tenure at HESA by running for the Vice Presidency.

    That's why I'm a little confused that you decided to start by running for HESA President. Wouldn't it be more logical for you to pursue the Vice Presidency?

    Also, you weren't at the debates. Isn't "showing up" at least part of the job?

    Finally, what's with your platform? "Leveraging from new innovations and ideas from emerging economies." Can you be more specific? I'm not sure that your experience in India brings anything to the table when it comes to navigating the political and bureaucratic environment at Harvard or HESA.

22. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    Posted By: Brandon Ruse

    I'm also announcing my support for Andre in this election. Good luck Andre!

    I am giving my vote to Andre.

    Lavie has a nice website but I would rather choose someone who has contributed to HESA before.

23. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    nrs:

    You make a very valid point. I will try and address the above concerns in the best possible manner:

    1) Why did I choose to run for Presidency as against Vice Presidency ?

    It may sound cliched to say I am extremely ambitious and confident hence I applied for the office of president as against vice president. However having said that I would like to draw a few examples from the past which makes me believe I have always been the initiator with novel ideas and led from the front.

    While I was working with CNBC India , I started off with creating customized solutions to domestic clients. During my stint I initiated a Global CFO Conference in UAE (which was the first international conference in the history of CNBC India) attended by the heads of state (UAE and India) and leading CFO's of top companies across the world. This Million dollar deal urged CNBC India to start a Global sales division where I played a very crucial role.What followed were clients across the globe using CNBC India as the 'one stop shop' for a CNBC global offering.

    Another example would be a vermicomposting initiative I have started in Mumbai. This is a humble contribution to the environmental issues we currently face and deals with recycling of organic wastes. In India people do not believe in the concept of wet and dry wastes and getting people to follow this has been a daunting task. However work is in progress and im sure we will make a significant contribution in time. What I have tried to highlight in the above examples is my ability to initiate and lead from the front. Leading HESA will have its own set of challenges which I am willing to battle and will execute my duties to the best of my ability.

    2)Me not being there for the debate? : Making 'distance' student as empowered as 'in class' students is a key goal I would want to pursue during my tenure if I were elected. I was pursuing a few courses on distance during my spring semester. The election debates was a few days prior to my exams which were to be proctored in India. However since I wanted to participate I suggested to the HESA committee to have a conferencing facility. Due to technical issues and mandates that could not be done. However I have made myself accessible through the internet and phone in order that my fellow students could be in touch with me. Due to my commitment towards the election I will be present in Boston this monday.

    3)My experience and my platform?

    Experience of any kind teaches you a lot. My experience in one of the most bureaucratic countries namely India with global exposure to the workings of other organizations and cultures (thorugh CNBC ,academics etc )has equipped me with skills like negotitiation and adpatability which I bring with me to HESA.

    My platform i.e to leverage on ideas from emerging economies aims at targetting novel ideas,innovations across borders. How do I propose to do that? I would start an 'innovation club' within HESA exploring potential business opportunities. India and other emerging economies have sustained through difficult times and grown in the recent years due to innovations. The rural pockets of these countries are where the ideas germinate and do not see the light of day due to lack of financial backing. I propose to start a team within the innovation club which will convert these into potential business ideas by getting the necessary financial support. This could work for students within HESA who have a potential business proposition they want to realize.Alternatively students who are looking to finance strong business ideas could also use this as a platform.

    Trust the above meets up to your expectations...

    Best Regards
    Lavie.

24. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    Lavie: how much time do you expect to be away from Boston in the coming academic year? How many HESA events have you participated in the past few years?

25. •  
      CommentAuthorjb23
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    Lavie, your track record is very impressive.

    What would you do for students that aren't business-oriented?

    While I feel that you'd probably be very well-suited to lead a business students organization, my concern is that the rest of us could get lost in the shuffle.

26. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2009

     

    Posted By: Lavie

    nrs:

    You make a very valid point. I will try and address the above concerns in the best possible manner:

    1) Why did I choose to run for Presidency as against Vice Presidency ?

    It may sound cliched to say I am extremely ambitious and confident hence I applied for the office of president as against vice president.

    ...

    While I was working with CNBC India , I started off with creating customized solutions to domestic clients. This Million dollar deal urged CNBC India to start a Global sales division where I played a very crucial role.What followed were clients across the globe using CNBC India as the 'one stop shop' for a CNBC global offering.

    Lavie, you're not being very specific. Many of us attended Andre's conference and that was a very concrete example of what he and his organization are capable of doing. He has a proven track record of accomplishment at Harvard.

    Posted By: Lavie

    Another example would be a vermicomposting initiative I have started in Mumbai. This is a humble contribution to the environmental issues we currently face and deals with recycling of organic wastes.

    ...

    However work is in progress and im sure we will make a significant contribution in time. What I have tried to highlight in the above examples is my ability to initiate and lead from the front. Leading HESA will have its own set of challenges which I am willing to battle and will execute my duties to the best of my ability.

    Lavie, I'm sure that your experience in India is very relevant to your work there. Unfortunately, HESA's problems are very specific to our particular population and require detailed knowledge of the history of HES at Harvard. I'm not seeing anything in your resume that indicates you have any experience with our particular issues.

    Posted By: Lavie

    2)Me not being there for the debate? : Making 'distance' student as empowered as 'in class' students is a key goal I would want to pursue during my tenure if I were elected. I was pursuing a few courses on distance during my spring semester. The election debates was a few days prior to my exams which were to be proctored in India. However since I wanted to participate I suggested to the HESA committee to have a conferencing facility. Due to technical issues and mandates that could not be done. However I have made myself accessible through the internet and phone in order that my fellow students could be in touch with me. Due to my commitment towards the election I will be present in Boston this monday.

    Lavie, it's simply not enough to expect that HESA accommodate your requirement. You must be on-site at every meeting, at every event, and at every possible opportunity to deal with the issues that HESA faces. Unless you're making a commitment to relocate to Cambridge, I'm not sure how you expect us to vote for you if your schedule can't accommodate the demands of the office.

    Posted By: Lavie

    3)My experience and my platform?

    Experience of any kind teaches you a lot. My experience in one of the most bureaucratic countries namely India with global exposure to the workings of other organizations and cultures (thorugh CNBC ,academics etc )has equipped me with skills like negotitiation and adpatability which I bring with me to HESA.

    My platform i.e to leverage on ideas from emerging economies aims at targetting novel ideas,innovations across borders. How do I propose to do that? I would start an 'innovation club' within HESA exploring potential business opportunities. India and other emerging economies have sustained through difficult times and grown in the recent years due to innovations. The rural pockets of these countries are where the ideas germinate and do not see the light of day due to lack of financial backing. I propose to start a team within the innovation club which will convert these into potential business ideas by getting the necessary financial support.

    ...

    I'm sorry, but this appear to be you trying to accomplish your goals in India by using HESA as a platform. We have specific issues that we need to address here. HESA is supposed to be focused on providing solutions for HES students.

    Posted By: Lavie

    Best Regards
    Lavie.

    From my perspective, Andre represents the best combination of experience and accomplishment. He has a proven track record of setting clear goals and achieving them. He has been a part of HESA during one of the most successful administrations of our recent history. I can't see anything that indicates to me that there is any downside to electing him President.

27. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Posted By: jb23

    Lavie, your track record is very impressive.

    What would you do for students that aren't business-oriented?

    While I feel that you'd probably be very well-suited to lead a business students organization, my concern is that the rest of us could get lost in the shuffle.

    My concern is that she won't be on campus.

    You don't need to be on campus to take a class but you DO need to be on campus to talk with administrators, organize and run meetings, and generally be aware of what is going on on-campus.

28. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: nrs

    Posted By: jb23

    Lavie, your track record is very impressive.

    What would you do for students that aren't business-oriented?

    While I feel that you'd probably be very well-suited to lead a business students organization, my concern is that the rest of us could get lost in the shuffle.

    My concern is that she won't be on campus.

    You don't need to be on campus to take a class but youDOneed to be on campus to talk with administrators, organize and run meetings, and generally be aware of what is going on on-campus.

    Jb23: Thanks for the encouragement. I understand running a body like HESA is not only about serving the students interested in Business prospects.Its about serving the objectives of the other disciplines too. The 'Innovation' club will not only be a springboard for students interested in launching their business....It will be a forum for people to ideate. there will be subsections within the club which would cater to different needs (Based on what students want) . My campaign aims at 'Empowering your Idea' which is my ' Primary Goal 'enabling each student to have a voice. The voice could be that of a student from IT who feels he needs a 'tech brainstrom club'. An interaction (through mail or forum) with extension school student in the IT or related discipline will shed light on the potential of that idea. If there is potential...The HESA committee will lobby to make it happen. Hence NO ONE WILL BE LOST...if anything every student will be equally involved. If you have a suggestion/idea on something you might like to see if I got elected please feel free to write to me on laviethomas@gmail.com. Alternatively log onto www.lavanyathomas.com ( Click on the 'ideas' page) and we can talk in detail about how I can contribute towards your vision.

29. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009 edited

     

    nrs:

    I dont see any downside in electing Andre either. He has had a great track record at HESA so far and im impressed as well. I was giving you an insight into what a new face can bring to the table. I was contesting a statement made on how you necessarily should have had prominent experience at the HESA to be able to lead and overcome challenges.It is by no means underplaying what previous members have done or contributed towards HESA as a body.

    Another valid point you bring up is about my presence. I understand the commitment required for this position and I WILL BE THERE In PERSON throughout my tenure attending every meeting, event or any other platform where I can understand the needs of the students better. Having said that I have been there for students throught email ,telephone,facebook. My claims on being there in person will be justified when u see me in Boston on Monday purely due to my commitment towards the students at the HES.

    With respect to me not having previous experience in dealing with the HESA. I cannot agree more with you on that. I do not have specific experience at the HESA but that does not take away the experience somone has had in dealing with similar situations,people and bureaucracy in the past.

    And finally I am trying to build a platform to synergize the offerings developed and emerging economies can bring to the table. India was an example of one such offering. The 'innovation club' will provide insights into many such interesting offerings and perspectives across economies!

30. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009 edited

     

    comebackkid:

    Hi Brandon...thanks a ton for the compliment on the website!

    I was on campus in the Fall of 08 . I attended most of the events organized by the HES. I had an opportunity to meet with Ram and the others there too. I was on distance for the spring semester and you will see me in Boston this Monday.:-) Im looking forward to meeting you.

    Best Regards,
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas

31. • CommentAuthorNiege
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Hi Andre (Hermes),

    On your candidate statement, you mentioned you served as Vice President of HESA in the 2007-2008 period. Also, on the HESA homepage, you appear to be a Certificate in Management student, meaning is taking you 3 years or more to pursue only a 32 credit program? This is terrible.

    While your campaign ideas seem interesting, unfortunately that’s not good enough, convincing me that this is not the kind of image and/or representation that we should be looking for our HESA.

    Furthermore, I notice that besides Andre, Trevor (already withdraw) and Lavie, there’s no major contributions from other candidates in this forum, which is a shame. If anyone knows other forums where more information or discussions with other candidates can be found, please let me know.

    So far, my vote goes for LAVIE.

32. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: Niege

    Hi Andre (Hermes),

    On your candidate statement, you mentioned you served as Vice President of HESA in the 2007-2008 period. Also, on the HESA homepage, you appear to be a Certificate in Management student, meaning is taking you 3 years or more to pursue only a 32 credit program? This is terrible.

    While your campaign ideas seem interesting, unfortunately that’s not good enough, convincing me that this is not the kind of image and/or representation that we should be looking for our HESA.

    Furthermore, I notice that besides Andre, Trevor (already withdraw) and Lavie, there’s no major contributions from other candidates in this forum, which is a shame. If anyone knows other forums where more information or discussions with other candidates can be found, please let me know.

    So far, my vote goes for LAVIE.

    Niege,

    That's a pretty weak argument. One class per semester results in a 8 semester, 4 year plan for 32 credit hours. Not only is it not terrible, it's pretty darn good considering that most people are working full-time jobs in addition to their other commitments.

    I don't think it's appropriate to judge Andre on his degree program or his path to completion. There are an immeasurable number of variables that govern scheduling and availability of classes. We aren't supposed to be judging him on academics. Unless you're willing to lay your own transcript out for evaluation, I'd lay off the criticism of his choices on how quickly he completes his academic program.

    P.S. Your account was created two hours ago and you've only posted once. So much for major contributions, eh?

33. • CommentAuthorapenney
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    nrs,

    It's pretty clear where your support lies and constantly responding to every other candidate to criticize their experience isn't helpful at this point. I have to admit that the combination of your postings in these threads have pushed my support towards the alternative candidates. Rather than jumping on their every post to complain how the responses aren't good enough, we can just let them state their platforms and opinions and to explain these in depth.

    Complaining that someone has only posted once is simply unhelpful, we don't measure peoples opinions by number of posts.

34. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    apenney,

    I'm sorry to hear that you're going to support someone just to oppose me.

    My point is that if Neige is going to make the comment that only one or two candidates have contributed to this forum, then attack Andre on an issue that isn't even relevant to his specific platform or his goals, then I think it's pretty fair to call them out on it. I think it's especially important since his account was only created minutes ago and he only felt the need to post once and on this specific issue.

    I might be strident in my posts and critical as a general rule, but I care deeply about how we function as a cohesive unit. I've only become more so in the months leading up to my graduation.

    So I'd ask you to think about who could best represent your interests. Voting out of spite has never been a winning strategy.

35. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Posted By: Lavie

    comebackkid:

    Hi Brandon...thanks a ton for the compliment on the website!

    I was on campus in the Fall of 08 . I attended most of the events organized by the HES. I had an opportunity to meet with Ram and the others there too. I was on distance for the spring semester and you will see me in Boston this Monday.:-) Im looking forward to meeting you.

    Best Regards,
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas

    "Hi Brandon"???

36. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Posted By: Niege

    Hi Andre (Hermes),

    On your candidate statement, you mentioned you served as Vice President of HESA in the 2007-2008 period. Also, on the HESA homepage, you appear to be a Certificate in Management student, meaning is taking you 3 years or more to pursue only a 32 credit program? This is terrible.

    While your campaign ideas seem interesting, unfortunately that’s not good enough, convincing me that this is not the kind of image and/or representation that we should be looking for our HESA.

    Furthermore, I notice that besides Andre, Trevor (already withdraw) and Lavie, there’s no major contributions from other candidates in this forum, which is a shame. If anyone knows other forums where more information or discussions with other candidates can be found, please let me know.

    So far, my vote goes for LAVIE.

    I am actually a bit put off by your comment. Many students at HES are busy professionals who have day jobs. Just because someone is taking one class per semester doesn't make him an ineffective person per se.

37. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Posted By: nrs

    apenney,

    I'm sorry to hear that you're going to support someone just to oppose me.

    My point is that if Neige is going to make the comment that only one or two candidates have contributed to this forum, then attack Andre on an issue that isn't even relevant to his specific platform or his goals, then I think it's pretty fair to call them out on it. I think it's especially important since his account was only created minutes ago and he only felt the need to post once and on this specific issue.

    I might be strident in my posts and critical as a general rule, but I care deeply about how we function as a cohesive unit. I've only become more so in the months leading up to my graduation.

    So I'd ask you to think about who could best represent your interests. Voting out of spite has never been a winning strategy.

    +1

38. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Dear Niege,

    Believe it or not I am working on a take-home final due on Monday but I am taking a break to quickly to jump in here to respond to you.

    The whole idea behind a part-time program is the ability to take classes on a flexible basis. Your criticism might perhaps be offensive to the numerous other extension students who for different reasons have different schedules for how they take classes. And I don’t know if all of the candidates want to start having this discussion where they are forced to furnish their academic records and their class taking schedules as a basis for scrutiny of their fitness for office.

    However, I will say this - during this past year, I had a unique opportunity via extension to take law classes with a Harvard Law Professor (in preparation for law school), for which I have gotten A’s, but which are not counted towards my CM program. This has been for personal enrichment which is part of the function of the extension school. On top of it, I run my own consulting business and I recently got married. The CM program is one of the most flexible programs at HES designed for students who are not taking the ALM in management because they already have an MBA or those trying to figure out if an MBA is right for them. I already have an MBA and a Masters of Science in Finance with high GPA‘s. Although the CM program is a course of enrichment for me, as I move on to law school, I have been able to attain a 3.8 GPA.

    Moreover, I have been giving my time and energy over the past two years of my life in dedication to the extension school students. I spent countless hours coming up with programs that have enriched the lives of hundreds of students here at HES. I don’t know if you have ever hosted big conferences before but it takes a lot of time and energy like a full-time job. If you have ever been to a student-run conference at HBS, you have seen that they have maybe 10-15 students working on each big conference and they have adequate funding to work with. In my case, I neither had such manpower nor the funding but I achieved the same or more in quality, turnout and success with less resources. It takes several months (sometimes even having to start from 8 months in advance especially when trying to book high profile speakers) to put these major events together and I did it while maintaining a high GPA. I think it counter-productive to stoop to the level of criticizing the class-taking schedules of candidates and, HESA presidential elections aside, not only is this not the way to repay volunteer service by extension school students who sacrificed their time on behalf of other students but it also smacks of what Obama called “silly season” when opponents started looking up his kindergarten papers in Indonesia.

    Furthermore, lets get back to the real issues. 1) if breaking barriers and breaking records for turnout at the extension school at over 240 and then over 300, 2) if raising the professional & leadership profile of the extension school in the eyes of the rest of the Harvard community, 3) if getting law school and business school student groups to join in under the leadership of an extension school club for the first time, 4) if organizing the first university-wide conference on negotiations at Harvard University, 5) If creating first-time corporate sponsorships for a student club, 6) if getting the Harvard Gazette to cover an extension school student group event for the first time, 7) if organizing the first full day/full scale conference at the extension school ever, 8) if running a VP campaign in my first semester and then becoming VP, 9) if being the founding president of a successful student club 10) along with outstanding advanced degree qualifications and a professional background in management consulting and venture capital as well as other public service to the disadvantaged - are all not good enough for you then I don’t know what will be. Even Lavie said she was impressed by my record and thinks there is no downside to electing me President. So if you want to disagree with her assessment of my record and qualifications then that’s up to you and then by doing so you are perhaps questioning her judgment too.

    I hope that at the end of the day, after the dazzle of cute marketing slogans and high emotions have settled, you can take a look at the concrete results that I have delivered in service to the extension school students and let a fair, judicious, reasonable, and mutually-respectful approach guide your decision-making.

    Selah

    Andre Bisasor

39. • CommentAuthorShiloh
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    Niege/Apenney,

    To Niege's comment to Andre (Hermes) about the time it should take to complete 32 credits:
    The typical extension student does not attend school full-time, so if Andre started in 2007 and it's 2009, then that's not so out of the ordinary. I find your comment offensive and I'm sure other Extension school students would too. Most students work full-time jobs and have families, etc so passing judgment on how long they're taking to complete credits goes against the spirit of the Extension School. Furthermore, this is not the basis for which to judge a candidate's readiness for office. Why not focus your attention where it counts? -- a demonstrated ability to get things done (as Andre's record shows). As far as I can see, Andre truly is the best candidate.

    To Apenney's comment that Nrs "...pushed (your) support towards the alternative candidates":
    Instead of being turned off from Andre because of a strongly vocal supporter, why not look into the reasoning behind the support? A lot of students are excited and want to see Andre run and win because he put on events that the Extension school has NEVER seen in its entire history. Many students rarely if ever get the opportunity to attend these types of events. It takes a different kind of leader to accomplish what Andre did with the Negotiation & Leadership Conference. I've been a student at the Extension School for several years (and have attended other Harvard events/conferences); the Negotiation Conference was excellent and arguably better than some of those other Harvard conferences. We need more of that at the Extension School. Andre was also the former VP of HESA and has the experience to get things done. But don't take it from me, look at each candidate's statements and decide for yourself.

    I hate to say it, but Lavie's website seems heavily oriented to things she's already doing in India (as if it was an already well-oiled self-promotion machine that was recently adapted to be a campaign site) as opposed to a detailed plan about what she could do for HESA. I hope people are not seduced by website graphics or catchy phrases (by the way, isn't there a campaign rule limiting how much can be spent on websites?). I know that Lavie said she was ambitious and thus felt ready to be President, but ambition without previous HESA involvement or paying dues somehow, is too much of a risk. We need someone who can hit the ground running from day one. While she has some noteworthy accomplishments in India, I'm not sure how much that translates to addressing some of the challenges that HESA is facing. I've been exposed to folks who use HESA as a resume padding opportunity. We can't afford another year of risking big talk and no action. My vote is for Andre!

40. • CommentAuthorShiloh
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2009

     

    One more thing, it seems Lavie may be best suited to be the president of a newly-formed "innovation club" as opposed to being president of the entire HESA...just a thought :-)

41. • CommentAuthorNiege
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    This is the election for the president and vice president of the Harvard Extension STUDENT Association. It amazes me to read comments like “We aren't supposed to be judging him on academics “? Off course we are!!! We are obligated to select, among the candidates, the best STUDENT with the best proposals. A proven record helps, but this also needs to go side by side with a clear commitment as a student. Again, someone who’s taking 2 hours/class a week on our school is not good enough to represent us.

    When we elected the captain of our football team, we didn’t choose the guy who spend the whole season on the bench, and played a couple of games.... We voted for the guy who started all games and score most of the touchdowns! We selected the best on our team!

    Andre, but what worries me the most is that you wrote: “Believe it or not I am working on a take-home final due on Monday but I am taking a break to quickly to jump in here to respond “ well, you are not doing us a favor, in fact if, you really want to be elected, that is the minimum you should do.

    This is the kind of behavior we need to avoid when choosing our president. We need to select a candidate, that leaves all personal affairs aside, putting HESA first. We need someone who’s truly committed as a STUDENT, and at the same time can serve as a president and/or vice-president, and moves on, instead of trying to perpetuate during 3 years or more on HESA.

42. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    I honestly think this is not a platform to pull down candidates....Its to gain insight on their perspective ,vision,personality and everything that would enlighten the students (visiting this website) giving them a deeper insight of the best possible candidate to represent them.

    Asking candidates how much it cost them for their website creation or other such details is of no significance whatsoever.Hence its best we stay out of these inconsequential details as far as possible.

