Lance Rogers elected new UA chairperson

Runner-up Beverly to serve as body's vice-chairperson and Mike Madden The Undergraduate Assembly elected College junior Lance Rogers UA chairperson last night after nearly two hours of speeches and a question-and-answer session. Rogers defeated Wharton junior Gil Beverly and College junior Eric Tienou. Beverly later won the vice-chairperson election over four other candidates. Beverly and Rogers garnered the most votes in their respective schools during last week's UA elections. The UA also elected College freshman Steve Schorr, a Daily Pennsylvanian sports writer, as its treasurer. Nursing sophomore Lisa Aspinwall will serve as the next UA secretary. College freshman Tal Golomb will represent the UA on the University Council Steering Committee, along with Rogers. Candidates focused on methods of improving the UA and the body's relationship with the other branches of student government. After Tienou was eliminated in the first vote for chairperson, a run-off election resulted in Rogers' victory. Speeches and questioning focused mostly on what direction the UA should take and how problems previously experienced by the body could be solved. The three candidates agreed on many issues, often adding to each other's responses rather than opposing one another's views. College senior Liz Melendez, former United Minorities Council chairperson, criticized Rogers for not properly representing Six Directions -- the University's Native American organization -- at UMC meetings. Rogers attributed the difficulties to the few meetings Six Directions had. Six Directions was recently placed on probation by the UMC due to a lack of attendance at UMC meetings. But this controversy did not appear to faze UA members. The UA questioned Beverly about his lack of experience, since this is his first UA term. Rogers said he hopes to address problems specific students are having -- such as those involving Residential Living or with certain professors. "I am in shock right now," Rogers said immediately following the election."I'd like to encourage all students to keep their minds open with the next UA -- they're going to see a lot of changes." UA members said they hoped Rogers would lead the body well. "I am confident Lance will do what we need him to do," UA member and Wharton freshman Charles Margosian said. But former UA Chairperson Dan Debicella voiced strong opposition to the UA's choice. "The UA has just elected Forrest Gump as chair," the Wharton junior said. "And the UA has unknowingly elected [College junior and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist] Mike Nadel as chair because Lance is just going to be a puppet for Mike's interests." But Nadel said Debicella represented "exactly the kind of politics that's come to an end tonight." "This can really mark a new beginning," Nadel said. "I am nobody's puppet master." Debicella broke a long-standing UA tradition by leaving the meeting immediately after Rogers' election. Previously, the former UA chairperson had thrown a gavel to his successor -- who would routinely fail to catch it. Beverly defeated Wharton freshman Hester Wong, College freshman Larry Kamin, College sophomore Laurie Moldawer and College junior Christian Hensley in the race for vice-chairperson. Beverly said he advocates the development of a "publicity arm," but did not want to provide specifics on UA reorganization believing the body itself should make those decisions. "We need to restore the reputation of the UA to a point where if people don't like us a lot, at least they don't hate us," he said. Schorr, a member of the Student Activities Council Finance Committee, triumphed over Wong and Wharton freshman Alan Danzig in the treasurer's race. Engineering freshman Alex Malek, Golomb, Hensley and Moldawer vied for the UC steering representative position. Aspinwall ran unopposed or secretary. The meeting was televised live from the UTV-13 studios.