In this week’s Editorial, The Student would first like to say a few words in appreciation of the time and effort that the AAS put into organizing multiple late night dining options, either in Keefe or Val. We thank you for your dedication to the student body, and we feel that it would be most meaningful to our staff if we could extend our gratitude.

Second, The Student feels that Late Night Val is an impressive project for our student government to invest themselves in: they’ve stood as a shining example of the fruits of a collective student government effort, and they’ve all been hailed as great successes — students speak highly of them, they complement the increasingly nocturnal student lifestyle (and resulting late-night tummy rumbling). In short, they do a lot for our student community.

The buzz at Tuesday’s night Late Night Val was almost heart-warming — students came together from all corners of campus to enjoy time together on a busy school night. Events on campus, like speakers or movie screenings, rarely bring together such a large group of students as we saw on Tuesday — carefree, relaxed, catching up with friends, and enjoying each others’ company in a communal hall.

We believe that events like these open themselves as great community investments for our AAS dollars. Late Night Val serves students well and packs a large bang per buck. We at The Student believe that the AAS should continue to work with Val and invest to expand late night dining on a regular, perhaps weekly, basis. We would look forward to ways in which the AAS can sustain student-life traditions like this, much like the College’s officially funded Luau or Freshman Barbeque.

It’s when looking at the AAS’s possibilities for good, and examples of the many iconic AAS projects, that we feel students have much to be thankful for in our student government. Especially in the shadow of the AAS presidential election scandal, the collective gaze rests far too heavily on the blemishes of the AAS, while glancing past events like Late Night Val.

Few students recognize, let alone appreciate, the involvement of the AAS in certain activities. Even fewer students care, let alone know, the actual senators or community leaders who organize such events. We feel that it is a shame when the good of our institutions and peers goes unnoticed, only to serve as collateral damage in a public relations scandal of the less good.