The activist Undergraduate Student Government administration of Seth Williams and Amy Manderino ends next week with the principals somewhat at odds, but convinced they have done the best job they could for University students.

"The University respects USG as a formidable foe now," Williams said, stressing that he does not have an adversarial relationship with the administration. "We've taken USG from a reactive club to a student advocacy organization."

"I wouldn't consider their administration to be in collaboration with University administrators," said Craig A. Millar, associate vice president for student services. "It turned out to be kind of an adversarial relationship . . . Seth didn't find that to be a problem."

Student leaders agree the Williams/Manderino administration was more activist than its immediate predecessor, but they say that does not make their term necessarily superior to that of Todd Sloan and Bonnie Miller.

"It's hard to assess the impact," said Graduate Student Association President Ken Martin, who has been a student at the University for seven years. "(Williams and Manderino) were more activist than Sloan and Miller . . . but their aggressiveness caused some problems."

"Todd focused more on getting brownie points from the administration," said former USG Senator J.D. Higginbotham, who served as a senator during the Williams/Manderino administration and worked on Sloan's presidential election campaign.

"Seth took a different approach . . . but he lost perspective of the at-large student body within about three months of his term."

"Somewhere in between Sloan/Miller and Williams/Manderino would be ideal," Martin added.

Higginbotham attributed Senate President Kendall Houk's loss in last week's USG presidential election to Williams having lost touch with the student body.

"Seth alienated himself from the students -- that's evidenced by Houk's loss," he said. "Houk stood for a lot of the same things as Seth did."

Williams supported Houk and Jeff Ballou in their quest to gain the Undergraduate Student Government presidency, while Manderino endorsed the winning ticket, Janyne Althaus and Bill Novick.

Manderino said she felt slighted when Williams did not invite her to the USG executive news conference March 16, at which Williams announced his endorsement of Houk and gave his interpretation of the Williams/Manderino ticket's year in review.

"I was very intentionally not invited," Manderino said. Williams said Manderino was not invited because she did not endorse the Houk/Ballou ticket.

Williams and Manderino agreed they had a successful year, though Manderino emphasized the two had "different agendas" throughout their term.

"Seth was so open budget . . . I'm not saying that's the only thing he did, but that was his main thrust," Manderino said. "He could have helped me out a lot more, I think."

"We did some tangible things, like opening the budget more than ever before," Williams said. "We fought tooth and nail for human and student rights. Even with our differences, we were able to get a lot done."

Manderino said her stay in office was "effective," though she added Williams' support was lacking at times.

"When you have two similar, strong personalities with political careers in the future, you're bound to run into conflict," Higginbotham said. "I regret they didn't resolve their conflicts. The conflicts didn't hamper their goals, but these conflicts will come back to haunt them in the future."

The term began with last April's Telecommunications Building sit-in, in which Williams was arrested along with 88 others who protested what they termed the University's indifference to black students' needs. Williams participated in the protesters' negotiations with the University administrators.

Williams and Manderino also spearheaded USG's drive to lobby state legislators to open the budget and lower tuition. Williams said he went to Harrisburg seven times during his term in office.

Williams' reputation as an adversary of the University administration began in November when USG released administrators' salaries, information the University considered to be confidential. The administration asked for the return of the survey from which the information was gleaned, as well as disclosure of where USG obtained the information, but Williams held firm, saying the information was gained legally.

In January, Williams called for the resignation of William W. Asbury, vice president for student services, saying Asbury was "a disgrace to the students of this University." Williams said last week he stands by the statement, though he said if he were to do it again he would make students more aware of Asbury's shortcomings.

Asbury declined to comment on Williams' and Manderino's term in office.

Most recently, they returned to Harrisburg to lobby legislators in an attempt to change the state's Right to Know Act.

Manderino also pointed to major women's issues she was involved with, including her work to create a University rape counselor, a mobile escort service and improved lighting on campus.

"I look at these things, and I know they will affect thousands of students after Seth and I leave," Manderino said.