The candidates for Undergraduate Student Government president have many ideas, but some will take a lot of work to make feasible.

Many of the issues addressed will require alternative methods from what is already being done.

-- Rob Kampia and Rich Schaffer both expressed concern about the problem of sexual assault in their platforms. Schaffer pledged to start a campaign to eliminate the problem, while Kampia wants to prepare a mandatory awareness program for first-year students.

Last fall USG ran a sexual assault awareness program during orientation. USG President Mark Stewart said it could be made mandatory this fall because programs can only be required if they have been run once.

But Stewart added that many freshmen are not interested in attending awareness programs during the first week at school because students don't want to be reminded of the possible problems they might encounter when having a good time.

Running sexual assault awareness programs is a big responsibility, requiring a lot of time and effort, said Heidi Klebingot, Womyn's Concerns co-director.

USG would need someone to run the program trained in dealing with sexual assault cases and would have to find a way to network with fraternities, sororities and dorm residents, Klebingot said.

-- Kampia and Schaffer also expressed concerns about the University's recycling program in their platforms.

Kampia has outlined a written plan that would ask the University to pay 16 students a stipend of $800 to sort plastics, glass and newsprint, taking over the duties that the University says would require 20 full-time workers and cost $13,000.

If those 16 students aren't enough, some work-study positions can be used to work on the recycling program, and volunteers from other student groups could help as well, Kampia added.

"If you can get students to work in a dining hall, you can definitely get them to work on this," Kampia said.

Schaffer agreed that the University needs a total recycling program, and pointed to the efforts of Eco-Action and other student groups as examples of students making a difference with recycling efforts.

But Phillip Melnick, manager of building trades and solid waste management, said that unless the budget for recycling was increased, it would be difficult to return the program to the way it was.

"To include those materials again, it would cost us even more," Melnick said.

However, the department would be interested in listening to what students have to say on the matter, he said.

-- Jim Ryerson and running mate Candice Anderson said they were concerned with problems such as sexual assault, women's and minority issues and parking, but are concentrating on the things that affect all students during the campaign.

Ryerson and Anderson want to draw new people into USG with a periodic newsletter informing students of what USG is working on and how to participate.

The newsletter is still in the planning stages and no decisions have been made on how to distribute it, Ryerson said.

The Department of Housing and Food Service Operations will put newsletters in dorm mailboxes for a penny a mailbox -- a total of about $70, said USG Vice President Merryl Werber.

When Stewart and Werber considered publishing a newsletter, they planned to leave some copies at the library and HUB desk for town students to pick up, or maybe ask the Centre Daily Times to distribute them as an insert, Werber said. -- Schaffer and running mate Chris Groton proposed a "Grand Council" composed of leaders from all student organizations to talk about and work on issues concerning students.

Organizations that disagree with each other on issues will have a forum to communicate with other, Schaffer said.

The types of organizations that would be interested in such a council are probably the same ones that already sit on USAB, said Ken Martin, University Student Advisory Board secretary, adding that he didn't think too many other groups would join.

If the council did gain a large number of members as Schaffer and Groton propose, it would probably be able to meet only once or twice a semester, Martin said.

-- Kampia and running mate Beth Schneck have made bicycle paths a part of their platform.

Penn State's campus is not designed for bicycle paths, said David Stormer, director of University Safety.

Court decisions and transportation regulations make it illegal for bikers and pedestrians to use the same paths, Stormer said, adding that building new bicycle paths would be expensive.

But Kampia said he wants to work with the administration to mark certain paths that already exist for bicycles and not pedestrians.

"You only need a few," Schneck added.

-- The three tickets have agreed that lobbying is an important issue.

Kampia and Schneck have pledged to be more effective lobbyists than the current USG administration by traveling to Harrisburg more than four times a year.

Schaffer and Groton plan to get more student support behind lobbying efforts by going out and talking to students.

But lobbying is not as easy as it might seem, said USG President Mark Stewart, adding that students can't always go to Harrisburg and fulfill other responsibilites as a student and leader at the same time.

Legislators might not be willing to listen to students more than they already do, Stewart said.

However, Marian U. Coppersmith Fredman, University Board of Trustees president, said that increasing student lobbying would do nothing but benefit the University.

"I believe that there are enough students that have the desire to increase lobbying," Coppersmith Fredman said, adding that she thinks it would be effective to coordinate student lobbying with other lobbying groups.

When fighting for issues like stopping tuition hikes, alternatives to talking need to be explored, Ryerson and Anderson said.

At the University of Iowa at Iowa City, the student government held a rally day. Students were encouraged to skip classes and sympathetic professors, legislators and administrators spoke on what students can do to improve lobbying.

"You need to draw attention and then call for action," Ryerson said.

Werber said some type of organizational meeting could be held if it was organized well, but added that she didn't think a large number of students would come.

USG members have tried this year to get students involved and been faced with apathy, she said, but added that students might be more interested in issues during an election year.