Deep within the Student Assembly, there is the centrist. There is the dedicated woman or man who has no plans to marginalize groups with different ideas, different visions and different thoughts.
There is this person who is at first a Dartmouth student before he or she is a liberal or a conservative, and who wants to better both the Assembly and the Dartmouth community not only for himself or herself, but for all of us who go to school here and who spend our incredibly important four years here.
This centrist works not only on tangible products and services that the Assembly can provide, but devotes an equal amount of time to important social and community -based issues that affect the quality of life of each and every one of us.
In other words, the centrist realizes the necessity of an accurate course guide, a dining guide and a student advantage card, but at the same time recognizes that there is more our student government can and should do.
He or she knows the influence that the Assembly can wield in securing computers in the stacks of the library, in working with the College Procter to improve lighting and in convincing the gym to expand the weight room hours. This contact with the more service based sectors of the College is a needed charge of the Assembly, and while its necessity may not garner headlines in The D, or attention from our peers, it is something that the centrist never forgets.
The centrist most importantly realizes that there are important social, intellectual and controversial issues that the Assembly must provide a student voice on.
The location of the Women's Resource Center, the plan on the First-Year Experience, the meal plan and undergraduate social experiences are issues that by their very mention elicit debate and controversy.
Yet their importance demands the attention of our student government, and the centrist recognizes that although total agreement on these issues is rare, they must be addressed.
When these issues are addressed, the centrist knows the importance of forming an educated opinion, seeking input from friends and from various campus groups that may have differing views.
The centrist does not act politically, fending off opposing views, but works for a compromise that can benefit all of the campus. He or she recognizes the importance of a proactive Assembly, that looks forward, but that does not look past the legitimate concerns of all of us.
There are centrists on the Student Assembly today- a rational bloc that is often overlooked among the more interesting occurrences of infighting, resignation and disagreement. These men and women are working on the projects and services that the Assembly must provide, and are taking a fair and open approach to the issues that our student government must address.
The centrists must begin to lead the Student Assembly. Always remember that we are Dartmouth students first and that by working together, the Assembly can, and will, actually work.
