After Thursday's tuition rally, it is easy to see the problem with student government at Penn State rests with the students ("USG senators rally for lower tuition," March 24).

Recently, we saw a clash between Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) unfold, with each side claiming the other was ineffective in representing students. It's safe to say that neither USG nor UPUA could represent the students when the students do not care about being represented. The rally showed USG doing something to represent us, and they couldn't get even 500 students to complete a survey.

In the USG/UPUA referendums, not even one-quarter of the student population responded. If students cannot take two minutes to vote for their official voice on campus, then they don't deserve a voice.

The apathy on this campus is truly stunning. When students were presented an opportunity to voice their opinion about tuition increases, how many of them turned their iPods up just a little louder? So many letters were written to The Daily Collegian saying USG doesn't do anything for students, but when students are given an opportunity to show what they think, they pass it up because they are too busy. It appears that students are interested in modifying an old adage: You can give the students a voice, but you can't make them use it.