UC Contemplates Elections and E-mail

With champagne and gift giving in the offing, the Undergraduate Council turned the focus of its last meeting this term to more competitive elections and more convenient e-mail addresses yesterday.

Originally scheduled as an end-of-term celebration, the UC had some final business to finish after attendance at Sunday’s meeting dipped below what was needed to conduct a valid vote.

Initially considered on Sunday, the first piece of legislation considered yesterday will provide for 10 allocations of up to $50 each to student groups willing to host study breaks that would distribute information about the UC in a bid to draw more candidates for elections.

The sessions will be required to meet various standards including acquainting students with the procedure for standing for election.

Yesterday’s legislation will allow participating student groups to bypass the Financial Committee’s typical grant application process in applying for funding for the informational sessions.

Tracy E. Nowski ’07, the former campaign manager for UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 and Vice President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09, expressed her support for the new outreach legislation on the UC floor, saying that it would make elections more competitive and draw more voters.

“We’ve seen a lot of underserved races where you are barely making quorum for filling the seats,” she said.

“I want to see the UC as something that students are really excited about and that people are really fighting to get on this body so that once they’re here, they’re really fighting for students,” she concluded.

Also passed yesterday was a proposal by UC Representative Brian S. Gillis ’07-’08 to encourage the adoption of a “more logical” e-mail address system for students of the College.

Whereas student e-mail aliases currently have fas.harvard.edu appended to them, Gillis called for a harvard.edu or college.harvard.edu tag, which he claimed would be more straightforward for potential employers.

The business portion of yesterday’s meeting came to a close with Petersen, his hand tensing on the top of a bottle of champagne even as the final legislation was concluded, popping the cork so that it landed several rows deep in the council chamber.

—Staff writer Christian B. Flow can be reached at cflow@fas.harvard.edu