Student Pugwash USA (SPUSA)

Below are personal statements from the 2008 Student Board Member nominees. Have any questions for these candidates? Send your question to the SPUSA listserv before April 30, and the candidates will offer a short reply. (Please include in the subject line the name of the nominees to whom your question is directed.)

Jessica Holsinger, Purdue University

Year: Senior, with plans for graduate study in bioastronautics

Major or program: Aerospace Engineering

Past and Present SPUSA involvement:
I joined Purdue Student Pugwash and Student Pugwash USA because of the many opportunities these organizations provide for educating people about today's science issues-- issues that are often controversial, divisive, and misunderstood. I believe that understanding is the first and most vital step in making decisions and finding solutions to dilemmas that new sciences and technologies pose. I've been actively engaged as a member and officer with the Purdue chapter since 2006 and have attended six of the SPUSA conferences.

My original leadership position with the local chapter was as the Public Relations Executive. I oversaw and produced club publicity including flyers and bulletin postings, TV and radio announcements, online event postings and press releases. My efforts for our 2007 Midwest Regional Conference keynote event helped to fill the Loeb Playhouse at Purdue, an auditorium with a seating capacity of over 1,000. For the past year I served as Vice President of the chapter. My main responsibility has been selecting themes and speakers for the "Pugwash Presents" weekly lecture series, our most widely recognized campus program. I was solely responsible for organizing and fundraising for this year's special event, a free showing of the Michael Moore film "Sicko," which was followed by a panel discussion with local healthcare experts. I met with individual school and department heads and raised $1,500 for the event in one week.

I have just been elected to serve as the Public Relations Director for the 2008-2009 school year. I hope to contact people that our chapter has not previously reached and foster growth and involvement in our already healthy membership. I have a strong interest in community outreach; Pugwash is a great source for people outside the academic and scientific communities to receive unbiased and accurate information about science issues.

Why Ms. Holsinger would like to be a Student Board Member:
I've stayed up-to-date on board activities through current SBM's Jonathan Braun and Alex Webster and believe I have the skills necessary to support the advancement of SPUSA and the current board proposals. As a Student Board Member, I want to enable Student Pugwash USA to achieve the mission of providing factual, unbiased and easily understood information to a diverse audience so that people may more effectively initiate positive and socially responsible changes in their communities and our society as a whole. My experiences as an officer in the Purdue chapter will allow me to offer feedback on the current initiatives of the board and hopefully present fresh ideas for future goals. I would like to facilitate better communication between the national office and individual chapters. I have a passion for helping smaller chapters become larger and more active. They will need dedicated contacts and mentors involved at the national level to do so. Additionally, I've laid the groundwork for an alumni program within our chapter and hope that with this experience I can start an alumni program on the national level.

Why Mr. Lilovich would like to be a Student Board Member:
I am extremely interested in the interplay between society and science and technology, and Pugwash has been a fantastic outlet for this desire. Also, I feel that my experience with Pugwash is in many ways equally important as my educational or research experience. The ethos of social responsibility that Pugwash has helped to nurture in myself, and the other members of the organization, is something I treasure. I honestly believe that a skillful scientist without social awareness is dangerous to humanity, and so I think that SPUSA as an organization, and myself personally, must work tirelessly to maintain a healthy concern for the consequences of our scientific actions. On another level, the organizational, managerial, and social skills I have learned while heading Purdue Pugwash will be very helpful to the SPUSA board. Finally, I feel that I bring a unique perspective and persistence to difficult problems that is useful under any circumstances.

Past and Present SPUSA involvement:
I started working for SPUSA in January 2006 as a recent college graduate. As Program Manager, I served as a liaison between the national office and our chapter and online members, in addition to orchestrating SPUSA events and online programs. I have had the privilege of working with many of you through our chapter network helping with starting chapters, organizing events, and recruiting. I helped organize and attended regional events at Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon University, Rockefeller University, and MIT. Several other highlights of my SPUSA work include: helping organize the 2007 National Conference on the Integrity of Science and serving as Interim Executive Director of SPUSA during the summer of 2007. I have also worked hard to promote SPUSA in the online world through our website, listserv, and Facebook group as well as to other like-minded nonprofit organizations. Several other initiatives I helped start at SPUSA include the blog, MindFull, and our 2008 science and technology policy guide, and I am very excited to see both of these projects come to fruition.

Why Ms. Moore would like to be a Student Board Member:
Student Pugwash is an organization run by and for students, yet sometimes we students don't have time to be involved in the administrative details and behind-the-scenes planning and development of SPUSA because we're busy with local chapters and our many other commitments. I am committed to dedicating the time it takes to do this work for you and to make the student voice- your voice- heard in the process. I have many lofty, but, I think, achievable goals for the future of Student Pugwash, including increasing the number of students we reach many-fold; reengaging our alumni in SPUSA's vision of socially responsible science & tech; increasing the resources of the national office- i.e. more staff and money- so they can better serve us, the students; and continuing to work to keep SPUSA relevant in the ever-changing world of science and technology. I know that SPUSA has greatly influenced my life and my decision to dedicate my career to the science policy/ science & society community, and I want to continue to work to achieve and live out the important mission of our organization.

I believe my experience working for Student Pugwash has provided me with the tools I need to effectively represent you on the Student Board. More importantly, I am committed to listening to and representing your ideas. My favorite part of working at SPUSA has been the opportunity to interact with intelligent and motivated students across the country dedicated to promoting socially responsible science and technology. I would be honored to represent you on the Student Board and would welcome your input, suggestions, and constructive criticism. Let's start by opening this up for discussion— I am excited to answer your questions!

Why Mr. Rajasekaran would like to be a Student Board Member:
Since April 2007, I have been updating myself with the activities of SPUSA and finding it a place where I can match some of my interests to serve the society better. As a molecular biologist with a DVM background, I believe I have a larger role to play to serve the society through advancement of science. Advancement of Science and knowledge can only be achieved by having appropriate policies. I believe science policy making is as important as science in the pursuit to advance knowledge. SPUSA is the perfect and unique platform where scientists and policy makers can meet and exchange ideas. I would like to see SPUSA’s involvement more in the area of Non-military threats facing human race. In other words, if elected as SBM, I would like to take SPUSA as an organization which creates awareness among policy makers and the public about the importance of research involving genetic engineering, infectious diseases, vaccine development and drug discovery. There is a decline in funding for research in these areas for the last few years. I would like to act as a responsible researcher by explaining to the policy makers and public about the importance and financial crunch faced by the researchers working in these areas. I believe that being a student board member in SPUSA will give me the platform and opportunity needed for me to execute the above mentioned agenda.