U.C. Postpones Referendum Vote

The mud flew during an 11th hour decision last night by the executive board of the Undergraduate Council to postpone two referenda on changes to the budget until after this week's presidential and vice presidential elections.

Council members on both sides accused each other of manipulating the referenda for their own political purposes.

Council member Robert B. Wolinsky '97 deplored the nature of the debate, saying, "Right now, [the issue] is totally overshadowed by the politics. You're all politically motivated, and it's getting disgusting."

The petition to hold the referenda was organized in part and brought to the council by candidates and running mates Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 and Michael A. O'Mary '99.

They ask students to vote on giving block grants to the house committees and on raising the minimum percentage of the council's budget dedicated to grants from 60 percent to 65 percent. The 4-3 decision of the executive board overturned a decision made Friday night in favor of holding the referenda in tandem with the elections.

Treasurer John J. Appelbaum '97 cast the deciding vote last night, upon reinstatement as council executive.

Appelbaum had been expelled from the council for excessive absences and denied reinstatement at Friday's meeting. The decision not to reinstate was directly motivated by a desire to block his vote against the referendum, Appelbaum said.

"I was told by several people..., 'You're not going to be reinstated because you're going to vote against the referendum. You watch out because people want to get you out,'" Appelbaum said.

After a general outcry by council members, a correction in the records proved that he in fact did not have the number of absences required for expulsion.

Because of that, council members decided to invalidate the previous vote and convene a special session of the executive board, over the objections of President Robert M. Hyman '98.

"I think if you do this tonight, this will go down as a historic blow to students by the U.C.," he said.

The executive board, made up of the four council executives and the committee chairs, contains three candidates and many others working on their campaigns. Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, Eric M. Nelson '99 and Joseph A. Sena '99 are all running for office.

Many council members noted that many of the votes split along campaign lines, with supporters of the Rawlins/O'Mary campaign in favor of holding the two votes together and those in support of the Nelson/Sena campaign voting against.

"What happened tonight was an extreme form of cowardice practiced by two candidates, Eric Nelson and Joe Sena," Hyman said.

Nelson criticized Hyman's insults saying, "If that's his level of maturity, then students might wonder that if they should have elected him in the first place."

Those who voted against holding the referenda this week said they disapproved of the fact that the referendum was being exploited.

"[Holding the referenda along with the elections] is like having a big poster for one candidate slapped right on the voting program," Appelbaum said.

Council secretary Michael J. Passante '99 said he feared that it would set a dangerous precedent for candidates to manipulate referenda in future campaigns.

The executive board voted to hold the referenda from Wednesday at 5 p.m., just after the close of election voting, until Saturday.

The move puts on-line voting into jeopardy, as the Election Commission was unsure whether they will have the assistance of the Harvard Computer Society to run another poll. If not, the council will have to table in the dining halls to hold the referendum.

The council has a history of low effort in tabling for elections, Rawlins said.

"It was a logistical nightmare to get people to table.... This referendum will die if goes to tabling," she predicted.

Her opponents disagreed.

"If the student body really does care about the issue, then they'll take out two minutes of the time [after the elections] to vote for it," Passante said.

Student Grants

Although it was overshadowed by debate on the referendum to hike the minimum grants allocation, the council passed its biannual grants package last night, giving student groups a total of $51,115.69 in semester and year-long grants.

The average grant was $384.33. Big winners last night included the Harvard Computer Society ($800 for a fall grant), and the Chinatown Committee and Lighthouse magazine (each receiving about $1,200 in year-long grants).