was contacted about writing this article by The Free Press and told that each candidate would be given a forum to discuss “why the opponents they face are not deserving of the position.” A provocative prompt to be sure. But as a voter who is turned off by negative, dirty campaigning whenever I see it done in other elections, I refuse to sink to that level now that I am the candidate. Therefore, I will try not to attack my opponents personally or by name. I sincerely hope that they conduct themselves with the same amount of maturity and respect.

After being involved in the SA last term, it was clear to me that much could be done to improve our assembly. I’ve seen other Student Governments and I know how effective they can be. I know that it is possible for a Student Government to stand up for and be the voice of the students. Transferring to Dartmouth from a large state school, I was surprised (and to be honest, a little disappointed) that our Student Assembly is not nearly as effective as the Student Government at my old alma mater. This term I resolved to do something about that, to use my fresh perspective and outside experience to make positive changes for the Dartmouth community. Some have tried to attack me as a transfer student, but this is not only vicious, it is baseless. I need only point to the hundreds of companies and executives who constantly turn to consulting firms for an outside perspective. A fresh perspective is always a valuable thing in problem solving and in this election the problem is how to make SA the best, most effective Student Government it can be.

My opponents are what some would label “experienced” and what others would label “insiders” depending on where one sits. While I respect the time they have put into SA, it is clear that after all their time they weren’t able to affect the positive change so many students are crying out for. Maybe they did get a new BlitzMail computer in the Hop. No one is questioning that. But obviously they failed to institute a student voice that the administration either listens to or respects.

Aly Rahim, my running mate, and I have thought seriously about why they failed, and we’ve developed a 7-Point plan for building an effective Student Government. We aren’t giving you the rhetoric of improvement other candidates are. We aren’t running on generic statements. We’re giving you a solid plan that delineates each of the shortcomings we see in the current SA and lays out an effective mechanism for improvement. (Please blitz either Aly Rahim or me, Michael Sevi, for your copy.)

Why don’t my opponents have a plan? Do they think so little of the student body that they expect to win on mere platitudes? Or have they just been in the SA for so long that they no longer see how it can be improved? Maybe it’s time that we got someone in there with a little less insider experience and a lot more real world experience.