Representatives
Biographies of the LSA Student Body reps
Chris Ambroselli
Hey! I’m Chris Ambroselli, and I’m a sophomore representative on LSA Student Government! I’m from Portage, Michigan, and majoring in Communications and Spanish. I’m very involved in Greek Life, the Residence Halls, and also the Squirrel Feeding Club!
I’m currently involved as an elected representative in the Public Activities Committee and the Communications Committee. I have helped to plan some of the diag days that have gone on around campus, I participated in the Gandhi Day of Community Service, and I am currently working on the LSA Graduation event, the Night of LSA, and many more projects!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about student government in general, the PAC or COMM committees, or any projects you would like to see accomplished at cambros@umich.edu.
Hannah Barbakoff
Hi, my name is Hannah Barbakoff. I’m a sophomore from Short Hills, NJ. This is my second semester on LSA SG. I am the Budget Allocations Committee Vice Chair and an elected representative. In addition, I am also on the Student Life Committee and SG Health Sub-Committee. One of my main focuses as representative is to give the student body a voice. If you have any concerns or ideas for the upcoming year, please feel free to contact me at hbarb@umich.edu.
Zachary Berlin
Hola, shalom, guten tag, namaste, Yow Wah gwaan, konnichi wa, and hello! My name is Zac Berlin, a sophomore from Farmington Hills, Michigan and a hopeful Public Policy or Organizational Studies major. I joined LSA Student Government second semester of my freshmen year and quickly became involved on the Student Life Committee, Public Activities Committee, and Budget Allocations Committee. I hope to help make your college experience as awesome as possible through increasing the number of pages an LSA student is allowed to print, solving issues with campus transportation, and rewarding students for their dedicated, tenacious school work. Feel free to contact me at zberlin@umich.edu with any questions, comments, or concerns.
Jacob Burg
Hi, my name is Jacob Burg and I am a junior political science major from Denver, Colorado. I am very excited to currently be involved in student government and all the opportunities it presents for improving our University. I am a member of the Academic Affairs Committee and I have recently been working with the Foreign Language Department to create a Spanish conversation class. In addition, I have also been working to improve GSI grading consistency. Apart from student government, I am politically active and enjoy playing intramural sports. If you would like to get involved in any of the projects I am working on, or if you have questions or suggestions please contact me at jacburg@umich.edu. GO BLUE!
Sam Carmell
I’m Sam Carmell, a sophomore from Deerfield, IL. I am thrilled to have been re-elected in November ‘08 and hope to fulfill all of my campaign promises over the next year. I got involved with LSA-SG by first being an active member of the Student Life Committee (SLC) and now I serve as the chair of SLC . During my past semesters I have served on the Student Life Committee, Budget Allocation Committee, Public Activities Committee, and Academic Affairs Committee. Besides LSA SG, I am a proud member of the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity, University of Michigan Hillel, and give tours for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. I am excited to work this semester with other students and administrators to improve the quality of student life. If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to email me at carmell@umich.edu.
Carly Goldberg
Hi everyone! My name is Carly Goldberg, and I’m a sophomore from Northville, MI. I am currently involved in LSA SG, Dance Marathon, and the Michigan Research Community (a residential UROP program)! One of my passions is the environment, so this year I will focus on switching to more “Green” Cleaning products in the dorms and classrooms! Did you know that indoor air is 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air!? Who would have known!? Please let me know if you are interested in helping with this project. In addition, I am the Appointments Commitee Chair, so if you want to join Student Government (which I hope you do!), I’ll be able to interview you and help you find the perfect committee to join! Please contact me at ccgold@umich.edu with any ideas, concerns, questions, or just to talk!
Laura Hlebasko
Hello! My name is Laura Hlebasko and I am a junior English major from San Francisco, California. I joined LSA SG in the first semester of my sophomor year, and am the vice-chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and the Student Advisory Board to Instructional Support Services (SABISS). I am currently working with ISS to improve technology in classrooms such as professors’ utilization of PowerPoint and the often dismal amount of desk space for students, and am interested in how to improve internship and study abroad options for students. I’d love to hear what you want changed here at Michigan, so feel free to email me at tabasko@umich.edu with any thoughts or complaints!
