Poll: Students say they know little about the UA

In a recent telephone poll by The Daily Pennsylvanian, 59 percent of 120 students surveyed said they could not name one member of the Undergraduate Assembly. Only 12.5 percent could correctly identify College senior Lance Rogers as UA chairperson. And only three percent of the students polled had ever contacted the UA for help. Many admitted they did not even know how to reach their representatives. Despite the UA's plan to reach students through the Internet, only 23 percent were aware of the UA World Wide Web site, while 17 percent knew that the UA holds office hours. UA Chairperson Lance Rogers said he was unhappy with the poll's results, but explained that the UA is continuing in its effort to reach out to students. "The students see us once a year during elections and then it is their responsibility to contact us," he said. "This UA is changing that. We are contacting the students and asking them what they want." The DP poll found that 55 percent of those surveyed said they would contact the UA if they found an issue which concerned them. Starting this weekend, the UA will begin action on a massive outreach effort designed to foster student awareness of the UA and to make the UA more accessible to students. The action is part of the UA's blueprint for improved communication, developed last fall in an effort to increase the UA's interaction with the student body. In the wake of the blueprint, the UA has divided into several committees which will meet over the weekend and launch outreach programs over the next few weeks. The Door-to-Door Committee met last night to develop a formal strategy. Committee member Tom Foldesi, a Wharton junior, said he hopes the committee will be able to reach students in their residences. And UA Vice Chairperson and Wharton senior Gil Beverly envisioned his Phone Committee informing students about a new issue on a bi-monthly basis. The committee would ask for student reaction to the issue. Through the blueprint, the UA hopes to increase its visibility and gain a more balanced idea of student opinions. UA member and College sophomore Larry Kamin said he feels the DP poll will merely serve to underscore the UA's success after the blueprint is implemented. "This [poll] will make our goal all the more impressive when we reach it," he said. He added that he felt the DP poll was an indication that the implementation of the blueprint was necessary. But Rogers said he was pleased that more than half of students reported that they would contact the UA to discuss an issue, adding that this response addressed recent criticisms of the UA's legitimacy. And Rogers said he is not worried about the 34 percent of students who indicated they have no interest in learning more about the UA. "If the students realize that we can affect them, their attitude towards students government will change," he said. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writers Shannon Burke and Meredith Rappaport contributed to this story.

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