Clarifying the U.C.'s Record

. The Crimson's recent coverage of the U.C. has been unfair.

There are several items that I wish to clarify with regard to The Crimson's recent coverage of three issues facing the Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council: the proposed term-bill fee change, the constitutional procedure of referendum, and questions of representation.

First, on the question of the term bill increase, the council's vote on increasing the fee was not an issue of want, but one of need. This increase is needed if the council is to continue to provide the student body with the same services in addition to increased student organization funding, more house grants and better social events.

Each year students contribute $113,000 to the council. That amount goes instantly to providing for student grants, holiday shuttle buses and the operation of the council. It is the rollover--the money left over each year--that allows the council to distribute money back to the Houses, and that allows us to and $11,000 more than the Constitution calls for to the student grants process. It is also the roll-over that provides for such acts and services as They Might Be Giants (April 28), David Spade (March 23), Wu Tang Clan (April 30), the first annual Yard Fest (April 30), the first-year formal, and the ski trip.

The problem is that the roll-over has been rapidly declining over the years. Our expected roll-over is less than a half of what the council had last year. As such, not only will the council not be able to expand service, grants and social events, but it will not even be able to provide students with the services it currently offers. It is highly unlikely that the equivalent of David Spade or They Might Be Giants would be brought to this campus next year.

Also, whatever council funds are directed to the Houses would be significantly less than the $11,000 that Houses received this year. Similarly, council grants would be reduced by about $10,500, causing great financial pain for a number of student groups. Thus, unlike The Crimson would have you believe, the term bill change is not a measure by the council to hoards student funds. On the contrary, this increase is needed if students are to be provided with quality services and social events.

With regard to the second question--the constitutional procedure of the referendum--the petition did not give students the right to choose which questions they wished to see submitted to a referendum (as required by our Constitution). Thus, the Executive Board voted to invalidate four of the five questions. The council constitution says that "any question may be committed to a referendum or poll by the council or by a petition signed by 10 percent of the student body."

With that rule in mind, here are the facts of the petition drive organized by Anjalee C. Davis '96: following the one sided Crimson reporting and front-page editorial criticisms, Anjalee sent a petition around the College in an attempt to force the council to rescind its termbill referendum. On that sheet of paper she listed the five questions that she wished to see on the referendum.

Aside from the fact that the council constitution requires that 10 percent of the student body sign for each question, Davis did not allow students the choice of selecting which of the five questions they wished to see on the referendum. Rather, she manipulated student discontent on issue number one--the term bill change--to get students to sign for all, regardless of whether they wished to see all five question or only one question on the referendum. Under the council's standards, a proper referendum petition should not be packed. Students should not be forced to choose between having five questions on a referendum or none at all.

Students must be allowed to decide whether they want two of the five, three of the five, or any other combination of the five questions. Contrary to the analysis tendered by Jol A. Silversmith '94 in his recent letter to editors of The Crimson (April 16, 1994), we feel that if a student feels strongly that question one should be submitted to referendum, but not question two, the student will most likely sign the "Anjalee Davis-type petition" so that he or she can get question one, even though the individual may have no interest in seeing question two on the petition. This is the very definition of packing a vote. It would be a bad precedent to allow such a misleading petition to become a referendum.

For these reasons, that petition is void. We, however, did vote to put question one to the student body, given the fact that it has seemed to be the issue that has gotten the most press, and also given that many of the petitioners presented the petition to the student body as a vote on the term-bill increase alone.

Thirdly, on the issue of representation, council representatives are elected to serve their constituents. They are delegated the job of studying issues intensively, and then coming up with informed decisions about what is in the best interest of their constituents. On the case of the term-bill referendum, council members did just that, They analyzed the empirical factors and their constituents' wishes, and then after much debate they voted. If The Crimson really feels that the council needs to be criticized, it should not be because the council acted as a representative institution and voted for an increase that after much analysis, proved to be something that is badly needed.

I take all responsibility for the fact that it took this long for the council to respond to The Crimson. I, however, believed that The Crimson would be magnanimous enough to present both sides of the issue. I guess I was terribly wrong. For this reason, I am participating in a debate that will elucidate the facts. If these issues interest you, please come to the Monday night Kennedy School term-bill change debate at 8 p.m.

Finally, I would like to apologize for the statement I made inadvertently about "the council being nice enough to allow question one on to the petition." It was something I said in the heat of the moment. I thank you in advance for your forgiveness with respect to that statement. If you have any questions about these issues, please feel free to call me at 495-9390 or email the council (at Harvard. Org. UC).

Carey W. Gabay '94 is president of the Undergraduate Council.