Anne Hankey: Change the system--from the inside

All of you are apathetic. You do enough work to get by, you do not challenge authority and you do not complain. This is not merely a case of senioritis or an end of the year slump. It is far worse. You are indifferent to life.

This is the excuse used by student leaders to explain why people are not voting or going to their events. But now, as my senior year draws to a close and my PennCard will soon deactivate, I am going to level with you. We all know this is not true. You complain all the time. I know you do. I hear you.

After four years of watching people complain about things to no effect, I have to wonder if it is really the student body's fault. I don't think that it is. Perhaps, you just don't know how much power you have.

In the arena of student government there are three ways that you can get directly involved: one is to get elected to the Undergraduate Assembly or Class Boards, another is to apply to another branch of student government and the last is to apply to University Committees (small groups that meet with faculty, administrators and trustees about issues such as budget and Greek life).

Student government (and its many acronyms) is far too complicated to explain in this column. And I can bet a lot of you would probably stop reading.

But what I can tell you about is a little known tool to get your voice heard on an issue that you feel strongly about -- the committee system. There are 35 committees to which the Nominations and Elections Committee appoints students. They range in focus from pluralism to athletics to external affairs.

So what do you do as a committee rep? You meet with important people and give them student feedback. You tell them what bothers you about a subject.

How do you get to have this position? It's simple: you just apply.

In all fairness, I have to tell you that the committee system has faults. Students complain that they are ignored and that the meetings are scheduled at impossible times. In fact, many students stop going. The University then goes without student feedback or gets feedback only from your 33 elected UA members. Those UA reps are well-informed and dedicated, but who is to say that someone on the UA shares your concerns or knowledge about a particular issue?

Faculty, administrators and trustees really do want to know your thoughts. In fact, they want you to be there so much that they, in conjunction with the NEC, are revising the committee system to serve you better in the coming year. They are moving their meeting times to fit your class schedules. They are letting us give them a broader group of students to ensure student voices are heard. They are even going to run a workshop to prepare you on what to wear, where to sit and how to best get your point across. All you have to do is show up and talk.

If you have a concern, make your voice heard. Committee applications are available online at dolphin.upenn.edu/~nec and are due April 1. Give yourself a chance to do something effective. And prove those student leaders wrong about apathy.

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