    Having said that I would enjoy clearing doubts and answering questions which will enable students to get to know Me ,their Candidate for President better.

    Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas.

43. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Neige,

    I stated clearly that I have been taking classes outside of the my degree program. I have NOT only been taking one class per semester but I have been taking at least TWO every semester (though there‘s nothing wrong with taking one class per semester). So your statement is incorrect and please refrain from purposefully repeating untruths. As I mentioned, as an example, I took more than one class (extension) at HLS with a Harvard Law Professor because of a unique opportunity this past academic year, which do not count towards the CM program. The extension school promotes taking classes for personal enrichment and I have done that taking challenging classes in economics as well as law with Harvard professors - this is the great thing about HES - where else would one get the opportunity to sit under a renowned HLS Professor. By doing this (which many students do), it prolonged my completion time. So instead of finishing in 2 years with 8 program classes, I will finish in 3 years with 14 classes, which by BTW 12 classes is tantamount to an ALM and most students take 3 years to finish their ALM. In addition, my academic record is stellar and I have mostly A's with a total 3.8 GPA and a program GPA of 3.9.
    1) Do you want me to furnish my GPA's for my BA, MBA and MSc as well?
    2) You say you want to judge me on academics - so is a 3.8 GPA good enough for you?
    3) Do you think that I should not be taking classes for personal enrichment?

    I also work, and I put in a lot of my time into serving the extension school body while taking at least two classes per semester and maintaining a 3.8 GPA. The extension school has set a standard of 5 years to finish the CM program. Do you wish to tell them that they are wrong for that?

    Also let me ask you a few more questions and please answer them directly as I answered yours and I did not dodge:
    4)How many classes per semester do you recommend I take then if at least two classes per semester (while working and being heavily involved in extra-curricular activities) is not good enough for you?
    5) Do you want all the current candidates to furnish academic records and class schedule since this point is so important to you - if not, then why focus on mine only?
    6) Do you wish that all future candidates furnish their academic records/class schedule and do you then propose a constitutional amendment? or do you just want to focus on mine this one time in this one election?
    7) Do you also want to know how many classes Lavie is taking per semester and what her grades are since she is also in the same certificate in management program and under what conditions (such as is she working at the same time)? If you do not want to know hers as well then why not? Unless you are part of Lavie’s campaign team and already know?

    I insist that you answer these 7 questions because it is a test of your intellectual honesty so please do not avoid answering directly. If not then I am finished with responding to you and everyone will see that you are simply trying to play smear politics.

    I do want to entertain your football analogy a bit, as I do fancy a good logical/analogical debate. Here is where your logic falls apart - Would you elect as captain the guy who was successful in football but took 3 years instead of 2 to finish his degree? Would taking 3 years to finish his degree disqualify him from being the best pick for captain (even with getting mostly A’s and a 3.8 GPA)? Actually, I would be THAT guy in your analogy that started all the games and scored all the touchdowns. See your analogy actually helps show that, if HESA was a football team, I should be elected captain because of all the experience that I have as vice-captain of the team (VP of HESA) and because of all the high scoring that I made (breaking event turnout records at 240 and 300, etc) and because of the respect that I garner from my teammates. I have spent a lot of time not only serving HESA but winning in HESA so I think your analogy suits my situation if you really think about it. So you might want to use a different analogy.

    Lastly, you seem to be contradicting yourself - you state that "We need to select a candidate, that leaves all personal affairs aside, putting HESA first…” But then you criticize me for putting all affairs (i.e. my academic time-table) aside when I put HESA first, then you turn around and criticize me for taking a break from my final implying that I should put my finals (academics) aside. Well, I have done just that - I have spent time this past week while in the middle of finals campaigning on campus, with only one other candidate that I saw. Maybe you think it was also irresponsible for Lavie to miss the debates because she had to study for finals to be proctored days later in India? Maybe you also think she should have been willing to miss her finals, putting all aside for HESA? This just shows how unworkable your standards are.

44. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    To Lavie and Niemat,

    I also want to hear if Lavie agrees with Niege's comments as he seems to be the main advocate on her behalf. But I dont want to assume that - that's why I want to hear from Lavie directly so that I don't mistakenly attribute his comments to her camp. So Lavie, as a potential leader of HESA and as a candidate for HESA president, I am asking you directly - do you agree with Niege’s comments about scrutinizing class taking schedules of extension students and do you think you should be held to the same standards of disclosing your class schedule and academic records?. If you do not answer then it would seem that my assumption is justified. Its time to come out from silence on this and get into the mix as a potential leader. However, I really think you are better than that and I dont think you agree with Niege based on you earlier comment: "I don't see any downside in electing Andre either. He has had a great track record at HESA so far and im impressed as well - Lavie". But if you dont agree with Niege, you should say it now and say it directly in order to stop this kind of petty smear politics in which in this case really is not even logically coherent.

    I would also like to hear from Niemat if he agrees with Niege’s comments and if he thinks he should disclose his academic records/class schedule as well?

    ~ Andre

45. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009 edited

     

    Andre...If I were you I would not have bothered justifying it in the first place. Just like I did not answer questions posed on "the costs incurred on my website creation and whether it fell into the prescribed limit" .

    I would like your views on that so I dont attribute these comments to your camp either?

    Like I said we are here to let students get an insight into us candidates.

    I would encourage using this as a platform for the right reasons. i.e giving students a chance to get to know US, their candidates better.

46. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Lavie

    Great! I think that maybe you have a point that I should not have answered. But Niege is the main advocate for you, so you as a leader should take now step in with a clear answer - so first please answer my direct questions -do you disagree with Neige's comments about scrutinizing the class-taking schedules of extension students and about it being terrible to take one class per semester as a busy extension school student? and do you think you should be forced to disclose your schedule and record as well?

    It would be great to settle this point for the voters to see where you stand on this

    Thanks,

    Andre

47. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Hi Andre:

    If I were you.....1) I would not make an assumption and 2) I would battle the question with the student who posed it and not seek anyones approval on the same.

    I wish to stay out of this mudslinging and im sure you respect that.

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas.

48. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Hi Lavie

    In life, we make assumptions all the time - we actually cant operate without them. But what we can do is test assumptions wherever possible to confirm whether those assumptions were justified. This is what I am doing here - I am testing an assumption by going directly to the person who can clarify once and for all.

    I am sure you know that this is politics. What it seems like on the surface, from a political perspective, is that Neige is a surrogate for your campaign, making attacks on your behalf. This is an age-old political tactic. So because he is the only one strongly voicing his support for you on this site, it would be important for you to distance your self from his mudslinging. So what I am asking you to do is not" join the mudslinging" but "distance yourself from it" and from a from person who seems to speaking for you.

    I am not sure what is difficult about simply saying "yes, I disagree with neige's comments". If you cant simply do this, then how are you going to deal with the tough stuff that comes as HESA President.

    And I really was hoping you would do the right thing and denounce this mudslinging. By being silent on it, you empower it. And it reinforces the possibility that Niege is working o your behalf. So please, I implore you, try to simply answer
    1) Is Neige on your campaign team
    2) Do you disagree with his comments

    Thanks much and good luck on the elections

    Andre

49. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009 edited

     

    As if I hadn't commented enough already:

    I'd like to clarify my positions and explain my exasperation at some of the candidate statements.

    In my humble opinion, we are supposed to be selecting someone for their executive experience. By that, I mean that the job primarily requires those who have the skills to set goals and achieve them. Sometimes that means doing the work yourself. At other times, it means motivating others to do the work.

    It isn't about dreaming up ideas. Lots of people can do that. It isn't hard to come up with ideas.
    It isn't about having some sort of background. Lots of people come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    One thing I think has been steadfastly lacking in past HESA administrations is the level of professionalism and attention to detail. I think we really had something with Carlos. More than any other administration, he reached out to students and committed himself to opening up HESA to a wider audience.

    He sent out regular emails about the workings of the administration.
    He posted here very frequently.
    He took steps to make the results of the meetings a matter of the public record. The HESA website contained links to minutes of (almost) every meeting.

    These were good things. A lot of it was dry reading but it as important because people who weren't on campus or couldn't make meetings could at least follow along as things happened. We don't have a group that endeavors to cover our political meetings or write articles in the Crimson about new developments so it's at least mildly novel that he took steps to do these things without any outside pressure.

    But that all stopped when Carlos left. Whatever transparency we had was lost. The HESA website fell into disuse and the postings trailed off.

    I believe that a lack of executive experience is the reason that this happened. Without any background in "making things happen" we got a lot of half-hearted efforts from the current administration. Some events were poorly attended because invitations came too late. Other opportunities to increase the profile and influence of HES were missed.

    But working quietly in the background was Andre Bisasor. He put together the HESLS and re-launched an entire conference. He turned an entirely defunct organization around. That's a remarkable feat.

    He wasn't paid for his efforts. He wasn't directed to do this by the current HESA administration. He saw an opportunity to get something done and then went out and did it.

    He didn't ask to be recognized for a job he hadn't already completed. That speaks volumes about his character.

    I'm afraid that the other candidates are simply missing the point. They either believe that they are owed the position or are trying to imply that their on-the-job accomplishments make them a natural fit for president.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    It's far too easy to become discouraged as HESA president. It's an all volunteer ogranization and sometimes, people don't feel like it's important for them to work at it. Grandiose plans are great, but if there isn't someone there to actually translate those ideas into actions, nothing happens. It actually hurts us to have too-ambitious goals.

    That's why I'm so critical of the other candidates and supportive of Andre Bisasor. I'm tired of candidate statements that reflect not a single iota of activity at Harvard. Nothing. Not forming a club. Not attending the HESA meetings. Not even showing up to the debates.

    I think that Andre is different. He worked with Carlos and has seen at least one effective administration up close. If he can use that example, we can see great things from HESA in the coming years by building on what has already been accomplished.

    We don't need economic development activities. We don't need more parties. We need simple, effective leadership that concentrates our efforts on measurable and meaningful activities that benefit the school as a whole as well as individual students. Events like the Negotiation and Leadership conference are exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about.

    In my four years at HES, no other event has made me feel more connected to the school and to the university. I got a chance to meet members of many different schools at Harvard. It was a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet other HES students.

    If we can get even one more of those events under our belt as an organization under the HESA banner, we will be doing splendidly.

50. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    On another note guys, I have some positive developments on my campaign. We have now received the following endorsements from student leaders:

    1) Amy Szygiel - Current treasurer for HESA (2008-2009) and HESA Treasurer (2007 - 2008)
    2) Cristina Monfasani - Founding President, Harvard Extension Museum Club & Founding President, Harvard Extension Running & Hiking Club
    3) Christine Lin - HEBS President (2009- 2010) and former HESA Presidential candidate 2009 -2010 (withdrawn)
    2) Amy Hull - Former Secretary For HESA Executive Board (2008 - 2009)
    3) Jonas Palencia - Former Election Committee Chair (2008 - 2009)
    4) Ram Dhan - Current VP 2008-2009 and VP candidate For HESA (2009 -2010) and now running mate
    5) Trevor Law Pogue - former Presidential Candidate For HESA 2009 - 2010 (Withdrawn) and now campaign team member

    Stay tuned for more endorsements to be announced shortly.

