is proud to present
The 2009 UC Election Guide
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George Hayward ’11 Felix Zhang ’11 O
ur advocacy philosophy is simple
and effective: many voices united to enact change. When we work on a project we go directly to students themselves through referendums, surveys, person-to-person outreach, student group collaboration, and bringing students directly into interfaces with college Deans. We have seen this philosophy achieve concrete results for students time and time again, like when we convinced the administration to install critically needed cell phone receptors in the Quad last spring. Student Voice on Budget Cuts The Harvard University Budgetary program is the single most important issue currently affecting the campus community. Our first objective as President and Vice President will be to ensure that all minutes of the Budgetary Working Groups be released to the student body for feedback and questions. After securing the necessary transparency for student advocates on the budgetary working groups, we will lobby the administration to institute monthly action-plan meetings – public forums coordinated with student organizations and open to the entire student body. We believe that for students to have a true voice in university financial decisions, these substantive changes must be made to the budget-cut process. Our first project priority will be bringing back hot breakfast. We’ve fought hard on similar issues in the past, such as when we solicited feedback from students about shuttle cuts last spring, which proved instrumental in reversing the decision. We’ve already connected with dministrators and gathered meaningful feedback from hundreds of students about hot breakfast. We are currently building
a coalition of students, faculty, coaches, and health professionals who understand the need for hot breakfast as an issue of student health. To balance the cost we will develop a proposal of alternative budget cuts, including but not limited to increasing visitor prices at the Greenhouse and other campus eateries, discouraging campus offices from using their budgets on “free giveaways”, and administrator pay-cuts. Academics The UC needs to continue to prioritize diversity in our classrooms by completing the process of creating a secondary field in ethnic studies by the Spring of 2010. Additionally, the UC must continue to advance these efforts by supporting diversity in faculty hiring, especially for tenure-track positions. Improved Social Life It is increasingly difficult for student groups to find a location for their events due to restrictive House policies, and limited space outside the Houses. The current decentralization of the entire process takes a toll on student group leaders and limits the number of events they can organize. We have begun working with members of the administration on this issue, and plan to launch a new, centralized, online system in conjunction with the Office of Student Life by Spring of 2010. Campus Safety There has been no greater advocate of campus safety on the Undergraduate Council than George Hayward. We are in the process of working together with the Office of Student Life to further extend cell phone coverage in the quad to other carriers. We are also committed to providing accessible ATMs in the Quad and the Mather/Leverett/Dunster area.
Getting to Know Your Candidates 1. If you could be any Disney character, who would you be? Why would that character make a good UC President/Vice-President? Marlin, from Finding Nemo. We need a President that is passionate, responsible, and committed—someone who never, ever gives up. No character represents that better than Nemo’s dad. 2. How much do you think students care about the UC? How does this election affect the life of the person reading this article? Not enough. With the budget crisis, this election will have a very significant impact on all of us. As representatives for students, the UC is the most effective means of bringing student concerns to the attention of the administration. 3. What do you think about more often, sex or the UC? Are those mutually exclusive? 4. Which of the two of you has a bigger ego? Prove this with concrete examples. George: Felix. Have you seen the way he dresses? 5. If you could introduce anything from your hometown to Cambridge, what would it be and why? Felix: Wawa. If you’re from Philly, you already know. It’s a one-stop shop for everything that you could ever possibly need – like a souped up version of 7-11. People in Philly depend on Wawa for their morning coffee, their lunch breaks, and their late night snacks. Cambridge would be an even better place with a Wawa around. 6. What do you think about inexperienced people running for
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the UC? Please make a reference to Barack Obama somewhere in your answer. Felix: It doesn’t matter how many rules or deans you can name. It’s about what you can get done. And this ticket has a track record of results. When George ran for Currier Rep, they said he couldn’t get better cell phone reception or an ATM in the Quad. But he did. It also helps that his haircut makes him look like Barack Obama. And in his words, “Yes, we can.” 7. You have been told to make and name a drink after your running mate. What is it, and why? No answer. 8. What is your favorite HUDS meal? George: Chicken parmesan. Felix: New England clam chowder. 9. Let’s talk music. What would be the theme song to your ticket? What is the best song with which to end a party? Theme song: “Be,” by Common. The best song with which to end a party: “Party in the USA.” 10. If you could make everybody at Harvard read one book or watch one movie, what would it be and why? (You may include “words to live by” if you’d like). As Michael Jordan says, “Let your game speak.” As important as it is to talk about what you’re going to do, it is far more important to show that you’re capable of getting things done and our ticket is the only one that has made a substantial impact on student life and budget cuts: improving cell phone reception in the Quad and working to roll back the shuttle cuts last year to name a few.
