Student Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 yesterday unveiled an ambitious agenda for the Student Assembly, starting with an attempt to save Webster Hall.
Sichitiu, in an interview with The Dartmouth, said she believes the Assembly would be able to move beyond its history of infighting and take on as many as 27 goals for the remainder of the academic year.
She said saving Webster Hall, which is scheduled to be converted into a Special Collections library, tops her list of goals. She called this a nonpartisan issue around which the Assembly could rally during the first four weeks of Winter term.
The Assembly received a spate a negative publicity last term as Assembly members took their internal battles public and president Danielle Moore '95 resigned. Sichitiu became president after Moore resigned.
After the negative publicity, the Assembly will work this term on bettering communication with the student body.
Assembly Secretary John Honovich '97 will chair a task force on communication and representation that will try to increase the Assembly's voice on campus.
The task force will have Assembly members speak to student groups, plaster the campus with posters to inform students about issues addressed by the Assembly and conduct surveys to find out the student body's feelings on campus issues.
Other issues on the Assembly's agenda include the relocation of the Women's Resource Center, establishing a rape crisis center, the expansion of Assembly office hours, and the creation of new multi-cultural events.
Sichitiu said some of the more liberal goals listed were her own and may not necessarily be supported by the general Assembly. But she said because she is Assembly president, her endorsement will carry significant weight.
"In a sense a lot of the important work I do is behind the scenes and that is why I was elected," Sichitiu said. "The power of the Assembly is the power of its leadership and the vision of its leadership."
Other Assembly members said the First-Year Report was an issue crucial to the student body and needed to be addressed right away.
"I think the Assembly should take a stand on the freshman-dorm issue," said Jim Brennan '96, an Assembly member. "I think that's a major issue."
But Sichitiu said she had dissolved the Assembly's task force on the report.
"I just got rid of the task force this term because it was going nowhere," she said. She added that it might be revived later this term.
Sichitiu said an Assembly retreat this weekend, attended by about half the general Assembly members, was "amazing."
"I think all of us have seen firsthand what happens when our dirty laundry is exposed and none of us liked it," she said. "All of us have agreed to criticize issues and ideas but not people."
Although disagreements between Honovich and Sichitiu have caused problems in the past, Honovich said relations between the two have improved.
"Rukmini and I are getting along better than ever," he said.
Assembly member Alex Morgan '95 said she is "relatively optimistic" about the Assembly's upcoming two terms.
"I think it'll be hard," she said. "I think the way to regain the SA's prestige is not to say, 'Hey, look at what we're doing,' but to act. Go out and do it."
Honovich said the main problem the Assembly will face in the coming weeks will be its reduced numbers. For instance, Assembly Treasurer Scott Rowekamp '97 is off this term.
