What is usually a hectic week of campaigning for student elections began with a whimper early this morning,.
Only one Student Assembly presidential candidate - Jeremy Katz '95 - had a poster hung in Thayer Dining Hall or Collis Center by 12:30 this morning, and none of the candidates could be seen.
The official campaign period for the April 12 election began this morning at 12:01. During the next seven days, candidates will inundate the campus with a bevy of posters, pleadings and promises.
The candidates
Running for Assembly president are Jim Brennan '96, Katz, Danielle Moore '95, Caleb Scott '97 and Kenji Sugahara '95. Alex Morgan '95 and Rukmini Sichitiu '95 are the only two candidates for Assembly vice president.
Limited only by a $150 spending cap and the 168 hours of campaigning time, the seven candidates will use every allowable method to bring their message to the voters.
Voting will take place April 12 in room 101 in Collis from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The issues
Each candidate has already proclaimed that their Assembly would have less political infighting than this year's, in which some members called for the resignation of Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94, and then tried to impeach her.
This year's campaign will also focus on how the Assembly can best use its power and money to serve the students, and what services the Assembly should provide for the students.
No candidate said the future of the Greek system, which entered into every candidate's campaign last year, will be a major issue this year.
There will be a debate for presidential and vice presidential candidates Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Collis Common Ground. The debate is sponsored by the Green Key Society.
The campaigning
Green Key member Hosea Harvey '95 said the society might coordinate other debates as the week goes on. Any group that wishes to have an election forum must do it through Green Key this year, Harvey said.
Green Key will also print a newsletter with statements by all the candidates, and distribute it to every student's Hinman Box by Friday, Harvey said.
Besides using the traditional mechanism of multi-colored posters, candidates said they will try to talk with as many students and student groups as possible over the next seven days.
Brennan
Brennan, who has never been on the Assembly but is on the Rockefeller Center Student Council, said he will meet with students during the next week to try and get their thoughts on the Assembly.
"I want to get everyone else's ideas on what the Assembly should be and also get out the idea that the Assembly should be cooperative and serve the student body," he said.
He will also hang posters with the motto "Common sense for common goals."
Brennan, who lead an effort urging students to vote in support of single-sex Greek houses in an Assembly-sponsored referendum Fall term, said his campaign will center on increasing social options at the College and ending divisions within the Assembly.
Katz
Katz said he wants to run a campaign based solely on the issues. He said he wants to avoid campaign tactics like snappy slogans.
He is the president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and is on the Committee on Standards, the College's internal disciplinary committee.
"I really would like to appeal to people's sense of reason," Katz said. "I want people to know what I stand for and know I'm dead serious about helping them."
Katz said his campaign will stress how the Assembly can be used to improve the quality of student life. He mentioned better use of the Assembly's budget, making the campus safer and increasing student interaction with alumni and faculty.
He also said the Assembly should use its position to help other organizations with projects when they need it.
Moore
Moore said the central theme of her campaign is improving relations between the students and the administration. That message is echoed in one of her slogans: "Student concerns should shape the administration's agenda, and not vice versa."
"When the administration makes a decision affecting students, there should be a voice there," Moore said. "The Assembly is here not only to serve students, but to empower them."
Moore, who is an Assembly veteran and an active member of Native Americans at Dartmouth, said she will put out a lot of literature about her campaign and speak to different campus groups.
Sugahara
Sugahara said if he is elected, he will try to increase communication and accountability between the students and the Assembly.
Sugahara currently co-chairs the Assembly's Administrative Affairs Committee and is the creator of the "Weekend Update" BlitzMail message that lists weekend social events.
The internal politics should be removed "once and for all" from the Assembly, Sugahara said, so it can function more effectively.
He said many of his posters, will carry the motto "Responsible student government through communication, accountability and leadership."
Sichitiu
Sichitiu said she will run a no-frills campaign for vice president, based around re-evaluating the aims of education at the College. She said her campaign materials will not have slogans, but information about her experience.
The Assembly can help provide an environment that facilitates learning, she said. Sichitiu was Assembly secretary last year.
"All students at Dartmouth must feel safe, comfortable, encouraged and supportive," she said. "I don't think [the Assembly] can provide [that environment], but it can begin to lead discussion and dialogue."
Morgan and Scott could not be reached for comment.
