For the first time since its inception, the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) will now hold open meetings – you can finally see how your over $3.2 million worth of Student Activity Fees are spent. UPAC assigns funds to programming, travel, equipment and media, service trips over breaks, and entertainment (i.e. BJC performances and events put on by the SPA).

Chairman Mark Donovan said he doesn’t really know why UPAC had previously had a closed-meeting policy, but the association agrees that they are a thing of the past and open meetings are the way to go. Records of meetings had always been available under sunshine laws, holding UPAC culpable for its decisions. So will this more accessible openness lead to more student interest? Conlan Boyer, SPA Director of Finance, is skeptical of the student interest that will be generated by the inner workings of the UPAC bureaucracy.

Overall, I think that it’s a good, moral idea, and this transparency will put many students at ease. But I do doubt that many will take the opportunity to be outspoken about how their money is being spent. They did fine for thirteen years without a student presence, and with a generation that has apathetic for a middle name, it’s likely to stay that way.

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