Many students seem skeptical about whether Mark Stewart and Merryl Werber will be able to finish what they set out to do as Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president when they took office 10 months ago.

"A lot of the things they ran on are not things that are going to get done," said West Halls Senator Kelly Glazier.

The two overall goals of USG this year are to directly affect student lives and provide them with effective representation, Stewart said.

"We've started down the road on both of those," he said.

But Stewart and Werber maintain that in the next 2 months they will still work on their campaign promises, which include:

-- Using meal plan points downtown.

Although the University has so far looked unfavorably on the idea, Stewart would still like to give students the opportunity to use their meal points at restaurants in town, he said.

USG members plan to place surveys in potential restaurants for students to express their opinions on the plan, he said.

"It sounds nice in theory," said Mark Gatcha (junior-secondary education), but he added that it will probably never happen. "I don't know how many businesses would go for it."

-- Extending the Loop to fraternities.

USG members are continuing work to get the Town Loop extended to the fraternity district, Werber said. Petitions are being distributed by members to show student support for the plan, she said.

The Centre Area Transportation Authority, which operates the Town Loop, is interested in extending the Loop but currently has no plans to do so, said Kevin Abbey, CATA general manager.

-- Offering buses to away sporting events.

USG members plan to run buses to events in the future, starting with the men's basketball game Feb. 9 in Hershey, Werber said.

-- Opening a downtown computer lab.

Stewart and Werber plan to push for a 24-hour computer lab downtown for students who live off campus. While the University has refused to commit to a lab so far, Stewart said it may become feasible in the future if students continue to push for it.

"We still think it's a valuable plan," Werber agreed. "It's something we don't want to see die."

-- Lobbying for student interests.

USG members traveled to Harrisburg last semester to testify before the state senate about opening the University budget and to lobby for Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency grants for fifth-year students, Stewart said.

USG and student governments at other schools are planning a state association of student government leaders from state-related schools to increase the voice of Pennsylvania students and combine lobbying efforts, Werber said.

Some students think USG should be focusing on issues that affect students, especially preventing further tuition increases.

"That would be the most important for most of the students," Gatcha said.

One of the major reasons many students choose the University is its reasonable tuition, he said, adding that USG members should work to be sure tuition doesn't go up any more than it already has.

Keeping tuition low should be USG's major priority, agreed Darrin Dobrowolski (sophomore-secondary education).

USG members are planning a tuition workshop at the March 20-21 Board of Trustees meeting in Hershey, Stewart said. They hope to work on ways to keep tuition rates from going up again in the future at that meeting.

But Dobrowolski said he hasn't seen USG do much of anything to help students.

Some USG senators also think Stewart and Werber need to work more on other issues affecting students, including opening the University budget.

Although they have addressed the issue of the open budget and support it, they haven't acted consistently on it, Glazier said.

Not much is being done on issues like the open budget and tuition freezes, agreed Ed Willis, USG town senator.

"I'd like to see them be a little more activist in terms of advocating for students," said East Halls Senator Paul Yacisin. Although Stewart and Werber's lobbying efforts have been good, they need to be more aggressive and insistent, he said.

But the University administration might not listen to USG leaders anyway, Yacisin added.

"The administration seems to be a little pigheaded about things like tuition increases," Yacisin said.

USG members must continue pushing for an open budget and quality education and not let smaller issues overshadow the important ones, Glazier said.

"A lot of times things just get ignored," she said.

Last semester, USG members helped provide services to students by running a bus to Giants Stadium in New Jersey for the Nittany Lion football team's appearance in the Kickoff Classic, adding weekend hours at the HUB, organizing the book co-op and helping register voters, Stewart said.

This semester USG members are planning an Eating Disorders Awareness Week, a workshop to find ways of avoiding further tuition increases, more bus trips and various other projects.

In addition to USG, Stewart and Werber have worked with other student groups.

"They've been helpful on international matters," said Bilel Jamoussi, International Student Council president, explaining that Stewart supported ISC's opposition to the University's plan to increase tuition for international students.

Stewart and Werber intend to keep pushing their plans until the end of their term, Stewart said.

"I won't give up on anything," he said.

"We plan to go out with a big bang," Werber agreed.

Senators also hope USG will continue to work hard throughout the Spring Semester.

"I'd like to see us keep pushing toward our goals," Willis said.