Coop's Board of Directors Is Chosen

Four Harvard undergraduates and three graduate students were among the 11 new directors of the Coop elected for the 1995-96 academic year, store officials announced this week.

"There are a lot of things I'd like to take care of," said Jon D. Caramanica '97, one of the newly elected directors. "I think a lot of people are focused on the rebate."

However, Larry W. Cheng '96 was more cautious.

"I think it would be premature for me to say I want to change anything," Cheng said. "People from the outside might have a lot of predispositions."

Turnout for the elections was low. Only 1,548, or 5.5 percent, of the 28,000 ballots mailed out were returned.

"I'm sure the focus of all 11 of us is going to be increasing the rebate, which means increasing the profits and eliminating the departments that don't work," Caramanica said.

"In an age when we have Tower and HMV two minutes away from the Coop, notmany people are shopping for music at the Coop,"he said.

"I think that there are certainly ways ofmaking [the Coop] better," said Daniel C. Allen'97, a newly elected member of the Coop board anda Crimson editor. "It couldn't be much worse."

Eugene Koh '97, another new member and aCrimson editor, said he hoped to make the Coopmore student-oriented.

"Student's feel they're getting screwed over bythe Coop," he said. "The main thrust behind [mycampaign] is to make the Coop more of aservice-oriented organization than a profit-drivenorganization."

"I am under the impression that some of thedepartments in the Coop are not performing well,and depending on financial status, I'd like toseriously consider doing away with some of thedepartments," Koh said.

"We don't need to buy toothpaste at theCoop--there is no need for the Coop to compete inthat market," he added.

Allen also said that the Coop has had problemsin accommodating students.

"The rebate system they had for books this yearseemed designed to make it difficult for studentsto take advantage of it," Allen said.

Michael S. Berk and Alberto Morel, both of theBusiness School's class of '96, won election tothe board. The third seat reserved for a HarvardUniversity graduate student seat was captured byLaw School and Kennedy School student Ray Ying.

Ying, a resident tutor in Quincy House, saidthat his familiarity with two graduate schools aswell as his affiliation with Quincy make him agood representative of student views.

"I get a good cross section of studentopinion," Ying said. "People are disappointedabout the lack of a rebate."

"I think the textbook rebate was more geared tostudents [than the general rebate was]." he said."They saw a bigger percentage of textbookpurchases."

Ying said he hopes to make the Coop morecompetitive.

"I'd like to make the Coop an attractive optionfor the students to go to again," he said. "I'dlike it to be a more general store that studentswould go to."

MIT students who won election to the board areJason P. Davis, David Garner, Howard Man and AntonC. Pil.

Pil, who served on the Coop board last year aswell, said that like Harvard students, MITstudents have a "pretty negative" view of theCoop.

"People have been really disappointed thatthey're hasn't been a rebate," Pil said. "There isa valid perception that the Coop doesn't cater tostudents' needs."

"We have to remember that the student membersaren't the only members of the Coop," he added."The rest of the Coop membership is much largerthan the student membership."

Pil also said that he liked the new textbookrebate implemented in the fall, and hopes tocontinue using it.

"The old [general] rebate system may have togo," he said. "I'm trying to figure out a rebatemore geared toward students."

Pil said he will also work to reform the Coop'selection process by changing the election so thatit does not coincide with students' springvacations.

Sarah J. Schaffer contributed to thereporting of this article.

"I think that there are certainly ways ofmaking [the Coop] better," said Daniel C. Allen'97, a newly elected member of the Coop board anda Crimson editor. "It couldn't be much worse."

Eugene Koh '97, another new member and aCrimson editor, said he hoped to make the Coopmore student-oriented.

"Student's feel they're getting screwed over bythe Coop," he said. "The main thrust behind [mycampaign] is to make the Coop more of aservice-oriented organization than a profit-drivenorganization."

"I am under the impression that some of thedepartments in the Coop are not performing well,and depending on financial status, I'd like toseriously consider doing away with some of thedepartments," Koh said.

"We don't need to buy toothpaste at theCoop--there is no need for the Coop to compete inthat market," he added.

Allen also said that the Coop has had problemsin accommodating students.

"The rebate system they had for books this yearseemed designed to make it difficult for studentsto take advantage of it," Allen said.

Michael S. Berk and Alberto Morel, both of theBusiness School's class of '96, won election tothe board. The third seat reserved for a HarvardUniversity graduate student seat was captured byLaw School and Kennedy School student Ray Ying.

Ying, a resident tutor in Quincy House, saidthat his familiarity with two graduate schools aswell as his affiliation with Quincy make him agood representative of student views.

"I get a good cross section of studentopinion," Ying said. "People are disappointedabout the lack of a rebate."

"I think the textbook rebate was more geared tostudents [than the general rebate was]." he said."They saw a bigger percentage of textbookpurchases."

Ying said he hopes to make the Coop morecompetitive.

"I'd like to make the Coop an attractive optionfor the students to go to again," he said. "I'dlike it to be a more general store that studentswould go to."

MIT students who won election to the board areJason P. Davis, David Garner, Howard Man and AntonC. Pil.

Pil, who served on the Coop board last year aswell, said that like Harvard students, MITstudents have a "pretty negative" view of theCoop.

"People have been really disappointed thatthey're hasn't been a rebate," Pil said. "There isa valid perception that the Coop doesn't cater tostudents' needs."

"We have to remember that the student membersaren't the only members of the Coop," he added."The rest of the Coop membership is much largerthan the student membership."

Pil also said that he liked the new textbookrebate implemented in the fall, and hopes tocontinue using it.

"The old [general] rebate system may have togo," he said. "I'm trying to figure out a rebatemore geared toward students."

Pil said he will also work to reform the Coop'selection process by changing the election so thatit does not coincide with students' springvacations.

Sarah J. Schaffer contributed to thereporting of this article.