On Tuesday, the Brown student body will have the task of choosing the leadership for next year's Undergraduate Finance Board (UFB), the group responsible for apportioning funding for student groups. We first want to encourage the entire student body to take time to research the candidates and vote. When they do, we hope that students elect Adam Kiki-Charles '11 and Herald columnist Tyler Rosenbaum '11 for UFB chair and vice chair, respectively.
Kiki-Charles has the requisite experience, as he represented 17 student groups during his two semesters on the board. We were impressed with his pledge for greater representative training. To accomplish this goal, he plans increased communication between UFB members during the summer and training before the new school year starts. He also promised thorough scrutiny of representatives' progress throughout the year. Kiki-Charles expressed a desire to strengthen communication between the Board and student groups by sending meeting minutes to group leaders and supplying more robust fund-raising advice for groups. Further, we agree with his assessment that the UFB Web site is underwhelming, and support his pledge to provide a more accessible feedback mechanism for groups and the greater student body.
Both candidates — Kiki-Charles and Salsabil Ahmed '11 — are extremely competent and experienced. Ahmed has admirably served the board for two full years, and demonstrated a convincing vision for greater advocacy, guidance, and support for student groups. Further, Ahmed pledges to collaborate with the University administration to advocate for greater financial aid support for members of groups. Like Kiki-Charles, she also hopes to enhance the Board's accountability and collaboration with the student body. We would feel comfortable with Ahmed as UFB chair.
For vice chair, we believe Rosenbaum is the candidate most likely to improve UFB's transparency and foster a productive relationship between UFB and the Undergraduate Council of Students. For the last two semesters, he has served as representative, secretary and webmaster for UFB. His meeting minutes (available on the UFB Web site) proved very detailed and organized, providing clear and cogent notes for the student body. Further, Rosenbaum has served on UCS for four semesters, and this unique qualification would allow him to work closely with the Council. Rosenbaum has also worked on the Capital Closet project, under which UFB would buy commonly used event equipment to loan to student groups.
Rosenbaum's opponent, Jason Lee '12, emphasized professionalism and etiquette on the Board. We appreciated Lee's goals, especially since the vice chair plays a large role in maintaining orderly discussions and overseeing meetings. Though we feel that Rosenbaum would make a better candidate for vice chair, we hope that he will remain mindful of this element of Lee's platform.
Endorsements for the positions of UCS president and vice president will appear in Tuesday's Herald.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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