Vote for the Council

IT'S THAT SEASON again the campaign is heating up. But while speculation over whether or not Fritz and Gerry can get it together by November is all well and good, let's not forget there's a race even closer to home.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council will hold elections for representatives from each of the 13 Houses and four freshman districts in the dining halls this week. And heading into its third year this fall, the council, which is funded by a $10 charge on each student's term bill, has experienced a dramatic rise in candidates for its 88 seats, with 175 undergrads vying for spots. The rest of us could do well to take a cue from the increased enthusiasm of those who would be reps, and take the 90 seconds or so necessary to cast our votes.

The student organization has a number of achievements to which it can point. No longer the overambitious group that passed a resolution condemning Poland's imposition of martial law, the council has addressed such issues as student-faculty contact and library policy with some measure of effectiveness. In one of its most effective moves, the group successfully lobbied the College to preserve summer storage for undergraduates and in the last year it has begun a meal plan for students bringing faculty to the dining halls, gotten undergraduate library hours extended, won a meal plan for students remaining on campus for spring break, and granted funds to a number of student organizations.

On the agenda this year are a College-wide survey of student-faculty contact, continued scrutiny of the freshman housing lottery, and examination of overcrowding in the Houses.

Certainly, the council can benefit from a number of changes. Perhaps most problematic has been the tendency for many representatives to lose touch with the students they represent. Students this week should take care to pencil in the names of those who are most likely to work not only on the council floor, but also back in their Houses.

We all tacitly support the council--that is unless we waive the term-bill fee--and now is the time to make that support active. Vote.