Undergraduate Student Government President J.P. Muir has fulfilled some of his campaign promises, but student leaders say there is still work to be done.

In last March's campaign, Muir and USG Vice President Sue Williams said they would work with other Big Ten student organizations and lobby in Harrisburg for stable tuition. They aimed for an open University budget, an increased minority student population, an improved Academic Concerns Team and a course selector guide.

Muir said they have accomplished some of these goals, like joining the Net 10 association of student governments to help incorporate the University into the Big Ten. But plans to lobby in Harrisburg fell flat.

"I don't think the opportunity was there for us to really make a difference if we went down," Muir said.

Muir said he wants parents of University students to back his push for funding, and he wants University President Joab Thomas to announce his plan to cut the University budget, before he begins lobbying for lower tuition.

Kelly Glazier, director of the Student Coalition for Commonwealth Education, said, "The opportunity to lobby is always there."

Glazier said she does not know of USG's lobbying plans, but she said the coalition will send letters to parents urging them to write to their legislators. Muir may be waiting to use the parents' responses to add weight to his own requests, Glazier said.

The letter, to be sent during the next month, will explain that a 6 percent tuition increase is already planned and may rise because of the cuts, Glazier said.

Muir said trying to persuade the University to release its line-by-line budget to the public has also proved difficult. "My hands are tied. There are things I can't do because I don't have enough information," Muir said.

Williams agreed: "It's hard to get momentum for something like that when there's so many other issues."

But Kendall Houk, a member of the Student Organization Budget Committee who worked to open the budget two years ago as USG Senate president, said Muir and Williams "haven't even begun to address the issue."

Houk said he gave Muir information about the budget at the beginning of last semester, but Muir has not asked for further help. The task of opening the budget is too big for one person, Houk said, and he said Muir could ask USG for help.

Houk added that now would be a prime time to demand an open budget in light of recent state budget cuts.

Muir said he believes he has helped minority students by working with Black Caucus and establishing the Forum for Underrepresented Groups. "I think we have stayed in touch," Muir said. "As diverse as Penn State is we've done a pretty good job representing that diversity."

Black Caucus President Nicole Batts said Muir has attended Black Caucus meetings and moved USG in a positive direction regarding minority students.

Muir and Williams also intend to create a course selector guide, which they say will be available at the Penn State Bookstore on campus when Fall Semester schedules are released. They initiated some services that were not campaign promises such as the job bank service outside 203A HUB listing available employment, and an environmental hotline, Muir said.

Muir and Williams were not directly involved in carrying out two campaign promises they made.

The Academic Concerns Team already existed when Muir and Williams used it in their campaign, said Scott Golla, Academic Assembly president.

"It was already a committee in Academic Assembly," Golla said. "There was nothing really new."

But the publicity Muir brought to ACT may have increased students' interest in the group, Golla said.

Similarly, a department concerning campus safety had been established in the prior USG presidency when Muir and Williams addressed it.

The USG Department of Safety began selling safety devices last fall and created a town night map, available in mid-February, without Muir and Williams' help, Director Sharyn Jacob said. However, they voiced support for the department, Jacob said.