Today student votes will help decide the fate of student representation at Penn State.

From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., the Web site, votenow.psu.edu, will ask students which of two dueling structures they think will most effectively represent their needs in the years to come.

Last Thursday, 3,992 students weighed in on their satisfaction with the effectiveness of the current Undergraduate Student Government (USG). About 85 percent of students who voted said they did not feel USG was representing them successfully.

The question posed to students today asks if an entirely different structure should exist as the student voice -- not a government, but a student advocacy group, called the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA).

"UPUA does not pretend to be a government," USG President Galen Foulke said. "UPUA is about advocacy from the get-go."

The Structures

Adopted in 1962, the current structure of USG models the U.S. government -- the executive branch comprises a president, vice president and council; the elected members of USG Senate and the appointed members of Academic Assembly make up the legislative branch, and the USG Supreme Court serves as the judicial branch.

UPUA will have one body of 37 students from different areas and organizations at Penn State under the executive branch. These students will chair six standing committees, including academic affairs and campus relations.

Such a structure will eliminate contradictions within USG, said Jeff Corbets, one of the authors of the UPUA Constitution and student co-chairman of the committee formed to critique the current USG Constitution.

"A structure like [the national government] is simply ineffective," Corbets said.

Corbets added that the new structure would eliminate a lot of the problems that USG has encountered over the past years, many of which were caused by the strict atmosphere and checks and balances among the branches.

When Foulke and USG Vice President Luke Adams were first elected March 31, 2004, they entered office on a campaign platform of revising the USG Constitution to make it more efficient and student-oriented. Eight months later, they appointed Corbets co-chairman of an independent commission of four students and four faculty members to create a list of recommendations to improve USG.

However, Corbets and the commission said they could not enhance the current structure and chose to "start from scratch." Preliminary plans for UPUA were announced last March.

Foulke has since supported the commission's decision because he felt it had the best perspective of what the student body needed and because of his experience with USG problems, like internal bickering.

The Debate

Those opposed to UPUA, like USG Senate President Andy Banducci, have also acknowledged problems within USG, but say that UPUA is a poor alternative.

Many students are concerned with the increased amount of administrative involvement found in the UPUA, Banducci said.

"I don't want to single out [Vice President for Student Affairs] Vicky Triponey, but the Student Affairs office has been most involved [in the trend of reducing student power]," Banducci said last Tuesday night. "A lot of intrusions on student government have happened under her reign."

He cited the provision in the UPUA Constitution that designated a special committee to approve any amendments. The original draft of the Constitution said three members would make up the committee: a university administrator, preferably the Vice President for Student Affairs, a university faculty member, preferably the chairperson of the Faculty Senate Undergraduate Education Committee, and an undergraduate student not affiliated with UPUA.

Banducci said this structure is only encouraging the administration to "parent" the student body and its representatives.

Foulke said now an additional undergraduate student would join the committee to equal the representa-tion between students and administrators.

Banducci said this concession is only "cosmetic" -- the camaraderie between UPUA and the administration goes much deeper.

It also can be seen in the administration's treatment of Students for Real Advocacy, a group formed by Foulke Feb. 6 to fund and administer the student referendums on the current government's effectiveness.

The group received an anonymous donation of $3,000 through Stan Latta, Director of Unions and Student Activities, and Penn State Web space to administer the survey questions, Foulke said.

Students for Real Advocacy President Andrew Reeve said the process used to support UPUA was handled as best as it could, and it welcomed any help from those who also supported the proposal.

In response, Banducci announced Safeguarding Traditions Of Penn State (STOP), a counter-organization entrusted to sustain Penn State traditions -- particularly USG.

STOP's Web site, www.psustop.com, has about a dozen posts supporting USG and informing others of the history of the situation. Banducci and others hope the site will be another outlet of information for students to access before they vote today.

However, many student concerns about UPUA have been acknowledged, Foulke said. Since the proposal was announced, Foulke and Corbets have continued to revise the UPUA Constitution.

One of the changes, made Sunday, was the addition of a second student to the special committee responsible for approving all amendments to even the faculty to student ratio.

The UPUA Constitution also added three subcommittees under the campus relations committee, each with a representative. UPUA members will now have the option of joining the subcommittee for people of color, the subcommittee for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer affairs or the subcommittee for women.

Triponey did not return repeated phone calls for comment and directed all questions to Phillip Burlingame, assistant vice president for student affairs and a faculty member on the commission that produced the UPUA.

Burlingame said while the Division of Student Affairs is neutral on the dueling initiatives, more communication between student leaders and the administration would be an improvement.

"[Student Affair's] intent is to try to assist and help and maybe be more helpful than we've been able to under the current system," Burlingame said. "The 1962 framework was written at a time when [students] truly needed to govern the students."

Burlingame said adding more administrative control would benefit the university and the students equally, because the advocacy with the help of Student Affairs could be more productive.

The Future

Student opinion may end the debate today.

Foulke said he will bring the final results of today's question to Penn State President Graham Spanier, in hopes of receiving his support for the proposed government.

If the university decides to recognize UPUA, Foulke said he plans to hold elections this spring and start the organization next fall.

Banducci said USG elections are set to begin March 29, no matter what the outcome of the referendums.