Dear Members of the Romanian Club

The results of the April 17, 2008 elections are:

Name, School, Year of graduation, Major	Positions candidating for	Statement
PRESIDENT
Angela Radulescu Columbia College, 2011 Neuroscience and Behavior / Economics	President Executive Vice-President	As a disoriented freshman plunging into the dizzying pool of opportunities at Columbia in the beginning of this year, it was not easy rebuilding a club that, when I came along, rested on the shoulders of only two dedicated people. But looking back now, I feel proud of what I had the opportunity to take part of while serving as the vice-president of the club: in a team of five, we managed to obtain recognition from the IGB, a major fund-distributing Columbia organization, we formed contacts that could potentially direct major sponsorships to our club, we put together successful events that were well-received by both the Romanian community in New York and by the authorities in Bucharest, and, most importantly, we better defined the role of the Romanian Club in the context of current changes in Romanian identity that we are lucky enough to witness. The accomplishments I contributed to this year gave me the experience and confidence to grasp the potential our club has to become one of the most important outlets for Romanian voices abroad, and to turn the attention of the intellectually vibrant Columbia community to the opportunities that the Romanian transition presents. Here at Columbia, future economists, politicians, journalists and so on, have an opportunity to glimpse the challenges a "developing country" like Romania truly brings. More than that however, I hope to take advantage of our position here in New York, and transform the club into an organization whose major goal is to bridge the gaps between the Romanian communities of students and young professional living abroad by creating a more unified network. I would like to foster an exchange of experience and ideas between such groups and our home country, because it is time to realize how much power students like us have to both bring about long-awaited changes at home and radically alter the way Romania is perceived on the international scene. This being said, I am anticipating your vote with gratitude, I look forward to sharing existing ideas and plans with you, and I promise to continue and improve upon the work we have done this year. Sincerely, Angela Radulescu
Alexandru Georgescu Columbia College, 2011	President Executive Vice-President	The purpose of any club based on a certain culture should be to increase the awareness of that culture in an international society, not in inside its own; at present, there have been a maximum of 2 people taking any Romanian language/culture class per semester. Did the club succeed in its work? One may say that the Romanian club should be happy with its recognition by other Romanians and even by Romanian authorities, but as for others, all I need to say is that you can't even find the club on any official online Columbia list of fundings. Even though the club as it is now has gotten indeed the attention of many, the truth is that these "many" are almost only Romanian. One might also notice that the movie screenings that have been held recently have attracted almost only Romanians, a small number of them, and that all non-Romanians present were just friends of ours. The future conference is something almost no American at Columbia knows about, and the few that know just won't pay 10 dollars online or 20 dollars at the front door. To be precise, my purpose is to help make the Romanian club at Columbia University actually be part of Columbia University; be an international club at an international University on the US soil and not just a club for Romanians to hang our with other Romanians.
EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Andrei Dinu-Ionita Columbia College, 2010 Biochemistry and Computer Science	Executive Vice-President VP of Events	As the former President of the Romanian Club I believe I have brought substantial improvement to the club over the course of last year. Firstly, the membership of the club has increased substantially and there are more non-Romanian students in our club than in previous years. Also, through my leadership, the Club has gained official Columbia recognition, Columbia financial support as well as obtained various sponsorships from corporate entities and the Romanian Consulate. Under my leadership, the Club has established tight contacts with the Romanian Cultural Institute and various movie distributers and film directors. The Club's activity has even attracted the attention of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This past year, we have also opened contact and started involvement in the creation of the Global Romanian Student Society (working name) along with other Romanian student organizations in other countries and established better contact with the Princeton Romanian Students and Scholars Organization.. I personally believe that all these efforts have improved the condition of the Club significantly and have created a much more stable platform for the Club to build on in future years through a better recognition by Columbia authorities, better funding, more access to Columbia facilities and services, better contact with outside organizations, more involvement in larger programs and better networking withing the Romanian and American communities. I think these tangible results have helped the Club achieve it's mission to promote Romanian culture on Columbia's campus and in the City of New York, and provide a much better starting point for next year's efforts as well. I would like to step down as President this year and let a younger generation assume the role, but I very strongly feel that my previous experience with the Club and my position as Executive VP will be very valuable to maintaining a good use of the currently available resources and to securing more important ones in the future.
