Gusmorino For President

This year, it is a pleasure to endorse a candidate for the Undergraduate Council presidency without reservation. Leading a cash-strapped student government that few of its constituents fully appreciate is a thankless task. But we are convinced that Paul A. Gusmorino III '02, who has worked tirelessly for the student interest in his five terms on the council, is the right man for the job. Gusmorino is by far the most qualified and talented candidate in a strong field, and we believe that he will lift the council out of the aimless and ineffectual mire it has slipped into over the past year.

Gusmorino's accomplishments on the council speak for themselves. He worked on the committee that lowered student telephone rates in 1999, spearheaded the effort last month to solicit applications for the council's Anti-homophobia Challenge Grant, and has been a part of many other council efforts. Perhaps most impressively, Gusmorino organized UC Books, the council-sponsored online service to provide cheaper textbooks to students. In a year marked by petty squabbling and ineffectual grandstanding, Gusmorino's UC Books program stands out as one of the few significant and praiseworthy accomplishments of the nineteenth council.

More than any of the other candidates, Gusmorino and his running mate, Sujean S. Lee '03, know how to get things done. In only three terms on council, Lee has an impressive record as well. She organized the successful first-year formal last year, and coordinated the Harvard-Yale Tailgate this fall. Lee is a born council vice president; unlike the incumbent, she can and has kept the council on agenda during contentious meetings.

Gusmorino and Lee propose an ambitious agenda of student services for the next year, and the pair's record on the council make us believe they can make good on their promises. Central to their platform is a discounted Harvard cell phone plan, parties until 2 a.m., a CUE Guide to concentrations, an impartial advocate to the Ad Board for victims of sexual assault, and a first-year rape prevention program. Historically, candidates for the council's highest positions have promised more than they can deliver; if anything, Gusmorino and Lee have thus far exceeded expectations. The council will have a bigger budget next year if the anticipated increase in the student activities term bill fee passes, and we believe that Gusmorino and Lee will make the most of this unprecedented opportunity to expand the council's role on campus.

We are not alone in our support for Gusmorino. The level of support within the council for his candidacy is truly impressive. The great majority of council members endorsed him, an indication of their faith in his leadership. Eight out of 10 first-year representatives support Gusmorino. This year's president, Fentrice D. Driskell '01, has been hampered by an uncooperative council; Gusmorino's widespread support and respect within the ranks of the council itself leads us to believe he can actually put his ideas into action.

Unlike some of his opponents, Gusmorino understands that an agenda made up of vague generalities and lofty promises of "bringing people together" rarely translate into actual accomplishments. Driskell and her favored successor, Stephen N. Smith '02, have yet to demonstrate to the council or to the student body how they can make such hazy promises result in anything of concrete benefit to students. While it is sometimes appropriate for the council to speak for student on important political issues, the council's most important and most effective role in student life is to provide student services-and no one has done a better job at that than Gusmorino.

The campaign this year has been unusually engaging, and Gusmorino's opponents have produced some good ideas. Electoral reform has been raised as one good issue to consider in the future, and many candidates have rightly emphasized the need to rely more on House Committees in the planning of campus events. Should he be elected, Gusmorino should actively try to incorporate into his agenda the many good ideas his opponents brought to the race this year.

He is not the most charismatic student in the race. But since the popular elections of council presidents began five years ago, no candidate has been so qualified for the job as Paul Gusmorino. He and vice presidential candidate Sujean Lee have our unqualified endorsement.