News
Candidates for student body president and vice president presented their platforms to a modest crowd gathered in Tindle Lounge last night, focusing on their visions for a more influential student voice.
Five presidential hopefuls -- Eric Bussey '01, Tara Maller '03, Janos Marton '04, Karim Mohsen '03, and Michael Perry '03 -- as well as vice-presidential candidates Stephanie Bonan '03 and Julia Hildreth '05 came together to speak and answer questions at the Student Assembly's annual Speech Night as the campaign period entered its final week.
The event, held before a crowd that increased gradually to around 30 students by the end of the evening, also featured remarks from candidates for president and vice president of the Classes of 2003 and 2005.
While a desire to increase student input on campus decisions was a common aspect of the platforms presented by all the candidates, the proposed solutions to the perceived problem diverged widely.
Maller, the first of the presidential candidates to speak, called attention to last night's low attendance as a sign that Student Assembly must do a better job of "making students interested" in the Assembly.
"It's important for a president not only to be a strong leader, but also a strong advocate," she said.
Marton said that the Assembly had become a "soft and complacent" organization where an excessive emphasis on committees have "made Student Assembly a joke to many people on campus."
To reinvigorate the Assembly, Marton proposed passing a smaller number of "well-researched resolutions" that would command greater attention from administrators and which would be more visible to students.
Mohsen labeled the Assembly "a bunch of people not accountable to anyone," and argued that the solution to the "disconnect" between Assembly members is to have representatives elected to serve constituencies based around residential halls.
Looking for a solution within the current system, Perry called for "campus-wide conversations on large issues" to better involve students in the decision-making process, while Bussey advocated "a complete restructuring of Student Assembly" by expanding membership to all Dartmouth students, who would participate in referendums on major campus issues.
"I want universal suffrage," he said.
