It's only the beginning of August, but the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) is already making the news -- for doing its job and doing it well.

UPUA President Gavin Keirans is already hard at work crossing things off his to-do list. He got the ball rolling with plans for a student-landlord dispute center by sending two members of UPUA Legal Affairs to the State College Borough Council meeting Monday night.

The presentation made by legal affairs was organized and relevant to students. It seems UPUA is taking the "advocacy" aspect of the organization further than it ever has before.

The student-landlord dispute center would hire a mediator so students who have issues with their landlords can find a free way to settle their disputes.

It seems with Keirans at the helm, power is not vested in one individual; Keirans understands that as president he needs to delegate power and work together with the other members of his organization. Teamwork is the key to leading a successful organization, and Keirans should be commended for realizing that.

While we had our doubts when Keirans was elected as to how well he'd work with authority, it seems he's learning to cooperate with and respect those figures. Approaching the council was definitely a step in the right direction, and it appears Keirans has matured enough in that he realizes the proper steps to accomplish his goals.

Though UPUA has been scoffed at in the past by the student body, it now deserves Penn State's respect.

UPUA was founded on the premise of advocating for the student body, and establishing a student-landlord dispute center certainly has the needs of students in mind.

Keirans and company are requesting $5,000 from the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC), and we believe it is an excellent use of the student activity fee funds. It's not going to be wasted and will end up right where it started -- in the hands of students.

We do have one suggestion: While it's great UPUA has a timetable and hopes to implement a pilot program in January, we believe this should be taken care of as soon as possible.

As soon as UPAC approves the request for funds -- which we sincerely hope it does -- UPUA should implement the program.

The sooner students can benefit from their elected student officers the better. Keirans has already gotten a head start on his year in office, and we believe he should take advantage of every second that he is president.