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Such a rule alteration will not, however, sufficiently address the problems with Capp’s election. Capp holds the second most important seat in Harvard’s student government as a result of an undemocratic selection process, a reality that will not change with the modification of UC protocol called for by this newspaper. Capp—elected by the members of a council that has been marinating in its own notorious internal politics for eight months and not by the student body to which he is responsible as vice president—cannot claim any real kind...
Clay Capp is as qualified as any to serve as the vice president of the UC. The ultimate judgment on Capp’s qualifications must, however, rest with the students to whom he, as UC vice president, is responsible. Simply changing the rules for the next time the council’s vice president resigns unexpectedly does not go far enough to address the problems with Capp’s undemocratic selection. As President Matthew J. Glazer ’06 continues to push his agenda for council reform, it would be sadly hypocritical for his right-hand...
This is not to say that there aren’t valid arguments against the direct elections. Some council die-hards continue to stress that the UC should not devolve into a separate committee mindset. We disagree. The Harvard student body demands two things from its UC representatives: accountability and enthusiasm. Committees should not be able to blame the entire UC for passing poorly planned expenditures that their members bring before the council. More work needs to be done in committees to vet proposals beforehand. To ensure this level of accountability, UC reps must be fit—both...
There is also the issue of UC diversity. Jason L. Lurie ’05 has said that direct elections could limit diversity on the UC by raising the number of votes required to be elected from 26 percent to 51 percent. The theory goes that if minority voters vote in blocks, raising this threshold would diminish the power of those blocks, making a more diverse UC harder to achieve. Without questioning whether the student body is better off with reps elected by one of these blocks—minority candidates should appeal to a broad constituency, after all?...
...UC must pass this reform. If need be, the proposal could be modified to allow representatives to run for two committees instead of one. While far from ideal, any amount of change towards direct elections will dramatically improve the council’s effectiveness. If even this compromise won’t move bill opponents to change their votes, the UC must submit the question to a student referendum. With enough outreach and publicity, Harvard students can be educated about the pros and cons of this important reform. And with their wisdom behind the vote, untainted by the self-interest...