Student Assembly Mentions

It is only because I care about SA that I wrote this in The D today:

The Demise of a True Believer
By Nathan Bruschi '10

I was one of those “true believer” freshmen: excited, idealistic and eager as ever to do whatever work was thrown at me. I didn’t just drink the Kool-Aid, I guzzled it. I got involved through the “freshmen cohort” during the Andreadis impeachment affair and in its aftermath wound up the Assembly’s secretary. It was an exciting, if time-consuming, job: lots of gossip and exclusive meetings. It was like Gawker for Dartmouth administrative politics. At my term’s end, I thought I’d give it another go-round and was elected treasurer, the Assembly CFO and second in line to the presidency. This past spring I was reelected, but quietly resigned instead. Let me explain why. Keep Reading

Course Guide Mentions:

College responds to Forbes.com rankings

Forbes ranks Dartmouth 127th

While no Dartmouth organization tracks usage of Ratemyprofessors.com, interviews with several students suggest that undergraduates at the College do not frequently visit the site. “I’ve never even heard of it,” Bari Wien ‘10 said. Students said they believed the Student Assembly Course Guide is a more accurate representation of the quality of Dartmouth professors.

Regarding Finances:

The Undergraduate Finance Committee gave Dartmouth’s Student Assembly $85,000 on Tuesday for its budget for the upcoming year, which is $10,000 more than the committee allocated to the Assembly last year. Former Student Body President Travis Green ‘08, who chaired the committee this term, attributed the budget increase to the detailed budget proposal submitted by current Student Body President Molly Bode ‘09. The Assembly, in its last meeting of the term Tuesday night, voted to allocate $5,000 of the UFC-provided budget for the Summer Assembly’s use. Keep Reading

Bode Assumes Presidency Early

From The Dartmouth

Green ‘08 passes presidency to Bode ‘09

Outgoing Student Body President Travis Green ‘08 and Vice President Ian Tapu ‘08 resigned their positions Tuesday so that newly elected President Molly Bode ‘09 and Vice President Nafeesa Remtilla ‘09 could take office over a month earlier than in previous years.

Tapu resigned first, which allowed the Assembly to elect Bode as the new vice president, which they did unanimously. Green then resigned, which caused Bode to become president, vacating the position of vice president. Remtilla was subsequently voted in, again unanimously, as vice president. Keep Reading

Travis's decision to resign early was unprecedented, but allowed Molly to to more smoothly transition her leadership, a problem that has plagued assemblies in the past. Let the record show that was I the one who nominated Molly. As the organizer of the event, I'd like to thank everyone who came.

In case you missed election news coverage, here's another article from The Dartmouth

Bode ‘09 triumphs in SA election

Molly Bode ‘09 and Nafeesa Remtilla ‘09 were elected president and vice president, respectively, of Student Assembly in landslide victories, the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee reported Wednesday evening. Keep Reading

Additional Thanksgiving Buses

over blitz:

Hey Everyone,

Due to the popularity of the NYC Bus Program there will be two additional buses traveling. One of the buses will leave from Hanover at 11:00 am and arrive in NYC at 4:00 pm. The second additional bus will leave NYC at 2:00 pm and return to Hanover at 7:00 pm. Tickets for these additional buses will be sold at Collis Common Ground from 12pm – 2pm on a first come first serve basis tomorrow (Friday, November 9 2007). Once again only cash, checks, and DA$H will be accepted. Come early because the tickets will sell out fast! If you can't make when sales start and need a ticket, it is strongly recommended that you find someone to wait in line for you. See previous blitzes for any additional details and questions.

-Student Assembly

The Dartmouth Moose Helps at Blood Drive

Helping outside the Hop


The Moose helping the poor, fallen blood drop.


"Moose ears" at Lou's

From The Dartmouth:



Campus blood drive aims for 300 pints

'Blackboard' has secretive tracking system

We've been working on this issue for a while or so.

From The Dartmouth:

Students who have learned about the tracking features, however, are calling for more public and more widespread notification. David Nachman ‘09, vice president of the [Academic] Affairs Committee, said that he discovered the existence of the tracking features by reading about student controversy over the issue in the Brown Daily Herald. He was concerned that many students did not know that they were being tracked and also that such actions could violate Dartmouth’s computing privacy policy.

“I feel that students should at least be warned,” Nachman said. “I don’t know if this literally violates the policy, but I do think that it violates the spirit of the policy.” keep reading

Assembly takes on Novack redesign

From The Dartmouth:

Potential renovations of Novack Cafe were among the topics discussed during Tuesday’s Student Assembly meeting. Meisha Smith ‘09, a student coordinator of the effort, explained that a meeting is planned between Student Assembly representatives, Facilities Operations and Management and librarians in charge of the Novack space.

The effort, a potential fulfillment of one of Student Body President Travis Green ‘08’s campaign promises, would seek to make the area more student-friendly and aesthetically pleasing by replacing worn out furnishings. This might translate to reupholstering couches and benches, replacing tables, providing decorations and investing in a new paint job, according to Smith.

She also said that they were considering a “Starbucks-style” theme, but added that she would be happy to receive suggestions from the student body. keep reading

GA Minutes 6 Nov 07

A presentation on Class Divide was made by Margaret Lawrence and Daniella Sloane. The General Assembly then discussed plans to renovate Novack Cafe in Berry. The point was made that there is a lack of dissention in GA and a forum was held to discuss assembly procedure and brainstorm ways to allow GA to have a greater role in shaping legislation and leading executive projects.

