Senate elects three trustee reps

The Tufts Community Senate (TCU) Senate elected seniors Raji Iyer, Matthew Kane, and Sarah Sandison as trustee representatives for the academic year yesterday. The three beat out the five other sophomores, juniors and seniors for the spots.

Although candidates run individually, the three tried to present themselves as a united front during the elections process.

"The three of us each were considering running for trustee reps, and decided that the best way for trustee reps to operate was by using a coordinated and united approach," explained Kane. "We all have very similar overarching goals."

"I couldn't be happier," said Iyer, "Sarah, Matt, and I have worked together in the senate and I know we'll work well together here too."

Trustee representatives are the liaisons between students and the Board of Trustees. The representatives attend all of the Senate meetings and report the actions and recommendations of the Senate to the Trustees at three meetings in November, February and May. At the May meeting, the representatives are responsible for a large-scale presentation during which they submit the major developmental and constructional proposals of the Senate.

The Board of Trustees is divided into three committees _ Academics, Development and Administration & Finance _ and one trustee representative sits on each committee. Iyer will sit on Academics, Kane on Administration & Finance and Sandison on Development.

In their election speeches, Iyer, Kane, and Sandison all said completing the third phase of the construction of the Mayer Campus Center was one of their goals. Each added a different twist to reflect the three trustee committees to which they could be elected, to ensure they would all be picked.

Phase three plans to extend the Campus Center into the space occupied by the Women's Center and the lawn next to Stratton Hall. The addition of an extra wing with an extra story would include a mid-sized performance center, a faculty dining hall and an expanded alumni center. They would also like Tufts to create a late-night healthy food stop, an on-campus pub, and find a room to house the Women's Center, which would be displaced if the Campus Center was expanded.

Kane called the Campus Center construction "one of two main prongs" the representatives hope to focus on this year. The second is increasing interaction between alumni and current undergraduates.

Increasing interaction is a non-monetary way to get alumni, especially those who recently graduated, involved in the University. Other schools, they said, foster a "family" network between alumni and students.

The three cited a "vicious cycle of dissatisfaction" that is the source of Tufts' problems. Unsatisfied students do not give back to the University after graduation, which keeps Tufts' endowment small and leads to more student dissatisfaction. They believe the third phase of the campus center and increased interaction with students are two concrete ways to increase the alumni giving rate.

The positions the three trustee representatives have on the Trustee committees will allow them to pursue their goals.

The Committee of Administration & Finances is responsible for approving the University's budget, commissioning construction and renovations on campus, and deciding how much to allocate to the school's various organizations.

The Committee on Academic Affairs deals with everyday life issues at Tufts, including faculty affairs. Iyer feels that improvements in faculty life, like a new faculty cafeteria in the campus center, will help decrease faculty turnover rates and improve Tufts' reputation.

The Development Committee's main concern is alumni relations and fundraising for the school. One of Sandison's ideas to help alumni relations is to establish "Tufts Target Cities." Initially focusing on cities such as Boston, New York and Washington, she hopes to create a nation-wide Tufts community to keep alumni connected to the school, thereby increasing the annual giving rate.

The Elections Board also announced yesterday that that freshman John Valentine was elected to the Senate last Thursday