Trustees connect to Tufts students during weekend gripefest

Although Saturday's student and faculty luncheon with the trustees was vastly more productive than the train-wreck of two years ago, many, if not most, of the concerns expressed are ones the trustees cannot directly address.

Nevertheless, it is still vital that the trustees hear such complaints, and act on ones held by many students.

The nature of the luncheons makes it difficult to prevent them from becoming, at times, a "gripefest" in which students complain about every aspect of Tufts both big and small. One trustee indicated that day to day student life concerns were not aspects that the body should be addressing.

But even if the trustees work little on actual solutions, they have the mandate and authority to advocate on behalf of students and pressure the administration to more effectively address concerns. As it stands, the only group doing this is the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and the administration at best only has to take the Senate's opinion under advisement.

A common topic for discussion at this year's luncheon was Tufts' increasingly restrictive social life. It is important that the trustees leave with a clear understanding of the discontent present in the student body. Many students believe administrative actions have caused the social scene to seriously deteriorate.

We have to trust that the administration is acting in what it feels are Tufts' best interests. Students' social activities bring serious legal and safety concerns -- as the lawsuits against MIT for a student's death showed -- as well as problems with neighbors. The trustees can push Tufts to create and fund solutions that keep students happy while addressing the problems caused by too rowdy a social life. Otherwise the administration might opt for answers that are easier or cheaper but much less popular.

Though the event was ostensibly successful, changes should be made to improve the representation of students at the meetings. Two years ago, the University tried to increase student access to the Trustees by having an "open mic" forum. The event was hijacked by students trying to get their point across by behaving uncivilly and disrespectfully towards the panel. Changes were implemented to ensure there would be no future "rogue" outbursts.

But in the attempt to more tightly control the decorum of the meetings, the luncheon has become too restrictive. The majority of the students who attended the invite-only event were involved with student government. While they are the student body's elected representatives, it would be myopic to believe that they represent the entire spectrum of thought. A sizable senate presence is justified, but the quality and credibility of the meetings would be improved if more students outside student government circles also attended.

Civil and respectful forums like the one held Saturday provide the trustees a great window into the lives of the students for whom they work so hard. Any changes that improve student access to the trustees while maintaining a high level of decorum would make them even more effective, and allow them to hear the student bodies problems and work together to discover solutions