Dartmouth's Student Assembly, led by Student Body President Molly Stutzman '02, held its first meeting of the Fall term last night in 101 Collis.
The meeting, attended by over 100 freshmen, served as a general introduction to the workings of the Assembly and its various committees to interested students, and provided a chance for the freshmen to pose questions to assembly members.
Stutzman was encouraged by the large turnout of students, who entirely filled the spacious meeting room.
"There's a large and enthusiastic new class and we're very excited about their energy," she said. "I've gotten to meet many '05s and a lot of them are interested in getting involved and contributing to the campus."
Mike Newton '04, Student Body Vice President, was equally pleased by the showing.
"I think we had an overwhelming response from the freshmen and I'm very excited to get them involved with SA," he said.
Since the meeting was structured primarily as an introductory session, no new resolutions were discussed or voted on. Over the next few weeks, however, a number of projects and resolutions planned over the past spring and summer will go into effect, according to Stutzman.
"We're building off a great sophomore summer," she said, mentioning a pilot proposal to have vending machines accept DASH accounts, online PE registration, and reduced parking fines as part of the plans the Assembly has for the current term.
Also planned for the immediate future are a new dining guide, which will provide menus, telephone numbers and other related information for various restaurants and establishments near campus, and a new edition of Mugshots, the upperclass campus directory, which will be published in coming weeks.
Another change put into effect prior to the meeting was the appointment of Josh Marcuse '04 as President's Advisor, a position which Stutzman said is written into the Assembly constitution but not required to be filled each year.
Marcuse, who serves as internal Vice President of the Ivy Council, will also be an "all-purpose" Assembly executive in his new role, according to Stutzman, aiding new members, heading up special projects and helping respond to various issues that arise during the year.
Assembly meetings will return to their usual format once Cluster Representative elections " scheduled to be completed by Oct. 8 " are held.
With many new projects either in the works or ready to be implemented, and with such strong interest from the incoming class, Stutzman was hopeful that the coming year would be a productive one.
"The Student Life Initiative was announced almost three years ago, and we are getting to a period where important changes will be made," she said. "We are at a critical time, and I'm encouraged that students really want to get involved."
