After spirited debate, the Student Assembly last night voted 40-8 to pass a resolution for an online referendum to gather student input on the Assembly's Initiative response report before it is submitted to the Trustees in its final form.
The referendum, which will be made available on the "Basement" election website beginning April 10, will ask students to vote on specific details in the Assembly's proposal rather than comment on the report as a whole.
Changes made to the Assembly's report due to the results of the poll would be voted on by the Assembly before being executed.
However, "all information, regardless of outcome, will be passed on to the Trustees," Assembly Vice President Margaret Kuecker '01 told the Dartmouth after the meeting.
The Assembly plans to submit a preliminary proposal directly to the Student Response Task Force by its Friday deadline. The final Assembly proposal will be submitted directly to the Trustees during the Spring term.
Debate over the resolution last night centered around whether collecting student input online would give an accurate sampling of student opinion on campus, with some students arguing that only people who felt very strongly about the issue would vote.
"The people who are going to take the time to do this are those people who are very angry with the recommendations," one Assembly member said.
Some members suggested that these people are the most informed and will therefore contribute meaningful suggestions, arguing it would be elitist not to gauge student opinion on the proposal.
While some students voiced concerns that only 10 percent of the student body would take the time to vote, Assembly treasurer Alex Wilson '01 said that it would be the responsibility of Assembly members to talk to people and convince them to do so.
According to the resolution, "a strong voter turnout will indicate to the Trustees that students are in fact interested in and willing to actively participate in the governance of this college."
Some people argued that by not collecting student opinion on the report, the Assembly would be neglecting the student body it is supposed to represent. Others agreed, saying this data will lend credence to the Assembly's report.
"Now while our putting together a detailed report and submitting it to the Trustees is useful, nonetheless we're still one voice among many, and since we're not elected we don't have that powerful a claim that we speak for all students," Wilson said, speaking in support of the resolution.
"Without this vote, we can essentially be ignored if [the Trustees] don't like what we're saying," he added.
Jared Thorne '03 said that he did not understand why the Assembly should collect more student opinion when students have already had so many opportunities to give input, adding he thinks the plan will "backfire" when student opinion does not support the Assembly's recommendations.
Amit Anand '03 expressed similar sentiments, saying that, "It's a bit too much to believe that all the students are going to take the time out and read the Assembly's report, and I think that's where the real intellectual change happens."
The resolution was sponsored by a number of Assembly members, including Kuecker, Assembly President Dean Krishna '01 and Casey Sixkiller '00.
Not included in the 40-8 vote were three abstentions.
It was also announced that the television slated to be set up in the Thayer lobby will probably be operating by next week.
