Dear Michael,

Many of the issues you raised in your article, "Restoring Grass-roots Government" were the same concerns I had when I ran for ASCIT President in February.

To help keep students more informed about administrative issues, I created a page on donut soon after my election that lists information about undergraduate issues, which is located at http://donut.caltech.edu/~pres/issues.html. The page was linked to on the ASCIT main page for a few weeks after I created it, but after that I moved it into the rotating announcement section of the page. It can also be reached by clicking on "ASCIT Info" and "Current Issues".

I was actually unaware of the final health care report being released recently, and I'm glad you brought it to my attention in your article. I attended a meeting where I shared the undergraduate perspective on health care to the Faculty Student Health Committee, but have been busier with classes recently and must have missed the report's release.

As for your wishes of a biweekly meeting with the President; it is something that has been often proposed and repeatedly rejected. A single meeting with President Baltimore is difficult to achieve. I rely on monthly Faculty Board meetings, scattered meetings with VP for Student Affairs Gary Lorden, and the help of informed students like yourself to keep on top of things.

The undergraduate student government, much like Caltech administration, is rather decentralized in its operation. Just last week, the IHC nominated 33 students to Faculty Committees that help determine the recipients of scholarships, the level of tuition, the freshmen that are accepted, and Housing issues. This week, the ARC will nominate students to serve on committees that deal with the library and the curriculum. Communication between ASCIT and these people has not been as good as it should be, but with these representatives being appointed during my term of office, I will try to personally stay in contact with each of them.

I was also saddenned by your impression that ASCIT has not had a hand in any significant lobbying of Caltech administration. Out of courtesy, I have made it a policy not to make my correspondence with Caltech administrators public, but I assure you that I am lobbying very hard in favor of the students. I implore you and other students to ask Caltech administrators who has been talking to them about many of the issues you mentioned. I'm sure you would find that your student leaders, members of the BoD and the IHC, have said a lot in the past few months.

My comment that Dr. Baltimore's letter was a "major victory" for students came in an offhand comment to Tech Editor Kevin Bartz encouraging him to put a reporter on that story. Much more went on behind the scenes leading up to that letter than was reported in the Tech, but that is all lost to history now. The articles in the Tech have created the perception that ASCIT is only dealing with trivial issues, but as a student newspaper, it will naturally focus on the interaction between students and their government. The dialogue between the student government and Caltech administration may not make the front page of the Tech, but I assure you it's taking up much more of my time than donuts.

I hope the undergraduate population remembers that I am only one student, and I can only do so much on any given issue. I thank you and applaud your efforts for working on the library issue. If you had come to the ASCIT BoD while you were organizing your effort, I would have gladly lent a hand. If there's any assistance you need now, please let me know and I will do my best to help out.

At Caltech we are very fortunate that every student is as intelligent and as capable as the President of the student body. This allows our lobbying efforts to have many times the effect of the average college student body. I revel in the fact that the December protest, the petition to save Professor Cheron, and your effort to save the central library were all not organized by the student government. If I had to take care of all those things personally, I would likely flame. Representing the students, like everything else at Caltech, should be a collaborative effort.

Sincerely,

Ted Jou
ASCIT President