Dartmouth is a place that prides itself on being an institution of higher learning. In the recent past there has been an effort to further this even more by promoting intellectualism on the campus. Right now it appears that the College will have an opportunity to take great strides in this direction, should it choose to.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, a motion passed in the Student Assembly that established an undergraduate publications fund for the purpose of financially aiding campus publications.
Due primarily to a lack of advertising sources in Hanover, many campus newspapers and journals cannot acquire sufficient funds to publish. The goal of the Student Assembly motion is to help these organizations by providing funds up to a certain amount that are equivalent to those that are raised by advertising and other outside sources.
Obviously, for this sort of fund to be created the money needs to come from somewhere. After some debate Tuesday, the Assembly voted to allocate $3,000 from its own budget to the fund.
This represents a significant amount of money for the Assembly, yet the motion passed by a vote of 20 to three. This would seem to indicate that the members of SA recognize the importance of allowing these publications to continue and are willing to devote substantial funds to that cause.
The motion further states that the Undergraduate Finance Committee (UFC) should be the group that later provides the money for the fund.
So, it appears that the issue now lies in the hands of the UFC, the group of 10 students that makes recommendations to the Dean of Student Life on the allocation of funds from the $35 activity fee paid each term by all students.
It also would appear that there is a very clear path that the UFC should take. It is necessary to recognize what a vital role student publications play. Essentially, they encourage and promote intellectuality outside of the classroom.
This is exactly what the College is looking to achieve. While it is understood that the UFC has a strict budget from which it must appropriate money to a multitude of groups, I am hard pressed to find a cause more worthy than this one.
Intellectualism is the backbone of a top institution. The College seems to have recognized this and has looked to promote it as of late. Here, it has a wonderful opportunity to do so. Perhaps the best we can hope for is that it recognizes the importance of this decision and makes the correct choice.
