U.C. Names Reform Panel Members

The Undergraduate Council's executive board has selected the first four members of its Re-evaluation Committee, beginning a process which could lead to wide-ranging council reforms.

Council Secretary Randall A. Fine '96 will chair the committee, which also includes council members Jamila A. Braswell '95, Marc D. McKay '94, Alan M. Grumet '93-94 and four non-council members who have not yet been chosen by the council's executive board.

Committee members were selected Wednesday by an application process favoring members who could bring "a fresh perspective," according to council Chair Michael P. Beys '94.

"The members are people who really challenged the existing system, our processes and structure," Beys said.

The committee will scrutinize everything from the council's utility on campus to a proposed popular election for chair, Fine said. He said the committee will submit a set of reform proposals to the full council at the end of its examination, for which there is no current deadline.

"We are the first to admit that we have our problems," Fine said. "[The committee] may decide that nothing is that bad, or we may decide that we will totally change the council and rewrite the by-laws."

Beys and Fine both said the council will not be required to implement any of the committee's recommendations--which is a sore point for some Council executives, including Beys and Vice Chair David L. Hanselman '94.

"Some council members ignore the fact that we do things wrong," Hanselman said. "The people on the committee will become quasi-experts on the topics they study while general members will forget all the research involved and attach their own amendments to the proposals."

And, according to Beys, "The purpose of the committee is to tear us down and build us up again."

Beys said it is still unclear what will happen after the committee makes its recommendations.

But he said he was skeptical about leaving the decision to accept the recommendations to a general vote.

"If it comes down to the U.C. voting, it won't happen," Beys said.

The elected committee members have already begun to target specific- aspects of the council which they would like to improve.

"The thing I really want to stress is the election of the chair by the student body," McKay said. "We have the only British-style parliamentary system on any campus in the Ivy League."

McKay added that a general election would involve more students in Council decisions and make those decisions "more relevant to the rest of the student body."

Braswell shared McKay's concerns about the participation of non-Council members in student government.

"We need to do some things about getting students to be aware," she said. "We have to talk to students and faculty about their views."

The executive board is now asking for volunteers from the student body to join the committee. Both Beys and Fine said they are looking for people with different--but not necessarily favorable--opinions of the council's function on campus.

"We are laying everything on the table," Fine said.

The Re-evaluation Committee is the brain-child of Crimson editor Ted G. Rose '94-'95, who was elected to the council after the resignation of Maya G. Prabhu '94 last fall

"The thing I really want to stress is the election of the chair by the student body," McKay said. "We have the only British-style parliamentary system on any campus in the Ivy League."

McKay added that a general election would involve more students in Council decisions and make those decisions "more relevant to the rest of the student body."

Braswell shared McKay's concerns about the participation of non-Council members in student government.

"We need to do some things about getting students to be aware," she said. "We have to talk to students and faculty about their views."

The executive board is now asking for volunteers from the student body to join the committee. Both Beys and Fine said they are looking for people with different--but not necessarily favorable--opinions of the council's function on campus.

"We are laying everything on the table," Fine said.

The Re-evaluation Committee is the brain-child of Crimson editor Ted G. Rose '94-'95, who was elected to the council after the resignation of Maya G. Prabhu '94 last fall