    If you have missed any of my campaign updates, or for more on my mission and plan and why I am the best candidate, please check out my facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Andre-Bisasor-for-HESA-President-2009/114066249072 , or my campaign site at http://abcampaign.homestead.com.

    Thanks

    Andre

51. • CommentAuthorGirlygirl
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    I just voted for you Andre! Good Luck!

52. • CommentAuthorProlatorum
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Greetings All,

    I have been asked to weigh in on the HESA election, so here it goes. First, a little bit of history and insight. Second, an endorsement. Finally, I'll suggest some challenges for the community under the next administration.

    A forewarning: a lot of this talks about me, not because I live in my own head (though I do that from time to time) nor because I am so exceptional (I will deny any charge to the contrary). Rather, I feel the need to make clear the angles of my perspective, so that you may best judge the relevance of my view to this office and this election.

    Part I...

53. • CommentAuthorProlatorum
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    History & Insight
    ––––
    As many of you on extensionstudent.com know, I am Carlos De La Rosa, former President of HESA from 2007-2008.

    Over two and a half years ago, I set out to see how I could help HESA organize and improve the functioning of our body as a community. I saw a group at a point where it tipped into a bitter, and somewhat silly, division. I took over its internet presence, and was part of a team that did its best to put its financial house back in order. None of this was pretty or perfect, but in the wake of that activity, I decided to seek the presidency to put a stamp of competence and professionalism onto this organization.

    To do that, I knew that I could not do it alone. I needed a team.

    But what kind of a team works for this organization? And what kind of an organization is this?

    HESA, as an organization of non-traditional students at a high-profile university, is rather unusual. It is a staggered structure, representing about 13,000 students over the course of a year, 1300 of which *can* vote (degree candidates), about 300 *do* vote, and about 30 make up the most active core of students. This is within a student structure that is a honeycomb: A typical student may know 20 people and be friends with 5. It is hard to get the network effects of organization that you would see in a more traditional setting.

    There is a lot of talk about experience, but it is important to note what experience is *not* relevant.

    Prior traditional student government work is almost harmful experience, because so many of the structures available to a student government (especially those network effects) are not present. Global business management experience is practically irrelevant as the funding, resources, and infrastructure implicit in a global business setting are not present. Volunteer work is a step in the right direction. Volunteer management is better, as you understand some of the nature of cat herding.

    But the closest analog to HESA is that of a homeowners association.

    People paid to get there (HES). They want what they pay for to increase in value. Your investment is deep, so your passion is strong. Bad apples can ruin the neighborhood. Everyone cares about the image of the neighborhood, though may have very different perspectives on what that image should be and how to care for it. Advocacy for particular positions tends to get pulled to extremes.

    It should be no wonder that there is so much passion here and in HESA about practices and policies. (Read this board much? ;) )

    So what kind of a team works in this setting?

    A competent one.

    This is not the kind of competence seen in the grand claims of resumes or CVs – though I did ask all my appointees to show me their resumes before appointment. With a small core group, the needs are more micro and day to day. Ideally, you need the kind of skills more apparent in assistants than in executives. More ideally, you need both: executive vision to see the big picture, and lower level skills to execute it.

    Contrary to NRSs praise of my work – and I very much appreciate his sentiments – I credit much of the success of my administration to the talent that I was fortunate enough to assemble. As mentioned in another thread, I could put on the worker bee hat and hold that internet presence while still running meetings and directing. But I also had: A treasurer with accounting experience who exuded (and still does!) competence, calm, and grace; A secretary who knew how to assemble an election; An event coordinator who imaginatively used free labor and cooperation with other entities to keep our costs low, quality high, and meet $ per head metrics; and finally, a vice president who helped keep the engine moving and powerfully executed the charge to make the Negotiation and Leadership Forum fly.

    Back in 2007, I asked Andre to run as VP because I saw him as a competent outsider. He was measured in his ambition. He wanted to make things work without all the drama. He was very sharp in his thinking, speaking, and ability to bring others along. What he needed was the relevant experience – time on the ground seeing life inside the HESA beltway, the way we wanted to remake it. There was one specific thing he wanted to run to flex his ability: the Negotiation and Leadership Forum. Those were no small feat. That takes the micro and macro that one needs to work well in HESA.

    Competence.

    Simply: Wow.

    For that reason and others, part II...

54. • CommentAuthorProlatorum
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009

     

    Endorsement
    ––––
    I encourage you to vote for Andre Bisasor for President of HESA.

    I believe he can do the four things necessary for success.

    1) First and foremost: He can assemble a team to execute well in the coming year.

    I know this more than most: you have to know your top 10+ go-to people to make your year work right.

    2) He knows how to set goals, stick to them, and make the trains run on time.

    Keep in mind: This is more dynamic than it sounds. Priorities will adjust, people will move in and out, so you need someone who has a sense of the field to know when to push a priority, and when to move on. Only inside knowledge informs these choices. Andre has this.

    3) Transparency: Andre knows how we kept faith with our commitment to keep information flowing, meetings open, and knowledge shared. This is very hard in a cellular/honeycomb environment, with so many moving parts – harder than any business or HOA, even.

    4) Fundamentals: Andre knows how to keep the organization from descending into polarizing division and run things efficiently. No one could be more prepared for the unique challenge that HESA faces in this regard. (Believe me, Dems vs GOP look tame in comparison!)

    One of the great difficulties of this job is that with the limited resources, there are many good ideas that will have to be thrown away. Andre is able to see and address these situations with candor and clarity, to help keep HESA on track and focused.

    Challenge
    ––––
    I appreciate the intentions and perspectives of the other candidates. You have good energy and diverse interests. No matter who wins and loses please consider these:

    1) Help out

    If you don't win the presidency, ask the winner how you can best help. There are plenty of other positions and the winner will need the assistance. Join the team. I, for one, will be watching to see how many of you participate in next year's work.

    An aside here: it is very telling that Andre was not a HESA officer this year, but was still active enough to pull off the forum for the second year. That says something.

    2) Be Loyal

    A successful HESA is best for us all (even us alums). Where there are disagreements, be ready to be voted down. Where you prevail, prevail gracefully. I don't know that I ever lost anything in a vote, but that was because there was a lot of stuff I didn't bring to the floor after checking around. Be ready to win or lose, and make the best of what you get.

    3) Don't Worry

    Fundamentally, this is a few people, doing a lot of work with little reward. There are many opportunities to get caught up in minutia, the "legalities" of rules, personality friction, and the like. We had an almost 100% drama free year in 2007-2008... I believe that with the right leadership, HESA can do this again.

    4) Praise

    Lift up those who show up. Thank those who work. Honor those who work well. Some will fail. Mistakes will happen. Cues will be missed. HESA can do good things, but it has its limits. I made mistakes, and I am sure the next administration will have its fair share. We all could spend a lot of time throwing bricks here – and it has been known to happen. (Right?) But at the end of the day the only things that can move us all towards are goals are constructive criticism and direct help.

    We here in this forum are a very active core. Lots of people just go in and out of school not thinking about the value of this until they are almost ready to leave. I have seen this dynamic many times before. They regret this missed opportunity. You can help people connect. I would like to think that I did, but it is hard to tell for sure.

    Andre has helped. So have the other presidential candidates. So has Ashley. So has nrs. ilamont, and our dear catamount. The way I look at it, you all care, disagree, argue, but in the end, you are *here* (or on campus, etc.) participating in the life of the community. Like many a family, HESA is imperfect, occasionally dysfunctional, but surely the best chance of bringing students together to help each other accomplish their goals.

    In that spirit, I thank you all for reading, participating, criticizing, and voting. May our community continue and grow with such energy for a long time to come

    ---
    Carlos De La Rosa

55. • CommentAuthorkoujin
    • CommentTimeMay 25th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: nrs

    Posted By: koujin

    I would like to hear the candidates' thoughts on socially-oriented community-building events such as those held at 51 Grossman and other locations this past academic year. I think these are valuable and provide an opportunity to network with other HES students and alumni and exchange conversation, ideas and views.

    Koujin,

    Which event are you referring to?

    Nrs,

    I've been away and missed your question. I'm referring to the social events that HESA held this year. Here is an example email from Ashley:

    **Two weeks ago HESA held its first event, the Fall Social. I sent out Evite
    invitations to the listserve. That proved to be a successful way to manage
    RSVPs while also protecting your email privacy. There were 72 students total
    in attendance for the indian buffet and the socializing continued after the
    event as a larger group (of 21 and older) transferred to John Harvard's for
    some pints. We look forward to seeing you at the next event.

    ***October 3rd First Friday: I am writing with exciting news regarding upcoming
    HESA events:
    +This Friday, October 3rd from 6:00-7:00 the Pre-Health and Pre-Law
    Societies will be having informational meetings for students interested in
    participating on an administrative level. Both groups are preparing to hold
    elections of officers. If you are interested in either group, please email me
    with the specific group title in the subject line. These meetings will take
    place in Grossman Common Room (2nd floor) 51 Brattle Street.

    +Following those introductory meetings will be the first "First Friday"
    October 3rd social from 7:00pm-9:00pm. For eats, HESA will be serving up Blue
    Ribbon Barbeque, grub this Southern girl can attest is pretty darn good.
    Veggie dishes will also be served for the non-carnivores. The social will take
    place in the Grossman Common Room (2nd floor) 51 Brattle Street.

    There are others, such as events at Queen's head and the barbecue. As I've mentioned, I think these events are great for meeting other HESA members, fostering community spirit and networking. I wonder if Andre or any other candidates have plans in this area?

56. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    Koujin,

    I agree with you. I think social events are a great way to meet other students and to network. In fact, Carlos and I met at a First Friday social in 2007 in the Grossman Room at 51 Brattle and that's where the first connection for a partnership began. I already have in mind to create a social events coordinator position in my administration that will be dedicated to finding creative and innovative ways to develop and enhance these types of activities.

    One of my goals, as outlined in my platform, is to focus on substantive development of community interaction - that includes, though is not limited, to the development of social events interaction. However, there are other ways to meet and network with other students. By many accounts, the Negotiation & Leadership Conference was not only a great way to do this but to also meet students from other Harvard schools as well. There are many extension students who need to have a compelling reason to come out and network - like an academic type event with an enriching program. If you look at the Harvard Business School - most of their social networking is done around some business-related student group conference and they are about 10 such conferences that they host each year.

    In my administration, we will be analyzing the different ways to meet the different needs of all of our extension students.

    ~ Andre

57. • CommentAuthorBrandon Ruse
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    Andre, as someone who's been around the block, I'd like to know how would you approach the "in extension studies"/prolatorum on the ALB and ALM, respectively, as well as if lobbying for changing the School's name and the perception that's out there is something your administration would take as a concern? I feel that these are important issues as we're earning a degree we hope to be useful in the workforce and not something which is misinterpreted. Actually, I'd like to hear all the candidates speak on this to compare the responses. I appreciate you taking your time to do this.

58. • CommentAuthorlovetheduns
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    I agree Brandon.

    I am new and not even a degree candidate, but honestly concern about special events, socials, and even the financing of those socials is not a concern of mine. I live in North Carolina so initially most of my coursework will be remote until I am accepted into the program and then need to begin to take my 6 courses in Cambridge.

    Honestly, as a working adult, I do not have much interest in the social aspects of HESA. The only events I would remotely be interested in are some of the inter-school professional events such as the leadership event.

