Body declines to take more control over fee

The Undergraduate Assembly voted down a proposal that would have given the body more control over the student activities fee last week.

The proposal urged the University to separate the student activities fee from the general fee -- which comes from student tuition -- and give the UA more control over the fee's size.

The student activities fee is not currently listed separately from the general fee on student bills and is allocated to the UA by the provost and distributed by the vice provost for university life.

The general fee for 2004-05 cost students $2,440. The student activities fee accounts for 6 percent of that money, equaling approximately $140 per person this year.

The money produced by the fee -- which amounted to about $1.44 million this year -- is then distributed by the UA to the five branches of student government.

"It's student money. Students should be in control of it," said Wharton junior Daniel Cope, who brought the proposal to the body.

However, the proposal was voted down 11-9 with one abstention, making it the first proposal not to pass this semester.

"It's a two-edged sword," Director of Student Life Fran Walker said of separating the fees. "You run the risk of making it visible so that those people who think it's too much can then lobby to have it reduced. At the same time, you have the advantage of making it visible to those people who don't think its large enough."

Walker added that the money funds a wide array of groups and activities on campus including Spring Fling and preceptorials.

Some UA members expressed concern over the amount of responsibility it would require of the body.

"This will bring attention to the UA, but in the wrong way at the wrong time," said UA Executive Board member and College junior Rachel Fersh, who voted against the motion.

College freshman Sunny Patel said he thought that the proposal would do more harm than good.

"Our system's not broken right now, so why bother trying to fix it?" Patel said.

Unlike Penn, the other Ivy League schools and several additional peer institutions explicitly list some form of a student activities fee on student bills.

The student governments of four of the Ivies and four of seven other peer institutions have some form of control over the size of their student activity fees.

Engineering freshman Brett Lacher said he thought the proposal would hold the UA more accountable for its actions.

"We're given power to take control of our budget, and we're scared to take it," Lacher said.

Cope added that "people kept predicting dire consequences for the UA" that were unlikely to occur.

Cope said he intends to work with other UA members on the issue and bring a new proposal forward next year.

"There's a lot more that needs to be researched before the UA and the undergraduate community at large would feel comfortable putting this decision into the hands of elected representatives instead of the administration," said UA Chairman and College senior Jason Levine, who favored the proposal.

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