EDITORIAL: Ivy Nonsense

Undergraduate Assembly is simply throwing money at a body even more inefficient and impotent than itself _______________________________ Sunday night, the Undergraduate Assembly gave four members $200 to attend the Ivy Council Conference at Dartmouth this weekend. Ivy Council was formed five years ago, but it has only officially existed since the spring of 1993, when its constitution was finally ratified. Since then, it has done about as much as it had before it had a constitution, i.e. nothing. The council consists of student government representatives from each of the eight Ivy League schools. Its stated purpose is to communicate and exchange ideas. Furthermore, as the voice of a united Ivy League, it should enjoy added clout with the national news media, according to Ivy Council President Justin Beckelman. Banding together with other Ivy League schools to discuss common concerns, share ideas and voice opinions to the entire nation might sound like an admirable endeavor. In reality however, Ivy Council is nothing more than a powerless body void of any goals that meets once a semester (twice if you count steering meetings). Unlike the UA, which can at least claim to be the voice of the student body with the University administration, Ivy Council has zero advocacy powers. There is no central Ivy administration, so there simply is nobody for them to advocate to. Who will listen to them? No one. How will they ever find meaningful common ground? They won't. Finally, meetings are held at most twice a semester. Representatives will not be able to do the research, build the rapport or put in the legwork required to write serious resolutions. How do they expect to get anything done? They don't. They're just padding their collective resume. It is no coincidence that this issue has generated controversy and divisiveness within the UA in the past. Thankfully, many UA members see the folly in using student money for something that, at best, will benefit Ivy Council members and at worst, will be a complete waste of time. Two hundred dollars may not be worth a lot these days, but it's still worth more than sending four UA representatives to Ivy Council.

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