A Bridge to Nowhere?

For years, the Undergraduate Council was split between members who believed the council should take stands on social issues and those who believed it should focus on student services like fly-by lunches and universal keycard access.

This year's council leadership defies those labels.

Council President Fentrice D. Driskell '01 prides herself on "building bridges" between liberal, activist council members and more conservative, student-services oriented students.

But while Driskell's proudest accomplishments have involved members from both camps, last semester's council leadership was responsible for few concrete achievements of either type.

And with budget shortfalls and fewer council members, even Driskell concedes this semester's council will face "a lot of challenges ahead" in the coming semester.

The Census Collapse

Driskell and her running mate John A. Burton '01--who could not be reached for comment for this story--won last year's council elections in a landslide on the platform of building community.

The Harvard Census 2000 was their platform's centerpiece.

The census was intended to usher in a new era of council accountability, giving leaders a sense of what students really wanted from their government.

It was also supposed to be a crucial bargaining tool for the council, for the first time giving them hard data on students' concerns to take to University administrators.

But faced with a response rate of less than 20 percent, Driskell says she has abandoned the census idea.

"It didn't go so well," Driskell says. "We didn't get the response we needed."

Some council members who were originally excited about Census 2000 were disheartened by the way the council approached the issue.

"Census 2000 was a really good idea, but it was too unwieldy and too sound-byte-y," said council member Todd E. Plants '01. "I don't think anyone would disagree that it was too big a project to do to so informally."

After several widely publicized problems, ranging from the impeachment--and eventual acquittal--of council Vice President John A. Burton '01 to the failure of the census, Driskell and Burton fought through the spring for small victories.

Driskell and Burton's critics say the lack of results from their efforts is evidence of the pair's lack of ideas.

"The Driskell agenda was soft. It had no meat on it," council member says Justin A. Barkley '02, a two-year council member.

But Driskell says she has brought the council together in some ways.

As an example of her successes, she points to March of last year when Jeffrey A. Letalien '01 and David B. Orr '01, widely considered to be among the council's most conservative and most liberal members respectively, co-sponsored a resolution condemning police brutality.

"It's always been my philosophy that if we can't get along as people, we can't function as a council," Driskell says.

Others disagree over the extent to which the council is unified.

"It seems in the time I've been here, [the council has] never been as divided as it as now," Barkley says.

Driskell and Barkley agree that bitterness remains from the failed attempt to remove Burton from office. In February, a majority of the council --but not the two-thirds necessary for removal--voted to remove Burton on an impeachment charge stemming from alleged violations of campaign rules.

For many council members, "the I-word" remains contentious, Barkley says.

"It's silly to think that that [impeachment] didn't draw some lines," Plants says.

Driskell and other council members say the council's biggest accomplishment last semester was the launch of the website UCBooks--a project led by Paul A. Gusmorino III '02, vice-chair of the campus life committee.

The project was not a part of Driskell's platform.

Aside from the individual initiatives of small groups of members, Gusmorino says the council as a whole has few achievements to its credit.

"As a council, I don't really know what we've done," Gusmorino says.

Looking Ahead

Driskell says the council will push forward on making the council more accountable to students this semester by planning new community events and demanding more from its members.

"Everything is geared towards a more visible council," she says.

Council members will table in their dining halls rather than holding weekly office hours in the council's Holworthy Hall office.

Under stricter attendance policies, council members will be allowed to miss only miss four meetings--no more than two committee meetings and no more than two full meetings.

Driskell also hopes to increase accountability by assembling a "Week of Dialogue" this month, with a variety of activities, speakers and forums centered around a particular topic.

She says she will model the week's events on the popular panel several years ago at which star professors debated affirmative action before a packed Sanders Theatre.

But her council will also have to make due with fewer dollars.

Council members say the $20 term bill fee--used to fund student groups since 1983--is no longer sufficient meet demands on the council's budget. A referendum to raise the term bill fee to $50 failed by 80 votes last year in the same election that cut the council in half.

For the past two years, the council has been relying on $40,000 found in an inactive account to supplement its meager term bill resources. Now the fund is depleted again.

"The shoelaces and bubble gum that have been holding the budget together are coming off fast," Barkley says.

Last year, the council was able to roll-over almost $30,000 from the previous council--over $18,000 in the grants fund alone. This year, only about $11,000 will help jump-start the council.

The council has cut costs where it can, skipping the beloved fried dough during last year's Springfest because council members didn't think it was cost-effective.

This year, the fiscal drought might hit crisis proportions, forcing the council to make tough choices about the groups and activities that it funds.

"We're going to be able to get by. We may just have a less good band at Springfest, and less money to give to student groups," Gusmorino says.

The council will have to take a hard look at the services it provides to student and ensure they're fiscally responsible, Driskell says. This year, Driskell suggests, maybe first-years will be given a rose at their formal instead of the expensive pewter frames given last year.

Driskell says she expects a tough semester due to the budget shortfalls, but pledges to push ahead with her efforts to unify the council.

But others say they worry that the lack of funding will divide the council further, making it hard to accomplish more this semester than in the past.

"It'll be the most contentious budget process we've had in many years," Barkley predicts.