SA Task Force Needs Independent Minds

Amid the recent debate over reforming Student Assembly, the organization should be praised for launching the Student Government Task Force to scrutinize the structure of student government at Dartmouth. The reform group has a real potential to significantly change the Assembly and improve its effectiveness as an organization that serves students. It is a little worrisome that the body choosing the makeup of this group is a body of students deeply involved in Student Assembly -- the Assembly's Membership and Internal Affairs Committee -- but such a setup will not preclude the group from being effective so long as MIAC acts appropriately. In selecting the eight panel members from the larger student body over the coming days, MIAC should remember to seek out independent voices. No one on the task force should have a personal interest in preventing reforms in the Assembly. For example, it would be inappropriate for a current member of the Assembly's executive committee to serve on the task force, as the task force will undoubtedly examine both the existence of and the selection for each executive position. An independent council will prove most effective and Dartmouth students will be better off for it.