Editorial | Our picks for the UA

As we noted last year, it's hard to ask freshmen to run real, substance-driven campaigns after they've barely spent a month at Penn.

Many fall back on popular anti-dining positions, while others resort to superficial slogans or other flashy gimmicks to win votes.

Unfortunately, while freshman elections may be a joke, Undergraduate Assembly positions aren't. The Assembly allocates nearly $1.72 million of student tuition dollars to different student-government branches and initiatives, so it's important to take this process seriously.

To that end, here are our endorsements for the 2008 UA freshmen elections. There were six students who caught our eye by presenting unique ideas and viewpoints in their candidate statements:

Victor Galli: Administrators and students can do much more to make Penn greener, so we're delighted to see a student focusing so intently on environmental sustainability. We also wholeheartedly support his proposal for a bike-share program, which would increase campus accessibility by offering more transit options to students.

Doug Haefele: Given the popularity of Macs, his plan to replace Ruckus with a music system that's more compatible with other computer platforms makes sense.

Amber Lowey: Penn Dining has taken steps to expand local food offerings, but there's room for improvement. We're happy that a candidate is talking about this issue.

Harry Fidler: We appreciated this candidate's discussion about improving campus security by pushing for the installation of more blue lights on campus.

Emily Shaeffer: It's nice to see a student focusing on Philadelphia and a more environmentally friendly campus.

Seymour Marcus Weaver IV: We were impressed by his desire to increase student involvement in the surrounding community and improve cooperation between student government and religious groups on campus.

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