This past Monday I attended the Freshmen Forum put on by the UPUA. I came expecting to learn about what the organization has accomplished, their plans for the future and their overall mission. Instead I found freshmen who had no care or knowledge of what they were attending being pulled in by UPUA members to the event in exchange for free food. Once there, UPUA President Jay Chamberlin did not even field any questions but passed it off to his vice president. Next, we had a freshman speak about how his name was in the paper this past week and how the UPUA is great for resumes. Student representation should not be about resumes but helping the student body. The few words that Jay did say, he seemed enthused to have Penn State representation being on par with a high school student council.

The idea of having an open forum is great, and I applaud the idea. However, I was disappointed to see that this was nothing more than smoke and mirrors in an effort to get attention from the paper. What student government needs is to provide awareness, which is the main problem as to why students are not interested.

I have proposed plans for Awareness Week to USG in order to make students aware of the injustices and lack of support that the administration has imposed.

UPUA needs to be more than advising the administration what to do. They need to have the power to make their own decisions.