Young Dems, YR's to Pick New Officers

Activity in Harvard's two major political clubs intensified last week as the year's most important business approached: the election of next year's officers.

The Young Republicans will meet in convention tomorrow night and the Young Democrats will convene Thursday night. Two sophomores are running for the YD presidency on similar platforms. There is only one slate of candidates announced for the YR contest.

Young Republican slate is headed by James W. Vaupel '67, candidate for president and by Charles K. Scott '67, candidate for vice-president. Vaupel proposed to move Harvard into the scope of the national Republican party's politics.

Platform calls for "speak-withs," Harvard discussion groups with national Republican leaders, for expanding the circulation of the Republican Review to include colleges throughout the country, and for issuing periodic YR policy statements to national Republican figures as well as to Harvard Republicans.

In addition to broadening the perspective of the Young Republicans--he wants to change the official title to the Harvard Republican Club -- Vaupel proposes an increase in the program to assist Massachusetts state legislators. His platform also calls for "tightening up" the club through better administration and for full support of a Political Union with the YD's under the auspices of the Kennedy Institute.

Because all candidates must be nominated from the convention floor tomorrow night, there is still the chance for opposition to arise to Valpel's slate. A few candidates on the slate believe that a second list of candidates, conservatives who command the final club vote, will emerge Wednesday night.

The mostlikely candidate to head this ticket, according to David L. McNicol '66, incumbent president, would be Fife Symington '68. Symington defeated Vaupel one year ago for Corresponding Secretary but resigned this fall after the YR executive committee tabled a motion to censure him for not attending meetings reguraly.

Although Symington denied Sunday that he was running, there is other evidence that there will be opposition to Vaupel, such as posters around campus predicting a "surprise for Wednesday." Also, James M. Johnson '67, final club member and Young Republican, said Sunday: "There will be opposition, but it would not be in the interests of those concerned, to reveal the candidates now."

Such opposition would gain levrage mainly from personal politics, which Vaupel opposes. "There's too much time spent cutting each other's throats on the YR's."

In the Young Democrats, the contest is more above-board and less personal. The two presidential candidates, Larry S. Seidman '68 and Jose Garcia-Pedrosa '68, agree on the main issues with only minor differences.

Seidman believes that a committee system is the most efficient way to organize all the club's activities, including the dinners, speaking engagements, and internship programs. Such a system, Seidman believes, will help revitalize the YD's by providing another source of leadership participation besides the executive committee.

Pedrosa supports a "comprehensive program" in which the committee system is not the best way to administrate club activities. "We must define our goals," he said, "then we will find the organization and manpower to move toward them.