Beth Stewart Better Choice

The staff's endorsement conveys its confusion both as to the facts of this election and the role of the Undergraduate Council president. Of the major candidates, only Beth A. Stewart '00 has shown herself capable of leading Harvard's student government. The staff seemed to deliberately inflate Ben Hulse, a competent enough but rather bland council member, so as to avoid endorsing a candidate whom they see as overly attentive to the "bread and butter" issues of student life and neglectful of Burmese students and strawberry pickers. Our question for the staff: "If these simple student-oriented issues are so self-evident, how is it that the council has made so little progress?" Perhaps it is time for Harvard to have a council President who gives a damn about these "bread-and-butter" issues.

Of all the candidates, Stewart has the most realistic vision for the council and she has the ability to implement it. She understands the capabilities and limitations of the council and the accountability of student government to those it represents.

Stewart has been a dedicated representative of the council since she began serving next year. And if one of the council's biggest problems is money, her experience as treasurer in the current cabinet will be invaluable in the upcoming term.

Stewart wants to effect changes in areas that the council can realistically have influence--such as installing emergency phones and cable television in the houses, extending the MAC and QRAC hours and lengthening library times. Stewart knows both the council's limitations and its potential. We endorse her wholeheartedly.