    Andre you definitely seem like the most promising candidate in terms of organization, etc--- but I don't really *get* what initiatives you really support. Forgive me for being blunt but most of them sound like fluff-- pretty sounding fluff mind you, but fluff.

    For me, the ethics reform plan just seems like icing on the proverbial cake. It sounds good, but at the end of the day it seems like it should be a prerequisite for the role and not necessarily a platform. When I visited your site, I had to read it over and over and over to kind of glean what in the world are you going to accomplish for this community? The ethics you can demonstrate, but really at the end of the day even with the most ethical president in the world, I could care less if that person is ineffective at the end of the day.

    I am more interested in tangible benefits such as "Increase the Harvard-wide profile of professionalism and leadership by fostering collaborative initiatives on an inter-school basis such as the 2009 Negotiation & Leadership Conference," and the further development of the HESA website.

    However, with all of the communication and ethics in the world, these areas are not going to necessarily change what I feel are the major issues facing HES (such as degree names, relationship within the larger Harvard University, renaming the school to something applicable).

    Sorry for being so blunt. but you do seem like the type of person who will take constructive criticism. :)

59. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    Posted By: lovetheduns

    I agree Brandon.

    I am new and not even a degree candidate, but honestly concern about special events, socials, and even the financing of those socials is not a concern of mine. I live in North Carolina so initially most of my coursework will be remote until I am accepted into the program and then need to begin to take my 6 courses in Cambridge.

    Honestly, as a working adult, I do not have much interest in the social aspects of HESA. The only events I would remotely be interested in are some of the inter-school professional events such as the leadership event.

    Andre you definitely seem like the most promising candidate in terms of organization, etc--- but I don't really *get* what initiatives you really support. Forgive me for being blunt but most of them sound like fluff-- pretty sounding fluff mind you, but fluff.

    For me, the ethics reform plan just seems like icing on the proverbial cake. It sounds good, but at the end of the day it seems like it should be a prerequisite for the role and not necessarily a platform. When I visited your site, I had to read it over and over and over to kind of glean what in the world are you going to accomplish for this community? The ethics you can demonstrate, but really at the end of the day even with the most ethical president in the world, I could care less if that person is ineffective at the end of the day.

    I am more interested in tangible benefits such as "Increase the Harvard-wide profile of professionalism and leadership by fostering collaborative initiatives on an inter-school basis such as the 2009 Negotiation & Leadership Conference," and the further development of the HESA website.

    However, with all of the communication and ethics in the world, these areas are not going to necessarily change what I feel are the major issues facing HES (such as degree names, relationship within the larger Harvard University, renaming the school to something applicable).

    Sorry for being so blunt. but you do seem like the type of person who will take constructive criticism. :)

    lovetheduns,

    Let me chime in for a moment.

    I'm also a distant student. The social events aren't such a big deal for me either unless there is a substantial reason for me to travel to Cambridge. As it turns out, I'm able to get up there on a relatively regular basis but I need to plan my trips. I just can't pop over on a whim.

    Issues like degree names and the name of the school are large issues that are going to take time. You and I can expect to see small, incremental improvements to conditions as the school develops and becomes more prominent. Some of this is long overdue. Small wins come in little by little. It was only very recently that we got some support from the Career Services Office. Previously, their support was only available to the "other" schools. This was a big win for us.

    Other things like degree naming and school naming are going to take much more time since they are very very sensitive issues. All of the other schools guard their degree programs VERY jealously. They don't permit ANY overlap. If there is even a hint that our name would "substitute" for one bestowed by the College, or FAS, or HBS, or KSG, we could expect some push-back. HESA can represent our viewpoint, but they can't really push the issue. That's my read of the situation.

    What they CAN do is support student achievement and broaden our access to resources on campus. They can foster community (much like this forum does) and they can present a public face to the rest of the university that puts our best foot forward. Seriously, we have some very, very accomplished students at HES. Too often, it's the hindmost at HES that end up speaking for us. That needs to change.

    IMHO, Andre represents that. I've met him and I have seen what he can do. Compared to our other choices, he's far and above the best candidate.

60. • CommentAuthorProlatorum
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    @lovetheduns,

    First, let me say that this is my opinion and experience, not an official position of Andre nor run by him in advance. See your dealer for details. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. <end disclaimer>

    Here is a story from my administration which may shed light on how someone like Andre can directly affect you and why knowing goals at an abstract level is sometime more appropriate in this context.

    My administration had a very good relationship with the HES administration. Early in the year, a student wrote a scathing – and somewhat inappropriate – letter to the administration cc-ing me in the process. This letter bashed one of the program coordinators for enforcing a new academic provision prohibiting enrollment in non-program classes while in a program.

    You read that right: In mid-2007, degree candidates could not enroll in classes outside of their program. If they did, they would be automatically terminated from their program.

    People in the HES administration dismissed the letter as an angry rant from an upset student, which, in part, it was. No one was inclined to act. However, I saw the troubling policy at the core of the rant. The student had wanted to take a prerequisite for a required course. The prerequisite was not in the program. It was a catch-22. In addition, the larger implications of this policy was that students in degree programs were bound to their rails rather than being free to explore as should be the case in our institution.

    I talked to a few deans, who were surprisingly unaware of the policy change, but understood the issue and the ramifications. Within a few weeks, the policy was changed from a mandatory program termination to an optional one. Basically, the school wanted to promote progress towards the degree and prevent perpetual degree status, which makes sense. The policy's change turned a coarse, heavy-handed approach into a more appropriately tailored one.

    Andre and I talked through this issue at length before proceeding. We both had taken courses outside our program. We never had this as a goal, but maintaining the relationships, keeping HESA relevant and successful made this change possible.

    Tangible effects have many origins. Among these origins are professionalism, ethical behavior, consistency in policy and structure. The communications structure and relationships we had in place had positive effects for the higher level activities we engaged in.

    In short, this is not the icing on the cake. These are the key ingredients that make the cake possible.

    Carlos De La Rosa
    Former President of HESA, 2007-2008

61. • CommentAuthorrobby
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009 edited

     

    That's a great anecdote, Carols. Good work.

62. • CommentAuthorramdhanyk
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009 edited

     

    Greeting Everybody. I hope everybody had a wonderful Memorial day weekend. I am 'Ram Dhan' Yadav Kotamaraja, the candidate for the office of the Vice President of HESA 2009-2010. I am also the nominated VP of HESA in 2008-2009 and an elected VP for Harvard Extension Business Society for 2009-2010.

    In this election, I am excited to endorse Andre Bisasor for the office of the President of HESA. Though there are several highly qualified candidates in the fray, I believe that Andre Bisasor is the best positioned person to lead HESA in the year 2009-2010. As Carlos De La Rosa, HESA President 2007-2008, pointed out, it takes experience and a different kind of leadership to lead HESA. The leadership that we are talking about is the ability to create enormous value to the HES student community with a span of one academic calendar year with extremely limited financial resources and a small volunteer force that care to serve the HES community. Andre, as the president of HESLS 2007-2009, has ‘demonstrated’ a leadership that brought a never before seen positive visibility to the Harvard Extension School student community within the University. I believe that his passion will help create a robust institutional visibility and institutional memory for HESA that can sustain and grow in the years ahead.

    Rest of the candidates, even though they exhibited stellar performance in non-HES avenues, choose not to get involved with HESA or other HESA affiliated student clubs in the past. There were some events where we requested the participants to volunteer to spread the word. However, I do not recollect any of the candidates in the fray volunteering their time. This raises the question about their commitment.

    As far as the education credentials are concerned, please be advised that each candidate that is running in the election is qualified by Dean Robert Neugeboren. One of the criteria of qualification is good standing in their academics at HES. There are several instances where the candidates that were aspiring to run in the election were disqualified by the Deans office. So, the question of Andre’s educational standing at HES raised by Niege is moot.

    Before anybody starts criticizing the work that was done by the HESA administration this year, let me know acknowledge that we were not perfect. However, I would like to assert that there were number of events organized that were attended in record numbers by a wider student body. I would like to infer that this reach to a wider student body is what prompted so many candidates to contest in this election.

    To answer koujin’s question, I would like to say that I bring the knowledge from this year’s administration to compliment Andre’s vision. If elected as VP, I will work with Andre in consolidating our experiences to put together a robust workable agenda. If I am not elected, I would still be involved with the HESA activities and contribute actively as and when needed. If some other candidate is elected as a President, I will work with that President as well.

    Now I have a question for all the candidates who were not active contributors to the HES community in the past but are running in this election - If you are not elected in this election, can you still commit to get involved in HESA/HES activities and work to create the value that you believe in? If yes, how do you plan to create that value?

63. •  
      CommentAuthorCatamount
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    >You read that right: In mid-2007, degree candidates could not enroll in classes outside of their program. If they did, they would be automatically terminated from their program.

    What they really wanted to prevent is people like me -- who would do 2 programs at once and then graduate from the second one when all the requirements were complete.

64. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: Catamount

    >You read that right: In mid-2007, degree candidates could not enroll in classes outside of their program. If they did, they would be automatically terminated from their program.

    What they really wanted to prevent is people like me -- who would do 2 programs at once and then graduate from the second one when all the requirements were complete.

    Which programs did you do?

    They put in the 16 credits of on-campus-only coursework for the ALB after I took lots of graduate classes because they were offered on-line.

65. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    I would like to announce more positive developments for our campaign. We received 3 more endorsements:

    1) Patrick Rivera - Former President (2005-2006)
    2) Carlos De La Rosa - Former President (2007 - 2008)
    3) Kevin Grygiel - Current Harvard Graduate Council Representative (2008 - 2009)

    So the full list of endorsement is now:

    1) Patrick Rivera - Former President of HESA (2005 - 2006)
    2) Kevin Grygiel - Current Harvard Graduate Council Representative (2008-2009)
    3) Carlos De La Rosa - former President of HESA (2007 -2009)
    4) Amy Szczygiel - Current treasurer for HESA (2008-2009) and HESA Treasurer (2007 - 2008)
    5) Cristina Monfasani - Founding President, Harvard Extension Museum Club & Founding President, Harvard Extension Running & Hiking Club
    6) Christine Lin - HEBS President (2009- 2010) and former HESA Presidential candidate 2009 -2010 (withdrawn)
    7) Amy Hull - Former Secretary For HESA Executive Board (2008 - 2009)
    8) Jonas Palencia - Former Election Committee Chair (2008 - 2009)
    9) Trevor Law Pogue - former Presidential Candidate For HESA 2009 - 2010 (Withdrawn) and now campaign team member
    10) Ram Dhan - Current VP 2008-2009 and VP candidate For HESA (2009 -2010) and now running mate.

