Student Assembly President Jim Rich '96 was elected last spring on a platform of increasing student services. So far, Rich and the rest of the Assembly have failed to deliver the goods.
Two of the Assembly's most useful services are the Student Advantage card, which gives students discounts in businesses all over New England, and the Upper Valley dining guide. The Assembly subcontracts these products to a Boston firm.
Typically, the Assembly hands out the cards and the dining guide at Fall term registration.
But not this year.
This year, in what Assembly officials termed an effort to cut costs and reach more students, the Assembly decided to mail the Student Advantage cards and the dining guide to students' Hinman Boxes.
"We're sacrificing time to make sure the cards go out to every single student," Assembly spokesman Scott Rowekamp '97 said in September.
But the card arrived only this Monday, nearly five weeks into the term. And Rowekamp said the Assembly still is not sure when the dining guide will be available.
Students should have the cards and the dining guides at the beginning of the term. The Summer Assembly really has nothing else to do over the summer except work on student services. It should not take the Assembly almost a month into Fall term to distribute something that should be produced early in the summer.
Another student service that has been sadly lacking the last few years is the Assembly's excuse for a course guide. Last year, the Assembly spent almost $12,000 to put out a guide that reviewed a pathetically low number of courses.
This year, the Assembly tried to save money by putting the guide on the World Wide Web, saving money and making the guide readily available to all students.
Last term, Summer Assembly President Matt Shafer '97 said the course guide would be on the Web by the beginning of Fall term.
But again, no one has seen the promised course guide. A good course guide should be produced at the beginning of Fall term, to help students plan for the upcoming academic year.
Rich and Assembly Vice President Kelii Opulauoho '96 are ultimately responsible for the Assembly's unproductive summer. Not only did they pick the summer leaders, they both were on campus for much of the summer.
Over the summer, Rowekamp said the Summer Assembly should be an inspiration for the Student Assembly.
"We spent less time on politics and concentrated more on student services," he said in August.
If the Student Advantage card, dining guide and course guide fiasco are indicative of what a model Assembly should be, student government at Dartmouth is in big trouble.
Rich and the rest of the Assembly need to turn things around, and quickly, if they hope to accomplish any tangible goals this year.
