Message from the President

Thank you so much for reading the student voice and keeping up with what is happening in the UC.

Kamil Redmond and I were elected on a platform of an expanded vision of student services. We felt we could focus on important and far-reaching on-campus issues, while allowing the council to take up more political issues if it so chose. To that end, the Council has tried to concentrate on student group and individual quality of life issues.

We have spent the entire term laying the groundwork for a lobbying effort for a student center, a resource that our student groups desperately need. There is nowhere near enough office and meeting space for our student groups, let alone performance and rehearsal rooms. In addition, a recent survey in the Crimson found that Harvard students feel that the school lacks an appropriate sense of community, and to combat that sentiment, we feel that a student center would be an excellent final step.

We have worked to improve the advising system at the school, lobbying for the Dean of the College's report on advising and counseling, which seeks to tie senior faculty more closely in to the undergraduate experience here by making sure they have a more important role in the advising decisions of their departments. 94% of seniors rank advising as the worst aspect of Harvard life, and this is something we've set out to change.

We have begun to address the situation at the University Health Services, which, as you all know, unfortunately does not have the full confidence of the student body. This is a situation that the UC, UHS, and the administration would all like to change. For the first time ever, UHS's annual survey of undergraduate satisfaction contains questions written by UC members, so that we can clearly communicate to them dissatisfaction that is so clear on campus. We have succeeded in convincing the higher administration of the College that UHS's status on campus is a problem worth concentrating on.

The Council has tried to address the current state of undergraduate housing by initiating a randomization review. A school wide survey is being tabulated now, and we hope to begin a campaign to equalize physical plant and tutorial staff facilities from house to house next fall. Along that same vein, we are thrilled to report that there are now 6 houses open to universal keycard access, as that battle continues.

One of the Council's greatest successes this term has been in the fight for lower book prices. Two council-members, SAC Vice-Chair Michael Shumsky and UC Technology Coordinator Paul Gusmorino, along with SAC Chair John Paul Rollert, have created a website that finds students the best possible price to pay for their books from a range of different online booksellers. Because the Council will operate the website and provide the direct link to each of the online booksellers, it will make a commission that we will turn directly back to the student groups in the form of more and larger grants.

Finally, we have just concluded a referendum in which the student body will hopefully decided to raise the student government voluntary term bill fee to $40 from $20, so that our grants fund can increase by $100,000 while we can also have at least $20,000 more for our campus life events. As you may know, the Undergraduate Council provides the largest amount of support to the majority of student organizations on campus, but in order to do that effectively, we must raise our budge, while maintaining our autonomy. If the University just gives us more money, then we'll be forced to give up our control over the grants process, which would allow the administration to impose more stringent regulation on grant application. We feel that it is important for us to keep control of the grants process so you can get your money easily.

In the course of the council year, we have dealt with our share of political issues as well. We have supported divestment from major oil companies, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund effort to legalize gay marriages, and the living wage campaign for Harvard employees. We have also dealt effectively with on campus political issues such as the current policy on rape and sexual assault, and this week, we hope to continue that trend when the council navigates its way through a contentious debate on ROTC's status on campus.

In addition, Springfest is set for May 1st in the MAC Quad, and it's going to be a bigger success than ever before. Violent Femmes will be here, along with last year's amusement rides. And this year, for the first time, student groups and house committees have been involved in planning activities and events for that day, as well as manning different game and booths. It should be a lot of fun, and Campus Life Committee has done an excellent job preparing for it.

So that is a brief update of the state of your student government here at Harvard. It's been a busy year and will be a busy spring. Thank you for your support.

Grant Checks!

If you haven't picked up you student group grant check, time is running out. Contact the Council treasurer, Sterling Darling, at sdarling@fas.harvard.edu, or stop by his office hours: Monday 1:00-2:00, Tuesday 12:00-1:00, Wednesday 1:00-3:00, Thursday 1:00-2:00, and Friday 11:00-1:00.