    So please elect Andre Bisasor as President of HESA and Ram Dhan as Vice President of HESA

    I will keep you posted on more developments and campaign updates on this thread.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Also, the Executive Members of HEBS have also put out a statement as follows:

    "Harvard Extension School Business Society honors the initiative and desire of each and every HESA candidate elect; the willingness to contribute, the drive to enhance community involvement within the Harvard Extension School exemplifies a readiness and motivation that enables entrepreneurial pursuits and graduated business acumen. The executive members of HEBS would like to recognize Andre Bisasor and Ram Dhan Kotamaraja as potential President and Vice President Elects in this year’s HESA elections as the Business Society’s Executive members identify with the forethought and diverse experiential background of both of these candidates and believe that their initiatives best resonate with that of our own student organization."
    - Statement taken from HEBS Executive Members- Memorial Day, 2009
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I will follow up later today with a comprehensive response to lovetheduns and brandon's questions

    Thanks,

    Andre

66. • CommentAuthorkaminsky
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    Fortunately all the candidates running for President and VP are highly qualified and stellar individuals. However, not only is that not enough, it is not even the most important thing. I've seen the following scenario played out numerous times, in various variations, in many volunteer settings (both academic and otherwise):

    1) Candidates show up for the nomination process.
    2) Candidate A, who has never shown up before, has impressive qualifications and talks a good game with a grand vision.
    3) Candidate B, who has been active in the organization since the beginning of time, not only doesn't have the otherwise impressive resume, but also only talks about mundane practical issues.
    4) Candidate A is elected with high acclaim. Everybody is happy to have selected such an impressive, visionary leader.
    5) Candidate A never shows up again.

    It looks like this year we don't have to choose between the impressive and the practical - between one who talks a good game and one who plays one. We can have both in the same individual! I hope that those candidates who have never seen the inside of a HESA event are active in the coming year. Then if they choose to run next year they will have demonstrated the most important qualification - involvement!

67. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2009

     

    Posted By: kaminsky

    Fortunately all the candidates running for President and VP are highly qualified and stellar individuals. However, not only is that not enough, it is not even the most important thing. I've seen the following scenario played out numerous times, in various variations, in many volunteer settings (both academic and otherwise):

    1) Candidates show up for the nomination process.
    2) Candidate A, who has never shown up before, has impressive qualifications and talks a good game with a grand vision.
    3) Candidate B, who has been active in the organization since the beginning of time, not only doesn't have the otherwise impressive resume, but also only talks about mundane practical issues.
    4) Candidate A is elected with high acclaim. Everybody is happy to have selected such an impressive, visionary leader.
    5) Candidate A never shows up again.

    It looks like this year we don't have to choose between the impressive and the practical - between one who talks a good game and one who plays one. We can have both in the same individual! I hope that those candidates who have never seen the inside of a HESA event are active in the coming year. Then if they choose to run next year they will have demonstrated the most important qualification - involvement!

    This sort of scenario is exactly what I'm worried about. That's why I chose to support Andre. He put together a high-profile event and scored big time. It was the perfect combination of social, professional, and academic. It's why I (and others) were hopeful that he would toss his hat into the ring for the HESA presidency.

68. • CommentAuthorLavie
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    Hi Kaminsky,

    Thanks for your belief in me as an impressive and visionary leader ( I have made that assumption based on the fact that I was the one who was not present at the debates).

    What I understand from your above comment seems like your biggest doubt is "If I am going to show up". Its very valid considering I wasn't there for the debate let alone the fact I was doing distance (for one sem) or technical limitations that did not allow me to participate. (I tried going the extra mile to get permissions from the committee to make an exception but did not work out).

    But I would look at the persons continued commitment towards this election post that debate...and if the candidate has flown across the globe just to BE HERE in person...I think that spells commitment and not just "flowery vision". This is just a start and I hope I get a chance to continue demonstrating my commitment.

    Hopefully that helps you entrust your trust in me as a candidate who can represent you and the rest of the students.

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas

69. • CommentAuthorProlatorum
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    Friends,

    Just one more thought from me about this election:

    I encourage you to look at Andre's endorsements in a slightly different way than they are being presented.

    I know most of them and I can tell you that many of these people have tangible accomplishments on behalf of the students and HESA; Patrick and I have run HESA, Jonas and Amy and Amy managed elections, Cristina has been running her groups successfully for years, and Amy has been a wonderful treasurer.

    These are people who have shown up, and many will show up again when called.

    In Andre's case there is no doubt that the candidate would show up and do the job. I don't doubt that for any of the other candidates either. However, what Andre can deliver is a team that will show up to do the job – one that is experienced in what needs to be done for this organization.

    This is one of the toughest elements of this job. People will get called to do other things. New leadership must be cultivated. But it is far better to start with a competent core ready to go – dare I say it – from day one. Andre has both the core and the cultivation experience to do this job right.

    I hope you consider this as you cast your votes.

    Carlos De La Rosa
    Former President of HESA (2007-2008)

    [Does this make me a groupie yet?]

70. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: Lavie

    Hi Kaminsky,

    Thanks for your belief in me as an impressive and visionary leader ( I have made that assumption based on the fact that I was the one who was not present at the debates).

    What I understand from your above comment seems like your biggest doubt is "If I am going to show up". Its very valid considering I wasn't there for the debate let alone the fact I was doing distance (for one sem) or technical limitations that did not allow me to participate. (I tried going the extra mile to get permissions from the committee to make an exception but did not work out).

    But I would look at the persons continued commitment towards this election post that debate...and if the candidate has flown across the globe just to BE HERE in person...I think that spells commitment and not just "flowery vision". This is just a start and I hope I get a chance to continue demonstrating my commitment.

    Hopefully that helps you entrust your trust in me as a candidate who can represent you and the rest of the students.

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas

    Lavie, I'm sure that you believe in your vision. I'm just not sure that you understand the reasoning behind the criticism that's being leveled against your candidacy.

    First, you don't have any background in HESA politics. You didn't participate in any leadership role at Harvard or make any attempt to demonstrate the commitment you speak of in your statements here and in other venues. That's a problem. Nothing that you've stated as an accomplishment of yours is anything that anyone can readily verify. All of your stated accomplishments are in India. None of them are here.

    Second, you didn't appear to anticipate that physical presence was going to be important. Technical limitations weren't the reason you couldn't appear. There were debates scheduled and you didn't show up. Simple. Trying to lay the blame for your absence on some failed appeal to grant you a special dispensation (that none of the other candidates asked for) just smacks of a disconnect between your idea of what the job requires and what you can reasonably deliver. You could have always taken your exams on-site in Cambridge so that doesn't wash as an excuse for why you needed to be in India.

    Finally, I don't believe that you flew across the globe to be at HES for this election. I believe that you were already planning on returning to the Boston area and you're trying to convince us otherwise. When we talk about "flowery vision," we're making a judgment about your grasp of what we consider to be the important issues that face the student population here. Grand ideas about some "innovation club" sound great but are not what HES students are concerned about. Your stated plans for a Lavie administration are to fulfill YOUR goals, nor OURS. This is our main criticism. You just don't get it.

    I know Andre. I got a chance to meet with him and see him in action. He's a guy who has been there from the very start, working to address the concerns that HES students have. He gets it. He has spoken to enough HES students to know what they care about and what needs to get done. He understands the tools he has to work with and the things he can get done. Then he goes out and gets things done.

    Talk is cheap. Promises made are all too easily forgotten. Nothing quiets criticism like actual results.

71. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    Dear Extension Friends,

    I hope you had a wonderful memorial weekend and that you are well-rested as a result. I would like to take a moment to share with you some thoughts on this election.

    First - To those who have not decided on their vote as yet, I want to point out some key differences that I think are relevant in the task of trying to decide. Look at how the candidates have structured their approach in terms of what they are asking you to vote on:

    - I chose not to ask for your vote (as other presidential candidates have) on the basis of my rich cultural heritage or where I came from -- though I was born in and grew up on the Caribbean island of Jamaica and later became a citizen of the US, yet also I have ancestry (great grandparents) from India, hence the last name “Bisasor”.

    - I chose not to ask for your vote (as other presidential candidates have) with an appeal to my religious background or worldview -- though in addition to my MBA and MSc in Finance, I have an undergraduate degree in Theology and have participated in numerous faith-based (as well as secular-based) volunteer outreach programs throughout my life and I personally observe a solid Christian faith.

    - I chose not to ask for your vote (as other presidential candidates have) by appealing to you on the basis of the color of my skin -- though it has been pointed out that my candidacy is historical since I would be the first African-American male to be elected President of HESA in its entire history.

    - I chose not to ask for your vote (as other presidential candidates have) on the basis that my VP running mate, Ram Dhan, and I constitute a representation of “diversity” -- though we probably have as much or even more of a claim to that than any other candidate ticket.

    - I chose not to ask for your vote by trying to compare myself to President Obama (as other presidential candidates have done including their referencing the peculiarity of their last name or handing out fliers with a picture shaking Obama’s hand) -- though I probably have more in common with an Obama candidacy than anyone else including the fact that my platform focuses on ethics reform, I emphasize an intellectual approach and conflict resolution/consensus-building model to governance and not to mention the historical aspects as well, as mentioned before.

    - I chose not to ask for your vote (as other presidential candidates have) on the basis of focusing heavily on my outside professional experience such as my management and business background in venture capital and management consulting where I could emphasize my skills of organizational problem-solving, marketing strategy, business development, raising capital/funds, negotiating deals, being a board director, and writing/developing business plans that would help turnaround struggling SME firms.

    I chose to ask for your vote on the basis of one main thing - MERIT. I have simply asked you to carefully look at:
    1) Who the most qualified candidate is;
    2) Who has put in the work and the time previously in HESA;
    3) Who has shown up and been there serving the student body previously;
    4) Who has been the most successful at getting things done at HES;
    5) Who has been able to not only promise big things but actually deliver on doing big things for HES.

    I believe that here at Harvard, we value meritocracy and achievement. If you work hard to prove yourself, you should get the job or that seat in that graduate school, etc. It’s NOT owed to you as a right - you must earn it! This is what I believe in. This is why I came to you NOT on the basis of these other points. I do not want you to vote for me because I am from Jamaica, or because my last name sounds different, or because I am black, or because I am of a certain religion, or because I have certain background or had advantages/disadvantages. I am simply asking for you to vote for me on the MERITS. If your analysis of the merits still somehow results in your voting for someone else, then I would still be happy. But I want to urge you not to be swayed by these other non-merit issues, though I can understand that these can be quite emotionally appealing.

    In essence, I would score well on these other non-merit criteria too, so the choice is not between having one or the other but, as kaminsky pointed out, you get all of the above with me PLUS experience + success+realistic vision/plan

    Continued…..next post

72. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    In terms of vision and plans, consider the following:

    1) Look at the vision that we each have and see if there is anything that seems very HESA specific and that shows a knowledge of what is actually going in the organization. For instance - no other candidate, to my knowledge, has called for more transparency. That’s most likely because they do not realize a need for it and do not understand how critical this is to a properly functioning HESA. They have don’t have a frame of reference to even interpret its specific significance to HESA. No one has even alluded to need to fix or improve some of the internal institutions and processes within HESA - that’s because they do not know that it needs to be fixed or improved.

    2) Look at whether they are trying to promise you things that HES already offers - such as career workshops, career trainings and career fairs, or such as access to social spaces.

