Unai Montes-Irueste '98 and Nahoko Kawakyu '99 made the Student Assembly election campaign a bit more interesting over the weekend by announcing their candidacies for president and vice president, respectively.
Montes-Irueste and Kawakyu are running on an informal ticket, though a victory by one does not necessarily guarantee the election of the other -- since the president and vice president are elected separately.
Montes-Irueste joins Frode Eilertsen '99 and Scott Jacobs '99 in the field for president and Kawakyu becomes the second official vice-presidential candidate, joining Dave Altman '99.
Eilertsen, Jacobs and Altman are on the official Assembly ballot, while the two new entrants will have to gain all their votes as write-ins.
Montes-Irueste said junior Ben Hill's withdrawal from the presidential campaign late last week created a political void which prompted him to enter the race.
Hill quit the race last Thursday -- citing a desire to have more personal time during his senior year -- and endorsed Eilertsen.
In the brief period between Hill's dropping out of the race and Montes-Irueste's entering, there were no members of next year's senior class running for Assembly president.
"For argument's sake," it is necessary to have a candidate from the '98 class in the election, Montes-Irueste said.
Eilertsen, for one, agreed with Montes-Irueste that the race needed another member of the Class of 1998.
"It would just be too sad if no '98 was running," Eilertsen said. "That wouldn't be representative of that class."
Eilertsen said he was glad Montes-Irueste decided to join the fray. "If his goal is to make the campaign and the election process more interesting, I welcome that," he said.
Jacobs said in his opinion Montes-Irueste's chances to win are hurt by his late entry into the race, but "I'm glad that there's another option for students -- the more options we have, the better a student mandate can be through the election."
Montes-Irueste said what he saw thus far in the election "didn't impress me."
The campaign has been reduced to "a popularity contest" determined by name recognition, he said.
Montes-Irueste said this year's campaign, like those in the past, is centered on traditional, irrelevant "issues that have been around for years and years."
The lack of controversial issues in the election is a reflection of a larger problem plaguing the Student Assembly, he said.
"The Student Assembly isn't willing to take stands on big issues. They have a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "It's like sitting out in the ocean in a boat without sails."
Therefore, Montes-Irueste and Kawakyu stressed that a reorganization in the internal structure and philosophy of the Student Assembly is at the top of both of their agendas.
Montes-Irueste said he hopes to capture the same spirit the Student Assembly had two years ago, under the leadership of Danielle Moore '95 and then Rukmini Sichitiu '95.
"People had interest in what [SA was] doing, it was scandalous, and [they] were willing to talk about serious issues," he said.
Kawakyu said the Student Assembly is currently poorly representative of the student body because it suffers from a lack of constructive criticism.
All Dartmouth students "have gained the right" to have a voice in the decisions that the College makes, Kawakyu said.
Altman, who until now was unchallenged in the vice presidential race, said he was "excited that there's someone else who believes they can do the job."
Montes-Irueste's latest campaign marks a return to the politics of Assembly elections for him after a controversial departure last year.
Last April, Montes-Irueste dropped out of consideration for Assembly president on the eve of the election amid accusations that he removed opposing candidates' posters from public areas.
"I did it ... I'm not proud of it," he said, but "I don't think anyone cared too much."
A year later, his greatest impediment to victory is his status as a write-in candidate, he said.
"Getting people to vote is one effort," he said.
"Asking them to write in a name is too much."
