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Would Male Voters Detract From RUS?

Some Members Want to Expand Female Base First

Miller said at the March 11 meeting thatincluding men would benefit RUS.

"Other minority organizations are strongerbecause they are inclusive, and admit everyone whoshares a common goal," he said.

But RUS member Ashwini Sukthankar '95disagrees.

"CLUCH seems to think opinions of women don'thave to do with who they are as women...Men cannever speak for women," she says.

On RUS member, who spoke on condition ofanonymity, says RUS serves an important symbolicfunction for many women, even if they do notattend meetings. She says women must have theirown voice on campus.

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"RUS would be really changed even if no menshowed up [to vote] because the possibility isalways there," she says. "I think [CLUCH members]are not looking at this in its whole [historical]context."

The Seventh Sense

Because RUS leaders feel that women still mustgrapple with distinctly "women's issues," such asdiscrimination, they hope other groups willsurface to complement RUS, representing women onmore political issues.

One women's group, in fact, has alreadymobilized since RUS officially decided to bepolitically neutral.

The Seventh Sense, a discussion group that hasbeen defunct since the middle of the fall term,has been revived and reformed by Suthankar andNicole Armenta '95. Armenta says that since RUSchanged its format, she and Sukthankar thought itwas important to resurrect the Seventh sense andto make it a more structured, more focused groupthan it used to be.

Armenta says instead of limiting the group'sactivities to discussions, she and Sukthankar nowwant to include activities and activist projectson its agenda.

"You can take more radical position and youdon't have to feel guilty," says Sukthankar."Seventh Sense will cater more to needs to womenwho choose to come" rather than to the needs ofall women, as RUS tries to do, she says.

The group will hold its first meeting tonightat 9 p.m. in Dudley House's Fireside Room.

Attracting More Members

Leaving the political issues to groups like theseventh Sense will allow RUS to focus onactivities that appeal to a broader spectrum ofwomen, leaders say.

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