Just hanging out around campus, stuff doesn't appear to be going too shabbily. I get from place to place and class to class, check my BlitzMail every so often, buy a meal at one of the many campus eateries when I'm hungry, maybe even take a break from online poker and browsing your personal files to check some assignments on blackboard. What could possibly be better?
I guess it'd be nice to have a place to grab some food at 4 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Classes could be smaller. Longer gym hours would be convenient, so I hear. I suppose if the library were open longer, I might find the time to stop by. It'd also be cool if I didn't have to worry about those two kids down the hall booting blood all over each other (I'm not wasting my "Good Samaritan" call on that; there's no way the mess is going to find its way onto me or any of my belongings, so I'll save the call for when it might). Oh, and it'd be nice if that $80,000 per year that Student Assembly gets didn't go towards bikes.
But is there anything I can do about any of that?
Contrary to popular opinion, these elections might actually matter -- but only if we make them.
This week's vote for the Assembly president may be the best opportunity common students have in making their voices heard, expressing approval or disapproval of the current state of affairs at Dartmouth.
Just as the trustee elections seem to be more of a referendum on the status quo than a simple election for particular spots on the board, this week's election is a time for the students to call for new leadership of the student body, as well as to outline our aggregated ideal of where the College should be heading and how the Assembly can relate to our lives.
The new BlitzMail terminals were a good use of money. Yet, I honestly can't think of any other way that Assembly has taken action relevant to my life in any way whatsoever since I got to Dartmouth. Certain pre-existing services like the course guide are helpful but can't be claimed as triumphs for the current Assembly.
When I was here for Dimensions last April, I stopped by the Activities Fair. I collected such fine wampum as WDCR bumper stickers, all kinds of candy and a Frisbee that said "SA" on it; a tiny Frisbee which probably cost $1.50 and was about as fun to play with as a hard, round piece of white plastic that is too small to assign any significant recreational value. I did the math, and Assembly must've spent at least zero seconds debating the merit of such an expenditure, and at least 30 minutes congratulating themselves for doing such a fine job on a project so helpful in spreading the word that Assembly spent at least zero seconds debating the merit of such an expenditure.
The Assembly has become (or perhaps has always been) a collection of some of Dartmouth's most outstanding students doing nothing particularly outstanding. The challenge facing whoever wins the upcoming elections will be to change that: to create a new paradigm for the Assembly. While ideas like communal bikes have a theoretical, quixotic appeal to them (I guess), they're impractical, unworkable, and a waste of a precious budget. It is up to all of us to help decide what this new paradigm will be and to express this to the entire Dartmouth community.
Whoever wins this election needs to bring leadership and common sense to the forefront of the mission of the Assembly. Passing resolutions with some bold statement of support for cause "X" is not enough. Assembly needs action-oriented leadership, with a firm grasp of the difference between what would make life at Dartmouth better and what would just be self-important, superfluous nonsense.
As much as I love plastic stuff with "Brought to you by Student Assembly" written all over it, it seems pretty clear that this advertising isn't effective or worthwhile.
It's time for change. It's time to make the Assembly relevant to me. Why? Because I'm more important than you. Just ask me.