Council Reps Talk Government At Chicago Student Convention

Two representatives from the Undergraduate Council returned to Harvard yesterday after trading insights with 200 students from 40 different colleges at a four-day conference held at the University of Chicago.

Brian R. Melendez '96 and Gregory S. Lyss '85 presented their own workshop on creating a student government and attended a series of committee meetings and discussions at the conference sponsored by the American Association of University Students (AAUS).

While Melendez made the presentation which traced the history of student governments at Harvard and explained the recent creation of the Undergraduate Council, Lyss visited several different workshops conducted by students from other schools.

The conference was held in an effort to set up a network of communication between student groups at different colleges and universities throughout the country, Jill Weisenfeld, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and a principal organizer for AAUS said yesterday.

Lyss said that although he visited a few interesting workshops on developing student ombudsmen and lobbying techniques, many did not have any practical signifies on the Harvard.

"These programs were not at all applicable to what could be done at Harvard since we don't have the same type of representation on administrative matters," he commented.

Penn Helps

But Lyss added that the presentation made by representatives from the University of Pennsylvania was especially informative. The topic of their program focused on a Student Committee for Undergraduate Education (SCUE), which Lyss said "has been able to work with the administration to help students and UPenn as a whole."

These lessons were especially helpful, Melendez said, because. "The problems we face now are how to stay on our feet," adding that he and Lyss thought the conference accomplished what it set out to do and that they would "recommend that the Council become permanently affiliated."