According to members of the Student Assembly Executive Committee, President Nicole Artzer stepped outside her bounds by attempting to undermine a vote that called for a boycott of Dartmouth Dining Services. Artzer is accused of persuading DDS officials to end their dialogue with the Assembly until after the boycott, which Artzer opposed and expects to flop. The details of her alleged actions are unclear. Artzer's opponents say she took matters into her own hands and at tonight's meeting, they threaten her with removal from office.
The matter could appear simple: the continued functioning and integrity of the student governing body would be upheld through the expulsion of the recalcitrant president. That would make sense if this Assembly's integrity had not been travestied long ago by political infighting, which has ensured the neglect of real student concerns.
The Executive Committee's intention is dubious. Artzer and members of the conservative Reform SA! faction have clashed in the past. Impeachment is too severe and capricious a punishment for Artzer's recent actions - if they merit punitive measures at all. And the legitimacy of the threat is further destroyed by the all-too apparent motives of Vice President Steve Costalas, who would ascend to the presidency.
The Executive Committee members admit they have "struggled" to work with Artzer since the beginning of Fall term. Why should she be singled out for expulsion, and not the power-hungry cabal? Artzer has the arduous task of working with newly curtailed powers and a hostile Assembly. Should she resign or be removed from office, the Assembly would culminate its long-running parody of student representation with a grand burlesque finale. Costalas and other members of Reform SA! must not be given tacit approval to impeach a president on political grounds. The Assembly must stop aping student government and start serving the students who elected it.
