very year, during Student Assembly elections, dialogue shifts to how students can be best served. Each candidate comes up with his or her own platform, whether it be 7 points or none, on how to accomplish this. Both Vice Presidential candidates, Rahim and Anand, present ideas that are misdirected for accomplishment of this goal.

Rahim, along with his running mate Sevi, has proposed the most drastic plan for altering the Assembly. They have concluded that the Assembly needs to be completely dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up. While I appreciate the lively debate that such ideas create, it is irresponsible for anyone to call for the end of an established campus institution when they have little to no experience with it. The Assembly is not perfect, but reinventing the wheel will only result in a huge setback for all Dartmouth students. The Assembly can be most improved by working with the structure that already exists. In fact, if either Rahim or Sevi were involved in the organization they wish to lead, they would know that in the last meeting Dan Nelson (Dean of the College Office) discussed means for improving administrative ties. If the Assembly were destroyed, as they propose, all ties would be lost. Also, nowhere in their plan is student services mentioned. It is clear that services, which students value highly, are unimportant to them. This proves that Rahim’s lack of experience and misguided vision make him the wrong choice for Vice President.

Anand’s main idea is that the Student Assembly is not currently effective because its focus is too broad. If he asked, however, any student would tell him that SA is currently not doing enough to represent and serve them. While I think it is important for the Assembly to be thorough, if anything the Assembly should expand its purview. The Assembly has incredible resources at its fingertips; we need to take advantage of them to the fullest extent. I would offer more specific criticism of Amit’s new proposals, but his campaign has been devoid of any. For someone who claims to have a fresh perspective from two terms off, Amit’s lack of innovation suggests that those terms have only left him out of touch with the currently assembly and needs of students.

If you are interested in the specifics of my platform please read The Dartmouth’s election spread.