Rachel Fersh: The good, bad and ugly of student gov't

Did you know that Battery Park, New York could roughly fit into the area covered by Penn's newly acquired postal lands? That the average debt for a graduating Penn senior is in the $19,000-21,000 range? Or that, when Meyerson Hall was being built in 1964, a group of students calling themselves Save Open Spaces staged a sit-in to protest the loss of green space?

You learn some interesting things when involved with the Undergraduate Assembly. The facts above all have one thing in common: Every one relates to a UA project that has seen significant progress this past semester. I am writing my second guest column of the semester to update you on the good, the bad and the (figuratively) ugly of what the UA has accomplished so far this year.

First, the good. Two items on the original UA agenda were acquiring a music-subscription downloading service (like Napster or Ruckus) and instituting on- and off-campus recycling programs. UA members have worked with multiple university departments to create sustainable plans for both goals. I can happily announce that both are set to be accomplished by the end of the academic year.

In September, I laid out plans to represent undergraduates in campus development, ensure a unified freshman College House experience, increase the relevance of University Council, improve undergraduate awareness of drug and alcohol use and abuse and develop overall UA accountability to foster a more-representative body. The UA has made significant progress in all of these areas.

Final campus development recommendations from the UA Development Committee and the related joint-student task force will go to President Amy Gutmann by January. The UA Housing Committee, with other students, will be presenting their recommendations to ensure a positive freshman experience to the Trustee Student Life Committee in February. The recent University Council discussion on Spring Fling was both extremely relevant to undergraduates and also laid out a path for continued alcohol and drug awareness. And UA outreach via the Internet and the umbrella organizations represented on UA Steering has expanded to allow any interested student unhindered access to the UA world.

The UA has also taken up a number of issues that were not in our sights at the beginning of the year. We funded a Thanksgiving shuttle to the airport, stood up for the importance of recreational green spaces, raised awareness about Native American representation, contacted our state and local representatives to emphasize the detrimental impact of student debt and publicized public-safety mechanisms.

All of that is the good. The bad? There is still so much more to do. Three items on our original agenda -- PennInTouch improvements, facilities repairs and alumni networking -- still need more attention. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to satisfactorily conclude all of the ventures outlined above. However, I am confident that the next five months will allow ample time to accomplish these projects. Which brings me to the ugly.

Two specific concerns this semester provoked a publicly emotional response from students and administrators: green space and Spring Fling. In both situations the facts of the issue were sensationalized to create controversy where very little, if any, needed to exist.

The goal of the Undergraduate Assembly is to achieve the best possible results for undergraduates. Period. As UA chairwoman refuse to sacrifice undergraduate interests for the sound-bite quality of rash action; portraying any issue as black or white without shades of gray is not only unrealistic but obtuse. The Facilities Department acknowledged the importance of green space, and Spring Fling will remain in the Quad. I consider both successes attributable to the UA's level-headed regard for student interest.

I am proud to say that this semester has been a successful one. However, our best representation and advocacy is yet to come. Please keep letting the UA know what we can do to enhance the positives of undergraduate student life.

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