On Feb. 28, I voted in support of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) with the hope that it would eventually supersede Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and become the primary (or only) student advocacy body at Penn State ("The Referendum," Feb. 28).

I didn't do this because I think UPUA is better than USG. No, there was a principled basis for my decision, and it went something like this: USG is broken. It doesn't take much insight to figure this out. USG no longer represents the interests of the students or accomplishes such things that would make it worthwhile. It fails to speak for us, it fails to make a difference in our lives, and it fails to function as a governing body should. While we should not blame USG members for their failures, we should hold them accountable.

Perhaps we should have a better choice than UPUA or USG. However, we are stuck with this binary opposition, and frankly, I chose the one that I thought would be more effective. I am not ashamed of it.