Committee on Standards candidate statements
(04/29/03 9:00am)
Ryan M. Bennett '04
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Ryan M. Bennett '04
I'd like to begin this article with a story. I'm from Pittsburgh, and a friend of mine's father is a Dartmouth Alumnus, '72 to be exact. One night I asked, "Mr. Draper, what were things like at Dartmouth when you went to school there?" With great pride, he told me stories about packed athletic stadiums, amazing Winter Carnivals, incredible Green Keys and awe-inspiring Homecomings. When he and his friends weren't at frats, they were out doing other things on campus, things that have long since gone the way of the keg jump. After an hour of listening I said, "Mr. Draper, what made Dartmouth so great? How did you have so much fun? Who made all this happen?" At that point he looked at me with an almost puzzled stare, and after a short pause, he said "The students, of course. Who else would it be? The administration? The alumni? The residents of Hanover? No, it was the students."
The best way to lead is to serve. As '06 Class President and a member of Student Assembly's Student Life Committee, I have learned just that. From coordinating last fall's Bonfire to helping in the search for a mascot to proposing the swim team protest, I have been able to experience student government's ability to serve the campus first hand. In running for vice president, it is my desire for Student Assembly to serve students in significant and lasting ways.
Question: Do you know what your student government spends its time doing? Maybe? Not sure? What student government? If your answer sounded similar, don't worry because you are in the same boat as everyone else. No one knows. Actually, if you are reading this article, you are probably more informed about the Student Assembly than 50 percent of campus.
I will be an effective and innovative Vice President and increase communication on campus. I got my hair buzzed while giving my candidate speech on Thursday night for a reason: namely, to be efficient. Like my fellow candidates I want to increase school spirit and reduce the parking problem, but unlike them I have concrete means and extensive SA leadership experience to accomplish these ends.
My campaign for Student Body President is about fresh leadership, fresh ideas and results. George Bernard Shaw once said, "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will." We can make changes on this campus. None of the administra-tion's policies are beyond our ability to change, if we approach them with imagination and determination. We can mold Dartmouth into whatever we wish, but we must do it together; we must be able to speak with a broad student voice and let the administration know that we, the students, are Dartmouth, not the administrators.
It's easy to come up with a platform, but often tough to back up fine-sounding promises. A year ago I was elected on a mandate to make our student government more efficient, more representative and ready to tackle bigger issues. As student body president I've guided an ambitious Student Assembly, and in this article I will expound on some of our successes, as well as what needs to be done next year.
Yes, it is hard -- but not impossible -- to stop a moving train. In his presidency Janos Marton '04 -- who is in the rare position of being able to run for reelection as Student Assembly president -- has indeed proved unstoppable on several fronts, most notably achieving a dtente in the student-administration relationship. Several other speed bumps, such as student wages, budget shortfalls and tuition increases, have been more difficult issues than Marton may have anticipated.
Copious and confusing rules set forth by the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee have Student Assembly election candidates falling into traps they do not even know are there.
Among the campaign signs tacked to walls around campus are some for a candidate who advocates "Mandatory Enlistment for all '07s in Armed Forces."
Congressman James McDermott (D-Wash.) delivered scathing criticism of the Bush administration and its foreign and domestic policies yesterday, calling the war in Iraq "unnecessary."
Six months after the College indicated that it would be implementing a mandatory five percent cut in all departmental operating budgets for the 2003 fiscal year, every department has successfully reduced its non-compensational operating costs and is preparing for another five percent reduction next year. However, according to most department chairs, the actual budget reductions have been, for the most part, bearable.
Editor's Note: This is the final part of a series profiling the platforms of candidates for the College's Board of Trustees.
Alpha Xi Delta sorority and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity were the big winners at Monday evening's Coed, Fraternity, Sorority Order of Omega Achievement Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in the Greek community.
Jeff Tweedy is working on his abs; he's working on himself, and it's working. Whether you think "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was a sellout, a country-boy's "Kid A" or the best album of 2002, Wilco puts on a great show, and there concert in Burlington last Friday was no exception.
In the spirit of Django Reinhardt, who played the Russian gypsy tune from which the group took its name, Les Yeux Noirs infused Spaulding Auditorium with Jewish-Gypsy dance on Saturday night with inspired klezmer music.
Names can imply passion, and Sweet Honey and the Rock, who fired up Spaulding on Friday night, do sing like the sweetest of honey. A group of five women with a great vocal range, they were accompanied by Toshi Reagan and Big Lovely on guitars and drums.
To the Editor:
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To the Editor: