Candidates for the Class of 2011 Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate seats gathered last night in the Sophia Gordon Hall multi-purpose room to present their platforms and views on select topics. The event was monitored by TCU Elections Commission (ECOM) members junior Anjali Nirmalan, junior Nick Horelik and sophomore Hunter Kopald.
Ten candidates are running for nine seats. All of the candidates gave one-minute opening statements, were randomly chosen to answer questions posed by ECOM, and gave two-minute closing statements.
The candidates for the Class of 2011 Senate seats are Chas Morrison, Ryan Heman, Edward Chao, Molly Moulton, Samuel Wallis, Daniel Pasternack, Kaitlyn Simon, Lauren Levine, Lucas Schlager and Shabazz Stuart.
The candidates reached a general consensus that a viable escort service, more student involvement in campus activities and improvement of school systems and facilities were among the most important issues.
The moderators asked five different questions. Each candidate was randomly chosen to answer two of the questions.
Stuart responded to a question about candidate plans for student concerns regarding residential life, the housing lottery and the quality of dorm life by citing that "only 37 percent of Tufts students can actually say they are satisfied with their common room." He also said that the demand for a better housing system is clear.
Stuart also stressed the need to improve common rooms to create a sense of community, and suggested creating a "house" dorm system similar to those at Yale University or Harvard University. Furthermore, Stuart said that a single person should be accountable for creating a new master housing plan and directing residential life.
Moulton described her personal frustration with the housing lottery as well as her concern about Wren Hall being the only place where sophomores can live in suite-style housing. She said that there is a disconnect between underclassmen who live downhill and upperclassmen who live uphill.
Additionally, Moulton said that there should be a student representative to work directly with Director of Residential Life and Learning Yolanda King and the Office of Residential Life and Learning to improve the existing system.
Chao also suggested that a different housing system would be more conducive to creating a sense of community, such as the house systems of peer schools.
Levine said that there is no excuse for what she considers the poor quality of residential life at Tufts. She said the student body and the Senate need to work harder to show the administration that the issue is a top priority.
"This is going to be a hard process," Levine said. She stressed that advocacy on students' behalf is important, and was optimistic that the administration would respond.
Candidates were asked how they plan to improve student safety and address the serious issue that has emerged after several violent crimes occurred on and around campus.
Simon believes that a key component of campus safety is "having an escort service that's out of [Tufts University Police Department (TUPD)]," explaining that the current system will not shuttle students to an off-campus location.
Simon said students are uncomfortable calling for a TUPD escort when they have been drinking, arguing that this issue should be addressed more realistically as underage drinking is unavoidable.
Wallis also cited the need for a student-run escort service independent of the TUPD. He emphasized the need for "striking a balance" so that TUPD is helping to protect students but not inhibiting social life.
Wallis believes that asking for more police is not asking for more police restriction of student social activities but, rather, for more effective protection services.
Morrison praised TUPD, but believes that it has "fundamentally misplaced its primary goal," which is to protect the campus, not break up parties at fraternity houses.
He also believes that a TUPD-run escort service is vulnerable, especially because during times of emergency, the police are at the scene of violence and unable to provide escort services.
Pasternack, who is also an assistant news editor at the Daily, remarked that "we have to look out into the community" of Medford of Somerville to deal with the recent security problems as well as expand the blue light programs.
Heman said that it is unacceptable to have even a single violent or criminal incident involving Tufts students. He also recommended an escort service and increased TUPD patrols without more infringement on social life.
Another question related to how the Senate can help improve student life on campus, using increased funding for club sports and renovations in Hotung Café as examples of previous improvements.
Morrison answered by saying "the single biggest problem ... is the lack of community."
Instead of promoting community in a top-down sense, like when resident advisors spend funds for hall activities, Morrison argued that funding should be used to invest in the common rooms themselves, providing televisions, video games and other improvements to make public spaces that promote student interaction.
Pasternack cited his experience working with Stuart and Morrison to visit different schools in Boston to compile a report on their common room situations.
"The common rooms are a big, important part of the Tufts social life, and I think simple changes with that would make a great difference," Pasternack said.
Schlager advocated for more Senate surveys, saying that "student input is really what's necessary here."
One question addressed whether candidates believe that Tufts has a lack of identity or image problem, and whether Tufts' reputation needs to be improved in the public arena.
Schlager was optimistic about Tufts' public image. "I personally don't feel that Tufts has an image problem ... Tufts is a college in transition," he said.
Schlager said that Tufts is neither a small liberal arts college nor a large research university, and that it is up to the students to decide what direction the school takes and what identity Tufts has.
Heman said name recognition is important.
"By just putting our name out there as Tufts we can become a bigger image," Heman said.
He emphasized that Tufts and Tufts' students need not change fundamentally. Instead, he said that the Tufts brand needs to be promoted more effectively and that Tufts needs to "just be
less modest."
Simon said that Tufts' image in the public arena is the responsibility of everyone affiliated with Tufts and the larger school community to promote, while the Senate "needs to focus more locally" on student life and get students
more involved.
Wallis said students can take charge in furthering Tufts'
reputation.
"Fulfilling the image that we were promised coming here is really crucial," he said. Wallis said that the university needs to do more to facilitate students' use of Boston as a resource and recreational destination.
The final question asked what candidates thought of university-sponsored events and whether more are needed.
Chao said that "not necessarily more quantity of events but more quality of events" is important. He said that there should be more coordination between the events.
Chao also advocated for more collaboration between the Class Councils and the Senate on programming.