    3) Look at whether their vision is realistic or is actually under the control of the HESA President. For instance, the promise to the change the name of the Extension School is an emotionally appealing one. It is like promising to fix social security - appealing it is but it’s hard to deliver on. BTW, this is something that the administration is working on. There is a history there and a new HESA president who is unaware of this history can end up pushing too hard or pushing in the wrong places resulting in damaging our chances of having the Harvard Faculty Council grant us the permission. This issue requires a sophisticated understanding of the political and bureaucratic structures at Harvard. This is something that Carlos and I dealt specifically with in behind the scenes meetings with the administration, conducting our quiet diplomacy in the background. This is why some experience in HESA and some experience in dealing with the administration is critical. Therefore, before you vote for someone on the basis of them promising to change the name of the extension school, ask them these questions:

    a) How do you exactly plan to go about changing the name of the Extension school

    b) Have you actually met with the administration to even find out what’s going on this matter?

    c) Do you plan on trying to convince the President and Fellows of Harvard yourself? Or the Harvard Faculty Council (ask them if they know what this is)?

    d) Who are you going to try to persuade? The Extension deans?

    e) What timeframe are you going to push for?

    f) How do you suggest dealing with the “grandfathering” issue? (This might be too tough to answer so please be kind and gentle)

    Listen to see what their answers are and don’t be surprised if you will get some back-peddling or vague answers. I am probably the only candidate best positioned to deal with this on behalf of the student body in terms of my relationship with the administration, based on my past discussions with the administration on this very matter, and based on my knowledge of some of the history.

    Lastly,
    To those who have decided to vote for and support me, I want to urge you to pass on the word to your friends and acquaintances. We cannot take anything for granted because of the following reasons:

    1) School is now out and many extension students have mentally "checked-out" of school. This will potentially reduce voter participation in this election (which by the way is already historically low at around 300). So every vote counts.

    2) Many voters have been and will continue to be on vacation this week because of the memorial holidays. It will be unlikely that "checking in" to vote is going to be on the top of their minds. This will likely result in more reduced voter participation.

    3) Because of the late and abbreviated campaign cycle, there will be some students who invariably will indicate that they did not even know that I was running, even after the polls close on Friday.

    We therefore must be vigilant to use our networks on facebook or by email or by word of mouth to ensure that as many people as possible vote.

    Thank you very much for listening

    Andre

73. • CommentAuthorShiloh
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    Message from Kaminski:

    Posted By: kaminsky

    Fortunately all the candidates running for President and VP are highly qualified and stellar individuals. However, not only is that not enough, it is not even the most important thing. I've seen the following scenario played out numerous times, in various variations, in many volunteer settings (both academic and otherwise):

    1) Candidates show up for the nomination process.
    2) Candidate A, who has never shown up before, has impressive qualifications and talks a good game with a grand vision.
    3) Candidate B, who has been active in the organization since the beginning of time, not only doesn't have the otherwise impressive resume, but also only talks about mundane practical issues.
    4) Candidate A is elected with high acclaim. Everybody is happy to have selected such an impressive, visionary leader.
    5) Candidate A never shows up again.

    It looks like this year we don't have to choose between the impressive and the practical - between one who talks a good game and one who plays one. We can have both in the same individual! I hope that those candidates who have never seen the inside of a HESA event are active in the coming year. Then if they choose to run next year they will have demonstrated the most important qualification - involvement!

    I think Kaminsky's point is that Andre is both impressive and experienced. Not that you are impressive and he is not:

    Posted By: Lavie

    Hi Kaminsky,

    Thanks for your belief in me as an impressive and visionary leader ( I have made that assumption based on the fact that I was the one who was not present at the debates).

    What I understand from your above comment seems like your biggest doubt is "If I am going to show up".

    Best Regards
    Elizabeth Lavanya Thomas

    And another thing...
    Lavie-This is the second time you’ve misunderstood people’s comments and criticisms: just like with Comebackkid's criticism under the "Annoying Groupie" thread. Please take the time to fully understand the context before responding, so that you avoid appearing as though you're either out-of-touch with reality or otherwise trying to be slick.

74. • CommentAuthorHermes
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2009

     

    Posted By: lovetheduns

    I agree Brandon.

    I am new and not even a degree candidate, but honestly concern about special events, socials, and even the financing of those socials is not a concern of mine. ...............Honestly, as a working adult, I do not have much interest in the social aspects of HESA. The only events I would remotely be interested in are some of the inter-school professional events such as the leadership event.

    Andre you definitely seem like the most promising candidate in terms of organization, etc--- but I don't really *get* what initiatives you really support. Forgive me for being blunt but most of them sound like fluff-- pretty sounding fluff mind you, but fluff.

    For me, the ethics reform plan just seems like icing on the proverbial cake. It sounds good, but at the end of the day it seems like it should be a prerequisite for the role and not necessarily a platform...........

    To lovetheduns

    I can understand that you don’t fancy social events because you are a distant education student. But think about it this way - my job as president is to see the interests of all extension students. So there are some who want social events, some academic events, some more access to resources, others want more or better organized student clubs, others want more online presence, others want to focus on academic issues, etc. I have to care about all these different needs. So I cannot afford to serve only the interests of things that I like or important to me.

    As far as the ethics reform plan "being fluff" - let me say that this comes from a deep understanding of the structures, history and processes within HESA. If HESA is dysfunctional internally, then how can we expect good output? Look on it from an organizational management perspective. For any company, you as the customer might only care about the price and quality of the products that the company offers - that is the output. But if you were a shareholder, you would have to also care about the management practices and how efficient it is (or the internal issues) because you want the stock to go high. I would like to instill a new view of HESA to the student community - one where we see HESA as a shareholder with a vested interest in seeing its stock move higher, and not only as a customer focused on outputs only. From this vantage point, things that seem like "fluff or icing", now perhaps become core center-piece issues because essentially how can you create value for customers if the internal structure is all messed up? How can you execute a vision without the proper operational vehicle to do so? I as president will understand how to balance a focus on the outputs as well as the internal issues within HESA.

    As far as the inter-school events, rest assured that, as I have been the pioneer of such events, I will leverage my skills and knowledge in this arena to improve our standing in the Harvard community and to further enrich your experience. This is not an untested promise - I have already delivered on this in a major way exceeding all expectations twice over the past two years.

    As far as being an ethical president goes, you will be surprised how many students don’t view ethics as a priority or even important at all. Also, at the Extension school, we do not have required courses in ethics for the management or government programs - which is required in most other graduate business or government programs across the country. This is something that might need to change with intervention from the administration (and maybe a little nudging and some diplomacy from HESA).

    Some examples of other concrete initiatives that I support include:
    1) Setting up a training program for club leaders to develop the quality of club activities and events for students
    2) Creating a grievance procedure will to ensure that conflicts or complaints have a way to be resolved in an orderly manner before it has to go the administration
    3) Inclusion of a market responsive feedback survey each semester.
    4) Restoration of the website and better, more effective & timely communication
    5) Other delicate initiatives that require diplomacy with the administration including academic program name issues, etc
    5) And simply to efficiently keep the "train on the tracks" for the things HESA must do right regardless of the new initiatives introduced

    There are some things that might need to be reviewed at the constitutional/bylaw level and, being a budding legal scholar, I might decide not to pass the buck onto another administration. Though again this might seem like internal stuff that don't directly affect visible outputs, this probably, along with other systems/process improvement issues, is one of the greatest services that my administration could provide to HESA.

    I could go into more detail but I hope this helps in clarifying some of the issues raised.

    ~ Andre

75. • CommentAuthorShweths
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Students,

    Someone just sent me the link for Elizabeth Lavanya thomas's website (www.lavanyathomas.com) who is running to be our president. Her website gives students a clear idea on what she is going to do for the HESA community. There are many talented students in HES who don't have an opportunity to showcase their innovative ideas. Unfortunately HES is not HBS. And she talks about how she is going to bring life to these ideas. I believe, this is a meaningful reason for her to run for president of our community and more importantly an even more meaningful reason for her to win this election!

    PS: Students, I think its important to vote for a candidate that stands for something concrete rather than vote for a candidate who is aiming at changing the name of the " Extension" school or just forming more clubs. You and I can do that stuff. Just get a petition letter signed by all students of HES about the name change and I am positive that will have a far bigger impact.

    Please be vigilant of such candidates!!! Please vote wisely!!

76. • CommentAuthorLaura
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    I agree. Its important for students to vote for the right candidate. I loved Elizabeths webpage. She looks promising. Andre is good too. But I want a girl to win this election. GIRLLLLLLLLLLLL POWERRRRRRRR!

77. • CommentAuthorShweths
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Laura me too. Met Elizabeth on campus today. She is a very pleasant girl. She has great exposure too, worked for CNBC's global operations!

78. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009 edited

     

    Shweths
    Account Created 8 hours ago
    Last Active 17 minutes ago
    Visit Count 2
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 4

    DoppleGanger
    Account Created 14 minutes ago
    Last Active 8 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 1

    Laura
    Account Created 9 minutes ago
    Last Active 2 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 2

    I smell a rat.

    Three accounts are created within minutes of each other and ALL of them endorse Lavie?

    Catamount, do you have any email verification schemes in place for the new forum. I think someone may be exploiting a bug to register multiple accounts.

79. • CommentAuthornrs2
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    I found a bug in the forum's email verification scheme.

    I was able to register two accounts using the same email address. The "nrs2" account name is also "nrs".

    Catamount, I'm going to contact you with details of the exploit.

    In the meantime, everyone should understand that if it appears that an onslaught of people are registering very recently and endorsing a candidate that there is at least the risk that this exploit is being used to make it appear that they are different individuals when in fact, they are the same person using the same email address.

80. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Posted By: nrs

    Shweths
    Account Created 8 hours ago
    Last Active 17 minutes ago
    Visit Count 2
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 4

    DoppleGanger
    Account Created 14 minutes ago
    Last Active 8 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 1

    Laura
    Account Created 9 minutes ago
    Last Active 2 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 2

    I smell a rat.

    Three accounts are created within minutes of each other and ALL of them endorse Lavie?

    Catamount, do you have any email verification schemes in place for the new forum. I think someone may be exploiting a bug to register multiple accounts.

    Wow! That sort of explains the skewness in popularity...

81. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: comebackkid

    Posted By: nrs

    Shweths
    Account Created 8 hours ago
    Last Active 17 minutes ago
    Visit Count 2
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 4

    DoppleGanger
    Account Created 14 minutes ago
    Last Active 8 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 1

    Laura
    Account Created 9 minutes ago
    Last Active 2 minutes ago
    Visit Count 1
    Discussions Started 0
    Comments Added 2

    I smell a rat.

    Three accounts are created within minutes of each other and ALL of them endorse Lavie?

    Catamount, do you have any email verification schemes in place for the new forum. I think someone may be exploiting a bug to register multiple accounts.

    Wow! That sort of explains the skewness in popularity...

    No kidding.

    I've sent a message to the administrator. We'll know soon enough if someone is playing "dirty tricks."

    Very few people are aware that logs are kept that can be used to identify the individual posters (and their location) if the need arises.

82. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    If this is true that someone plays dirty tricks that would reflect very badly not just on that person but also on HES students. I hope it is a pure coincidence.

83. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Posted By: comebackkid

    If this is true that someone plays dirty tricks that would reflect very badly not just on that person but also on HES students. I hope it is a pure coincidence.

    I sure hope so, but if you take a look at the writing style, there are some disturbing similarities.

84. • CommentAuthorilamont
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Catamount, besides nrs' test, are there any other cases where more than one account matches up with the same email address -- not just in the election-related threads, but earlier threads?

    It also occurred to me that there may be other sorts of account tricks. I'll email you the details, and cc nrs ...