Brandon Kappy
Hello! I’m Brandon Kappy, a sophomore from Orchard Lake, MI. I am currently involved in LSA Student Government, UROP, the Student Wellness initiative, PULSE, and a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. I have always been interested in medicine and this year I hope to address many health issues in SG Health. In addition to SG Health, I am a member of the Student Life Committee (SLC), Public Activities Committee, and have served as Vice-Chair to the Budget Allocations Committee. I am also a general representative on LSA SG, so if you have any questions, feel free to email at brkappy@umich.edu. The University of Michigan is an incredible place and I am excited to work with you to make it even better!
Jeffrey Lankowsky
Hello, my name is Jeffrey Lankowsky and I am sophomore from West Bloomfield, MI. I was elected as a represented to LSA SG at the end of my freshman year. In the past I have worked on SAPAA (Student Advisory Panel to Academic Advising), Academic Affairs Committee, and SG Health. This year I am the chair of SAPAA and plan on working to improve concentration and pre-professional advising. If you have any questions about student government or SAPAA feel free to contact me at jefflank@umich.edu.
Lauren McGlothlin
Hi! My name is Lauren McGlothlin, and I am a junior from Maryland majoring in Political Science and English. I have served as Vice Chair of the Student Life Committee (SLC) for two semesters now, and I was recently appointed as the Chair for this semester. I have also served as a LSA Representative last November and will remain in this position during this semester. Previous projects that I have been involved with include planning discounted movie trips with free bus transportation for students, collaborating with MSA’s Voice Your Vote Commission to encourage students to vote right before the Presidential Election during an LSA SG Diag Day, and facilitating a chat room for international students over summer 2009 so they could ask students and academic advisors questions before they arrived on campus. I plan to work on many new projects this semester, such as facilitating bottless water vending machines in classroom buildings and establishing free gym workshops at the CCRB and NCRB to advertise athletic services on campus for students. Please contact me if there is something you are dissatisfied with concerning the University because I would love to address your needs to the administration and other members on LSA SG to make changes to campus. Also, contact me to get involved with all the new projects on SLC this semester at lauremcg@umich.edu.
Jeremy Petersen
Greetings! My name is Jeremy J. Petersen and I’m a junior from Greeley, CO pursuing a self-designed Bachelor of General Studies degree in Business Administration. I became involved with LSA SG last semester and was fortunate to be elected a Representative.
So far I have focused most of my attention towards the Academic Affairs Committee but hope to become more involved on other committees in the coming semesters. In addition to my duties as a member of AAC and serving as a LSA SG representative, I am also involved with the LSA curriculum committee for the upcoming semester.
Currently, I am working on bringing more opportunities in business administration and personal finance to the LSA curriculum. My plan is to propose the creation of a Center for Entrepreneurship and Finance within the College of LSA that could potentially oversee a major or minor program in business through LSA.
Feel free to contact me at jerjpete@umich.edu with any ideas, questions, concerns or just to talk. Go Blue!
Becca Portney
Hi everyone! My name is Becca Portney and I am a sophomore from West Bloomfield, Michigan. I am currently the Appointments Vice Chair as well as a representative, so if you would like to know anything about LSA SG I would be happy to answer your questions! Last semester I was vice chair of SAPAA (Student Advisory Panel to Academic Advising), and I also participated on other committees such as Academic Affairs and Student Life Committee. Some projects I have worked on in the past include working with the Orientation Committee to help improve freshmen orientation as well as creating panels with the Advising Center and brainstorming ways to improve the current peer advising system. I’m really excited about the upcoming semester and I encourage everyone thinking of joining to get involved because it’s a great way to meet new people and make a difference at the University. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at rportney@umich.edu and I would be happy to respond!
Brian Rappaport
Hi, my name is Brian Rappaport and I am a junior from Rockland County, NY. This is my second year as a member of LSA Student Government, and my first full year serving as a representative, and I am very excited for the opportunity. I have focused mainly on the Academic Affairs Committee and have recently gotten involved in SLC projects and other committees as well.
Right now, I am helping in the effort to bring an entrepreneurship minor in the LSA curriculum. I am also working to make the process for student organizations to reserve rooms around campus, easier and more effective. Additionally, I am working to enhance outreach and communication to students with disabilities.
