UA wants more student input

Searching for ways to improve relations with the student body, the Undergraduate Assembly discussed implementation of a blueprint for communication with its constituency at its meeting Sunday. The UA also discussed the possibility of endorsing the changes to the judicial charter made by the First Amendment Task Force. No decisions were finalized. Communication was stressed as an important goal of the UA, one which was deemed "vital to our body's success" in the blueprint. Though the members did not unanimously support the concept, the blueprint -- which was co-authored by UA Chairperson and College senior Lance Rogers and College senior Christian Hensley -- was generally well-accepted. Rogers was very excited by the idea of putting such a plan together, pointing out that it has never been attempted before. "I think it is safe to say that we are definitely going to play a more interactive role this year with the students," he said. Rogers added that this blueprint will require hard work on the part of the members. "I don't want to see you guys wussing out three months down the line," he said. "I think that by this time next year, people will really know who the UA is." Some of the ideas outlined in the plan include increased opportunities for students to address the UA -- including forums in which students can have coffee or donuts with members of the body -- having individual representatives attend Residential Advisor and Greek meetings and maintaining a home page on the World Wide Web. Rogers said these are all ideas that have been around for awhile. A common opposition to the concept was that it required too much time from the UA representatives. "[The plan is] too idealistic and not really feasible," said Matt Brletich, an Engineering sophomore. But most members of the body seemed to be willing to exert the effort. Additional concepts were also discussed and added to the tentative list of ways to improve communication, such as posting the minutes of UA meetings on the UA newsgroup. Later in the meeting, the body discussed the first of the forum events, which will be called "Conversations," slated to be held November 2 in Bodek Lounge. The reception, which is being planned by UA Vice Chairperson and Wharton senior Gil Beverly, "will bring students and student leaders together to encourage open dialogue about campus-related issues and ideas," according to the blueprint. And while nothing has been approved yet, Rogers said he is optimistic that the Student Planning and Events Committee will fund the event. "It's good to see SPEC and the UA working together to try and bring more students into the student government process," Rogers said. Also at the meeting, College senior Mike Nadel presented the First Amendment Task Force's version of the judicial charter, in hopes that the UA would endorse the plan. Their charter recommended taking much of the direct power away from the provost and giving it to the chair of the Faculty Senate. It also insisted that the provost be held more accountable for the decisions made by the judicial board. When questioned why the Task Force chose the chair of the Faculty Senate to take over much of the decision making, Nadel said the fact that senate members are tenured will make them unbiased judges. "I don't have an overwhelming respect for the faculty," he added. "But it is more important for us to take power out of the provost's hands than who we give it to." While the majority of the body supported the Task Force's changes, they opted to refer the vote to the steering committee, since the UA passed a very similar resolution two weeks ago. The resolution is currently under consideration by the deans of the undergraduate schools, the provost, the Faculty Senate and the Graduate and Professional School Assembly.