Haddock Flounders With First Bill

The new president of the Undergraduate Council (UC) John S. Haddock ’07 began his term with a “little bit of a rocky start,” he told the UC at last night’s inaugural meeting after a bill he introduced was sent to committee and its passage delayed another week.

Haddock outlined his agenda for the year, announcing the creation of a committee that will propose recommendations for the selection of a new dean to replace outgoing Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby, as well as possible plans to restructure the UC.

“Dean Kirby’s resignation gives us not only an opportunity but an obligation to take part in the future of this College,” Haddock said.

He later told The Crimson that this student advisory committee will be composed of five students, who will be selected through a campus-wide application process, and a chair appointed by Haddock.

In a message sent to the UC-General e-mail list yesterday, UC Vice President Annie R. Riley ’07 announced a plan to reform social programming at the College by collaborating with the Campus Life Committee (CLC), leaders of student groups, the administration, and the student body on campus-wide social planning.

Haddock also urged the Council last night to be receptive to changes within the structure of the UC.

“The UC is not a sacred institution and its organization is an evolving one,” he said.

Although Haddock said he wanted to “run the UC as a team,” discord arose when his bill to give immediate funding to House Committees (HoCos) was opposed by former CLC Chair and unsuccessful UC presidential candidate John F. Voith ’07.

The bill proposed directly allocating $3,500 to each of the 12 HoCos and $1,750 to Dudley House without requiring them to submit budget reports until the end of the semester,

But the proposal would break with the traditional procedure of consulting with the Finance Committee (FiCom) and CLC, Voith said.

“Not even giving CLC the chance to discuss this is sort of like a slap on the face to the people on CLC,” he said last night.

Haddock’s hopes to award HoCos with grants before this weekend’s HoCo summit were dashed when the Council ultimately voted to send the bill to CLC and FiCom for further consideration.

Supporters of the bill hoped that it would improve relations between HoCos and the UC.

In the past, the UC issued checks so late into the semester that HoCos were forced to front thousands of dollars in expenses, according to council member Matthew R. Greenfield ’08.

“When it comes to the exchange of money, there’s a lot of good faith to be restored,” he said. “This would have been a good step in that direction.”

Riley’s inexperience with parliamentary debate frustrated some Council members yesterday.

“I don’t know what is going on right now,” Jeffrey Kwong ’09 told the Council, after confusion about voting procedure left some members baffled.

“I’ve never chaired a meeting before, so I apologize if it seems a little chaotic,” Riley told the UC.

Haddock and Riley were sworn in by outgoing leadership, Matther J. Glazer ’06 and Clay T. Capp ’06, at the beginning of the meeting. Glazer and Capp received standing ovations from the Council as they left.

“Good luck, you guys,” were Glazer’s last words as he departed.

After the meeting, committees met separately to elect chairs for the semester. Ryan A. Petersen ’08 was elected chair of the Student Affairs Committee.

CLC will be chaired by Sopen B. Shah ’08, and Lori M. Adelman ’08 will head FiCom.

Although Council meetings are typically on Sundays, this first meeting of the semester was held yesterday to accommodate Super Bowl fans.

—Staff writer Brittney L. Moraski can be reached at bmoraski@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Rachel L. Pollack can be reached at rpollack@fas.harvard.edu.