Lisa Zhu | Helping those who need it

For many Penn students, the perks of being a Resident Advisor are pretty obvious: free room and board, a meal plan with endless Dining Dollars, freedom from the tyranny of Campus Apartments and absolute authority over dozens of feeble freshmen.

But as much as anyone would appreciate having rent-free housing, some students certainly need it more than others. In order to better serve this population, selection for resident-advisor positions should show a certain degree of preference for students who are more financially disadvantaged.

Currently, the RA selection process is solely based on a candidate's personal qualities as opposed to their socioeconomic background, with each college house possessing a unique mix of desired characteristics for its RA's.

"We have no idea what people's financial status is when we make a decision," said Pamela Robinson, associate director of College Houses and Academic Services. "The one statement we make is that we understand that having a position as an RA can have an impact on people who are receiving financial aid."

Specifically, according to Student Financial Services, for students already on financial aid, acceptance into the RA program supplants the federal work-study portion of their aid packages. In other words, because students save significantly on room and board while working 15 to 20 hours a week, they are no longer required to work additional hours in another work-study job.

Consequently, giving preference to students from middle- and lower-class backgrounds would help those students who don't officially qualify for financial aid, but still have trouble paying for Penn's tuition.

"I think Penn is doing a great job with making education more accessible to low-income people," said College sophomore Lorenzo Williams.

"But I believe that it's forgotten about the middle class like the families that make between $100,000 to $150,000 a year who are bogged down with all these loans."

Granted, the lack of financial aid for upper-middle-class families with multiple children is a much larger issue to resolve - especially at Penn.

With an endowment per capita figure ranked extremely low relative to our peers, the University can't provide the generous aid packages that Harvard can. However, showing some degree of preference for students with these backgrounds could be an effective stopgap measure for now.

That's not to say that poorer RA candidates would always win. Preference in the selection process simply connotes that socioeconomic status will be a mitigating factor in picking RA's, secondary to primary qualities like affability, reliability and maturity.

In other words, administrators still won't select patently unqualified candidates for the RA position regardless of their families' incomes. Conversely, highly qualified candidates can still be chosen even if they can afford to pay for housing.

For instance, Wharton sophomore Dennie Zastrow applied to be an RA for next year but was turned down. "I really wanted to have the opportunity to have a positive impact on incoming students," he told me."Not having to pay for room and board and the meal plan was pretty attractive too." Ultimately, Zastrow was able to find affordable housing off campus, but many are not as fortunate. The notification date for RA selection is during the first week of February - while that still leaves room for students to apply to on-campus dorms, cheaper off-campus options are often already snapped up by then.

"Penn's obviously one of the most expensive colleges in the country, and a lot of students come from backgrounds that make it difficult for them to find the money to come here," Zastrow continued.

"I think that students who demonstrate that they are capable of being an RA and have the financial need should definitely be given preference over those who are just doing it for fun."

Lisa Zhu is a Wharton and College junior from Cherry Hill, N.J., United Minorities Council chairwoman and Undergraduate Assembly member. Her e-mail is zhu@dailypennsylvanian.com. Zhu-ology appears Fridays.

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