Referendum

To the Editors of The Crimson:

It is an unpleasant surprise to hear that the artificial debate between "political" and "student" issues has been revived. I served on the Dowling College Governance Committee--which created the Undergraduate Council concept--as an elected student representative, so I am qualified to discuss "intentions of the founders."

As we saw the situation in 1980, the chief flaw of the old Student Assembly was its utter lack of power. As the Assembly was unrecognized, it had no formal access to administrators. It also lacked funding. Thus, there was nothing it could do for students, who then, logically, saw no reasons to support it.

The role of the Undergraduate Council, as seen by the Dowling Committee, would be to constructively wield its considerable power on behalf of student concerns. That is why we connected it with student-faculty committees, and why it was funded.

The Undergraduate Council should consider any issue brought to it by its constituents. Why arbitrarily limit the issues it can consider? The Dowling Committee structured the Undergraduate Council to allow flexibility. If an issue has no place in an existing committee, an ad-hoc committee can be appointed to examine it. Then, it is brought to the full council for a vote. If that issue is bizarre, useless, or irrelevant it will fail (or the constituents will vote their reps out of office for supporting it).

Rather than debating, "Is this a political or a student issue," debate two things: the merits of the issue, and whether the council can do something about it. The council should consult constituents; take a referendum if necessary. Then vote and move on. The Council was intended to actively work for students, not to get bogged down in technicalities.

I have set aside the specific issue of divestiture to make a general point. But I must say that, unlike baby seals, divestiture is of clear relevance to all Harvard-Radcliffe students. You may see it as a consumer issue--you pay tuition, and should have a say in where the money goes--or you may see it as a moral issue.

Is it something that the council can act on? Through the Endowment for Divestiture, by joining forces with other campus organizations, and through innovative methods it will invent, the council can undoubtedly have an effect.

Whatever your position on divestiture, I hope it is clear that there is nothing gained from excluding this or any other issues from consideration by the council.

The Undergraduate Council was designed to serve students in every conceivable way, and it has the power to do so. I urge you to use that power expansively. Natasha Pearl '82-'83