News
Student Assembly's summer membership got off to a quiet start at a well-attended meeting last night, with upcoming projects and the organization's own visibility around campus dominating discussion.
One of the Assembly's more pressing responsibilities for the term will be to respond to the door locking system activated in College dormitories on Monday -- Summer Chair and recently elected SA President Janos Marton '04 described the present state of the system as "a complete travesty."
Both Marton and Summer Vice Chair Steve Zyck '04 emphasized the immediate need to meet with students, the administration and Safety and Security to examine current problems within the system and possible solutions before another 3000 students must use the locks upon returning to campus next fall.
The Assembly also discussed potential ways to increase the '04 class' familiarity with the SA and its operations.
Marton highlighted the need for improvement by writing "48.8" in large letters on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom before the meeting.
That figure represents the percentage of Dartmouth students who identified themselves as unsure of what the SA accomplished last year by a SA Communications Survey conducted last spring.
Marton noted that a significant number of student organizations around campus that presently don't believe the SA has any benefit to them may eventually need to come to the Assembly for help -- but without understanding how the SA functions.
To alleviate this problem, Marton suggested conducting meetings with representatives of many student groups, with the indirect goal that some attendees might afterwards continue to participate in SA meetings.
"It can't hurt for every organization to have someone familiar with SA," he said.
Zyck also updated members on the status of the forthcoming Summer Student Directory -- an online resource aimed at allowing students to locate each other this term, when so many are living off-campus.
