March 7, 2001

UC Made Right Decision on Ivy Council

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To the editors:

In "Skeptics Threaten Ivy Council" (Opinion, March 8), Ean W. Fullerton, a first-year at Columbia, attacked the decision of the Undergraduate Council to evaluate its involvement in the Ivy Council. Fullerton describes this as an "unwarranted ultimatum"; I suggest that the Ivy Council is an unwarranted organization.

Marked by wasteful spending and high costs, the Ivy Council has been no more than a drain on the resources of the already tight budget of the council.

That a constituent group would demand effective and efficient government seems incomprehensible to Fullerton; it seems quite reasonable to me and to the other council members who voted for the legislation.

We are told that the Ivy Council "nurtures mutually beneficial relationships," and fosters "[collaboration] on those tasks that are greater than any single student government." Yet I challenge Fullerton to provide me with one tangible benefit that was derived from Ivy Council. When an organization is utterly unproductive, I see little reason to remain affiliated unless positive change can be made.