Some political efficacy to start off your Thursday: presented with minimal comment, here’s this table from a UA insider, which shows various statistics about the work of the incumbent UA representatives in the last year, including the number of projects each member actually completed. The data is culled from meeting minutes, which are public information. Click the image for a larger view.

In order to present this information as objectively as possible, we are also including the most recent UA Annual Report, available here.

The conclusions are up to you, but with elections coming up, this may generate some important discussion.

Feel free to put off going on SEPTA for the first time a little longer.

For anyone flying home over break (private jets to New Jersey not included), the UA will be providing cheap shuttles from campus to the Philly Airport next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. (For those of you who already flew home, you probably have better things to do than read this blog).

Thanks to the UA, there will be no need to “split a cab” and never get paid back (but seriously, we saw you buy Starbucks in the airport with the cash you pretended not to have) because these shuttles are worth it, and there are, like, 30 time slots to choose from. Tickets are on sale today on Locust and day-of by the Upper Quad Gate

Gobble gobble and such, it’s Sangskeebing, y’all! We’re thankful that it’s finally time to put on a nice chunky sweater for granny and shove a Wawa Gobbler down our gullets before waking up at 3 a.m. to grab a “Are you 18+? Then you can Tickle-Me-Elmo” at the local WalMart. Yum-o! But enough about us; what about the rest of campus? We asked some of our favorite people and groups around campus what they were thankful for, and here’s what we found:

Your neighborhood friends are thankful that you’re home and they can’t wait to hang out but OMG, please don’t invite Jamie, we don’t know how to tell you this, but we absolutely hate Jamie and no one’s kept in touch with her since high school except you. Okay?

Mikey is thankful for his Dove chocolates and open-minded family.

Read the rest of this entry »

The student government elections are officially under way, and it looks like our two UA presidential candidates are doing just about anything to get your vote. Take note, America. This is what the future of our nation looks like.

Above, we’ve got Dan Bernick doing “the Bernie” with his gang. (Get it? Bernick? Bernie?) See what Jake’s up to after the jump!

Penn, meet Jake Shuster, current Undergraduate Assembly Treasurer and presidential candidate in the upcoming UA elections. As a freshman Money Booster, Shuster caused some StudGov drama after sending out a mass email encouraging his classmates to vote for him instead of reelecting Jon Youshaei, the freshman class prez. Whew.

Now a junior, Shuster is in the news again, this time over allegations of campaign platform plagiarism. Ruh-roh. That Ivy League internet trash compactor IvyGate has undertaken an investigation into the similarities between the campaign platforms of current UA Prez and VP Tyler Ernst and Faye Cheng (respectively) from last year and that of would-be president Shuster. Though smug and sensational, IvyGate‘s post does raise some serious concerns about the campaign that shouldn’t be ignored. Naturally, Shuster didn’t take these jabs lying down.  Check out Jake Shuster’s official response after the jump:

What Republican primaries? Ha! The UA election is back, and we know you just can’t get enough of that student government ish. By now, you’ve probably gotten the self-promotional e-mails, but in case you haven’t, we’ve got you covered like a tree post during this election season.

Dan Bernick C’14 and Jake Shuster C’13 are your candidates for UA President, and the two have already swung their campaigns into a super speedy start. The Money Booster’s got an informative website—embellished with many profile-worthy pictures—as well as a spiffy Facebook page where you can “like” all said pictures. The sophomore hopeful, on the other hand, has released his own website, drawing a thick line in the sand between WordPress and Tumblr fans, and this 45-second clip. Let the games begin.

At 7:25 a.m. this morning in Punxsutawney, Pa., Groundhog Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. At 7:25 a.m. this morning in Punxsutawney, Pa., Groundhog Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. (See what we did there?) Well, Dr. Phil isn’t the only one who can make predictions. The editors of UTB have joined forces to bring you their own forecasts for the rest of the year.

• New sorority biddies will emerge to see the shadows of their former selves that they’ve left behind.
• White Dog Cafe will be the next foodspot to poof, while Beijing will miraculously stay open forever, despite contributing to 14 of the Freshman 15 with just one helping of Lo Mein.
• Seniors who have locked themselves away for years in Van Pelt will emerge to see the light of day, also known as Feb Club.

See more predictions after the jump!

Well, this is embarrassing. Today, HuffPo College created a slideshow that demonstrates recent instances of students from each of the Ivy League schools screwing up in some pretty big ways, from drug rings to sex scandals and everything in between. Our crime? Oh yeah, that UA hazing “scandal.” Eek.

While it may come as a shock to some– brace yourselves– let’s not forget that going to an Ivy League school does not deem one completely infallible. But this does serve to reinforce the old adage: smart people do really stupid things. Tell us what you think!