USG considers academics, social life in first six months in office

As the current USG administration reaches the half-way point of its term in office, President Nina Langsam '03 and her core group of officers are already well on their way toward achieving many of their goals for the University.

Having already considered issues ranging from precept reform to the treatment of women and minorities on the street, the USG has been working to improve both academics and social life for University students.

"They're doing a great job," former USG president Joe Kochan '02 said. "They've kept up past projects and have tried many new ideas. The projects might be little, but they have been wildly successful."

Senior class president Spence Miller '02 said he has been impressed with the USG's balance between administrative issues and more social activities, referring to such events as ice-skating at Baker rink and yesterday's Italian ice give-away.

But behind the many social events and outreach programs, the 2002 USG has been busy evaluating academic and campus life.

Over the last year, the issue of precept evaluation and reform went from an idea among U-Councilors to a focused investigation of the University's teaching, said council member John Brunger '05 who served on the committee for precept review.

During the fall, the USG's Precept Review Initiative — created in September as a collective initiative of the U-Council — created a survey to gauge student satisfaction with their precept experience.

The survey was sent to members of the classes of '02, '03 and '04 in November. They received more than sixteen hundred completed responses.

The survey found that the quality of precepts varied widely depending on the class, Brunger said. "A lot of students felt that their preceptors generally didn't have teaching ability comparable to what they had experienced or were expecting."

There were signs of success as well, the report said, noting 30 percent of respondents described their precept experiences in a positive tone.

The report issued by the precept reform committee suggested that preceptors receive better training before they begin teaching. It offered other advice to improve the precept system, such as implementing additional student evaluation and awards for preceptors.

The report has been sent to several deans, Brunger said, and an administration response is expected at the next meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community.

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USG has involved itself in social as well as academic issues on campus. The 2002 USG has followed up on the reports commissioned during Kochan's term to review the status of women and minority students on campus.

The student criticisms of race and gender relations in the two "Focus" reports prompted the USG to form committees to take action on the reports' suggestions.

The task force on women's issues has divided the report's suggestions into four categories including academics, safety, health and relations among different women's groups on campus, said Alison Arensman '04, U-Councilor and chair of the task force.

"I'm really glad that it's in place," said Jess Brondo '04, president of the Organization of Women Leaders and a member of the task force, adding that she hoped the USG would continue its trend of focusing on the larger social issues concerning the University.

Arensman stressed that the committee aims to improve the campus environment not only for women, but for everyone on campus.

The task force has worked with the University nutritionist on diet and alcohol issues, and helped to improve campus safety by posting more emergency numbers on blue-light phones, she said.

The Minority Issues Action Committee, similar to the task force on women's issues, aims to implement "concrete changes with regards to academic and social issues here," said Olivier Kamanda '03, co-chair and USG projects coordinator.

The Action Committee sponsored a forum in Frist Campus Center on minority self-segregation, which drew a large crowd, Kamanda said.

To address one of minority students' chief complaints — the lack of social alternatives to the 'Street,' — the committee is planning an ice-cream social for minority students and eating club officers in order to dispel myths about the eating clubs, Kamanda said.

In addition to focusing on more serious campus life issues such as race and gender relations, it holds the traditional student government job of organizing concerts.

This year, the USG has sponsored a series of concerts in Frist as well as the spring comedy show last month that featured comedians Tracy Morgan and Jay Mohr.

The USG attempted to land a big-name band for a spring stadium concert, but the band backed out of the negotiations at the last second, Owens said.

Langsam has all but forgotten her contentious race for USG president, in which she lost the endorsement from OWL to a male candidate.

Langsam, who is good friends with recently elected OWL president Brondo, said the controversial endorsement seems like ancient memory.

In addition to furthering the initiatives of past USG administrations, Langsam has pursued projects of her own.

Recently, Langsam worked to move the construction work start time back an hour and has recently begun the process of compiling a majors guide — a collection of advice from seniors for underclassmen about the strengths and weaknesses of each major.

But Langsam stressed the success of the USG's initiatives to change policy depend on the support of the administration.

"We have a personal relationship with administrators," she said. "People don't understand how much they care about what we think."

Langsam also credited the other USG officers she works with as essential to the success of the administration. She described them as "people who are eager to get things done."

But in addition to relying on the internal structure of the USG, its officers rely on feedback from the student body.

"We know that Princeton students are busy, and we want to listen and take action on those criticisms," said USG vice president Sonya Mirbagheri '04.

As part of that plan to listen to students, Mirbagheri said, USG has implemented "office hours" during Frist late lunch, during which USG officers sit at a table to field questions and comments.

"[The USG] is a part of the campus that really improves the lives of the students on a daily basis," said Mirbagheri. "There's always room for improvement in that."

Owens said he thought the USG should continue to sponsor activities that strike a balance between social events and more serious campus life issues.