Recycling pilot wins UA support

The Undergraduate Assembly voted to support a new campus recycling program at a meeting Tuesday night. The recycling proposal, developed by UA member and College junior Josh Rockoff, calls for wastebaskets to be placed in each dorm room for recycling paper. According to Rockoff, each wastebasket would cost about $4. The total cost of the pilot program would be approximately $400. The proposal is modeled on tests conducted at Princeton University in 1986. Princeton administrators put wastebaskets in one dorm to measure student response and found a 175 percent increase in paper recycling. Rockoff noted that these dramatic results were confirmed by later research in other dorms. "The research at Princeton demonstrates that it is a cheap and convenient way to cut down on waste," UA Chairperson and College junior Tal Golomb said. "It's a small thing that the UA can do in response to student concerns about the environment." Rockoff said various administrators have offered support for his proposal, which he called "past due." If the pilot program is successful, Rockoff said it will be expanded to other dorms. At Tuesday's meeting, the UA also voted to amend its constitution to dock other branches of government for late budget allocation requests. Each year, the UA Budget Committee reviews budget proposals from various student government organizations and allocates money to them. UA Treasurer Steve Schorr explained that the constitution requires the budget meeting be held prior to spring break. But late budget requests have made this impossible in recent years. Schorr, a Wharton junior, said the UA adopted the 1 percent rule last year. Under this rule, the UA cuts 1 percent of a branch's budget for each day their request is late. Last year, budget requests came in on time, Schorr said. He attributed the improvement to the new rule. Tuesday night's vote means the 1 percent rule will become a permanent guideline for future UAs. "It puts pressure on groups to get their budget proposals in so that the Budget Committee has time to look them over and dole out the money fairly," Golomb said.