A veteran of the Harvard music community, Misono says he wants to focus on the arts as his primary platform.

He has served as assistant conductor in HRO, a director of the summer HARMONY program and an assistant music director for the Lowell House Opera. Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Misono says he hopes after graduation to attend conducting school in his parents’ native Japan.

Though Misono has never served on the council, he says his leadership experience in the arts would make him an ideal complement to Lurie.

“Conducting is very related to the UC,” he says. “You have to stand up there with 100 people in front of you, and you have to get them to do what you want to do and agree with your vision.”

Lurie and Misono agree—along with many student artists—that the arts deserve more attention and increased funding.

“Arts at Harvard are left out of the picture,” Misono says. “The administration does not do enough to fund the arts.”

Misono has been officially endorsed by Ethan L. Gray ’05, president-elect of HRO. Other musical groups on campus, including the Harvard Piano Society, Harvard Organ Society and Harvard Pops Orchestra, have forwarded information about him to their members.

Though Misono emphasizes the arts, both candidates say that the council should allocate more funding to all student groups and spend less on itself. According to Lurie, the council currently spends $9,000 on its own operations each year—money he says would be better off in the hands of student groups.

“The council wouldn’t be eligible to receive one of its own grants because it wastes so much money,” Lurie says, pointing to expenses such as $1,200 on photocopies. “Next year we can make sure the budget doesn’t have these ridiculous allocations.”

Eric J. Powell ’04, treasurer of the council, refutes Lurie’s claim that the council misuses its funds.

“This year we actually cut spending,” Powell says. “I try to do a diligent job at keeping extraneous expenses to a minimum.”

No Gimmicks, Some Nonsense

Though Lurie says a focus of his presidency would be to increase grants for student groups, he wants to avoid making extravagant promises about how much he will increase funding.

“We’re not going to promise you the moon and then give you a piece of cheese,” he says.

Campaigning with the slogan “No Gimmicks, No Nonsense, Just Results,” Lurie and Misono have shunned such campaign tools as flashy websites.