Most students couldn't care less about Student Assembly. Even as a former member who maintains contacts in the Assembly, I rarely feel personally represented in the organization, and only occasionally have more than tepid feelings of approval for Assembly actions. I do appreciate Assembly sponsorship of rallies and I have picked most of my classes using the course guide, but other than the hand-sanitizer stations near BlitzMail terminals that have come and gone, I can't name an Assembly action that has impacted me in the last year in more than a symbolic way.
That said, I believe impeaching Assembly President Tim Andreadis '07 would be a mistake. Like most students, I don't care what personal motives former Academic Affairs Chair Adam Shpeen '07 and his like-minded companions have. Let's not confuse the issues. Personal vendetta or not, I only want to know what Andreadis has done wrong. Not what he has failed at doing -- we can't expect perfection, for when we do, we are always left dissatisfied -- but actual immoral and/or inappropriate actions that warrant impeachment. I just want to know a few things: Has Andreadis misappropriated funds? Has he abused his position of power? Has his personal life rendered his role as a student leader ineffective? I don't believe so, and neither do Shpeen's arguments against Andreadis indicate as much. If there were allegations that Andreadis served alcohol at a meeting, the situation would be drastically different. But the facts don't happen to be aligned this way, and I don't see a stained dress anywhere.
In fact, even Shpeen's most appealing claim falls short of convincing. That Andreadis sparked hysteria when warning students to take caution after the rape and murder of a student in the region seems at best worthy of the short letter of reprimand that was printed in the letter to the editor section of publication. As a woman, I appreciated the concern that the Assembly showed by warning us all to be careful. I, nor anyone I know, was "hysterical" -- I find sexist implications in this term, that a concerned woman must necessarily be in hysterics -- but rather reminded that I am not invincible, and that very simple steps can be taken to make myself less vulnerable. No one pulled the fire alarm maliciously: We just were reminded what steps to take should the building ever catch fire.
Aside from this event, Shpeen's claims that Andreadis has been ineffective led me to ask: What has Shpeen done that is more effective? What can Shpeen and his colleagues promise that will be better? How will removing an organization that has been slightly if not rather effective achieve representation that is fair and unbiased? How does he represent me and my concerns? Let us not forget that the representative system that Shpeen would like to disband is the very one he has worked on for three years.
Convince me of this, and I may support the movement for change. But not just a movement led by an Assembly committee or by a former member and his friends and housemates. If the student body elects the Student Body President directly, the student body should be the ones to recall him. This "grassroots" movement to remove our president is one-sided, fails to provide any evidence for its ambiguous claims and has an air of malicious intent. The fact that the leaders of this movement have sent e-mails urging participants to attend meetings under the ruse of being Dartmoose mascot advocates, who in turn leave meetings early shows how little they are willing to work with the existing members of the Assembly. As the situation stands, all I see is a movement that will cause far more harm than good. By bullying its way into voter eligibility and overthrowing the system, they would be deciding for themselves, unilaterally, what is best for all Dartmouth students. And that is unacceptable.
I urge Shpeen and his like-minded colleagues to work for change from within, as we expect our student representatives to, rather than attempt to wipe the slate clean and in the process infuriating and alienating the Dartmouth students who have dedicated themselves to advocating for student rights.
