To the Editor:
For the past few days, I don't think that an hour has passed that a blitz about the DDS referendum hasn't popped up in my In Box. I can't help thinking how amazing it is that we have finally found an issue that concerns nearly all of us. Regardless of our diversity of backgrounds and interests, the referendum has been a focus towards which all types of Dartmouth students have directed their attention. While I am glad to see such involvement in the referendum, I am concerned about how much we can achieve with it.
The referendum was supposed to be an impartial means by which student opinions would be solicited. I thought that it was a great idea and I was very much looking forward to doing my part and voting when I sat down last week to fill it out. I was quite surprised to see at the top of the referendum a paragraph comparing our dining plan to that of the other Ivies. It seemed to suggest that maybe we didn't have it so bad; maybe we shouldn't even be complaining. I thought that the referendum was supposed to be a means for obtaining student opinions. Student opinions about the residential dining situation at Dartmouth College, not at Harvard or Brown.
Further down on the referendum, we are asked to enter in how much we think is a reasonable amount to be required to pay for a DBA and for an option cost. Again, the writers of the referendum felt additional editorial comments were necessary, advising students that entering a higher DBA means a lower option cost, and vice versa. First we are asked what we think is reasonable, and then we are advised that it might be wiser to increase one value or the other.
Despite its imperfections, however, the survey is a marked improvement over the announcement last week that the $800 minimum DBA was a done deal. It is our job, now that everyone has filled it out and we are anxiously awaiting its results, to make sure that the referendum really accomplishes what it was designed to do. It is vitally important that no student feels that he or she has filled out the referendum and now it is all settled. If we are to get anything out of this, we must follow through until the end in making sure that what is finally implemented is what the majority of students really wants. More specifically, students need to remain active in pressuring the administration to use the data generated by the survey to create options that are acceptable to us. We must keep up the great momentum that has developed during the referendum.
We have shown that we can make our voices heard. Let us make sure that those voices can actually produce a change.
