UA touts checking a box - and boxing

College Green was bombarded yesterday afternoon by a little boxing, some chicken wings and a whole lot of politics. As part of a week-long campaign by the Undergraduate Assembly to stimulate voter registration and awareness, representatives from Penn's political clubs packed the Green yesterday, offering free food, a chance to win an MP3 player and a fight with their friends in the "bouncy boxing ring" as incentives to register. The overall goal of the event -- as well as the entire week -- was to help students, a notoriously inactive constituency, register for next month's elections. Organizers said over 700 students have signed up just this week. Co-organizer Arshad Hasan, a College sophomore, emphasized the value of having a forum where members of different political, religious and special interest clubs could all interact. "Every group is out here. The dialogue between people from different groups is really great," he said. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., representatives from groups like Penn Students for Gore, College Republicans, Ralph Nader for President, Catholic Student Center, Tzedek Hillel and the Penn Environmental Group manned tables. Wharton junior James Ku, co-leader of the UA Election 2000 Task Force that organized the fair, said he hoped that yesterday's event would "attract as many voters as possible by putting a fun spin on voting." College senior Megan Marcus, who helped out at the Penn for Gore table, said she felt the event was important because "the decision [to vote] affects your life," and she believes more people will be encouraged to register because the fair "makes it easy to do it." At each table on the Green, students were able to fill out registration forms that will enable them to vote in Pennsylvania on November 7. Other groups wanted to use the fair to generate interest in their causes. Wharton sophomore Shilpa Jhunjhunwala, who represented the Penn Environmental Group, said she thinks "the environment usually takes a back seat to other issues." This event, she added, is a good way for students to see that the environment is just as important as any other issue. Although the pizza and chicken wings disappeared early in the day, Ku was impressed by the "terrific turnout." And though some may have been puzzled by how the inflated giant-sized boxing ring fit in with the event, Hasan explained that its purpose was "just to get attention," which it certainly did. But will a voter registration "party" actually have an impact on Penn's below-average voter turnout? That remains to be seen, of course, since not everyone who strolled by the tables even decided to register. Wharton freshman Justin Lott, a Gore supporter, explained that he thought some of his classmates are probably just "lazy." "If they haven't registered yet, they figure someone else will [vote] for them," he said.

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