Victor Mateas SEAS, 2009 Biomedical Engineering	Executive Vice-President Secretary	My name is Victor Mateas and I would like to run for Secretary and Executive Vice-President. I have a lot of experience working on the board of clubs. At my previous college, Bard College at Simon's Rock, I was treasurer for several organizations on campus, including Model United Nations, Queer-Straight Alliance, Women in the Sciences, and Bible Study Group. As treasurer, responsibilities included bringing in money from Community Council, dealing with budget requests, acting as a liaison between the club and our faculty advisor and helping plan events. With my assistance these organizations were able to succeed and accomplish their goals. In Model UN, we sent our members to several conferences throughout the northeast. As treasurer for the Queer-Straight Alliance I helped organize weekly discussions about LGBT-related issues, several film screenings and a trip to a Human Rights Campaign event. My work with Women in the Sciences was particularly exciting since I was one of the founding members and within out first semester we were able to coordinate several events and plan a trip to the Society of Women Engineers Regional Conference at Northeastern University . I hope that with my experience I will be able contribute to the Romanian Club.
SECRETARY
Roxana Cosmaciuc SIPA, 2009 Economic Development	Secretary VP of Website and Communication	My name is Roxana Cosmaciuc and I am a first year student at the School of Public and International Affairs, pursuing a master degree and focusing on economic development. I would like to be more involved in the activity of the Romanian Club at Columbia as I believe there are many opportunities to help the Romanian community increase its networking activity within and outside the national boundaries. Moreover, I would like to be involved in activities which promote the Romanian culture and knowledge within our Columbia community and I have seen many of my colleagues showing interest in such initiatives. Look forward to working together.
TREASURER
Monica Nania Columbia College, 2009 Economics - Operations Research	Treasurer	During the past year, as a Treasurer for the Romanian Club, I think I have contributed substantially to the improvement of the Club. As an Economics and Operations Research major, I have found that being Treasurer for our club was a great opportunity to use my skills with finance and money management. I believe I have used my skills very effectively. I have also gained a lot of experience with managing the Columbia bureaucracy through my involvement as Treasurer, but also by holding other leadership positions such as the Community Outreach Chair of Society of Women Engineers, and the Vice-President of the Women International Business Council. I managed the corporate sponsorships, including the funding for the celebration of December 1 st , the National Day of Romania. Moreover, I have worked with the other members of the executive board to organize events that promoted our diverse cultural tradition. Through movie screenings, spring celebration of "Martisor" and the Annual Conference, our club has reached to both Columbia students and to the wider Romanian community currently living in New York City. For next year, I hope to secure more funding for the club, which will allow us to organize bigger, better and more attractive events for our community.
Alexandru Bancu Columbia College, 2011 Physics and Architecture	Treasurer	I would like to candidate for VP of Finance as I think that I have strong organizational and orientational skills. Moreover, having a more scientific educational background, I would say that I am good with numbers and estimating how to distribute a given initial quantity in an efficient way
VP of EVENTS
Andra Mihali Columbia College, 2011 Chemistry	VP of Events VP of Website and Communication	1. VP of Events I think I this would be great considering that I have this year's experience. I see the club as continuing the Romanian film screening series that brought together the Romanian community in New York and also spread awareness among our friends of the rising Romanian cinema. Besides getting involved in all other events that connect diverse groups on campus and organizing the National Day Celebration and the Romanian Conference, I would suggest to offer a Romanian traditional dancing lessons and a Romanian Party that would subtly introduce Romanian Culture (through handing out Romanian lyrics or singing together or having the room decorated with pictures from Romania). Also, if we would be able to obtain more funds, I think it would be great to organize a Romanian Dinner for free for 15 people (a lottery) that would be also a great way to spread Romanian Culture. We should not forget that our mission as a club at Columbia is to spread awareness among the Columbia community. Though we had a great overall impact, not too many Columbia students were present at our events. Therefore, I think that we should also focus on lighter events (such as parties) or necessary (such as dinner) in order to trap them in and then subtly introduce Romania culture in that context. 2. VP of Website and Communication I want to learn more about computer science and website creation and I think this position would be the perfect challenge.