Mad about Midd 'A Comedy of Errors'

Author: Dave Barker

If you like comedy, I hope you made it to the SGA candidate debate on Sunday. I wish someone had sent a tape to the Daily Show so Jon Stuart could feast on the many comical moments. The SGA has tackled important issues this year like transportation and textbooks with success, however, after listening in on the candidates, I am not sure whether to vote for one of them or write in Krusty the Clown.

The night offered plenty of the humorous and the unbelievable. First off, could the SGA set a dress code appropriate to a rural liberal arts campus? The business suites and pinstripes made me wonder if a few of the candidates had ambled over from Saturday's Rites of Spring formal or a Career Service's networking event for aspiring investment bankers.

Indeed, Rites of Spring seemed to be on everyone's mind as the candidates unanimously agreed on the need for seeing SafeRides through to its completion. SafeRides, the shuttle service initiated by this year's SGA, is a no-brainer, especially if the social scene continues to spread off campus. The only debate over improving the party scene turned into a nasty popularity contest. After one Community Council candidate was grilled on attendance at off-campus parties, another candidate responded: "I have significant social experience." Which begs the question: should being a party-animal and having friends off campus qualify you for student government?

The candidates for Student Co-Chair of Community Council (SCCOCC) leave me questioning the role of this branch of student government that serves as a liaison between students and the faculty, administration and staff. As one experienced SGA member told me, "Community council is the biggest waste of time ever." One of the candidates for SCCOCC admitted to having no agenda or platform. The candidate answered most of the questions with a few sentences, making me wonder what students can look forward to next year.

Another SCCOCC hopeful should have taken the cue of the tight-lipped candidate after rambling on about a need for campus-wide "Assassin" and Quidditch games. Calls for community building through co-commons events would qualify the candidate to be a commons co-chair-the organizers of such events-not SCCOCC. Current SCCOCC J.S. Woodward received widespread praise from the candidates for his commitment over the past two years. Next year's co-chair will have to grow bigger feet before being able to fit into Woodward's shoes.

Filling SGA President Eli Berman's shoes will take work as well. Thankfully, the candidates didn't throw around the usual pie in the sky promises of printers in dorm lounges or "get out of finals free" cards. One candidate came close with talk of "Sunday Dunch"-a meal that would be served between 2 and 5 p.m. on Sundays to build community.

Having spent a semester in Spain, I love the idea, but at Middlebury, students split from brunch to their favorite chair in the library on Sundays. The other candidate displayed masterful rhetoric skills and tried to convince the audience of a "love for the SGA."

I am skeptical: can you really love spending hours e-mailing and attending meetings? Being a president or co-chair has to be one of the most thankless positions on campus. You compromise your social life and see your grades slip while debating legislation that rarely satisfies everyone. I hope that whoever wins on Friday will steer far from the theatrics of Sunday night.