UA goes door-to-door

The Undergraduate Assembly kicked off its Door-to-Door Campaign last week, eliciting a mixed reaction from the student body. The campaign was part of the UA's blueprint for communications, a comprehensive plan intended to increase interaction of the representatives with the rest of the student body. The Door-to-Door program, which began last Tuesday, calls for all members of the UA to visit students in their residences. Assembly members have several thousand folders to distribute in dormitories. Each contains a description of the UA and how to reach individual members of the body. Students living off-campus are being targeted through phone hotlines. And folders are also being handed out at Greek houses and Hamilton Court. But despite UA members' excitement about the effort, student reaction to the campaign has been mixed. Out of approximately 60 students polled by Daily Pennsylvanian reporters, most had not yet received the folders. The students lived in a wide assortment of dorms. And those who did receive folders claim they have not had the time or interest to look at them. Wharton freshman Michael Irizarry summed up the feelings of several students polled. "I wasn't really too interested, but I guess it was a nice gesture that they asked if we had any complaints," he said. But UA Chairperson and College senior Lance Rogers is optimistic about the initiative's success, explaining that many UA members have already received inquiries from students who saw their names on the UA contact sheet in the folders. At Sunday's UA meeting, Rogers instructed the UA to forward all future comments or complaints to a member of the body's Steering Committee. UA representative Courtney Fine, a College freshman, said she had encountered some interested students during her door-to-door campaigning. "I went around to several people who were called by the DP and said they did not know anything about the UA and they did not know who to contact to learn more," she said. UA member and Wharton junior Tom Foldesi, who helped develop the campaign, said he feels it is too early to comment on its success. "It is premature to judge the result of this effort," Foldesi said. "There have also been positive effects and responses." And Rogers was not concerned about a lack of student awareness. "Obviously we have some work ahead of us," he said. "This is the first week. I think the result we have gotten so far are encouraging." Rogers added that he hopes that current responses are an indication of a rising trend of student involvement in the UA.

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