On-Core

THE COLLEGE'S DECISION last week to continue the long-standing policy of unlimited summer storage came as an immense relief to undergraduates. The most important result of the College's change of heart is the removal of the threat of inconvenience and extra costs to students. But the broader significance of last week's announcement lies in the promise it offers the Undergraduate Council--the prime mover behind the change for becoming an effective-force in College life.

The council scored its first major victory by providing College officials with a workable solution to the storage dilemma. By launching an intensive research effort into available campus space and negotiating with officials face-to-face instead of through empty resolutions, the new student government was able to head off the misguided storage plan, even though the decision was all but final in administrative circles. Council leaders demonstrated that student concerns can be heard and accommodated if they are backed by research and reasoning. In short, the council set a precedent for stellar representation.

But it should not stop there. The council should now look for other ways to improve undergraduate life in the same decisive manner. As with storage policy a month ago, officials are currently reviewing another important issue without soliciting broad student input the final approval of the Core Curriculum; at its fifth anniversary. With its new momentum, the council should pour all possible effort into a project it has already begun--a focused campaign to ensure that widespread student concerns are heard and the Core appropriately modified.

Although council representatives serve on the subcommittees discussing the Core, so far there has been no broad-based effort to voice common undergraduate concerns. The governing body could and should survey these concerns and then make suggestions clearly and definitively. The Faculty will probably wind up its review early next month, input or no input, the council, therefore, would do well to assemble a comprehensive report of the most common objections, whether they be a desire for more survey courses or complaints about undue constriction.

The council's storage report revealed that College officials had not adequately researched storage space on campus. A well-reasoned and well-researched proposal for Core reforms will similarly demonstrate the value of student opinion. Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky earlier this month termed a council sponsored forum on the Core, attended by a mere 40 students "as good a discussion" as the issue had had. It's not difficult to see how a comprehensive report could catch eyes and open ears.

Not all the council's energies need to be focused on a single issue. In the future, representatives can similarly address student concerns on issues such as demographic disparities and the housing lottery; flaws in campus security; problems at University Health Services; and conflicts in nonresident housing policy. But for now one successful research push would help replace a tradition of ineffectiveness with the indelible mark of hard work.