Carson's tenure considered a success

A strong endorsement of support came from Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators for former TCU President Melissa Carson this week. Carson was forced to step down Monday for health reasons, taking a medical leave of absence from the University.

But despite having a shorter term than usual, many senators said that Carson has led a very successful senate body, working hard to reach out to students and senators alike.

The question of who will take Carson's place is still up in the air, as the topic will be debated at this Sunday's senate meeting. The senate will decide whether or not to retain the status-quo, with Vice-President Andrew Potts taking on the duties of president, or to go to a campus-wide election for a new president.

There is still much to do this year, with issues like off-campus housing, the Naked Quad Run, and the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience still on the senate's agenda.

Carson was able to fulfill one of her major campaign promises with the passage last week of a new bylaw requiring senators to attend meetings of student organizations. Campaigning last year Carson stressed the importance of the senate outreach with the student body and finding out their problems.

"We worked under a talented leader this year," sophomore senator Adam Koeppel said. "A solid thumbs up." Koeppel, like many senators, felt that the new bylaw was a major advance in senate outreach to students.

One senator, who was originally against the bylaw, said that Carson worked with him on a compromise, which enabled him to support the initiative.

"She created an ideal environment for the kinks to be worked out," senior senator Ted Schwartzberg said. Schwartzberg is now completely behind the bylaw, although he feels that there are still improvements that could be made.

Dean of Students Bruce Reitman was also supportive, saying that Carson "has been a very, very effective president." Through the hard work that Carson and other senators put in, Reitman said that it has helped to create a good relationship between the senate and the administration.

"The cooperation level... between the Office of Student Activities and [the Dean of Students Office] is at an all time high," he said.

Senior senator and former presidential candidate Alison Clarke said that she has liked the direction that the senate has taken this year and that it has come "very far." The senate should continue in the same direction, no matter who is in charge after this weekend, Clarke said.

The year was not entirely flawless for Carson. Last semester the senate was mired in an ugly dispute between members of the executive board and Vice-President Andrew Potts, who some charged was not fulfilling the duties of his position and attempted to remove him.

In the end result no action was taken, but the event showed that the senate was not as cohesive as previously thought. But senators said that although the attempted removal was by no means pleasant, it did not interrupt Carson's agenda for the year.

"That was kind of just a bump in the road for us," sophomore senator Rachel Marx said. "It didn't reflect at all on Melissa [Carson]."

Some of Carson's other campaign pledges proved more difficult to accomplish. She promised to work for more financial aid, a welcome back event for students returning from abroad, and free safety inspections for students living off-campus after a five-alarm house fire last year.

Progress was made on financial aid, with senators contributing to a review of the selections of candidates for the new financial aid director, according to Schwartzberg. "They are more aware of student interests than before," he said.

Off-campus housing has continued to be a problem, and it was only emphasized by the tragic fire that killed junior Wendy Carman. There was an increased push for a larger role for the Office of Off-Campus Housing (OCH), but beyond that nothing concrete was done.

This was not for lack of Carson trying, Schwartzberg said. "No matter how hard we try, the final decision rests with the administration," he said, referring to off-campus housing.

Reitman, though, said that off-campus safety issues didn't come up too much in his meetings with Carson before this semester's events.

According to Reitman, much more progress was made on the early release of lottery numbers for on-campus housing, and working with the senate on initiatives being put forward by the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience, all of which Carson was involved with.

Issues like off-campus housing, Koeppel said, "are just 'I want to be elected' issues," that senators and presidents have a hard time following through on. He said that if given a full term in office, Carson would have had a chance to work more on issues like off-campus housing.