Council Disputes Technology Funding

A heated debate unfolded at last night’s Undergraduate Council meeting over whether a monetary allocation by council President Sujean S. Lee ’03 and Vice President Anne M. Fernandez ’03 for bettering council technology—including the council’s website and Web-based voting system—required the consent of the full council.

The question arose two months after elections for the council’s representatives were delayed because of problems with the council’s new online voting system.

Jared S. Morgenstern ’03, who was the council’s technology coordinator during the elections, designed the new system last summer with Edward D. Lim ’02.

Last night, council Treasurer Eric J. Powell ’03 updated the council’s budget to include a $5,000 allocation for “UC Technology,” paid out in three installments.

Joshua A. Barro ’05 and Vedran Lekic ’04 took issue with the final installment, a $750 payment to Morgenstern.

According to Barro and Lekic, the bill that initially approved the funding for technological upgrades allowed for expenditures only during last summer. The final $750 allocation was made during the year, though, without approval by the council.

Fernandez initially defended the allocation by saying that the council had approved all $5,000. After the text of the bill was read aloud, though, Fernandez changed her defense and said that delaying the $750 payment to Morgenstern could have disastrous consequences on the upcoming council presidential and vice presidential elections, scheduled to begin on Dec. 9.

“If we cancel the check, elections next week will not happen,” Fernandez said. “If we delay payment, [Morgenstern] can delay.”

After the meeting, Fernandez said that she did not mean to characterize Morgenstern’s arrangement as “a hostage situation,” but meant instead that reneging on a pledge to pay the $750 “would be incredibly unprofessional.”

According to Fernandez, the online voting system for the presidential and vice presidential elections has been completed and simply needs to be “uploaded to the council’s computers.”

The council’s old voting system, called “ucvote,” was dismantled after a flood of the Holworthy Hall basement destroyed the computer, Fernandez said.

Barro and Lekic called for the council to disallow the $750 payment, which had initially been approved only by Lee, former Council President Paul A. Gusmorino ’02 and Fernandez.

“I think the executive board exercises too much power,” Barro said. “So long as we allow ourselves not to follow procedures, we’ll continue to fall into a lax mindset that creates impending disasters.”

While the council decided by a 22-11 count not to disallow the payment, presidential running-mates Rohit Chopra ’04 and Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04 drew attention from some council members by abstaining from the vote.

“That wasn’t too gutsy,” said representative Michael R. Blickstead ’05, who during the election wore a piece of paper supporting Stannard-Friel’s campaign.

“I was disappointed that candidates for election failed to take a stand on an issue that demonstrates whether they will follow or ignore the council’s procedures,” Barro said.

While presidential candidate Fred O. Smith ’04 voted against the overturning of the funding, his running-mate, representative Justin R. Chapa ’05, was not in attendance.

After the meeting, Chopra explained that he abstained because he didn't want to appear to have a conflict of interest.

“The reason I abstained is because I didn't want to appear to vote in a way that seemed only to help me as a candidate,” he said.

College administrators’ concerns about the security of the council’s voting system caused the administration to block the start of the election for council representatives in October.

Morgenstern and Lim created a new system that, after a two-day delay, sent to most undergraduates an e-mail that contained a link enabling them to vote at a secure website.

At least six dozen students did not receive any e-mail, though, because of gaps in the information the council received from the registrar’s office.

Many of those six dozen students did not get to cast ballots.

Last night, the council also approved two grants to extracurricular groups, and, after approving a bill proposed by Smith, allocated $750 for a Workers Appreciation Day to benefit “Harvard’s lowest paid workers.”

In addition, the council finalized its ratification of the constitutional amendment it voted on at last week’s meeting. The amendment guarantees each House or first-year district representation on each of the council’s three committees, and makes it more difficult for council members to switch from one committee to another.

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