USGA still has problems reaching the students they represent

By: Anthony Cesarini

Posted: 5/16/08

The Triangle reported May 9 that the Undergraduate Student Government Association presidential race was uncontested yet again. You may recall that the race was uncontested in 2004 and 2006 as well.

To an outsider, it would appear that either these presidential candidates are so strong that no one wants to oppose them, or that there is a genuine lack of interest in the USGA across the student body. Unfortunately, the truth is that many students at Drexel - even some of my fellow seniors - have never heard of the USGA.

This is not new news. During my time as editor of The Triangle, I had the privilege to work with many active students in the USGA. The USGA's attitude largely has been to increase their visibility by making campus better for students.

To this end, they have been successful. Many facets of the Drexel experience have improved over the past five years. However, the USGA continues to be elusive to many students. It appears that this approach, while beneficial to students, has not worked for the organization.

So, if the USGA has had overall success in improving Drexel, what's the big deal? That's the goal of the organization anyway, right?

Well, even if things have improved, have they improved as much as they could? My gut feeling is that if more students were involved in the USGA, things could be even better than they are now.

For example, many campus "improvements" have confused or even bothered students. For example, there has been mixed feedback about the pyramid lighting along 32nd Street park.

If we were to ask the administration about the selection of these lights or a similar improvement project, they will most likely tout the fact that they sought input from the USGA.

Here lies the problem with a small, tight-knit group of students making up the USGA - the opinions administrators receive are not necessarily those of the entire student body.

There is another side to the problem: the limited amount of power that the USGA has at Drexel. At Gettysburg University for example, whenever administrators propose to change the student honor code, the student government senate must approve the change. At Drexel, the USGA serves mainly as an advisor to the administration.

This leads to a belief across the student body that the USGA and the administration are the same entity. When someone is "shafted," they normally just complain about administrators. They either don't realize that the USGA wants to hear about their problem so that they can address it, or they don't trust the USGA to seriously address their concern.

Hopefully the new USGA president will be able to address some of my concerns. It is part of her responsibility to ensure that all students are represented by the student government, and that is not possible unless the entire student body is involved. Students cannot get involved in something that they do not understand or do not respect.

If you want to see an example of a visible student government, take a walk to 34th and Walnut streets in the spring. Hundreds of posters and banners line Penn's campus during student government elections. Here's something new the USGA can work on: making their organization visible so that everyone gets involved in making Drexel a better campus.

Anthony Cesarini is a senior majoring in computer engineering and a former editor of The Triangle. He can be reached at anthony@thetriangle.org.