A good HoCo president will bring a lot of ideas to the table. Here are some of the ideas I've been kicking around, based on input from Pforzheimer residents. I want to stress that these are ideas from the community, and ideas that after discussion I feel we need to act upon. I want to keep moving forward with the things that have already made Pforzheimer the best House at Harvard, while providing the services that residents have suggested and which the future demands.

• BETTER ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS IN EACH HALL. This will be my first action, if elected PfoHo president. Holmes JCR is a great social center, and acts as a center for the entire house. Each hall should also have a vibrant social center: Comstock, Moors, and Jordan all need quality television sets for their common rooms, as well as working VCRs and DVD players. Hall study breaks could be improved and hall residents would meet other people in a more populated common area.
• INCREASED FUNDING FOR THURSDAYFEST AND THE TAILGATE There are more proud PfoHosers than ever: forty more sophomores entered PfoHo this year, increasing our population to about 390 students. In consideration of this, the funding for Thursdayfest should be increased to reflect higher attendance - partially due also to improved quality. The funding for the Tailgate will clearly need to be higher for an away game next year, despite any money saved by buying kegs. Thursdayfest, as well as the tailgate, are fun, relaxing and popular, and with high attendance their budgets need to be adjusted accordingly.
• MORE MOVIES IN THE JCR. I want to enhance our sense of House community by holding frequent screenings. The current video screenings are always popular, and I think HoCo should promote these events. We should subsidize refreshments for filmgoers and pay rental fees if necessary. This would be a very small expense, perhaps ten or fifteen dollars a week, and it would have a significant effect on the quality of life at Pforzheimer.
• HOCKEY TAILGATES. Harvard's hockey team is nationally ranked and currently first in the ECAC. It is a source of considerable pride to Harvard, and an even greater source of pride to Pforzheimer, where many of the team's most talented players reside. I want to see a strong Pforzheimer cheering section at home games, and especially at major ones like the Cornell game. The new HoCo should look into tailgate parties for Cornell games, Brown games, and for those games that determine playoff status.
• FUNDING FOR HALL STUDY BREAKS. We should direct more money to Hall Study Breaks that students from all over Pforzheimer can attend. Milk and Cookies is great, but we must have more incentive to socialize within the hall.
• IMPROVE BRAIN BREAK. Most students in Pforzheimer take full advantage of Brain Break. Not just a snack, brain break is a "fourth meal" for many of us, and is an important part of the meal plan: students need nutritious and tasty snacks to help them study. I want to make sure that there is ample food, and I envision a Brain Break that is partially subsidized by HoCo, where Decorate-Your-Own cookies show up on a regular basis, hot chocolate (now with marshmallows!) is in abundant supply, and students can get the energy they need to study.
• FULL DISCLOSURE OF TREASURER'S REPORT. Currently, the details of the HoCo Treasurer's report are withheld from HoCo representatives. Pforzheimer students need to know how their dues are spent, and they should be able to count on HoCo doing everything it can to make their House the best place possible. As a current HoCo rep, I know that our budget is strong and that Pforzheimer students deserve to know what's going on. As a HoCo president I would not only cultivate a strong relationship with our treasurer, but also require a bi-weekly report on our finances to be published on Pfoho-Open.
• CRIMSON NIGHT AT THE COMMON. We convince Cambridge Common or another Porter Sq. area restaurant/bar to hold half-price appetizers, food, or drinks on a weekday night, with a Harvard ID. An impetus to get out of the Quad to socialize, but without the long trek down to John Harvard's on Monday night!
• IMPROVE FLY-BY. Pforzheimer has a lot of science concentrators, and Fly-By is sometimes the best option for lunch. Unfortunately, Fly-By is generally bland food. Pforzheimer science concentrators deserve better, and as president I will use my bully pulpit to urge for better lunch options for students who do not have the time to go to a dining hall for lunch.
• DEVELOP A MAJOR PFORZHEIMER EVENT. Other houses have their Debaucheries, their Masquerades, their Evenings with Champions, and their Eighties Dances. Pforzheimer has had great success drawing people to the Quad for PfoHo54, and now it's time to create a new, major social event at Harvard. I want Pforzheimer to create an event that will be the envy of the River social scene.
• FAIR TRADE COFFEE. After the presentation given earlier this year at the Master's, I stongly advocate that we bring Fair Trade Coffee into the PfoHo dining hall. It would not cost much extra, and that extra could be partially subsidized by the new revenue I will produce (please see below.) Fair Trade Coffee is a much better deal for the farmer's producing coffee beans, which must be hand-picked, because coffee is bought at a stable price reflecting past average value, so that farmer's will not be victimized by the boom-bust cycle of third world agriculture. The coffee also tastes much better than regular coffee because the beans are better quality, so everyone in the house will enjoy this addition to the dining hall.
• USE THE BASEMENT FOR ART. Right now, we have a sound studio in the basement. Let's make the basement in Pforzheimer the place at Harvard for video editing. With the revival of HRTV, it's a good time to try and expand Pforzheimer's role in undergraduate recording arts. I support developing the studio resources in the basement of Pforzheimer, as well as the darkroom - we could use these facilities not only for personal projects but also for house seminars.
• PUBLIC SUPPORT OF THE GAY COMMUNITY AT PFORZHEIMER. Pforzheimer House has one of the two largest queer populations in the House system. An atmosphere of tolerance and support should be continued and promoted at Pforzheimer House. Emphasizing the diversity which makes PfoHo great, the new HoCo should actively pursue the following goals:
  • Hold the BGLTSA spring dance at Pforzheimer
  • Subsidize a queer study break.
• WIRELESS NETWORK. Wireless connections for laptops are already in all campus libraries, and Leverett has gone wireless. Pforzheimer should be the next house to go fully wireless.
• TEAM GOTCHA IN THE SPRING. If there's one thing people don't need to be doing in the spring, it's work. Gotcha is incredibly popular, and Team Gotcha would preserve the greatness of hunting without a simple rehash.
• FREE PINBALL. Instead of renting a pinball machine, I propose we buy a used pinball machine. Rather than try and subsidize the rental fee, I think HoCo should make a one time purchase of an older model of pinball machine, and let students play for free! I am, of course, open to the idea of purchasing a free video game as well.
• BETTER COMIC BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY. Tired of reading Justice League back issues from 1999? I suggest we devote a small sum to purchasing new comic books each month. We all enjoy dropping by the Pforzheimer Library for a little light reading now and then. Five or ten new comics a month would be a great and affordable addition to the Library. I also support the creation of a role-playing game section of the Library, given enough student interest.
• GREATER INVOLVEMENT WITH CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY. Finally, under my presidency we could see our location not as a penalty but an advantage. Next year's new PfoHosers will be coming out of a class which has shown remarkably little interest in volunteer work, as shown by phenomenally low turnout in PBHA programs. We are surrounded not by a moat separating us from the Yard, but a vibrant community, from Fresh Pond to the Agazziz neighborhood by the Divinity School. Peabody school is across the street - I voted there this November - why couldn't we have Peabody's Field Day in the Quad? Ultimately, this is my vision of the house: when you come back to Pforzheimer, you don't come back to a cot and desk but to your house, and when you exit, you exit not into icy streets or the summer wet of Massachusetts, but into a neighborhood which is your own.

