Discussion over an ostensibly simple resolution to change the titles of Student Assembly president and vice president to Student Body president and vice president turned into fervent debate at last night's Assembly meeting, as members failed to approve the measure.
The final vote count was 20 in favor, 15 against and 7 abstentions, falling short of the total of 38 "yes" votes needed for the proposal's approval.
The resolution, sponsored by Kendra Quincy Kemp '02 and the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee, resolved that the titles should be changed to reflect the responsibilities involved with the positions that lay outside the realm of Student Assembly.
The resolution also stated that the current titles are misleading because, instead of showing that the positions are elected by the entire student body, as is the present case, they imply that they are elected only by the Student Assembly.
Many objectors disagreed with a clause in the resolution that suggested that some students and faculty do not view the Assembly as being representative of the student body.
"If your fear is that we're not representative, then come up with an idea," Casey Sixkiller '00 said. "Don't think that just getting elected makes you representative, because it doesn't."
Assemblyman Collin O'Mara '01 said, "We should be working on issues that matter to the student body," adding that, "Right now, the words 'joke' and 'Student Assembly' are synonymous."
Several other members felt similarly: "Let's not take ourselves too seriously -- we're not representative," Emmett Hogan '01 said. "I just walked in here one day. Who do I represent? I don't represent anyone."
Kemp defended the resolution by explaining that the faculty and administration treat the Assembly president and vice president as heads of the student body.
Speaking in support of the resolution, Teresa Knoedler '00 said, "There's a lot of power in names. When the '04s come, there is a student body president, and that's all there is. Who cares if we didn't do it eight years ago? It has to happen sometime."
This was the second time the resolution was brought to the floor, after a quorum of three quarters of the Assembly's voting members failed to materialize at last week's meeting.
Also at the meeting last night, it was announced that every residence building on campus -- including fraternities and sororities -- will be stocked with two-ply toilet paper by the end of the term. The improvement in bathroom amenities comes after the College granted Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturer of Kleenex tissues, sole rights over the supply of campus toilet paper.
Hitchcock will be the first building to receive the upgrade, sometime during next week, followed by all other buildings before the end of the term.
