In spite of rumblings over the last week that the Student Assembly might follow the lead of Cornell and other universities in presenting an anti-war resolution, the Assembly has decided against supporting a statement either for or against American military action in Iraq.
Instead Assembly members yesterday elected to pass a resolution supporting "an environment for the voicing of all opinions on the Dartmouth campus."
"As their representatives, the campus expects us to do something about the war since most of the campus has an opinion," explained Amit Anad '03, one of the drafters of the resolution.
The resolution calls for the Assembly to remain neutral but active in the event of a war with Iraq. The Assembly felt that this would allow them to best represent the interests of the student body regarding U.S. military actions without alienating a large portion of the campus on either side of the issue.
"We felt the important thing to do would be something to make a difference -- and making a normative statement on the war would not only alienate the campus but would be unlikely to make a significant impact," Anand said.
The resolution instead supplies four grants of $100 apiece for groups of individuals to apply for and calls for Collis Center, Barry Newsroom and Jones Media Center to provide alternative media coverage of the war in Iraq, including broadcasts by the Arabic language Al Jazeera network.
Additionally, it provides $100 to the humanitarian group CARE International's Iraq Sector, and promises an Assembly sponsored United Nations Security Council simulation to "represent international view points."
"Our resolution centered on the philosophy that the Assembly should take a balanced approach and at the same time do something that makes a difference," said Anand.
The grants can be applied for by either pro-war or anti-war groups and used for any sort of activity that promotes discussion regarding the war.
"We want to make sure all voices are heard," said Anand.
CARE International is a non-governmental, non-religious humanitarian organization that will be providing emergency food and aid to Iraqi civilians in northern and central Iraq.
"Even if students are divided on whether to support the war, they would agree that humanitarian aid is necessary for Iraq," Anand said of the donation to CARE.
The Assembly will also encourage media outlets on campus to carry international news stations to "provide alternative viewpoints that may differ from mainstream American news networks."
Student Body President Janos Marton '04 said that alternative networks such as BBC World, "would be less biased" than mainstream American news.
"We were happy that SA took some time to consider the issue and what was passed was not a bad start," said Clint Hendler '05, of WhyWar?, an anti-war organization. "We would have liked it more if SA had taken a stronger position against the war and that is certainly not out of the question."
Anad agreed saying, "We feel American news channels are inherently biased in their coverage of the war, and we want to have a differing opinion of what's really going on."
The Assembly also passed two constitutional amendments related to "members in good standing" with only one vote against sponsored by Marton, Shardul Oza '06, and the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee.
These amendments helped close some of the loopholes surrounding election of at-large class members to the Assembly. Under the new rules, regular Assembly members who meet certain requirements will be automatically added to the ballot. This new rule will allow voters to easily recognize the active members of the Assembly.
Marton said this, "will expose people to who really works on Student Assembly."
