Candidates for Student Body President and Vice President established their personas Tuesday night in the first public forum of the election season, hosted by the Student Assembly. The Assembly went on to unanimously pass two pieces of legislation, each sponsored by a presidential candidate.
The five presidential contenders -- juniors Todd Golden, Paul Heintz, Mats Lemberger, Brian Martin and Noah Riner -- emphasized Greek issues, alcohol policy and funding for club sports, delivering two-minute opening statements and responding to questions posed by Student Body President Julia Hildreth '05 and Assembly members.
Heintz set himself apart from the rest of the field as the only candidate never to have served on the Assembly.
"Most people don't care about SA, know about SA or have any idea about what you guys do," Heintz told Assembly members in his opening statement, which he delivered from his seat. The other candidates stood to address the Assembly.
"I haven't seen what SA's done to really reach out to people, to get people involved," Heintz said, adding that he observed "a real dearth of leadership, quite frankly."
Martin singled out Greek concerns as major planks of his platform, naming Greek issues and alcohol policy reform as chief concerns.
"We need a strong Greek voice in SA," Martin said.
Martin is a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity, while Heintz is a member of Alpha Delta fraternity. The other candidates are unaffiliated.
Unlike Heintz, however, Martin underscored a "well-established record" on the Assembly.
"This isn't a commitment I just picked up -- it's something I've been steadily involved in," Martin said.
Both Martin and former Vice President Riner cited the improvement of alumni affairs as Assembly accomplishments they were proud of.
"That was a vision I had a long time ago that's finally come to realization," Riner said of the establishment of the Alumni Affairs Committee, which he now heads.
A low-key current Assembly Vice President Golden listed funds for club sports and further investigation of College alcohol policies as priorities.
Lemberger, a self-described "soft-spoken yet dynamic presence," echoed support for club sports endowments. The "project-oriented" Lemberger was the only candidate to mention an electronic bulletin board system as a key endeavor he would undertake as Assembly president.
After the forum, the Assembly quickly passed two pieces of legislation without objection. The first was a statement, co-sponsored by Martin, urging Dean of the College James Larimore to accept the alcohol policy reforms recently proposed by the Social Event Management Procedures review committee, comprised of six students and five administrators.
Martin said the Assembly's statement marks the culmination of months of work on alcohol policy review, and although the committee's proposals are a step in the right direction, there is still much to be done to review other parts of the College's alcohol policy.
A resolution on Dartmouth investments in companies active in the Sudan, sponsored by Riner, was the second piece of legislation to pass without requiring a vote Tuesday. The resolution urges the College's Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility and the Board of Trustees' Standing Committee on Finance to call on companies Dartmouth invests in to end dealings with the Sudanese government until government-backed genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan ends.
The vice presidential candidates, Jeffrey Coleman '08, Chris Galiardo '06 and Travis Green '08, all made short statements and responded to questions, but the debate was dominated by the presidential contenders.
Coleman and Green frequently referred to their Assembly experience while Galiardo, who never served on the Assembly, cited leadership developed during an extended period in Europe between high school and delayed matriculation. Green is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
After the forum, Riner complained about time limits on responses, which he said "ensured that the responses would be vague generalization."
"The student body wants effective representation, not meaningless clamor," he said.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will host a Greek-issue debate on Thursday night, and the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee will sponsor a general debate on Sunday night.
