Haynes #1, Nelson #2 for President; Price for V.P.

We urge undergraduates to rank Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 number one and Eric M. Nelson '98 number two for Undergraduate Council president, and Mark A. Price '98 number one for vice president, in the ordered ballot they will access by logging into fas and typing "ucvote." While in most elections it would be inappropriate to rank preferences, the novel system that will be used in this week's Undergraduate Council presidential election, held on-line today, tomorrow and Wednesday, leads us to make a two-tiered endorsement. While both Haynes and Nelson have impressive records--each has shown an ability to work successfully with students, faculty and administrators--Haynes has the experience and perspective to lead the council most effectively.

To begin with, Haynes is a junior with two years behind her on the council. She has proved herself as a councillor who can address serious, complicated issues and achieve tangible results. For two years, she has been instrumental in the planning of the Levenson Awards Banquet, which annually honors excellent teachers of undergraduates. Haynes was an active advocate for safety before it was a "hot" issue and achieved concrete results, such as blue-light phones. Her calls for better first-year advising, improvements to the Office of Career Services and even cable television in the dorms reflect an understanding of student concerns. Additionally, her performance at last week's debates indicated that she knows how to get things done. While the candidates were busy mentioning how they can better work with Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68, she made one of the evening's most insightful comments--that getting things done often requires bypassing Lewis.

Nelson's outstanding record and ability to unite an often-fractious council makes his a good choice in this week's election. Last year, he coauthored the Nelson-Grimmelmann Act, which improved the Undergraduate Council's relationship with Lewis. Thanks to Nelson's work, Lewis must either sign or veto legislation the council sends him and provide an explanation of his actions. As chair of the Student Affairs Committee, Nelson persuaded the full council to end its silence on review of the Core Curriculum. He initiated the council's first internal review of the Core, and the council's proposals will be distributed to the Faculty along with the Faculty committee's own research paper on the subject.

The Crimson poll shows that council Vice President Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 is the front-runner. Under the Undergraduate Council's proportional voting system, Rawlins will win on name recognition alone if the vote is divided among the other top candidates, even if she is not the students' number-one choice. Given that, we feel that it is important that we enunciate why we are choosing not to support her. First, she has little record of achievement, apart from holding the position of vice president. Second, she has been less than forthright in explaining her record. For example, in her position paper she claims she is a co-founder of HASTE when, in fact, she was only an original member of the group. Third, she has politicized the race by organizing an opposition research team and resorting to negative campaign tactics. Fourth, she has divided the council, notably through the clearly political and unwarranted dismissal of Treasurer John Appelbaum '97. Last, her choice of the unqualified Michael A. O'Mary '99 as running-mate displays an alarming level of poor judgment.

Although under the current council voting system, presidential and vice presidential candidates are voted for separately even if they run on a ticket, we feel that Haynes' running mate Mark A. Price '98 is the strongest vice presidential candidate. Price is an experienced council member, and he impressed us with his eloquence at the debate. He has also been a strong advocate for issues affecting students who live in the Quad, including extended shuttle hours and more flexible meals in Annenberg Hall.

We particularly encourage upperclass students, who traditionally have the lowest turnout, to vote. They have lived under the council longer and can bring to their votes more experience in judging which programs are most likely to work. In the furor of the campaign itself, it is easy to forget that if this year is like last, the votes being fought for represent less than one-quarter of the student body. Spending the five minutes necessary to register their opinions will force students to make a personal investment in the outcome of the election. That is the first and most fundamental step to fulfilling the Undergraduate Council's mission of putting the future of Harvard-Radcliffe into the hands of those it was created to serve.