GA Minutes 30 Oct 07

Proposal to Fund the Student/Faculty Lone Pine Tavern Event
Proposed by Corey Chu ’08, David Nachman ’09, and the Academic Affairs Committee

WHEREAS improving interaction between students and professors is a central goal of the Academic Affairs Committee;

WHEREAS focusing on student/faculty relations was a goal of the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, which was started by the Assembly in Fall 2001, and which continues to serve as a framework for Student Assembly’s academic efforts;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee believes that holding an event where students and professors can meet each other in a casual environment would be an effective way of improving student/faculty interaction;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee has been working with the Collis Governing Board to develop a student/faculty event to be held in Lone Pine Tavern, whose programming is overseen by the Collis Governing Board, which will be held in mid-November;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee and the Collis Governing Board have agreed to split the cost of the event evenly, should it be approved by the General Assembly;

WHEREAS the current plan for the event has an estimated cost of up to $600;

WHEREAS the Collis Governing Board has agreed to fund the event up to $300;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Academic Affairs Committee work with the Collis Governing Board to hold a student/faculty interaction event in Lone Pine Tavern;

LET IT BE FINALLY RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate up to $300 to fund the event.

GA Minutes 23 Oct 07

GA discussed Course Guide maintenance and incentive programs to boost responce rates. The SA website will soon be redone and updated and people interested in helping were encouraged to contact the Academic Affairs Committee. The Student Life committee will be organizing a mock COS trial to display how the process works.

No legislation was presented.

GA Minutes 16 Oct 07

Resolution to Fund and Support the Thanksgiving and Winter Break New York City Bus Service
Sponsored By: Uthman Olagoke’11, Sam Epstein’11, and the Student Services Committee

WHEREAS hundreds of Dartmouth Students travel to New York City each interim via public transportation;

WHEREAS the current fastest public transportation to New York City takes approximately 10 hours, costs above $75 each way, and involves multiple layovers and transfers;

WHEREAS last year Student Assembly organized a private bus service for Dartmouth Students going to New York City;

WHEREAS the service sold out 5 buses (275 seats) during the first two hours of sale, and eventually all seats last fall;

WHEREAS Student Assembly has received an overwhelmingly positive response about this service from many members of the Dartmouth Community;

WHEREAS there have been numerous inquiries to the Student Assembly Blitz Account regarding the continuation of this program this term;

WHEREAS the ticket prices of $40 each ticket each way will cover all charter cost of the buses;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly charter eight 55-passenger buses from Premier Coach Co.;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the Student Services Committee undertakes the responsibility of managing and organizing the program;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that Student Assembly subsidize the chartering of the buses until the money can be returned to the account;

LET IT BE FINALLY RESOLVED that Student Assembly support and publicize the New York City Bus Service in its current iteration.

Passed by call for acclimation without dissent.


Proposal to Fund and Support the Laptop Voucher Program
Sponsored By: Zach Mason ’10, Neil Kandler ’09, and the Student Services Committee

WHEREAS Computer Sales and Service’s laptop loaning program was created to provide student with rental laptops when their own computer is in need of warranty repair;

WHEREAS the loaning program has been both beneficial to and well-received by Dartmouth undergraduates;

WHEREAS Computer Sales and Service has historically charged $15 for the first day of rentals and $10 each day after;

WHEREAS this cost of renting a computer can prove burdensome if a student must use the program for a prolonged period of time;

WHEREAS many students have approached Student Assembly about the high cost of the loaning program;

WHEREAS Computer Sales and Services has agreed to lower the price to $10 for each voucher instead of charging $15;

WHEREAS the program was extremely successful the past two terms;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly continues to support the Laptop Voucher Program to address the demonstrated needs of students;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that Computer Sales and Services keeps the vouchers and gives them to Dartmouth Undergraduates who have checked in their computer for repair and would like to rent a replacement;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that each voucher is good for one day of rental and each student can request a maximum of three vouchers per term for his/her own use;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that each student can only be entitled to a voucher when his/her computer is being repaired by Computing Sales and Services and he/she needs to loan a laptop;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOVLED that after the 3-day voucher limit, students would have to pay $10 for each day of additional rental;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that Student Assembly advertise this program;

LET IT BE FINALLY RESOLVED that Student Assembly allocates up to $2500 for the Laptop Voucher Program, for the rest of the Fall 2007, Winter 2008, and Spring 2008.

Passed by call for acclimation without dissent


Proposal to Fund the Pangea Program
Sponsored by the Diversity and Community Affairs Committee

WHEREAS one of the Diversity and Community Affairs Committee’s goals is to promote unity on the Dartmouth campus;

WHEREAS the Pangea program groups diverse organizations and encourages them to collaboratively plan an event promoting unity;

WHEREAS representatives from the organizations will discuss common interests and strengthen ties within the Dartmouth community;

WHEREAS this summers Pangea successfully brought together eight organizations who would not otherwise have worked together, providing opportunities for future networking;

WHEREAS finances allocated to this program will be used for implementing each of the collaboratively planned events;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly allocate up to $3000 to fund the Pangea program.