The Future of the U.C.

From Wednesday through Friday, elections for Undergraduate Council representatives will take place over e-mail. This year, more than in years past, these elections matter; yet the number of total candidates is down and people seem to be regarding the elections as flippantly as ever.

The reason this week's elections matter is that in today's "New Council"--the product of a semester under the leadership of Beth A. Stewart '00--the role of the council's president has been greatly diminished. The council's accomplishments these days seem more than ever to be the work of individual members, with the assistance and encouragement of the leadership.

In effect, the depoliticization of the council has made Harvard's student government still weaker. In campaigning last December, Stewart argued that the council was wasting time discussing issues like Faculty diversity and divestment from Nigeria--time that could be better spent improving student life. But that argument has not stood up. The council's meetings are shorter, but our representatives have not accomplished significantly more in the way of student life than in previous years. And meanwhile, an important dialogue on larger issues has been abandoned.

And what are the student life improvements, since Stewart and her vice president Samuel C. Cohen '00--now the most invisible man on campus--took office in February? The availability of frozen yogurt in Annenberg, bag lunches in Loker and a sizable increase in student group funding. There have been few signs of the promised universal keycard access or cable TV. Stewart has made great efforts to bring these promises to fruition, and she deserves credit for that. But the effectiveness of her council has not necessarily proven the merits of casting off all politics.

If the council is going to remain depoliticized, as it will at least until Stewart's term expires in January, the relevance of the body will depend on how hard house representatives work on causes and projects that matter to them. In these circumstances, it is disappointing that few people are running and many of those who are running are campaigning on catchy signs and slogans instead of ideas.

This winter, we hope ambitious students with big ideas--ideas that go beyond frivolities they may not be able to produce--will take the stage and make the council matter once again.