UA funds two Phila. events

The two budget items -- each for $500 from the UA appropriations fund -- will provide partial funding for two Philadelphia community events this fall, the "Welcome to the Neighborhood" festival and "Philadelphia CollegeFest." Both requests were approved unanimously by the members of the main student government body, with all 25 current members in attendance. "Welcome to the Neighborhood" will replace the annual "Into the Streets" event as an introduction for members of the University community to the West Philadelphia area, according to UA Chairperson Michael Silver, a College senior. The event is scheduled to take place on October 2. The college festival, scheduled to take place on October 9 in Fairmount Park, is designed to promote Philadelphia as a college town and will include a free concert, said Silver. A total of $10,000 of funding is being provided by various student groups and administrative departments at Penn and funding will also come from other Philadelphia schools. UA Communications Committee Chairperson and Engineering junior Theo LeCompte, who is also the chairperson of the Tangible Change Committee, said that reserved-seat tickets for CollegeFest are available free of charge at the Office of Student Life, located in the Carriage House at 3930 Irving Street. According to the UA newsletter, the concert will feature popular band Sugar Ray. "Both of them are fabulous events," Silver said. "It's important for the UA to actively organize and co-sponsor events like these." Wharton junior Jonathan Glick, a member of the UA Budget Committee, called the approved funding items "valuable allocations" for which the UA appropriations fund was designed. The events are the type that "the whole entire Penn community can enjoy, not just students," he said. The other major action taken by the UA last night was the creation of a new position, UA historian, and the election of UA member and College sophomore Jo Piazza, who is also a staff member for 34th Street magazine, to fill that post. Silver said the historian will be responsible for collecting written and photographic records of the UA's activities this year. This will include involvement in the production of the newsletter, UA Today, which Silver said he hopes to publish at least once a month during the current UA term. The next UA meeting will be on September 21 at 9 p.m. in room 214 of Harnwell College House.