After hearing both extremely convincing platforms, the members of Fuerza Latina feel that the Bowman-Hysen ticket has the experience to bring change to the lives of the undergraduates. Bowman and Hysen both have experience serving on various boards and committees within the Undergraduate Council (UC), thus proving their competence on issues that not only affect the Fuerza communidad, but the community at large as well.

Their knowledge and involvement in undergraduate finance will foster better relations between the UC and student organizations. With Hysen’s experience as treasurer for the Harvard College Democrats and Bowman’s involvement in the UC Financial Committee, the ticket, if elected, will make decisions with the greater community in mind. Bowman has already demonstrated the desire to promote diversity through Harvard’s campus by advocating full funding for Fiestón, Fuerza Latina’s kick-off to Latino Heritage Month, with the president emeritas this past grant season. Fostering understanding and celebrating diversity is a goal that is prevalent through this and through all their other work on campus as well.

Fuerza Latina supports the Bowman-Hysen Ticket for UC President and Vice President and strongly encourages everyone to go forth and rock the vote (uc.fas.harvard.edu).

Fuerza strong,
Your Fuerza Board

–
~~~ F U E R Z A L A T I N A ~~~
Harvard 2009-2010

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~fuerza

President: Adrián Aldaba
Vice President: Jaissa Feliz
Treasurer: Phil Acevedo
Secretary: Carola Cintrón
Community Social Chair: Cristina Alcorta
Publicity Social Chair: Victor Flores
Community Service Chair: Giaynel Cordero
Historian: Karina Herrera
SAC Rep: Amelia Barros
Freshmen Representative: Pamela Rosario
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

questions?
E-mail fuerza@hcs.harvard.edu or aldaba@fas.harvard.edu

“Fuerza Latina supports the Bowman-Hysen Ticket for UC President and Vice President and strongly encourages everyone to go forth and rock the vote (uc.fas.harvard.edu).”

Check out the Endorsments page for the full text of the endorsement!

“Although we admire the accomplishments of all of the candidates in this race, we are convinced that Johnny Bowman and Eric Hysen are best prepared to call for a more inclusive budget cuts process and work with student groups to improve student life at Harvard. We urge students to vote for Johnny and Eric in this week’s election.”

The Hayward Zhang campaign highlights experience, and, in the campaign’s own words, “results you see” or “results UC.” George Hayward has worked very hard for the oft-neglected Quad, such as when he pushed with other UC representatives for the introduction of a temporary cell phone service improvement, which now makes it easier for Quadlings to make calls. We are impressed by Hayward’s achievements and dedication, and we believe that he is an asset to the UC in whatever position he may hold.

But the Indy is similarly impressed with the Bowman Hysen campaign. Hysen has been with the UC since freshman year, and he has had his hands on half the legislation that has gone through that body. Bowman, though a recent addition to the UC scene, has proven himself to be a charismatic, caring leader. We are heartened by Bowman’s desire to help protect student services by protecting the jobs of workers responsible for everything from driving shuttles to making hot breakfast. The “Real Solutions” they advocate for in their platform truly are real.

The Indy saw the Bowman Hysen and Hayward Zhang campaigns in a similar light. Both tickets have experience and enthusiasm, along with the desire to serve Harvard students and the Harvard community. The Crimson saw this too, and decided to go with Hayward-Zhang. So how did we finally make the choice to endorse Bowman Hysen?

Simple. The Indy sent all three camps questionnaires and requests for platform statements and pictures. The Bowman Hysen campaign was the first to respond, by a long shot. Every question was filled out, both candidates answered, and the platform, in an acceptable length, was included. When we needed a higher resolution picture, their staff members and Hysen himself all replied, CC-ing the entire staff, including Bowman, and we got everything we needed from them on time.

We cannot say the same of the other campaigns, though everything did eventually trickle in by the time we finished production. We feel that being receptive to students and responsive to feedback is an important part of leading the UC. Harvard students may not care about the UC in general, but we feel that it is important for their leaders to be approachable and responsive, even with little things like the Indy asking for a response, and even if they are busy with school work and campaigning rabidly. In a race where both tickets have emphasized the importance of the communicating with and representing the student body, the Bowman Hysen campaign has best demonstrated that their words are not just rhetoric.

Finally, we also looked at the On Harvard Time videos and used them as a way of getting to know candidates, and we found ourselves most at home with Bowman and Hysen. They handled themselves with equal parts grace and entertainment. We are confident in their ability to unite the 49 other members of the UC in working to protect and improve student life, and we believe that by one year from now, they will have given us many reasons to care about the work of the UC.

The Harvard Independent

The Harvard Voice endorsed the ticket of Johnny Bowman and Eric Hysen for UC President and Vice President, respectively, at the group’s weekly meeting earlier tonight.
After the two UC tickets presented their platforms at a meeting held at 8 p.m. in Quincy Bullitt Room, the executive board and staff members of the Voice discussed the candidates before conducting a blind vote.
The Voice unanimously voted to endorse Bowman/Hysen for their exceptional qualities in the following areas:

· Experience and enthusiasm
Johnny Bowman and Eric Hysen have both been involved in the UC for multiple years in various capacities, and have a proven track record of garnering student input and achieving tangible results. In the past, Johnny pushed for a transparent budget cut process that directly led to the implementation of the Idea Bank, the only way in which students are now able to get budget cut ideas to the administration.

· Emphasis on budget cuts
The Voice believes that budget cuts pose the largest potential detriment to student life, and Johnny and Eric shared this concern. The Voice believes the Bowman-Hysen ticket will work closely with administration to reduce the impact of budget cuts on student life.

· Improving student life without spending money
While describing their platform, Bowman and Hysen emphasized their desire to seek solutions for improving student life at little to no cost. These ideas included creating an online study guide database, a Craigslist-type listing for student goods, and a central events calendar for the entirety of campus.

· Emphasis on multimedia
Much like The Harvard Voice, Johnny and Eric has concrete plans for bringing Harvard online. These include the aforementioned events calendar and study guide database, as well as a streamlined online room reservation process at http://maps.cs50.net.

The Voice has full confidence in the Bowman/Hysen ticket and looks forward to working with them in the upcoming year.

Voting is open to Harvard undergraduates until noon Thursday, November 19, at http://uc.fas.harvard.edu.

“We’re both liberal guys. We’re both on the Finance Committee of the UC, and Eric is the [Harvard Dems'] Treasurer right now. The Dems [want] to further public service job opportunities at Harvard and the Republicans are really concerned with ROTC,” said Bowman, “we can work with both and address both issues. I really feel like that’s what makes us the most appealing,” said Bowman.

“Although it sounds corny, and I hate sounding corny, I really do believe that the government is for the people and can provide change. I’ve been an active part of the UC all three years that I’ve been at Harvard, and I even rewrote the UC constitution last year, envisioning what the UC could be,” said Hysen. “It used to have two committees. Now it has five. We now have the Student Initiatives Committee, which does things like DAPA and the Harvard-Yale shuttle and the student relations committee.”

Bowman attributes his campaign’s existence to Hysen’s involvement. “I wouldn’t be running for president if I didn’t have Eric Hysen as my vice president. Eric Hysen is the library of knowledge of the UC,“ said Bowman

Sincerely,

The Progressive Jewish Alliance

Jason Schnier, Chair
Abby Schiff, Vice Chair for Advocacy
Betty Rosen, Vice Chair for Programming
Daniel Jacobson, Treasurer
Jay Cohen, Chair Emeritus