U. Council defers vote on UMC seat

Committees willCommittees willdecide by fall and Karen Pasternack University Council members voted yesterday to allow the committees on pluralism and student activities to decide the fate of the United Minorities Council's seat on the body. Also at yesterday's meeting in McClelland Hall, members questioned Executive Vice President John Fry about the University's administrative restructuring plans and commented on the revised draft of the judicial charter. Council is an advisory committee of administrators, faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students that discusses policy decisions with University President Judith Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow. Last year, the UMC asked Council to give the organization a seat on the body. Currently, Undergraduate Assembly members are the only undergraduates with permanent seats on Council. In its discussion, Council passed a resolution by Microbiology Professor Helen Davies by a vote of 17-13 to refer the issue of UMC representation to the two committees for joint consideration. UMC Chairperson and College senior Onyx Finney and Vice Chairperson Susie Lee, a College junior, took turns making explicit points about why they believe the UMC deserves a seat on Council. Finney said it is in the best interest of the minority community for UMC to have a direct seat on the council. She explained that she does not view the Council as the "end-all-be-all," but that getting a seat would be the next logical step toward getting the voices of students of color heard. Lee built on Finney's argument, stating that the UMC should be guaranteed a voice at Council meetings and should not have to request time to speak. The UA opposed giving the UMC a seat on Council, echoing the overall sentiment of many faculty members. A few faculty members were in support of the UMC having a seat on Council, including Davies, who noted that there was a time when women did not sit on Council. After the vote, moderator and Political Science Professor Will Harris said the committees would most likely issue a report to Council in the fall. UA Chairperson Lance Rogers explained after the meeting that he suspected the Council would vote down a possible recommendation by the two committees. He added that the UA is concerned with the issues of representation raised by the UMC, and that the UA is currently working with the UMC to create advisors to UA chairs to address their concerns. Another group that opposed the UMC seat was the Penn Venezuelan Society, which passed a sheet around during the meeting stating that "for the third year in a row, the executive board of the Penn Venezuelan Society has resolved to reject the UMC as an umbrella group for minority students." Council also discussed administrative restructuring. At last month's UC meeting, Fry gave a 20-minute report explaining how the University plans to save $50 million over five years through changes in the central administration. Yesterday, Fry answered questions about his report from Council members. Karen Wheeler, chairperson of the A-3 Assembly, asked Fry to clarify how the University will continue to support employee betterment at the same that it plans to evaluate the future of benefits like reimbursing employees for college tuition. Fry said the University's goal in reexamining employee benefits was to drive down costs by providing the benefits more efficiently. For example, he said, the University currently offers roughly seven health insurance plans to employees. Fry said the University could cut down on the administrative costs of administering those plans by offering fewer plans that continue to provide quality health coverage. Council members also discussed the latest draft of the judicial charter. Rogers thanked the administration for revising the draft and asked Chodorow to clarify what role advisors may play in respondent's judicial hearings. Rogers also asked that faculty be provided a stronger role in amending the draft. In response, Harris noted that Chodorow and the faculty are deliberating about how to best spell out the role of faculty in the process. Chodorow explained that minor addenda to the charter will be discussed by the undergraduate deans, with larger issues to go to faculty members. Also at yesterday's meeting, Ira Winston, director of computing for the School of Engineering and Applied Science, presented a draft of the University's policy on privacy of electronic information.