Campaign gimmick
Protest poses unfeasible solution

As election day for the next Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president approaches, one team of candidates is banking on students' frequent frustrations with University Health Services.

The USG campaign for Corey O'Brien and Kara Annechini has made the improvement of Ritenour services a top priority in their platform, and staged a "wait-in" last week to reinforce the supposed importance and practicality of the idea. The publicity stunt, starring campaign members dressed in 1970s garb, boasts an idea that will be impossible to carry out.

Although the candidates have acknowledged that the idea is unfeasible, they are seeking to employ three more medical practitioners, at the cost of $60,000 each. Penn State is working with a very tight budget, and additional funds for Ritenour simply aren't there.

Students must realize that Health Services employees are working at maximum efficiency to tackle Ritenour's age-old problems, and O'Brien and Annechini must realize that students will not fall for their protest gimmick. Those who have looked beneath the surface disappointments with "Wait-an-hour" would see that Ritenour's problems have been improving.

O'Brien and Annechini have brought up a valid on-campus problem that many students can empathize with, but their proposed solution is unrealistic and beyond the University's slim means.