A Dartmouth Town Meeting resolution, which was sponsored by David Zubricki '07, urged members to overlook the Town Meeting's disappointingly low attendance in the Fall of 2005, when less than 30 people came to the Collis Commonground event.
The resolution recalled the great success of Winter term 2005's inaugural Town Meeting, which included College President James Wright, Provost Barry Scherr, Dean of the College Jim Larimore, Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman and Proctor Harry Kinne in its 150-person attendance. Zubricki cited the overwhelmingly positive responses he received about the meeting in his call to to allocate $2000 of the Assembly's budget for another meeting this spring.
"For some of the '09s who were still in high school and weren't here, the town meeting we had last year was crowded. There were tons of really cool questions and we filled alumni hall. A lot of people thought the town meeting was one of the best things Student Assembly did," Zubricki said. "But there was a change in structure and last term's Town Meeting wasn't advertised at all. Last year we were essentially in the students' faces about it."
The resolution, passed without opposition, proposed that the Student Life Committee continue to head up formal planning and coordinating of the event this spring, while allowing the Communications Committee to take over publicity to ensure better attendance.
The resolution to support and publicize the spring break New York City bus service proposed that the Assembly privately charter Vermont Transit buses to New York over the spring interim. It cited the success of the Assembly's bus service last term, which sold out five buses and 275 seats during the first two hours of the sale and eventually sold all but eight seats.
This Dartmouth service provides students with a $35 trip to New York free of the layovers and transfers common in public transportation to the city. The Dartmouth service is also significantly cheaper than other bus services, which cost approximately $62 each way.
Co-sponsor Chris Bertrand '07 said that the number of buses the Assembly will run largely depends on student interest.
"We are happy to run 12 buses if there are enough students to fill them," he said.
The resolution, which was also sponsored by Ryan Payne '06, passed without opposition.
