This past week saw the announcement of a number of changes of importance to students. The final revisions to the Dartmouth Dining Services proposals, including the raising of the Topside limit to $200, were unveiled, as was the Student Assembly budget of Student Body President-elect Tim Andreadis. These two events provide both a positive indication of the power of student agitation as well as the pitfalls of unreachable goals.
The announcement of the modification to the DDS plans shows the positive effect of a vocal student body and an administration willing to listen to student plans. Although many students still have issues with the changes, the expansion of the Topside limit does take into account student concerns. In particular, the campaign by Student Assembly, coupled with the general student outrage, should be upheld as an example of successful student mobilization. Despite previous criticism of Student Assembly, this is one example where genuine debate did have some effect.
Tim Andreadis' budget, however, is an example of student initiative falling short. During the heated campaign for Student Body President this past term, Andreadis promised to slash the Assembly budget in half, and give the rest of the money to COSO to funnel through to Club Sports. His proposal this last week, however, failed to meet this promise, falling roughly $23,000 short of the almost $45,000 in cuts halving the budget would have entailed. Furthermore, Andreadis' plan to allow the extra money to go to Club sports through COSO is faulty because COSO does not traditionally fund club sports teams. While it is not unusual for a candidate to fail to meet campaign promises, it is dispiriting in a leader who ran as a fresh face and anti-establishment choice.
Of course, criticizing Andreadis for failing to cut the Student Assembly budget ignores the fact that many of the programs left in are popular student initiatives that provide services students have come to expect. This should be seen not as a failure of a cost-cutting mission but as indicative of the lack of knowledge and foresight Andreadis showed in putting together a platform that made unrealistic promises.
