During the first day of class in my major seminar last week my professor asked each student to reveal something interesting by way of introduction. When he called my name I said, "Hi, I'm Rachel and I am a huge fan of the Baltimore Orioles," and then I added, "and I actually think that student government is cool." The class laughed. I was serious.
My goal this year as Undergraduate Assembly chair is to make student government "cool." And by "cool" I don't mean slap bracelets or Ugg boots. I mean something worth talking about -- an institution that has its finger on the pulse of campus issues and whose debates truly resonate with the student body.
Our generation has been labeled by critics as being disengaged, and I think we can all agree that this is an unfortunate mischaracterization. As youth we have clearly stated through our record levels of community service and non-profit participation, environmental advocacy and civic engagement that we understand and care about the things that really matter. We are not an apathetic generation. When a real issue faces our community, we confront it, actively debate it and then use whatever resources we can find to make moves.
Within the Penn community, student government -- and specifically the Undergraduate Assembly -- is ideally suited to be a forum for discussion about legitimate undergraduate concerns and a resource for achieving our goals as college students. The UA is a transparent institution composed entirely of your fellow students who have been elected to represent you. We have a $1.4 million budget, the attentive ear of the administration and a collection of talented, intelligent individuals who have a passion for standing up for student rights and needs. The only thing we are currently missing is more active input and interest from our classmates.
Toward that end I am announcing the initial agenda of the 2005-06 Undergraduate Assembly. This is the first time in our college careers that the UA chair has announced a public agenda, and I do so in hopes that students will be educated about the goals of the UA and encouraged to hold the elected members of student government accountable for our actions. Here is a preliminary list of the things that the UA plans to accomplish this year:
1. Acquire a file-sharing system for all students so that we can legally download and share media files.
2. Ensure active student involvement in discussions on campus development, including the 3900 block of Walnut Street and the newly acquired postal lands. Undergraduates need more space for athletics, studying, performing arts, housing and cultural centers, and we do not want to lose the underlying historical character of Penn's campus.
3. Continue to lobby for improvements to the course registration process. PennInTouch, while a great tool, should allow students to search for courses by time, requirement or keyword and should list total class capacity.
4. Pressure the University to make necessary repairs to campus facilities.
5. Implement and help facilitate a recycling program for Greek and off-campus houses.
6. Work to ensure that all first-year students have the opportunity to live with one another in the College House System in order to maximize the freshman experience.
7. Increase the relevance and accessibility of University Council deliberations to undergraduates.
8. Develop an alumni-relations program that delegates funds to student-selected campus improvements.
9. Improve undergraduate awareness and education about alcohol and drug use and abuse.
10. Increase Undergraduate Assembly name recognition to foster more interaction between the UA and students. Spring student government elections should have at least 50 percent voter participation.
The structure of the UA this year is meant to further all of these goals. We have created committees devoted to campus development and housing issues, produced an interactive Web site with individual member pages to increase accountability, compiled a weekly update listserv for all interested students and begun a publicity campaign to accompany all of our projects.
The ball is now in your court. You have the responsibility to hold your student government accountable and be an active participant in shaping our university. Have an opinion? Contact one of your representatives or e-mail ua@dolphin.upenn.edu. You can also always feel free to stop me on Locust Walk and tell me what you think. Every student should believe that student government is cool, not just the UA chair.
Rachel Fersh is chairwoman of the Undergraduate Assembly.
