SUPERCOUNCIL

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I read with dismay that the new "supercouncil" that may replace the HUC might be supported by official allocations. It strikes me that this will probably eventually mean less rather than more responsiveness to student needs. Student councils have a way of starting out with great hopes, and vanishing to the joy of current undergraduates. I have seen it happen several times in the past decade at Harvard, and there is no particular reason that the supercouncil should be expected to have a better fate. However, if it is supported financially independently of its constituents' immediate feelings, it could prove to be an albatross.

I remember one student council being torn down with popular approval when its President, a conservative "Goldwater" Republican, used his position to imply a general conservative swing among Harvard undergraduates. I remember another council disappearing when House Committees independently seceded. Would you have that freedom in the future under the new plan? I think not. We must retain a way of keeping a council for the benefit of the students, and not just for the political careers of student politicians.