Direct Election Of U.C. Exces. Seems Probable

With all but 11 votes in, the Undergraduate Council will likely vote to institute direct elections by students for its president and vice president.

Because changes to the council's constitution require the support of 75 percent of all council members, those who did not vote must be contacted before the vote is final.

At press time, 46 members had voted for the bill and 11 had voted against, with 11 votes outstanding.

A recent poll taken by the council shows strong popular support by students for direct elections. Sixty-eight percent of students said they favored direct elections and 22 percent said they opposed them.

The bill would change the council's constitution to read: "The executive officers shall be a President and a Vice-President who shall be elected by the student body; and a Secretary and Treasurer who shall be elected by the Council."

The bill was sponsored by council President Joshua D. Liston '95, David M. Hanselman '94-'95, and Campus Life Committee Co-chair Rudd W. Coffey '97 in order to enhance the council's credibility with students and administrators.

"This is why I ran for president in the first place," Liston said. "Under the current system, when I talk to administrators as president, I have very little credibility because I do not represent the student body."

Hanselman said popular elections could alsohelp to reduce the apathy that students feeltoward the council.

"Popular elections will galvanize students,make them informed and interested," Hanselmansaid.

Three amendments to the bill were passed--torequire a spending cap for campaigns, to stipulatethat candidates must be council members, and toestablish year-long terms for the president andvice president. All three amendments were proposedby Treasurer Brian R. Blais '96 and FinanceCommittee Chair Robert M. Hyman '98.

Council members who oppose the bill said theywere concerned that a popular campaign would getaway from important issues.

"Popular elections will get us the bestpromise-makers and poster-designers," saidJonathan P. Feeney '97, co-chair of the campuslife committee.

Hanselman said Liston's presidential campaign,in which he distributed position papers to allundergraduates, could serve as a model for anissue-oriented popular campaign.

"He did a simple position paper, not big flashybanners stretching from one end of the Yard toanother," Hanselman said.

Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 said she opposed thebill because popular elections would not providethe kind of contact with students that the councilneeds.

"We need legitimation year round, not just oncea year," Haynes said. "We need more studentcontact year round to get legitimation for thecouncil."

Council Secretary David S. Goodman '96 saidpopular elections would increase interest in thecouncil by making students feel more responsiblefor council officers.

"People don't care now," Goodman said. "Theydon't have responsibility for what officers do.They can look at them and say, 'Look how bad theyare, ha, ha.' If they've voted for the officers,they'll have some stake in what happens."

Student Affairs Committee Chair Randall A. Fine'96 said he opposed the bill because students willnot be able to make informed choices.

"The spending cap [on campaigns] will only geteach student one piece of paper telling about eachcandidate," Fine said. "You can't really knowabout a candidate from one piece of paper."

If the bill fails, students will have theopportunity to vote on popular elections in areferendum next week

Hanselman said popular elections could alsohelp to reduce the apathy that students feeltoward the council.

"Popular elections will galvanize students,make them informed and interested," Hanselmansaid.

Three amendments to the bill were passed--torequire a spending cap for campaigns, to stipulatethat candidates must be council members, and toestablish year-long terms for the president andvice president. All three amendments were proposedby Treasurer Brian R. Blais '96 and FinanceCommittee Chair Robert M. Hyman '98.

Council members who oppose the bill said theywere concerned that a popular campaign would getaway from important issues.

"Popular elections will get us the bestpromise-makers and poster-designers," saidJonathan P. Feeney '97, co-chair of the campuslife committee.

Hanselman said Liston's presidential campaign,in which he distributed position papers to allundergraduates, could serve as a model for anissue-oriented popular campaign.

"He did a simple position paper, not big flashybanners stretching from one end of the Yard toanother," Hanselman said.

Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 said she opposed thebill because popular elections would not providethe kind of contact with students that the councilneeds.

"We need legitimation year round, not just oncea year," Haynes said. "We need more studentcontact year round to get legitimation for thecouncil."

Council Secretary David S. Goodman '96 saidpopular elections would increase interest in thecouncil by making students feel more responsiblefor council officers.

"People don't care now," Goodman said. "Theydon't have responsibility for what officers do.They can look at them and say, 'Look how bad theyare, ha, ha.' If they've voted for the officers,they'll have some stake in what happens."

Student Affairs Committee Chair Randall A. Fine'96 said he opposed the bill because students willnot be able to make informed choices.

"The spending cap [on campaigns] will only geteach student one piece of paper telling about eachcandidate," Fine said. "You can't really knowabout a candidate from one piece of paper."

If the bill fails, students will have theopportunity to vote on popular elections in areferendum next week