Feel free to email me at brianrap@umich.edu if you would like to get involved in any committee, start a project, or just have a suggestion. I’d love to hear from you!
Stephen Ratkovich
Hey! I’m Stephen and a junior working towards my goal of concentrating in Communications, English, and possibly Chinese. I’m from Troy, MI which is part of the Detroit suburbs. I was involved in student government in high school and was glad to continue serving students in college when I joined LSA SG the fall semester of my freshman year. I started off only in the Communications Committee but I soon branched out to AAC, SLC, and now SABISS, which I am the Chair. I have a passion for technology so I’ve been working close with LSA Instructional Support Services (ISS) through SABISS to update the LSA classroom furniture and equipment. One of my most ambitious projects is to help in the creation of a centralized University website where everything a student needs is on one convenient web page. An event calender, UMich Mail, CTools, bus information, resources, and so much more would be available for each U of M student to customize on his or her individual page rather than having no choice but to constantly switch between the dozens of University websites. As a former four semester Baits resident, I understand the frustration many students are experiencing because of the decision to turn some of the Baits houses into freshmen only dorms. I will do my best to improve the living conditions for Baits residents. Some other LSA SG related projects I’m interested in are creating the SG Guide to Government, digitizing the SG Bylaws, and updating the SG website. Send me an email sometime about whatever’s on your mind: ratkovs@umich.edu.
Mandy Seyerle
Hi! My name is Mandy Seyerle and I’m a junior from Grand Blanc, MI. I’m an honors student, double majoring in history and cell and molecular biology, hoping to eventually earn and MD/Ph.D. in History of Science and Technology. Besides LSA SG, I have been involved in UM Stars and Honors Peer Mentors, and I work in a genetics research lab on campus.
I joined LSA SG in fall of my sophomore year and have been extremely involved on both SAPAA and AAC. On SAPAA, I have served on the Advising Center’s Orientation Committee, working to revamp the Freshmen Orientation, as well as working on improving pre-professional advising and departmental advising communities. On AAC, I have been involved in the Study Abroad and Internationalization project, which is working to improve the opportunities and cooperation of the international component of the college education. Our most recent accomplishment has been the establishment of the annual International Opportunities Open House, which brings together many of the different offices and groups on campus which can help student’s in their quest to go abroad.
If you have any questions or concerns or would like to get involved in LSA SG, feel free to contact me at aseyerle@umich.edu. I would love to hear from you!!
Marcus Smith
Hey! My name is Marcus Smith and I am currently a junior. I went to high school on the south side of Chicago, King College Preparatory. I am a declared International Studies Major, focusing on Cooperation, Security, and Norms. Also Minoring in a Peace and Social Justice.
My involvement in LSA Student Government started during my freshman year with the Shaman Drum Internship. Since my freshman year, I have had a role from committee member, associate representative, appointed representative, Communications Committee vice chair, and now an elected representative. My goals on student government is to increase government transparency, outreach, and LSA pride. Also I am the new student liaison for the International Studies Concentration. I hope to decrease student apathy regarding tackling campus issues, but that starts with the support from the student body. Let’s get to work!
Jennifer Zhao
Hi, I’m Jennifer Zhao from Canton, MI; I am currently a senior double majoring in Communication Studies and Political Science. As the present chair of the Multicultural Affairs Committee, you can probably guess that I am an advocate of promoting awareness, understanding, and interest in the cultural diversity that exists on this campus — even the existence of that cultural diversity in and of itself. However, my interests with being a part of LSA Student Government also extend toward encouraging students to adopt a healthy lifestyle during college (and afteward!), as well as helping students access the resources they need to prepare themselves for their future career and pathways in life. I am also involved with the Michigan Association of Communication Studies this year as the VP of Information Technology, and have just returned from a summer of interning at Discovery Communications (Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, etc.) in New York City, so please feel free to contact me if you have:
- Issues you would like to see that you would like to see addressed by the Multicultural Affairs Committee/LSA SG
- Ideas for projects you would like to see initiated by MAC/LSA SG
- Questions about LSA SG, health resources, career resources
Or if you just want to chat with me! =)
