This Crimson finds you in the excitement and panic of a new semester. Between shopping classes, waiting in line at the Coop, getting back last semester's grades and perhaps switching rooms with your suitemate, the Undergraduate Council's work on your behalf this past semester may not immediately come to mind. But as we move on to the next term, it is worthwhile to consider the student advocacy-and-service organization that last fall renewed its commitment to you. The Council operated on two very basic goals from which it had strayed in the past: relevance and effectiveness. What I hope to present to you is a summary of our efforts to those most worthy ends.

Hopefully, much of this is not news. If we've been doing our job well, you will already have seen results of our many initiatives over the past few months. As President, every day I see the change in spirit on the Council. Serving you are numerous student leaders--hardworking and focused on using our diversity to its advantage. We have greater female and minority representation, attendance is near-perfect although we meet several hours every week, and we are no longer occupied with petty scandals.

Each recent election to fill openings for representatives is another tell-tale sign of our turnaround: last year such "special" elections were often uncontested, and when they were contested, voter-turnout was often abysmal. This year, nearly every race has multiple candidates, and turnout has been extraordinarily high.

In the past, Council presidents have often used such terms as "potential" and "future progress." Undoubtedly this Council will also strive to realize such aims. But today we can genuinely speak not only of future progress, but of a sea-change that is already reflected in many Council successes. This year's Council reflects Harvard's dynamic undergraduate student body by being more assertive and active in pursuing student concerns than ever before. We've made security and campus safety a priority by subsidizing the Harvard University Police Department's Rape Aggression Defense program and bringing Model Mugging seminars to campus. We've shown our committment to House Committees and their unique role on campus by allocating unrestricted block grants to each house.

We've worked to develop a smooth system for campus-wide popular elections (you will vote for next year's student government president and vice president toward the end of this semester). We've persevered in our efforts to bring you universal card-key access, so that you don't have to wait in the rain to meet your friend in Leverett if you live in Cabot. We've endeavored to better engage students in the political process--by ensuring that student needs are represented by registering more than 100 voters; by supporting YouthVote '96 (coming Feb. 16-18 to the IOP); and by providing phones for you on the way to class so that Washington hears your opinion on financial aid cuts.

We've taken an active stance to preserve the sanctity of public service at Harvard--an often complicated affair that includes an unprecedented presentation next week to the Faculty Council. We've allocated, after a thorough review process, more than $35,000 to 149 vibrant student groups (Odds are, you've attended a meeting of or been involved with a group that is receiving Council funding).

We've continued our efforts to address such momentous issues as the calendar and the Core. We've bussed several hundred students both to Yale for The Game (Go Harvard!) and to the airport for Thanksgiving and Winter Break. We've taken a pro-active approach to the University's investment in Nigeria and called for student representation on the committee considering ethnic studies at Harvard. We've collected a bounty of holiday donations for local charities.

We've sought to change UHS's HIV testing policy from confidential to anonymous. We've committed ourselves to obtaining an assurance from College administrators that admissions will continue to be need-blind. We've put on a free show featuring national comedians and plan to spice up social life for all of us singles on Valentine's Day with a Datamatch survey and a dance. We've invited Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 and Associate Dean of Housing Thomas A. Dingman '67 to a forum next month on housing randomization.

And these are just formal resolutions we've passed. There are countless other examples of areas in which we've tried to serve you over the past few months. Many of these occur in the student-faculty committees, to which the Council has elected many talented and diligent student representatives. To underscore the tone of this Council, I'd like to highlight an amendment the Council attached to its resolution for the First-Year Formal (now just over a month away!). Representative Brady S. Case '97 introduced a proviso allocating free tickets to the Formal for first-years with severe financial constraints.

This is the kind of broad thinking I believe epitomizes the best of the new Council spirit, and I expect such a provision will be made for Council events for many years to come.

I hope you agree with and support our many ongoing efforts, several of which I've mentioned. But what I most want to convey is that to accomplish the second goal of this Council--relevance--we need you. It is my belief, and that of many on the Council, that informing you of our efforts is not enough. I'd much prefer an expansion of real dialogue between you and your student government.

This requires that your representatives stay more in touch with you and your concerns (expect this to be a major focus this semester); it also requires that you reach out to them, and to me, to let us know what problems or questions you want addressed. E-mails I've recently received, for example, have voiced concerns over Harvard's treatment of students with alcohol poisoning and have posed questions and suggestions relating to Loker Commons. I can confidently tell you that this Council is capable and truly committed to you--we are ready and able to serve you.

So tonight, as you kick back after a hopefully productive day of shopping classes and coming back to the fast-paced academic world, stop by Loker Commons between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. for the Council's "First Day Blowout." It's free; you shouldn't have much work to do (I could be wrong!); and the same deejay who spun in the Greenhouse for the Gala Ball will be doing it again. More importantly, I am confident that this term the "New U.C." will continue to make real inroads, guided by the all-important criteria of effectiveness and relevance. It's now up to us--you and your Council representatives--to achieve even more historic progress to improve student life here at Harvard.

Robert M. Hyman '98-'97 is president of the Undergraduate Council