Letter to the Editor

Looking inward

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Alex Wong's column on Penn's student government ("Fulfill the mandate," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 11/20/01).

The purpose of all branches of student government is to make the student's voice heard, be it through academics, policy, committee work or selecting speakers. The purpose of our meeting last week was not to talk about student apathy but rather to address our indifference as a student government and figure out ways that we can get more people involved in things that directly affect them.

Students need to know how the different branches apply to them and also how to use the infrastructure of student government to get their concerns voiced. It's important that students know, for example, that if you have an idea for a preceptorial, you should contact to SCUE.

Wong's column shows why we need to do something. One uninformed student should not dismiss the different groups as unimportant when he obviously did not care to do enough research to realize what each branch does and why we need student input in order to be successful. Personally, I would rather be represented by people who care about my thoughts and who are willing to try to connect with me.

As Wong exemplifies, students do not know all of the amazing things that their government is doing for them and wants to do with them. Your role in your school does not end when you cast a vote for your class president. You have the opportunity to sit on trustee committees and help mandate changes such as pass/fail grading (a SCUE accomplishment).

Our "Meet and Greet" session was designed to clarify our roles as different branches as well as talk about ways that we can better reach out to students. No one was blaming anything on the students, we were blaming things on ourselves. We want to make student government a representative body who is the voice of the students. Casting a vote once a year doesn't help the student group with an idea and without funding.

Where can this group go besides SAC? There are lots of places -- we just have to figure out how to tell you all about them.

In the coming year, the NEC (the "elections" body) will be putting together a forum that will address the relevance of the student government to different student groups and their issues.

Thank you for further illustrating that undergraduate students need to be educated on how their student government works.

Anne Hankey

College '02

The writer is chairwoman of the Nominations and Elections Committee.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.