Meet Ali Huberlie and Matt Amalfitano, the former child model and cartoon look–alike who run shit in student government, respectively. This power couple is all about getting involved, but sometimes these Sphinx RAs just need some good Italian food and a few sitcoms.
Street: Who would win in a celebrity death match: the UA or SAC?
Ali Huberlie: I would say SAC would win because we would have a lot more money to buy the expensive equipment and receive the proper training to kick the UA’s ass. So even though there’s only nine of us, we would still be properly trained to take on the triple threat that the UA presents.
Matt Amalfitano: I have to say the UA, for obvious reasons. Partially because, having watched every “MTV Celebrity Death Match” growing up, the art forms are definitely captured with their president, which is me. I also think the fact that we meet with Amy Gutmann and Vince Price regularly, if there’s ever a need for a tap–in, these guys could come in and kick some ass.
Street: How do you abuse your power as heads of two of the largest organizations on campus?
A.H.: Well I ended my term as SAC chair last week, but I will be keeping my key to the SAC office for my own personal use.
M.A.: Probably most students know that student money comes from the UA. So we’re allocated $1.8 million, which looks really really good in a bathtub. So you know, sometimes when I choose to indulge a little bit, I’ll just kind of throw it all in there in Benjamins and just kind of swim around a little bit.
Street: What’s the lamest “power couple” joke you’ve ever heard?
M.A.: Well my dad, as soon as I tried to explain my girlfriend to him, was like, “Bill and Hillary?”
A.H.: We mostly get Bill and Hillary. We also get comparisons to past power couples of student government, but usually they’re not funny.
Street: There are two types of people at Penn… ?
A.H.: I’m gonna be stealing ex–SAC chair Natalie Vernon’s answer, which is people who are involved in student groups and people who aren’t.
M.A.: I guess I would say those who complain about school spirit and those who have it.
Street: Any guilty pleasures?
A.H.: Maggiano's; we’re both big foodies but we don’t agree with the whole “you go to a restaurant and spend $25 to get something tiny,” so we go to Maggiano’s where the portions are large and we’ll follow it up with a trip to Scoop DeVille.
M.A.: Probably fantasy football. So some people will have a team, some people will have two teams; I actually have four teams. And the leagues that I’m in span from Skulls guys to my uncle and his middle–aged friends.
A.H.: You should know that I’m shaking my head in disapproval.
Street: Matt, who is Ali’s celebrity doppleganger?
M.A.: I think Ali looks like Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother. We’ve seen every episode together, but I don’t know the actress’s name. I definitely think she’s like Robin. Ali could sit down with a cup of scotch and a cigar — bro–out, if you will. Except she’s not Canadian. But New Hampshire is close.
Street: Ali, who’s Matt’s?
M.A.: Doug Funnie. I am a good–looking version of Doug Funnie, I think.
A.H.: But he’s a cartoon! I’ll yield to your pressures and say that he’s kind of a Doug Funnie — except he doesn’t dress in the same outfit every single day, usually because I dress him. Matt also has hair.
Street: How big is your ego?
A.H.: I would say that they are rather moderately–sized. But, we inflate each other’s egoes by complimenting whatever is happening in the other’s life, or trying to make our boyfriend/girlfriend seem cool to our friends.
M.A.: I would say that our egos are as big as our collective offices: not very large.
A.H.: But if you knocked down the conjoining wall it would be big!
Street: What don’t most people know about you?
A.H.: Most people don’t know that even though I dislike caring about fashion now, I was a model as a child… until my mother made me stop because she thought it was not a very feminist thing to do.
M.A.: I have a historic track record of really embarassing AIM screennames. I started with pudgemeister101 — wasn’t very good for my childhood body image. Then, I moved into halomaster216 after my favorite video game. Not things that I look back on fondly.
Street: You’re both RAs; what’s the funniest thing you’ve ever witnessed on your hall?
M.A.: I had a resident last year who, on two separate occasions, set the fire alarm off while making Easy Mac. Both times he forgot the water. Difficult to do, you would think.
A.H.: Just last week, my residents went to different halls and stole all the signs from various different halls, including, and this was accidental, they stole the other RA’s door sign. Then they created a collage on one of our walls, and I woke up in the morning and I didn’t have my glasses on and I was walking down the hall and I was like, “what the hell is that?” They covered the wall from floor to ceiling, even a little on the ceiling. So then we had to have an educational moment about why you shouldn’t steal things from other RA’s doors.
