Candidates for Student Assembly president and vice president faced off in a final debate in which candidates were allowed to question one another on Sunday night in Collis Cafe. Elections will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The debate, hosted by the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee, opened with EPAC's non-voting chair Sara Del Nido '08 asking the candidates whether advocacy or student services would be more important to them as president or vice president of the Assembly. Only presidential candidate Lee Cooper '09 felt that student services was the more important of the two, although he added that "it's difficult to separate the two."
Presidential hopeful Molly Bode '09, and vice presidential candidates Nafeesa Remtilla '09, Miesha Smith '09. Taylor Stevenson '10 and Chuck Zodda '09 all choose advocacy as the more important of the two choices.
"This is the way we're going to get students to give us their opinions on all of the issues," Remtilla said.
Another major topic of discussion was how to involve students in the Assembly and improve the Assembly's reputation on campus.
"It's been the main issue I've pushed for -- to get more people involved," Zodda said. He cited athletes as a large portion of campus that are typically underrepresented in the Assembly, adding that "they have completely different needs than any other group on campus."
Zodda is a member of the varsity football team, Cooper and Stevenson both play on the rugby team and Remtilla played varsity field hockey her freshman year on campus.
Stevenson stressed the importance of "external reform" -- which would include the addition of a member of Student Assembly to the Board of Trustees -- as the means of improving the campus's respect for the Assembly.
"[Current Assembly members] are more interested in rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship instead of realizing that the ship is sinking," he said. "Only that way are we ever going to see or realize the kinds of reforms that the campus is calling for."
Stevenson questioned Bode about why she has not included more internal reforms in her platform and why she has not supported incorporating an Assembly member into the Board of Trustees.
"I didn't want to put that on my platform because I couldn't guarantee it," she said.
Bode also said that she believes that the Assembly needs "to gain a little more legitimacy" before major changes like that can happen.
Cooper cited his proposal to bring Dartmouth's Council On Student Organizations under the Assembly as a way of increasing student participation in the Assembly. Smith, however, questioned whether or not this merger would be beneficial to both groups.
Bode stressed the differences between COSO and the Assembly, noting that students must apply to be on COSO while Assembly membership is open.
Vice-presidential candidates discussed how to make non-alcoholic social spaces attractive to students.
Zodda said that alcohol is very prominent on campus, but that having "Greek houses sponsor [alternative space parties] would ease the transition" from alcohol-dominated to alternative social activities.
Stevenson agreed with Zodda's idea, adding that Greek organizations could offer "dry nights" at their houses. He also supported expanding the hours and functions of already existing non-alcoholic social spaces.
Smith, however, disputed Zodda's view that alcohol is prominent on campus and cited initiatives that the Assembly has already taken to promote alternative social spaces that do not involve alcohol. Remtilla supported Smith's comment, and explained that her previous involvement with PANGEA has helped her to discover ways to bring the campus together over non-alcohol related events.
"No alcohol was involved, but everybody had fun," she said, referring to a canoe trip she organized among various student groups. "We hung out with people that we wouldn't have hung out with otherwise."
Candidates also discussed efforts they would take to learn about the needs of students who are not involved in the Assembly. Bode said that she would hold open office hours in busy places on campus, while Cooper said that he would like to unite the student body into a more cohesive group.
"The campus is divided and there is no centralized voice," he said, stressing the importance of using communication between various organizations as a tool to solve this problem
Smith, who is currently on the government Foreign Study Program in Washington D.C., participated in the debate via cellular telephone, and her input was difficult for both candidates and audience members to hear. In the previous debate, hosted by the Assembly, Smith was able to talk via a conference phone, but this was not possible Sunday night due to "technical difficulties," Del Nido said.
