As the application process for spring elections draws to a close, a number of students have signified their intent to run for the Student Assembly presidency -- setting up one of the most crowded fields in some time.
The Dartmouth spoke with five students who are planning to put their names on the ballot as candidates for Assembly president -- Meg Smoot, Alex Grishman, Jorge Miranda, Alex Wilson and Chance Hill, all of whom are members of the class of 2001.
Miranda has been a member of the Assembly since his freshman year, and served as president last summer. He is a member of the COS and Green Key and chairs the LEAD program working with disadvantaged kids from the area.
Smoot was a member of the Initiative steering committee and is a sister in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She also worked on the Alcohol Awareness campaign last fall.
Hill is a brother in Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and is a member of the Assembly. He is also the president of Green Key, and volunteers with DREAM, working with troubled children.
Wilson has been Assembly treasurer since last spring. He is a brother in Chi Gamma Epsilon and served as the vice-president of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council over the summer.
Grishman is a member of the Dartmouth lacrosse team and a brother and social chair of Theta Delta Chi fraternity. He also is cochair of Operation Smile, which raises money to treat birth defects in third world countries.
In discussing their reasons for running and their central issues, the candidates revealed some common themes but different specific positions and ideas.
Wilson, for example, would like to see major changes in the organization of the Assembly to facilitate improved representation of the student body, specifically restricting Assembly membership to elected representatives.
The Assembly is often not representative of student desires and is ineffective when it is, Wilson said, adding that he would like to see emphasis shifted to improving students' freedom of choice.
Hill, on the other hand, said he would like to actively recruit a broader cross-section of students so as to gain the confidence of the student body, a situation that he said would give the Assembly more influence with administrators.
Such influence would be particularly useful over the next year, when the Assembly will be representing student opinion in the implementation of the steering committee recommendations, Hill said.
"The more that students learn to come behind the student government and support it ... the more the administration will have to listen," he said.
Similarly, the focus of Miranda's campaign will be the goal of increasing and improving the student body's "institutional voice" in the various decision making processes at the College.
"Dartmouth isn't doing as good a job as it could be because it isn't encouraging students to take responsibility for their community," Miranda said.
Grishman agreed, saying, "The basis of my entire campaign will be to facilitate greater student involvement and communication."
Although he would spend time attempting to improve the lines of communication that exist between the Assembly, the Board of Trustees, and the administration if elected, Grishman also wants to focus on the "small little changes' that will better student life.
Smoot would also like to see SA focus on bringing about the sort of "smaller changes" that she says the steering committee called "low hanging fruit," such as improving the facilities of the women's resource center.
"Although I love Dartmouth, there are some changes that could make everyday life at Dartmouth easier," Smoot said, indicating she feels that the Assembly could best use its time by addressing these issues.
Undergraduates will also be electing the Assembly vice-president and the eight representatives from each class, the twenty at-large members of the Green Key Society, the presidents and vice-presidents of the 2001 and 2003 Class Councils, and the six members of the Committee on Standards selected by the student body during the elections on May 4 and 5.
Candidates for the various offices must collect between 50 and 100 signatures. Petitions are due in the Student Activities office in the Collis Center by 4 p.m. on April 4.