    Ian

85. • CommentAuthorkoujin
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    There's nothing wrong with a candidate getting their friends to register and put in for them. That's the point of this forum - allowing people to express their view.

    That said, if false accounts are being created in a candidates name, it doesn't say much for the ethics or credibility of the candidate - or at least the company he or she keeps.

86. • CommentAuthorShiloh
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009

     

    Posted By: Administrator

    Since it has come up: yes it is OK to register under multiple accounts, there are many reasons why this is good.

    PS: DoppleGanger, Shweths and Laura... please don't abuse this feature.

    The administrator has apparently indicated that DoppleGanger, Shweths and Laura are the same person. I'm not sure why it would be OK to register to use multiple accounts...
    In any event, it's pretty desperate that there's an attempt to use false accounts to create imaginary voter support for Lavie. Not only is it unethical, but it assumes that we the Extension students are an unsophisticated bunch.

87. •  
      CommentAuthorAdministrator
    • CommentTimeMay 28th 2009 edited

     

    There is no effective way to prevent people from making multiple accounts, but I have taken some steps to limit this for the time being.

88. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009 edited

     

    This is ridiculous....whoever did this makes everyone look bad...

89. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    I think it goes without saying that anyone who would deliberately use straw-men accounts in an attempt to mislead the student population doesn't deserve the presidency. Ethics is KEY.

    I'm hoping that potential voters keep this in mind as they cast their vote.

90. •  
      CommentAuthorcomebackkid
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    tsk tsk tsk....

91. • CommentAuthorilamont
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    Posted By: Administrator

    There is no effective way to prevent people from making multiple accounts, but I have taken some steps to limit this for the time being.

    Could you confirm whether those three accounts were created by the same person?

    Has any person running for office created more than one account, and used them in conjunction with their "official" accounts?

    Thanks

    Ian

92. •  
      CommentAuthorshaggylocks
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: nrs

    I think it goes without saying that anyone who woulddeliberatelyuse straw-men accounts in an attempt to mislead the student population doesn't deserve the presidency. Ethics isKEY.

    I'm hoping that potential voters keep this in mind as they cast their vote.

    I think you're overreacting a bit. Just because a candidate's supporters might do something unsavory, it doesn't mean the candidate has endorsed that behavior.

    And I think there are far, far worse ethical offenses than trying to create a groundswell buzz for your candidate.

93. • CommentAuthorilamont
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    Don't know if it's been posted yet, but a blog operated by an ALB student has an endorsement for Andre:

    http://www.cluehq.com/blog/2009/05/25/im-supporting-andre-bisasor-for-hesa-president/

94. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: shaggylocks

    Posted By: nrs

    I think it goes without saying that anyone who woulddeliberatelyuse straw-men accounts in an attempt to mislead the student population doesn't deserve the presidency. Ethics isKEY.

    I'm hoping that potential voters keep this in mind as they cast their vote.

    I think you're overreacting a bit. Just because a candidate's supporters might do something unsavory, it doesn't mean the candidate has endorsed that behavior.

    And I think there are far, far worse ethical offenses than trying to create a groundswell buzz for your candidate.

    You're kidding right?

    She was astroturfing. It's a fake groundswell. It's deceptive. It's underhanded. It's wrong!

    There may be worse offenses, but that doesn't make what she appears to have done any more right. Deception is deception. If she's willing to tolerate her people lying to us, then she's one step away from lying to us herself.

95. •  
      CommentAuthorshaggylocks
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009 edited

     

    Posted By: nrs

    Posted By: shaggylocks

    Posted By: nrs

    I think it goes without saying that anyone who woulddeliberatelyuse straw-men accounts in an attempt to mislead the student population doesn't deserve the presidency. Ethics isKEY.

    I'm hoping that potential voters keep this in mind as they cast their vote.

    I think you're overreacting a bit. Just because a candidate's supporters might do something unsavory, it doesn't mean the candidate has endorsed that behavior.

    And I think there are far, far worse ethical offenses than trying to create a groundswell buzz for your candidate.

    You're kidding right?

    She wasastroturfing.It's afakegroundswell. It's deceptive. It's underhanded. It's wrong!

    There may be worse offenses, but that doesn't make what she appears to have done any more right. Deception is deception. If she's willing to tolerate her people lying to us, then she's one step away from lying to us herself.

    I most definitely am not kidding. While it's possible that the Lavie supporters are all one person, there's no proof that that is the case. Catamount made a comment that could be interpreted to mean that this is what happened, but he definitely did not confirm it. In fact, it sounded like he was warning three distinct people not to abuse your newly discovered multi-account loophole. But even if he does come out and confirm that it was all one person, there's no way to know if the candidate even knows this is going on. Lavie herself hasn't been active on this forum for two days.

    So maybe one of her supporters got so enthused that s/he created more than one account to make it look like there was a groundswell of popular support. Sure, that's a likely scenario. But maybe two or three members of her campaign team were brainstorming ways of raising her online visibility and came across this forum. Since they all had their laptops they pulled them out, joined the forum (within minutes of each other), and posted messages of support. Good for them for seeing this forum as a way to reach Extension students.

    I have a feeling that if I created four or five aliases (alii?) and posted in support of Andre, you wouldn't be accusing Andre of deception and questioning his ethics, calling him unfit to serve. So yes, I do think you're overreacting a bit.

96. • CommentAuthorkvedaa
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    Posted By: shaggylocks

    I have a feeling that if I created four or five aliases (alii?) and posted in support of Andre, you wouldn't be accusing Andre of deception and questioning his ethics...

    You could try it to find out... :)

97. • CommentAuthornrs
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    Posted By: shaggylocks

    Posted By: nrs

    Posted By: shaggylocks

    Posted By: nrs

    I think it goes without saying that anyone who woulddeliberatelyuse straw-men accounts in an attempt to mislead the student population doesn't deserve the presidency. Ethics isKEY.

    I'm hoping that potential voters keep this in mind as they cast their vote.

    I think you're overreacting a bit. Just because a candidate's supporters might do something unsavory, it doesn't mean the candidate has endorsed that behavior.

    And I think there are far, far worse ethical offenses than trying to create a groundswell buzz for your candidate.

    You're kidding right?

    She wasastroturfing.It's afakegroundswell. It's deceptive. It's underhanded. It's wrong!

    There may be worse offenses, but that doesn't make what she appears to have done any more right. Deception is deception. If she's willing to tolerate her people lying to us, then she's one step away from lying to us herself.

    I most definitely am not kidding. While it's possible that the Lavie supporters are all one person, there's no proof that that is the case. Catamount made a comment that could be interpreted to mean that this is what happened, but he definitely did not confirm it. In fact, it sounded like he was warning three distinct people not to abuse your newly discovered multi-account loophole. But even if he does come out and confirm that it was all one person, there's no way to know if the candidate even knows this is going on. Lavie herself hasn't been active on this forum for two days.

    Somaybeone of her supporters got so enthused that s/he created more than one account to make it look like there was a groundswell of popular support. Sure, that's a likely scenario. Butmaybetwo or three members of her campaign team were brainstorming ways of raising her online visibility and came across this forum. Since they all had their laptops they pulled them out, joined the forum (within minutes of each other), and posted messages of support. Good for them for seeing this forum as a way to reach Extension students.

    I have a feeling that if I created four or five aliases (alii?) and posted in support of Andre, you wouldn't be accusing Andre of deception and questioning his ethics, calling him unfit to serve. So yes, I do think you're overreacting a bit.

    You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about my intent or my positions on this issue.

    The first rule they teach you is that if there is any doubt, there is no doubt.

    Look at the evidence. Take a look at the posts from the alleged straw-men accounts. Look at the registration times and the number of visits, the number of posts, and the frequency of visits.

    I'm not taking the absence of confirmation from Catamount as an absolution. Catamount has his own ideas about how to best handle this. Part of that (probably, I haven't asked) is allowing me to make my thoughts known and see what happens. Nobody that I've identified has bothered to defend their presence. I'm willing to bet that those accounts will rapidly fall into disuse after the election cycle.

    As for the charge that I would turn a blind-eye to a similar tactic used by my side: you are not only wrong, but you are way wrong. It would be an even greater violation of my trust to see someone that I supported stoop to that level. Why? Because he would have earned my trust only to squander it. Lavie hasn't earned my trust or support, she's only given me examples of how far she and her supporters will go to trick me into giving it.

98. •  
      CommentAuthorshaggylocks
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    That's exactly it: it's her supporters, not Lavie. In my hypothetical example, how could Andre possibly be held accountable for the multiple accounts I create to support his candidacy?

    Absence of confirmation from Catamount is obviously not an absolution, but that doesn't mean his silence supports your theory, either. And of course those people aren't going to be back to defend their presence: the election is over. Did you really think they were going to stick around? "Number of visits/number of posts" is not "evidence." Just because their only interest here was to post in support of Lavie doesn't mean they (because, despite your "evidence," I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were all individuals, though undoubtedly individuals involved with her campaign) were doing anything unethical by campaigning on this board. She obviously has multiple people supporting her in her campaign, so why is it so difficult to imagine that they'd all come here and voice their support?

    As for "if there is any doubt, there is no doubt," that's weak. I prefer "innocent until proven guilty." Both get it wrong sometimes, but at least my way doesn't string up innocent people.

    I was wrong, however, when I implied that you wouldn't react the same way if Andre's campaign did something you disapproved of. Your support and subsequent criticisms of Ashley's administration show that you're definitely a person who will hold everyone to the same high standards. So I'm sorry if that offended you.

    One last thing that caught my eye:

    Posted By: nrs

    Lavie hasn't earned my trust or support, she's only given me examples of how far she and her supporters will go to trick me into giving it.

    Supporters? Plural?

99. • CommentAuthorsglantz
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

     

    Posted By: nrs

    You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about my intent or my positions on this issue.

    The first rule they teach you is that if there is any doubt,[span style=text-decoration: underline;]there is no doubt.[/span]

    Look at the evidence. Take a look at the posts from the alleged straw-men accounts. Look at the registration times and the number of visits, the number of posts, and the frequency of visits.

    I'm not taking the absence of confirmation from Catamount as an absolution. Catamount has his own ideas about how to best handle this. Part of that (probably, I haven't asked) is allowing me to make my thoughts known and see what happens. Nobody that I've identified has bothered to defend their presence. I'm willing to bet that those accounts will rapidly fall into disuse after the election cycle.

    As for the charge that I would turn a blind-eye to a similar tactic used by my side: you are not only wrong, but you areway wrong.It would be an even greater violation of my trust to see someone that I supported stoop to that level. Why? Because he would have earned my trust only to squander it. Lavie hasn't earned my trust or support, she's only given me examples of how far she and her supporters will go to trick me into giving it.

    You are missing a key point. If the accounts all do belong to the same person, there is no way of us knowing if Lavie was the one who did it, approved someone else doing it, or even if she had any idea that it was happening. Those accounts could have been just as easily created by you (after all you were the first one to notice and as the saying goes, whoever smelt it dealt it) to create an ethics controversy as it could have been Lavie trying to drum up support. You can't simply make accusations about a candidates ethics due to some random posts on a message board.

100. • CommentAuthorMikeG
     • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009

      

     This is better than watching a hockey game!