With candidates' statements peppered with puns, punch lines and clever wordplay -- some even meant to be sung to the tune of early-'90s rap jams -- most campaigns reveal very little about what the Undergraduate Assembly hopefuls know about the student government they are hoping to join.
After surveying 14 of the 19 freshman UA candidates -- five candidates failed to respond by deadline -- on a few basic tenets of student government at Penn, it seems that, for the most part, these candidates know their stuff.
Standing out among the crowd was Engineering freshman Brett Lacher, who scored the highest of all the candidates, answering five out of six questions correctly.
Two candidates -- College freshman Jon Kurland and College freshman Neiman Ramjattan -- tied for the lowest score, answering only one question correctly.
Yet generally, the candidates fared reasonably well, with the majority answering three or more questions right.
However, according to UA Vice Chairwoman and Wharton junior Cynthia Wong, candidates' knowledge of the purpose of the UA is more important than "whether or not they know all the intricacies of how we run meetings," noting that some freshmen mistakenly believe that the UA's role is to plan social events.
"I think that with the UA and with any organization, for freshmen to have a general interest" is important, Wong said.
Nevertheless, the survey generated some uncertain responses, most of which were elicited by the question: "Who is the chair of the UA?"
Said College freshman and candidate Clara Bracke, "Who is the chair? ... I know what he looks like. ..."
College freshman Sunny Patel responded to the same question, "Chair of the UA? ... If it's multiple choice, I can get it. ..."
Engineering freshman George Scangas said, "Chair of the UA? ... [You want a] name? ... I don't know."
In considering who he will vote for, College freshman Kyle Beltran thinks that candidates should be well-versed regarding their intended position, but says that it is not necessary for them to know all the details just yet.
"I think if you're running for an office, you should be well informed about what the job entails and what your responsibilities are going to be," Beltran said.
"But at the same time, these are freshman who ... have a lot left to learn."
Wong maintains that, at this stage of the game, the candidates' genuine desire to improve student life on campus is more valuable than their knowledge of how student government works.
"As long as they have that drive to make positive change on campus ... that's what's most important," Wong said.
