Lowell House Council Delegation Eats and Meets, But Few Students Attend

Thanks to a constitutional amendment past last week, dining hall tabling will now be mandatory for all council members, rather than the domain of a zealous few.

Under the new constitution, all council representatives will be required to table for one hour before the council meeting on Sundays.

But for the diligent dining-hall tabling council representative, it's a lonely life.

An average of five members of the six-person Lowell House delegation have tabled every Sunday during dinner this semester, equipped with a sign announcing their presence.

But on a typical Sunday, only two or three people talk to them about council business.

"They're always there, but I've just never spoken to them about [council] stuff," says Alexis M. Craig '02, a Lowell resident dining in his House last night.

And while the council members say they sometimes get feedback on issues like Springfest bands during the dinner hours, they say they are most satisfied with the constituent feedback they get through e-mail.

Still, James R. Griffin '02 says that tabling has another advantage--it allows team members to talk amongst themselves.

"We are all in contact with each other and can keep up with what we're each doing," he says.

And members of the delegation said they supported having mandatory office hours.

Lowell Representative Paul A. Gusmorino '02 said he hopes the change in the Constitution will lead to more tabling.

"Now it's official, it's in the books that representatives must table," he says. "It's not just common law, so we hope to see all representatives tabling more often."

Samuel C. Cohen '00, a Lowell council member and former council vice president, voted against the change, but said he still supports mandatory tabling.

"The requirement to table is only one additional hour and is not a much greater commitment," says Cohen, who served as vice president of the UC in 1998. "Representatives should be able and willing to both table and serve office hours."