Last night's presidential nomination meeting marked the first gathering of next year's Tufts Community Union Senate and the official end of the 2000-2001 term. Under the leadership of President David Moon, this year's focus shifted more to lobbying the administration than previous senates, but continued the trend of bypassing traditional methods such as passing resolutions that demand or declare positions to the University.
In their year-end addresses, Senate committee chairs spoke about the flurries of change that occurred on campus this past academic year. But the single most significant achievement in many people's eyes was the board of trustees' decision that a new dormitory should be built.
The Senate has pushed for the new dorm since last year, and the board made its decision after hearing proposals from Trustee Representative Jesse Levey and Vice President of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Mel Bernstein. Levey argued that the University needs a 300-bed dorm, while Bernstein said that 150 beds were enough.
The trustees approved the dorm project and, while not specifying the size, did set 150 beds as the minimum. The administration will present its final proposal at next month's trustee meeting, but Levey has already expressed reservations about its preparedness.
The Senate has experienced success this year in several lobbying efforts, including the elimination of disciplinary and Tufts Emergency Medical Services fines, the creation of the Student Health Advisory Board, changes in student parking policies, and the use of detail officers to monitor parties.
Throughout this year, Moon purposefully contrasted his Senate to Larry Harris's 1999-2000 Senate. He ran on a platform to cut Senate bickerering and egos - problems that created a public relations nightmare last year. For Moon, this shift marked a fundamental change in governance.
"What I wanted to try was something very different than what had been done in the past, and I would even venture to call it an experiment in campus politics," Moon said in his state of the Senate address last Tuesday, at the final full meeting of the 2000-01 Senate.
To Moon's credit, there have been a number of visible differences between this year and last. The continued public criticisms between the Senate and the TCU Judiciary have subsided, the number of Viewpoints by senators in the Daily has significantly decreased, and the continued chiding of public figures that was rampant last year has seemingly vanished.
Also in contrast to former administrations was the absence of issues that could anger or alienate students. Past Senate actions that drew widespread criticism, such as the construction of the campus center patio and last year's full-page advertisements to publicize the Senate's work, were avoided.
Placing televisions in Dewick-MacPhie presented the only major Senate-centered controversy. But that issue began last spring - before the current Senate convened - and stemmed more from the work of Dining Services than the Senate. While the Senate Services Committee was involved in the initial discussion, it was also integral in mediating talks between concerned students and Director of Dining Services Patti Lee Klos.
One thing that didn't much change this year was the acclaimed work of the treasury. Under Treasurer Michele Shelton, the Senate did not receive any appeals from student groups unhappy with how their funding needs were met. The treasury also balanced the budget for the first time in at least five years, erasing an $8,000 deficit left over from last year.
Shelton, with Budget Coordinator Frank Nocito, also changed banks this year, allowing Student Activities Fee accounts to collect interest for the first time ever. These initiatives will help the surplus grow instead of shrink, as it has in the past few years.
"This may not seem like a lot right now, but this extra growth can be added to the Buffer, Capital Expenditure, or New Group funds," Shelton said. "Our surplus can see real growth in future years."
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SIDEBAR
Soundbites from last Tuesday's Senate meeting:
"This was an A week."
- Outreach Committee Chair Paul Fridman
"We have managed to be a productive and efficient committee despite our conflicts."
- Administration and Budget Committee Chair Jill Bier
"It's hard to get done, and not very rewarding."
- Education Committee Chair Abbey Wilson
"I declare the issue of soap and paper towels officially finished."
- Services Committee Chair Melinda Coolidge
"The trustees are very old and very wealthy and very white."
- Trustee Representative Adam Carlis
"As a whole it was a good year."
- Trustee Representative Alethea Pieters
"We worked as a unit."
- Vice President Eric Greenberg
"ALBO has gone above and beyond the goals for the year."
- Treasurer Michele Shelton
"I wasn't quite sure if I was going to be able to pull off what I had envisioned."
-President David Moon
