COLUMN: Reform is needed in the UA

From Eric Goldstein's, "Upon Further Review," Fall '97 From Eric Goldstein's, "Upon Further Review," Fall '97 The Undergraduate Assembly's recent decision to vote down a proposal to help fund InterFraternity Council parties was not disturbing in itself. But the comments of UA Treasurer Steve Schorr following the vote were troubling. Schorr said he voted against the amendment because he feared the money would come out of the Student Activities Council's budget. As UA treasurer, Schorr is one of the key players in deciding the annual budgets of the other branches of student government, namely the Student Planning and Events Committee, the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, the Nominations and Elections Committee and SAC. In effect, Schorr decides how much money his organization will receive, while leaders of the other governing bodies must rely on the judgement of the UA. The present system isn't fair to someone like Schorr, who must decide between the good of the UA and the good of SAC, nor is it fair to the student body, which expects its leaders to be free of bias and conflicts of interests. As it is, students are left wondering: did Schorr think the $20,000 proposed for the IFC really would be better served going to student groups, or was he just looking out for his constituency? It should be noted Schorr was not alone in opposing the amendment; it failed by a 10-8 margin. The issue is not the merits of this specific case but whether the SAC chair should have a vote in determining SAC's budget. This was not the first example of double duty creating some conflict. Amid suspicion the International Affairs Association had misused SAC funds, Schorr conducted an audit of the organization on behalf of the UA. The results of the UA audit concluded the IAA had in fact used SAC money for non-approved purposes. Although the SAC finance committee later vindicated the IAA of any wrong-doing, the controversy did lead to bad blood between Schorr and the IAA. Now as SAC chair, Schorr is among those responsible for determining the IAA's budget. Given his relationship with the IAA in his capacity as UA treasurer, can Schorr come to an unbiased opinion? Aside from personal issues, the appearance of a conflict of interests is often as problematic as an actual conflict of interests. And the lasting impact of Connaissance's move from SAC jurisdiction to SPEC is apparent. Prior to the move to SPEC, Connaissance and the SAC finance committee, of which Schorr was a member, had a heated falling out. Now that Connaissance is part of SPEC, it must appeal for funding directly from the UA. In his capacity as UA treasurer, Schorr has been a vocal opponent of increasing Connaissance's budget. At last week's UA meeting, Schorr said: "Everyone knows Connaissance is a slush fund anyway." Schorr's double duty is apparently constitutional. The question is: should it be? There are other student leaders who hold positions on two governing bodies, most notably Gil Beverly, a UA representative and former treasurer of SPEC. However, Beverly has made it a point to abstain from voting on all SPEC budgetary issues, a tactic all UA reps with conflicting interests should follow. In a year when the internal politicking of the UA has reached a low point, chair Tal Golomb would serve students well by pushing for constitutional reform preventing leaders from serving on more than one branch of government. This would fit in with one of Golomb's primary goals -- ridding his organization of the internal politicking that was typical of previous UAs. The trend of UA divisiveness gained momentum in April, 1991, when outgoing UA chair Duchess Harris blasted her successor the day after the election. She argued the selection of Mitch Winston, an Alpha Epsilon Pi brother, represented the work of a fraternity bloc to ensure Greek leadership. "Once again, a fraternal organization has succeeded in placing inadequate, unqualified leadership in student government," Harris said. "The UA met its downfall at 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon." Although Winston's successor, Jeff Lichtman, did much to restore credibility to the UA, the progress was short-lasting. It was during Seth Hamalian's term that the cohesiveness of the UA really began to disintegrate. In the wake of the "water buffalo" case and the theft of 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian, the UA was divided into two factions. Representative Dan Schorr, older brother of Steve, led a vocal faction dedicated to First Amendment rights. Hamalian, however, and his supporters argued in favor of protecting minority rights on campus and strengthening the Penn community, goals Hamalian argued were contrary to those of Dan Schorr. Because of the subsequent in-fighting, the UA was crippled to the point it could no longer pass even the simplest resolution. Although Dan Debicella's victory over Schorr to follow Hamalian as chair was initially touted as a move toward a more apolitical UA, any notions of a harmonious body were soon forgotten. Amid accusations Debicella had repeatedly lied to the assembly, a petition began circulating among UA reps calling for Debicella's impeachment. Last year's chair, Lance Rogers, came in with a lot of baggage himself. As a protege of Dan Schorr and an outspoken critic of Debicella, he was unable to unite the body. Golomb, however, is regarded as a genuinely nice guy without any real enemies. Although his board has been criticized for not producing tangible results as much as previous UAs, he can point to the internal progress that has been made. However, Schorr's dual role as UA treasurer and SAC chair casts some serious doubts. Although the UA treasurer is constitutionally entitled to an ex-officio position on SAC's executive committee, he or she should not be allowed to chair the body. For student government to fairly and responsibly act in the interests of its constituents, conflicts of interests must be eliminated and politics and internal bickering done away with. Only constitutional reform will lead to an apolitical student government.

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