Attempting to distinguish themselves from the seemingly infinite pool of Student Assembly presidential and vice presidential candidates, eight of the nine students running for the two positions presented their visions for the Assembly at last night's candidate's forum.
About 40 students attended the Green Key Society's forum in Collis Common Ground.
Presidential candidates Sarah Cho '97, Jon Heavey '97, Unai Montes-Irueste '98, Scott Rowekamp '97 and Steve Salemi '97 spoke after vice presidential candidates Joan Ai '98, Bill Kartalopoulos '97 and Chris Swift '98. Presidential candidate Jeremy Segal '97 did not attend.
Each candidate had three minutes to speak on whatever issues they wanted and then the floor was opened up to questions from the audience.
Most presidential candidates used their time to discuss what they considered to be the most important aspects of their campaigns.
Montes-Irueste began by telling the audience about the first time he came to Dartmouth as a prospective student.
He said he was moved by the Orozco murals in the reserve corridor in Baker Library. He said he was determined to "find out why" the murals were a topic of such controversy.
Montes-Irueste said the controversy stemmed from Orozco's painting "his" America -- including the mistakes "both his and ours as a people."
He compared that interpretation of the mural with his own of the Assembly. He called the Assembly a group of people who, in the context of working together, make mistakes.
He said he would make the best president because he had the experience of seeing the Assembly from both the outside and in.
"No one inside knows what its like outside, and no one outside knows what its like inside," he said.
Salemi presented his platform -- one grounded in what he said he considered "concrete" attainable goals. "I'm a realist," he said.
"What we can do," included increasing the number of social events coordinated by the Assembly in conjunction with other student organizations and a hot-line manned by Dartmouth students to counsel troubled students.
Rowekamp emphasized his Assembly experience to show what changes he thought were possible and to explain why he thought some of the other candidates proposals were unrealistic.
"There is a huge difference between promises and reality," he said. "Only by realizing its limits can the Assembly remain a meaningful voice of Dartmouth students."
He said his proposals would work better because they were concrete and therefore easier to implement.
Rowekamp gave the example of the desire to guarantee housing to students for all four years they are here.
In lieu of building new beds, which he termed "unlikely," Rowekamp suggested the College bring back spring rush for freshmen.
He said this change would allow sophomores to live in Greek houses during the fall which would free up beds in residence halls.
Rather than speaking at the podium, Heavey stepped out into the audience and sat down at the base of the stage to deliver his speech.
Heavey said he would not talk about his platform, which he said was adequately addressed by his posters, but instead engaged the audience in a type of mind experiment.
He said everyone in attendance, whether consciously or not, recognized several things about the candidates.
He pointed out that he was wearing a soiled white baseball cap, Rowekamp was a member of the Conservative Union at Dartmouth, Salemi was a member of Alpha Delta fraternity, Cho was the only woman running for president and Montes-Irueste spoke with an accent when pronouncing his name.
Heavey called these unconscious observations "filters we establish that determine how we interact."
To tie his example to the campaign, Heavey said that he would use the Assembly to "utilize the outstanding things we each have about ourselves to overcome the filters."
Returning to campaign issues, Cho began by presenting a scenario where one would walk into Food Court to find students of different ethnic and racial backgrounds and political opinions eating and talking together during dinner.
She said although this image is perhaps not possible to achieve during the next year, "we should still strive to attain it."
Cho said she wants to facilitate the intermingling of different students through the implementation of specific policies, like holding multicultural dances and creating more social space on campus.
"We can't force students to be aware," she said, "but if we show them the path they will act out on it on their own."
Before the presidential candidates spoke, the vice presidential candidates gave short speeches.
Kartalopoulos went first and chose to emphasize his experience as a member of the Assembly for the first three years of his Dartmouth career.
Kartalopoulos said while other candidates would need a "grace period" to get acclimated to the responsibilities of the vice president, he would need no such adjustment.
"We can't afford that," he said referring to what he considered the other candidates lack of experience. "I'm already prepared," he said.
Swift stressed the "commitment, community and communication," he hopes to bring to the Assembly.
He said his goal is to make "the SA a credible voice for the interests of the student body."
Swift said the Assembly must build a relationship with the administration so students could have more input in administrative decisions.
Ai spoke about her "two main goals" -- improving student services and raising campus-wide awareness about "important issues."
Specifically she said she would like to send out a questionnaire to the student body inquiring as to students views about the best way to address the recent hate crimes on campus.
But Ai said she did not want to be thought of as a "race issues" candidate, but that she wanted to make Dartmouth a "better place."
Finally, she implored students to get involved in the political process at the College. "Only by letting the candidates know your concerns can your concerns be addressed," she said.
