Few Attend Council Reform Party Meeting

Only four members of the Undergraduate Council showed up for a meeting of the Movement to Reform the Undergraduate Council (MRUC) in the Lowell House Junior Common Room last night.

The members discussed two upcoming council resolutions. One proposal would mandate semesterly general elections, reducing the current year-long council representative terms to one semester. The other plan would increase council executive terms from one semester to a year.

Both proposals were sponsored by David V. Bonfili '96 and Rudd W. Coffey '97, founders of the MRUC. Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 and Philip R. Kaufman '98, the other council members at the meeting, said they supported both proposals.

"It's frustrating to have half the council really apathetic, while some people are really active," Coffey said. "Elections each semester would promote accountability, and allow those people who decide they don't want to participate a way to bow out gracefully."

Under the second proposal, executives would run for office during the second semester of their junior year and hold office until second semester of their senior year.

"Right now, [Council President David L.] Hanselman has two months to promote change. It's hard to have directive change and leader-ship in that period of time," Coffey said.

Bonfili emphasized the importance of executive involvement during the summer. "Really crucial decisions get made in the summer, and we need an incentive for executives to do something then," he said, adding that most council projects are longer than one semester.

Coffey said he anticipates opposition to the proposals from juniors who will only have one term during their senior year to run for election.

Bonfili and Coffey seemed optimistic in spite of the meeting's meager turnout. "People realized we'd be talking about these resolutions Sunday and didn't want to give up another night," Coffey said.