Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: Opinion

Two of Penn's student government groups need to sit down and discuss their differences - perhaps over a glass of wine.

This year, the Undergraduate Assembly cut funding for the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education's preceptorial program, in hopes that the organization would then limit funding for its popular - but expensive - wine-tasting preceptorial. Reluctant to part with its "flagship" offering, SCUE balked at the idea, and has planned to make the funding cuts to other preceptorials instead.

It's a shame that a power struggle between two groups will end up harming the hundreds of students in those other preceptorials.

Even more troubling is the apparent stubbornness of the two groups over the issue. The UA went ahead with its funding cuts even though it knew that SCUE wouldn't cut the wine-tasting program.

SCUE members, on the other hand, should have considered the UA's request and seriously reevaluated the benefits of spending close to $3,700 on the 20 students in the wine-tasting class.

Let's hope that both groups take a more collaborative - rather than adversarial - approach when it comes to funding the preceptorial program next year.

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