It's too bad I didn't win the SA election. I would've made a damn good President.
If I were elected, I would've make sure the student voice was heard by the administration. First of all, I would make a motion to the SA to hold a vote. This vote -- were it passed -- would enable me to create a task force composed of campus leaders (they too would be voted upon), who would then hold meetings (and, with proper funding, a dinner) to discuss major campus issues, and would work to a major goal of mine: the creation of a committee. This committee would hold extremely productive meetings, and in due time, would come up with a proposition to recommend to the administration to look into forming a task force to actually do something.
No wonder nothing gets done around here. I was disgusted with campus politics before getting involved. This may seem extremely judgmental, but I have reasons. In high school, student elections were nothing more than institutionalized popularity contests. That was fine: at least they did not have pretensions of a true political system. Coming to Dartmouth, which is supposedly in the Ivy League, I surmised that campus politics would be run with a little more class. I was wrong.
Though absent of the social vagaries of high school, Dartmouth's SA is nevertheless a farce. As I've made obstinately clear, the only function of the SA is to from meaningless committees and nebulous task forces wholly absent of any benefit to the College. Instead of allowing a single person to take control of matters and act on his convictions. All individuality is buried in a sea of meaningless discussion. I suppose that the point of task forces is to guarantee that every (and I mean every) side of the matter is heard, so that no one is under-represented. In fact, I am currently forming a "student group" entitled Second Floor Mid-Mass Russians (membership: one) just so I get a vote on each SA issue. There is no room at Dartmouth for a strong, charismatic individual willing to take matters into his own hands. Should he even attempt to do so, he will be swallowed by the Leviathan task force or committee (choose your poison), where myriad opposing opinions will serve to dull tha
t persons force. Invariably, nothing will get done.
Is it a surprise then, that the administration has slighted the student body in the distribution of power? Giving the SA power would be like telling an infant to entertain himself with a tome of Shakespeare. We wouldn't know what to do with it. First we would form a committee to decide whether "power" is an offensive word, then we would form a task force ... you get the idea. We have done woefully little to demonstrate that, if given new powers, we would not childishly squander them. I don't doubt we would. In fact, although we don't have an "institutionalized voice," I believe the existing power structure allows for a student voice heard, provided its strong and united, two features it currently sorely lacks.
Although I am sure that giving support to the Greek system gave the president-elect a boost in the polls. But realistically, there is nothing he can do, and using the Greek issue was nothing but a catchall strategy to garner votes. I wonder what he can do:
SA Pres: Can I have my fraternity back?
Wright: No.
SA Pres: C'Mon please? Pretty please?
Wright: No.
SA Pres: Mommy! President Wright took my fraternity and he won't give it back!
Perhaps the affiliated candidates should spend more time fighting the battles within their houses instead of convincing the student body they can do so through the SA. I think such obviously false promises are insulting and grossly misleading.
President Wright might as well let us decide the whole matter. We would squabble so much over every little detail, that nothing would get done. Eventually, disheartened and disillusioned with "student power," we would throw the ball right back into Wright's field.
I could go on, but I think the point is lucid: campus politics is a sham. That's why I threw my support to the Jacko Party. Irreverent, irrelevant and blatantly ludicrous, it was by far the best choice.