After discussing proposed methods of effecting change in the College alcohol policy, the Student Assembly concluded a productive Winter term that witnessed the creation of a diversity affairs council and the preservation of the faltering Ivy Council.
The Assembly followed through with Fall-term programs such as the groundbreaking Undergraduate Teaching Initiative while also laying the foundation for services that will likely come to fruition in future terms.
"I think we had a really good term," Student Body President Molly Stutzman '02 said. "Not only did we focus on some pretty large advocacy issues, we also maintained energy in regard to tangible student services that are important to students."
The Assembly also rescued the Ivy Council, an organization composed of student members from each of the Ivy League colleges, from its precarious position after the resignation of two-fifths of its executive board.
Thanks in part to the efforts of Ivy Council President Josh Marcuse '04, Dartmouth will host the Ivy Council's spring conference next term.
"A lot of Assembly members have really stepped up in terms of planning this conference and working with students from other schools to create a really good conference," Stutzman said.
Some of the immediate results produced this term include chartered buses and reduced fares for spring break travelers, dollies for package transportation and a lost-and-found service that should be running by the end of the term.
The Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, developed during the fall, quietly produced results this term but still managed to attract the attention of the administration.
In a rare outpouring of public praise, Dean of the Faculty Jamshed Bharucha wrote an op-ed column for The Dartmouth exalting the Assembly's efforts to improve undergraduate teaching with the UTI.
The UTI also awarded its first $1,000 innovative teaching grant to professor Mayumi Ishida for her web-based Japanese learning program. A survey that evaluates individual departments' student assistance practices should be completed by the beginning of Spring term.
Many important steps were taken for future advocacy programs by the creation of the ad-hoc Student Assembly Committee on Alcohol Policy and a permanent committee on diversity affairs. Members and chairpersons of these committees will be chosen at the beginning of Spring term.
Last night, Assembly members attempted to clarify the goals of the SACAP amidst confusion on the nature of the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs. Principally, the SACAP will attempt to educate all students on alcohol policy and to foster discussion and student involvement in these crucial student life policies.
The diversity affairs initiative was partially spurred on by the Assembly's reaction to an incident in which a swastika was drawn on a student's door earlier in the term.
"This was not only in response to this [swastika incident] -- it was recognizing in an institutional way that these kind of events occur and we need to find a way to address that," Stutzman said.
After passing a formal resolution condemning the action, the Assembly followed up with the creation of the diversity affairs committee.
To accommodate the many new services created this year, the Assembly received a $6,500 budget increase for next year.
While steps have been made toward enacting new services like vending machines that accept DASH, a Dartmouth Dining Services delivery service and a wake-up call system, these issues are still largely in their planning phases. Many of these services are slated to begin in the spring.
"We have had a lot of big success, and at the same time are striving for the same in the spring," Stutzman said.