• The PfoHo budget is approximately $13,000-20,000 a year. For the past two years a solid portion of this money has been spent equipping the weight room. The weight room is now finished to the point of only requiring adequate upkeep, so the money which might be set aside before is now free, and we have full access to our budget, allowing us more freedom to create and improve that that possible since current seniors were first-years.
• The money for the PfoHo budget comes, first and foremost, from the washers and dryers. After that, house dues are an important source of revenue, followed by a small UC grant.
• Furthermore, we have a number of untapped options for funding:
  • We do not have a strong alumni network. Setting up both a Friends of Old North House for our 'Cliffie forebears, and a Pfriends of PfoHo for recent graduates would allow us to solicit donations supporting a better house with steady, comforting traditions. Also, such a network would be very useful, allowing alums access to the outstanding moral character of PfoHo graduates, and helping those graduates find employment. In terms of pride, we would encourage alumni and alumnae to come to tailgates and attend games in the PfoHo section, and so on, such that the House supports you not only while you attend Harvard, but helps you after graduation.
  • PfoHo does not have any large fundraising events. This is a point for raising funds from outside, especially around the holidays. We could for instance sell anonymous Crush soda can deliveries around Valentine's Day (get it?). We did this in my high school and it was wildly successful.
  • Our dining hall is a valuable asset. Groups using it usually do so for free, and I feel that charity events not only should, but must, have access to our facilities. Yet, many of these events and dances are not for charity, and in this case the groups using our facilities should either pay a minor fee, or allow discount tickets to House people who decide to attend.

  If you're interested in learning more about my life before Harvard, please check out my other website. Thanks for your consideration and support.

  
  PFORZHEIMER PRIDE

  ---

  Home  |  Young Activist Years  |  St Marks  |  Toyota Scholar  |   Harvard Years |  Top of Page