11.12.09 • The Harvard Independent
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Johnny BOWMAN ’11 Eric HYSEN ’11 Getting to Know Your Candidates 1. If you could be any Disney character, who would you be? Why would that character make a good UC President/Vice-President? Eric: Not a Disney character, but I’d be Donkey from Shrek, because I’m making waffles and bringing back hot breakfast. Johnny: Robin Hood, for his acute sense of justice. Also, archery skills are key for protecting students against budget cuts. 2. How much do you think students care about the UC? How does this election affect the life of the person reading this article? In terms of what students care about here — world peace and reducing poverty definitely blow the UC out of the water. But we can still improve all students’ lives by working to create an online study guide database for all students and all classes or a centralized online room reservation system for student groups. 3. What do you think about more often, sex or the UC? Eric: The UC. Johnny: Sex. 4. Which of the two of you has a bigger ego? Prove this with concrete examples. Johnny definitely has the biggest ego, that’s why he’s running for president. That being said, Eric has the biggest Eggo, and that’s why we’re a great ticket. 5. If you could introduce anything from your hometown to Cambridge, what would it be and why? Eric: Wider sidewalks. Johnny: I’m from LA, so wider burritos. 6. What do you think about inexperienced people running for the UC? Please make a reference to Barack Obama somewhere in your answer. Both Eric and I have won Nobel Peace Prizes due to our long list of humanitarian deeds, so we were really offended when
The Harvard Independent • 11.12.09
Obama got the Prize. I mean, experience is important! The same goes for running for the UC. Unless you’ve already brokered peace in the Middle East, you shouldn’t be running for UC president. But seriously, we believe we’re the most experienced in how budget cuts work, how the UC’s finances work, and in advocating for students on the major issues such as J-Term, the Ad Board, and room reservations. 7. You have been told to make and name a drink after your running mate. What is it, and why? There already is a drink named after Eric — the White Russian. And yes, it’s because he tastes delicious. For Johnny, anything involving Rubinoff vodka will suffice. Cheap and effective. 8. What is your favorite HUDS meal? Johnny: Bagelwich! When your first meal of the day is at 1pm, you have to have breakfast and lunch at the same time. Basically you put the entire sandwich bar between two bagel slices and call it a day. 9. Let’s talk music. What would be the theme song to your ticket? What is the best song with which to end a party?
