LETTER: Mitch on 'Vitz

After reading Andy Sernovitz's column (DP 2/5/92), I felt compelled to respond in some way. Congratulations, Andy! Your unoriginal article accomplished what I feel should be every columnist's goal: to raise conciousness and stir conversation on any particular matter. Personally, your column showed me that the student body of the University of Pennsylvania deserves an explanation for what The Daily Pennsylvanian seems to feel is inadequate student government. As chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly, I feel confident that I can show you this perception is truely inaccurate. All I ask is that you read on and keep an open mind. In order to criticize something responsibly, one must look at the complete picture. In this case, the subject of criticism was the UA. According to the prevailing public opinion, this means Penn student government. This statement is only partially true. Surely, the UA is part of student government -- but it is not the whole thing. Student government at Penn consists of the UA, the Student Activities Council (SAC), the Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC), the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE), and the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC). All of these branches meet every week and coordinate their events. They seek assistance from one another and help plan events together. SAC allocates over $50,000 to student clubs and groups each year. The UA formed this committee so as to insure efficient and specialized management and allocation of this crucial money. It is run beautifully and is in close coordination with the UA. Is this useless? I think not. SPEC plans concerts and comedy acts, as well as the much awaited annual Spring Fling. The UA and other interested students formed this so as to insure better events and better Spring Flings. These activities are exciting and well attended, and Spring Fling is clearly the best weekend at Penn. Everybody I know looks forward to these events. Should SPEC be abandoned? Definitely not. SCUE works behind the scenes to insure academic quality at Penn, by producing the Academic Planner, meeting with the Provost and helping to create the curriculum. It gives input on issues concerning admission and academic requirements. Clearly this is beneficial. The NEC interviews and places students on numerous committees each year, and also runs UA elections and referenda. While voter turnout has been small, the branch still handles each aspect of student committee appointments in a most efficient way. However, student committees are filled each semester in a fair and expedient manner. Now, the UA. Firstly, it acts to coordinate the five branches so they can work together. This is accomplished by weekly meetings to which all five branches send representatives. This is an extremely important function, as coordination prevents overlap and inefficiency. Secondly, and most importantly, the UA serves as a lobbying group. If you understand that lobbying is the main function of the UA, I am sure you will realize how successful it has been this year. The UA lobbies the trustees and administration to keep the rate of tuition increase down. The current rate of tuition increase is the second lowest in fifteen years, and we are still fighting. The UA lobbies the state to restore some of its state appropriation. This past summer, $18 million was returned to Penn and we hope for more this year. The UA lobbies the Security Department and holds security forums to insure proper security on this campus. Six new blue light phones were recently installed. The UA lobbies for increased recycling programs. This year our program was ranked number one in the state. I'll continue. The UA lobbies for improvements in Residential Living. Change machines were just placed in the dorms and the mail service was improved. The UA lobbies Dining Services. Lunch hours were recently extended and the McClelland food allowance was also a UA project. The UA lobbies University Council to restore student representation on committees. Recently, two resolutions to decrease this were defeated. The UA lobbies the administration to allow students to ride bikes on Locust Walk. This resolution was also tabled. Are you listening Andy? The UA lobbies the administration to provide guidance for students living off-campus. A Landlord-Tenant forum was held this week. The UA lobbies President Hackney to listen to the student body. This is the main job of the UA. And we do it damn well. The UA does not stop there. The UA provides free legal service for almost anyone who applies. The UA runs signature drives and letter drives to local legislators for various causes. The UA holds waste management studies for Dining Services. The UA provides assistance to community service groups that are in need. The UA attends conventions to try to learn what other schools do so we can improve ourselves. Yes, Sernovitz. It also lobbies to try to change the name of the Oriental Studies Department because this name is offensive to many people. The UA is also involved in countless other projects, all with the same goal: to directly benefit the lives of the student body at Penn. If a member wants to go above and beyond the call of duty and post flyers for the Penn-Princeton basketball game, he is showing school spirit. Why do you ridicule him? If a student is trying to improve UTV programming and solicits UA members to help, she is getting involved in more than one extracurricular activity. Why do you mock this? This is school spirit. I have always looked upon school spirit as something we need more of. Lastly, if the UA runs its meetings by parliamentary procedure, we do it because it is an efficient method that dates back over a century. Why does this bother you? Is a proven system for running meetings not to your liking? As you can see, your pathetic attempt at mocking the UA is unoriginal and annoying. It also portrays an extremely grim picture of the cognizance you possess involving student issues. Penn needs more people like the people on student government. These people work hard for little personal gain. Student government is clearly no more a resume builder than being a varsity athlete or a writer for the DP. Why are we constantly ridiculed? We give our free time, countless hours of it, to serve the student body -- and most importantly, we succeed. I was given a crash course long ago by the DP that taught me not to expect credit for hard earned, honest success. But that does not stop myself or other student government from working hard. The DP makes up an extremely small source of satisfaction that I gain from UA successes. We are happy that we have been treated fairly with the new executive board. If you or any writer decides not to, I personally don't care. We will not stop serving the Penn student body! Please, do not ridicule those that work hard and succeed regularly. If you must ridicule somebody, focus your energy on those that deserve it. Although we are elected officials who must answer to the public, we still deserve a fair shake. Thank you for the time some of you have taken to read this letter. Our next meeting is Sunday, March 1, at 9:00 p.m. Anybody can attend. We are open to your suggestions and are more than willing to work hard to succeed for you. Oops, sorry for that last line. You knew that already. MITCHELL WINSTON College '93 Chairperson Undergraduate Assembly

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