Apathy plagues student governments

Lower voter turnout is not limited to Penn Students have recently chosen to demonstrate their displeasure with the Undergraduate Assembly in a variety of ways -- from low voter turnout in last spring's election to suggesting a slew of reform plans both last spring and this semester. Last year's elections saw only a 16 percent voter turnout. A 20 percent turnout was required to pass any of the three proposals to change to the UA's constitution. And in a recent survey by The Daily Pennsylvanian, 78 percent of the students polled said that the UA did not accurately represent their opinions. But Penn is not the only school with student government problems. Students at Northwestern University proposed a referendum last year that would have abolished student government altogether. The proposal was defeated, although voter participation in the election was low, according to Rebecca Winters, the student government reporter at The Daily Northwestern. At Temple University, student government has been plagued with apathy and racial controversy, said Catherine Ginther, editor-in-chief of The Temple Star. Last year's election at Temple saw a voter turnout of less than five percent, according to Ginther. And a violation of election procedure caused the hundreds of ballots from Temple's Center City campus to be discounted. As a result the winning slate of officers lost their majority and another slate was declared victorious. Since one slate contained all white candidates, while the other featured an entirely black slate, the controversy took on an ugly racial tone, Ginther said. The election produced a student government that many believe lacks student support. Yale University, a school that features a slightly different electoral system than the popularly elected systems of Penn and Temple, enjoys a greater voter turnout. Last year's elections yielded a 50 percent voter turnout. The Yale system allows for the election of two representatives from each of 11 college house residences, in addition to popularly elected executives. Since students stay in the same college house for all four years, this increases chances that students know their candidates personally. Harvard University also has a system of voting based on residence but has not met quite the same success as Yale. Only 25 percent of upperclassmen voted in last year's elections, said Peggy Chen, who covers student government for The Harvard Crimson. And there is a problem with frequent resignations, which spurred a reform movement last year. But 70 percent of freshman voted, largely due to the start of a new system of electronic voting among the freshman, according to Chen.

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