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UC President and VP will face enormous challenges, as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences faces a deficit of $110 million over the next two years. To put that in perspective, the hot breakfast cuts saved about $1 million. That means we need to cut 110 years of hot breakfast in two years. To counter this threat to student life, we need a ticket with an extensive track record of accomplishments that will fight to make future budget decisions more transparent while continuing to improve the Harvard experience. Johnny, the head of the UC’s Budget Cuts Task Force, worked last year to organize a response to the budget situation by coming up with the Idea Bank and advocating to more administrators than any UC presidential candidate in recent memory, from President Drew Faust to Dean Evelyn Hammonds. Eric leads the UC’s advocacy efforts on J-term, which led to 93% of applicants for January housing this year receiving it. He also rewrote the UC constitution to make communicating with the student body and providing services part of the UC’s job. If you’ve lotteried for UC TKTS, seen the UC Weekly newsletter, or applied for a DAPA grant, then you’ve already seen the benefits of this work. As UC President and VP, we will work to make sure that students have the opportunities they dreamed of when they first got into Harvard. We will create innovative J-Term options by allowing student organizations to run their own programming next year he next
and by negotiating for J-Term crossregistration with MIT and creating a program to let students teach courses in the future. To help improve social life, we will have the UC secure large, tough-to-get spaces on campus like Annenberg and subsidize student group events in those locations. By bringing Harvard online we can deliver low-cost, concrete solutions that will immediately help student life. We are working to improve the online events calendar and make it something that all student groups and students use. We will also work to establish an online study guide library, create a UC Craigslist, and to make party forms and study cards completely digital. We are already working to ensure that budget cuts work for students. Johnny has met twice with HUDS Director Ted Mayer to discuss bringing back hot breakfast, which we believe we can accomplish this year, and we are working to ensure that there is a real student voice in the next $110 million in cuts. The budget situation also affects the UC’s grants to student groups, as more groups are applying to the UC for more events than ever before. As the only ticket with UC finance experience, we are best equipped to work with student groups to ensure the UC can meet their needs. We will have the Finance Committee work with student groups to reevaluate their policies, such as those for publications, in light of the economy and discuss what can be improved and prioritized.
We’re hoping “Don’t Be a Carbon Sasquatch” by Schoolhouse Rock will bring us to victory. Coincidentally, it’s also a great way to end a party when you need everyone out of there. 10. If you could make everybody at Harvard read one book or watch one movie, what would it be and why? (You may include “words to live by” if you’d like). First, we’d make everybody watch Twilight the movie, because it’s hilarious. Then we’d make everybody buy Nightlight, the Lampoon’s new parody of Twilight, because Johnny’s twin sister Courtney helped write it and she wants your money.
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Robert LONG ’11 David JOHNSON ’11 Getting to Know Your Candidates 1. If you could be any Disney character, who would you be? Why would that character make a good UC President/Vice-President? Robert: Pumba from The Lion King. Visibility is key for the UC, and Pumba’s girth makes him hard to miss. David: I’ll tell you who wouldn’t make a good UC Vice President: Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. Long Johnson hates crabs. 2. How much do you think students care about the UC? How does this election affect the life of the person reading this article? We’re confident that even students who don’t care about the UC would be happier with Long Johnson. 3. What do you think about more often, sex or the UC?
5. If you could introduce anything from your hometown to Cambridge, what would it be and why? Robert (Augusta, GA): Peaches, because they are so tender. David (Grand Rapids, MN): The Grand Rapids, because they are so rough.
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ere’s what we promise to do as UC President and Vice President:
Ad Board J-term Advising Student life Budget cuts Hot breakfast Safety Put a man on the moon
The UC. 4. Which of the two of you has a bigger ego? Prove this with concrete examples. Definitely Robert. He had this huge Eggo the other day, piled high with strawberries, whipped cream and syrup. I was surprised it fit in the toaster. It was way bigger than the Veritas waffles.
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6. What do you think about inexperienced people running for the UC? Please make a reference to Barack Obama somewhere in your answer. Robert: Well, the first time is always special, and we’d like ours to be memorable. David: Of course safety is always a concern, and I’ve
heard you can pick up some bad stuff along the way. For Obama, it was the birther movement, and for us, well, nothing’s been confirmed yet. 7. You have been told to make and name a drink after your running mate. What is it, and why? Robert (for David): Milk. David (for Robert): Cookies. 8. What is your favorite HUDS meal? Robert: Fish sticks. David: Cherry tomatoes. 9. Let’s talk music. What would be the theme song to your ticket? What is the best song with which to end a party? Theme Song: “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada. It really speaks to Long Johnson’s mission. End a Party: Billy Joel, “For the Longest Time.” Because with Long Johnson, the party never ends. 10. If you could make everybody at Harvard read one book or watch one movie, what would it be and why? (You may include “words to live by” if you’d like). Up. It’s adorable.
11.12.09 • The Harvard Independent