Q: How can Student Assembly be improved and why? (You may compare yourself to last year's SA or to a historic trend.)
A: One of the biggest improvements we can make in our current SA is the method by which members are selected. We currently have a self-selecting process, i.e., you want to vote you come to meetings and soon you're voting. This is an utterly unheard of concept for governing. No one votes for these members, no one invests trust or responsibility in them, and most of us don't even know who they are. We should not tolerate this, and if we do, we should not be surprised that Parkhurst doesn't take the SA seriously. Thus, the first plank of the Sevi-Rahim 7-point Plan is to improve representativeness. We want to move to an elected government that has been chosen by the students, that is accountable, and that can truly speak for the campus-at-large. Through the creation of constituencies, we also seek to increase diversity within the Student Assembly's membership, and this is another aspect in which we can make serious improvements. Representativeness, accountability, and diversity are the three most important areas that the Sevi-Rahim ticket will improve on as we build a real Student Government.
Q: What things need to be improved on campus? How will you address these problems and in what order?
A: The first thing that Aly and I will address is improving the Student Assembly itself. Through our 7-Point Plan, we will focus on increasing its representativeness, transparency, accountability, and diversity. Reinvigorating the SA and building a true Student Government needs to be the first priority of the new administration.
Q: What failings do you have and how will you make up for them?
A: One shortcoming might be the potential obstacles that Aly and I will have to overcome in order to gain the backing of the current SA. If we are met with internal resistance we will engage the members in a serious dialogue and work together to improve our current system. I think that any short-term apprehension will be easily overcome through intelligent discourse among the voting members.
Q: What would you tell the Class of 2005 about Dartmouth?
A: Well, depending on their interests I would tell them to get involved in Student Government. But regardless of their interests, I would tell them that they should be proud to be here, and that they are very lucky that they were admitted. I would welcome them to the best school in the country.
Q: What can you offer that your opponents can't?
A: Above all, I bring a fresh, new perspective that will enable me to think outside the box. I have minimal attachments to the current SA rules and structure, and I am therefore free to change items that benefit SA insiders, things that my opponents are too fond of to ever touch. In addition, I bring a wealth of experience in operating an Executive Brach both here at Dartmouth, through my involvement as the founder and President of the Dartmouth Alliance for Middle East Awareness, and at my old college, as a two-year member of our Student Government and as President of the Kellum residential cluster, which housed over 700 students.
