As student body president, my goals center on improving the day-to-day quality of life for Amherst students. The first thing I would like to do is to increase the transparency of the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) (i.e. making it more apparent to the student body what to expect from us). The current weekly announcements we receive are a good start but the Senate should continue to try to be as transparent as possible through face-to-face interactions. An example of this would include having a different member of AAS table once a week during dinner to field questions and ideas from classmates. It's through doing something like this that we can most easily find the issues that effect students on a daily basis and through this that I've had the opportunity to get my ideas for next year.

To begin, I would like to help the library, which devotes a great deal of time and money into student theses, and improve our DVD selection by donating 12-15 movies a semester. I would also like to have picnic tables to allow students to work outside during our beautiful fall and spring semesters.

On the issue of giving students money for projects, trips and independent research, very few of us know what it takes to get the money and how much to expect. One way to resolve this is putting together a pamphlet that outlines the process and the expected funding and/or adding a page on the Budgetary Committee Web site which contains this information.

Another issue to address is that of the "Amherst bubble" where many of us lose touch with the outside world. I will work to start a committee that works to make Amherst more aware of world events through prominent speakers (e.g. leaders from the CIA, Brookings Institute and other places on the Capitol). I've spoken with alums in all these areas that have expressed interest in speaking here, and with some student initiative, we will be able to increase Amherst awareness of current events along with adding to the prestige of the school.

Along with this, a large desire of the student body is to increase school pride and spirit. Since much of the reform in the 80s, many traditions have gone by the wayside. It's important to start new, meaningful traditions that we will remember and can pass on to Amherst students for years to come. One idea I have is to have a Winter Carnival to help make our winters more bearable and I would love to get feedback from SoCo and others on how to make this possible. The spirit week that AAS has recently initiated is definitely a great step in the right direction.

In the end, I believe that Amherst is a great school and we should make a proactive effort to make lasting changes that we can appreciate now and when we come back for reunions. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing us on top of Williams in U.S. News and World Report next year.