In recent years, the position of undergraduate liaison to the Board of Trustees has taken on increased importance, as campus activists have questioned Board decisions on issues ranging from divestment to graduate-aid funding. Out of a competitive field, the Maroon believes first-year Louis Potok to be the best candidate for the job. Potok has shown an understanding of the liaison’s role and the challenges facing any student who wants to work with the insular Board of Trustees. More importantly, he does not share the negatives associated with his competitors. Second-year Joseph “Tex” Dozier demonstrated the best comprehension of the intricacies of the Board of Trustees and was the only candidate to offer concrete ideas on how to increase the Board’s transparency. However, Dozier’s cartoonish persona—one of the campaign videos on his eponymous website features him wearing a cowboy hat and puffing a cigar—raises doubts as to whether he would be taken seriously by the Board. Third-year Aliza Levine’s close involvement with Darfur activists—and their extreme tactics—would similarly jeopardize her ability to work as an effective conduit between trustees and students. By contrast, Potok’s sophomoric personal attacks against outgoing liaison Hollie Gilman may be gratuitous, but they do not detract substantively from his ideas or campaign. Finally, the Maroon strongly recommends not, under any circumstances, voting for second-year Nick Zhao, also a candidate for College Council. Zhao has centered his campaign around a nonsensical “mathematical equation” and has failed to provide a compelling explanation for the anti-Semitic screeds, which, until recently, appeared on his Facebook page.

The Maroon Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Viewpoints Editors, and an additional Editorial Board member.