Council Talks Rules for Upcoming Election

Last night’s Undergraduate Council meeting marked the first official mention of the upcoming council presidential and vice presidential elections, which will kick off with campaigning in less than three weeks.

After council President Sujean S. Lee ’03 warned the council that “election time does get extremely tense,” council Election Commission member David I. Monteiro ’04 provided preliminary guidelines for potential candidates.

Monteiro said elections will last three days beginning Monday, Dec. 9, and that candidates can begin campaigning the Monday before.

Despite the restricted campaigning dates, he also said that all candidates must submit petitions with 100 signatures by the Friday before Thanksgiving in order to be included on the ballot.

“I realize that there’s something contradictory in trying to get 100 people to sign your form, but not being allowed to campaign,” Monteiro told the council.

Candidates can talk with their friends at any point, since by council rules, “campaigning” constitutes public announcements or requests for support.

After the comments about the upcoming elections, the council considered and approved bills allocating funds to House committees and setting up Thanksgiving shuttles.

One measure, sponsored by Campus Life Committee Co-chairs Michael R. Blickstead ’05 and Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04, allocated $1,000 to each of the 12 HoCos for funding House activities. The bill also gave $600 to Dudley House and an additional $4,000 to the council’s First-Year Social Committee.

“The House committees do a lot for House life that we just can’t do, because they’re better situated,” Stannard-Friel said.

After a failed amendment to increase the allocation by $200 per House, the bill passed by a wide margin.

Jason L. Lurie ’05, who cast one of just three nay votes, said he objected to the bill because it distributes the same amount to each House regardless of the number of students, resulting in unequal per capita allocations.

“Every student at Harvard pays the same student services fee,” Lurie said. “I don’t see why, by virtue of where the housing lottery assigns you in your freshman year, the council should give your House committee a different amount of money to spend on your behalf.”

The council also passed two bills establishing this year’s Thanksgiving shuttles to New York City and Logan Airport.

The allocation of $1,700 for a charter bus between Harvard Square and New York came in a bill written by Michael S. Ovadia ’03.

A successful amendment pushed the roundtrip ticket prices from the originally proposed $32 up to $34.

The bill, passed by a 29-6 count, also provided for the chartering of additional buses for the same amount each so long

as enough students demand extra seats.

Another bill, sponsored by Blickstead and Zhijie Xue ’06, called for $2,000 to fund shuttles from Johnston Gate and the Quad to Logan Airport the day before Thanksgiving. Tickets will cost $5.

Blickstead, a Canadian, included a clause in the bill that originally read, “Whereas many students fly home for American Thanksgiving,” but the word “American” was quickly stricken by a vast majority of the council. The bill then passed by a wide margin.

A final measure, proposed by Stannard-Friel, requested $175 for the battle between the Harvard and Yale bands during the weekend of The Game. Half of the total is expected to be refunded by Yale.

The bill passed unanimously.

Council Vice President Anne M. Fernandez ’03 also announced at the beginning of last night’s meeting the expulsion of Luke R. Long ’03 of Adams House and Yusuf W. Randera-Rees ’05 of Quincy House for excessive absences. Expulsions can be overturned by appeals to the council’s executive board, Fernandez said.

At the end of the meeting, Fernandez also said that Long and Ari Z. Weisbard ’03 of Dudley House resigned from the council.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.