An Unlikely Pair

Last Monday, two Undergraduate Council vice presidential hopefuls faced off in a Currier elevator.

“So,” Nicholas B. Snow ’09 said, “you’re running for the thing—no?”

Leo P. Zimmermann ’09 fumbled with his jacket. “That’s what they tell me,” he replied.

In an interview later that day, Zimmermann claimed, “At no point did I ever decide to run for vice president of the UC. At no point did I actively involve myself in the campaign—I was simply made to run.”

He refused to have his picture taken for this article.

In contrast, his running mate Frances I. Martel ’09 relishes the spotlight. “I wish I was famous forever,” she says.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

Although the two have been friends since freshman year and now live on the same floor in Currier, the differences continue.

While Martel is a devout Catholic, Zimmermann calls himself a “fightin’ atheist.” A collage in Martel’s bedroom features famous right-wingers including Bill O’Reilly and Ronald Reagan, but her running mate is a Democrat.

Supporters say that their differences would strengthen the democratic process.

“There will be no more tyranny of the UC president and vice president,” says Arthur “Tripp” J. Rebrovick ’09, who lives with the pair. “Because Leo doesn’t believe in governing people and Frances enjoys controlling people, those tensions will balance each other out.”

As publisher of The Harvard Independent, editor of the Harvard Republican Club’s blog, and a blogger for the boxing Web site ringtalk.com, Martel has spent much of her undergraduate career voicing her opinions.

“I love hate mail,” she says, adding that she enjoys when her ideas are taken seriously and relishes the opportunity to defend them.

Zimmermann is less outspoken.

“I’m basically just an introvert who’s been torn away from his books,” he says.

The unlikely candidate says he only entered the race because he shares Martel’s frustration with the Petersen-Sundquist administration.

“I am so appalled by the status quo that I am forced to seek it,” he says, referring to the vice presidency.

Martel expressed similar views about the current leadership.

“The fact that the Ryan Petersen administration has delegitimized the student body so much in one year shows that coming in fresh is a good thing,” she says, referring to her and her running mate’s outsider status.

“As president, I can’t promise you that classes will be better, professors will be better, TFs will be better,” Martel says, continuing her critique.

“No, I can’t promise you that because that’s part of University Hall. It’s doing a great disservice to voters to give them such empty promises,” she says. “And I think that’s a sin Ryan Petersen’s guilty of committing.”

Martel says that although she considers herself a friend of Matthew L. Sundquist ’09, one of her opponents, she felt an obligation to join the race.

“I will bring authenticity to the UC, a trait that I see as chronically diseased in the current UC,” Martel says.

“And, unfortunately, because of his affiliation with this government, Matt the politician has contracted this disease, too.”

OVERHAUL

To remedy these problems, Martel and Zimmermann envision a radical overhaul of the UC.

Specifically, Martel proposes abolishing parliamentary procedure at UC meetings, saying that few representatives know how to use it.

“You have to change the bureaucracy to change the school,” she says.

In its stead, Martel offers a simple solution.

“Leo and I decide who speaks and how long,” she says, adding that fairness would be ensured by compromise between the two different personalities.

Martel also says she plans to change the UC’s funding system.

Currently treasurer of Currier’s House Committee (HoCo), she would give a greater proportion of UC funds to student groups and HoCos that stage more events, while those that offer less would see their funds cut.

She says that she also plans to fund individual students who contribute to campus life through their creative endeavors, whether by organizing entertainment or making music videos that stimulate conversation.

The two candidates’ differences resurface in their attitudes toward campaigning.

Martel said she already has grand designs.

“There is totally going to be old Cuban music blasted outside the Science Center,” said the presidential candidate, a Cuban American from Union City, N.J. “It’s going to be a giant party.”

Zimmermann, on the other hand, dislikes drawing attention to himself. His friend Spencer A. Strub ’09 will pose as the candidate in some campaign posters, Martel said.

When Zimmermann is asked if he would be excited if he won, his face reveals no emotion.

“In a sense,” he responds, staring down at his plate.

When urged to elaborate, he adds: “I’d be neurologically stimulated in the sense that it would make a response.”