Student govt. faces challenges

Seisen International School '98

Tokyo, Japan

The newly elected executive members of the Undergraduate Assembly, the main branch of Penn's undergraduate student government, will have big shoes to fill, judging from the positive reviews of the 1999-2000 board.

When he entered office, outgoing UA Chairman Michael Silver, now a graduating College senior, outlined several basic goals for the UA: Bringing the body to a higher "level" in terms of effectiveness, reaching out to students, gaining campus-wide respect and making the UA a more unified body.

And under Silver's leadership, the body has successfully completed several major projects, such as helping to develop a plan that allows students on financial aid to work one summer in a low- or non-paying job without having it affect their aid package and petitioning for outside basketball courts on campus.

UA members collected 1,100 signatures and drafted a proposal to build outdoor basketball courts on campus in the fall.

The proposal received approval from the administration and a court will be built on top of the parking garage behind the 1920 Commons dining facility on 38th and Spruce streets as soon as next fall.

The UA also tackled major issues with the help of its fellow student organizations. Realizing the lack of diversity on the UA, the body launched a joint collaborative with the United Minorities Council to encourage more minorities to run for the UA.

Those efforts resulted in a marked increase in the number of minority students who ran and were elected to the UA. Next year's UA will have at least seven minority members, allowing the UA to stray away from its image of being predominately white, male and Greek.

"The UA has in the past and will continue to make profound impact as long as there's persistence and consensus -- a unified UA can do great things," Silver said.

Still, the body has struggled with internal attendance problems over the past year and has had difficulty reaching out to the campus at large. Most students deride the UA as being too political and totally ineffective.

The newly elected 2000-2001 UA, which began its term last April, will follow the leadership of rising College senior and UA veteran Michael Bassik. Bassik has served on the UA since freshman year and has held the positions of vice chairman and treasurer.

Bassik is one of the 25 UA members elected by the student body last April. These members represent all of Penn's four undergraduate schools. Eight members of the Class of 2004 will be elected in the fall to complete the body.

At Bassik's side will be UA Vice Chairman and rising Engineering senior Malhar Saraiya, Treasurer and rising Wharton and Engineering junior Michael Krouse and rising College junior Dana Hork as secretary.

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