Critics claim the Student Assembly has done nothing this year except waste its time engaging in meaningless political bantering.
But the political wrangling in the Assembly has at least one positive repercussion: the growth of the Class Councils.
While Assembly members have debated impeaching their president, the four councils have been planning more activities, becoming more involved in policy matters and scoring a large increase in College funding.
Senior Class President Dan Garodnick said the increasing presence of the Class Councils is directly tied to the public perception of the Assembly.
"I think there's an increasingly negative perception of Student Assembly, and students tend to look to the Class Councils more for their representation," Garodnick said.
As the councils have become more involved on campus, people have begun to take notice - Assembly presidential candidates this year have pledged to better integrate the Assembly and the councils.
The Class Councils have three main functions: to sponsor and organize activities, to handle policy matters pertaining to their class and to try to create unity and class spirit.
Class leaders say the councils are the perfect organizations for handling issues that relate to a specific class. In comparison to the Assembly, the leaders say the Councils are more in touch with their constituencies and the councils are bereft of political ideology.
But the leaders also say the Class Councils can step in and pick up issues of general student concerns when they perceive the Student Assembly is not getting the job done.
"In terms of policy, we're picking up the slack where the SA has failed because of either politics, or failure to capture student will," Class of 1995 President Tim Rodenberger said.
Rodenberger said his class has tackled policy issues such as increased parking at Dick's House and better conditions for disabled students at the College.
But Rodenberger said he thinks the Class Councils should only address some policy issues.
"I think the Student Assembly has the rightful place of dealing with student policy," Rodenberger said. "The Class Councils deal with class policy."
Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 said she supports the councils handling policy matters specific to the classes, but said she would like to see more coordinating between the councils and the Assembly.
"I think the school would be better served if it is a coalition," she said. "The more students are behind something, the more it means ... I wish it could be more of a network."
Artzer said the Class Councils are limited because they only serve one-fourth of the student body, where the Assembly should represent the entire school.
Many Assembly presidential candidates this year have echoed Artzer's sentiments that there should be more integration between the Assembly and the Class Councils.
"I would like to see the Assembly become less of a political body and work more with Class Councils to plan, fund and organize," Class of 1996 Vice President Tom Caputo said.
Assembly and Class Council veteran Hosea Harvey '95 said the Class Councils have become more prolific because they provide a low-pressure environment for students to work in.
"The Class Councils are most similar to student government in high school," he said. Harvey said students who are active in Class Councils "work hard and don't ask for much in terms of credit."
As long as students remain happy with the Councils, Harvey said their presence on campus can keep growing.
And Rodenberger said with the Class Councils' increased budget next year, they should be able to have even more of a role on campus.
