UA largely backs notification policy

The body also voted to fund two events and discussed new outdoor hoops courts. The Undergraduate Assembly took several actions at its weekly meeting last night, including the passage of a resolution that would advise administrators on the proposed parental notification policy. The body also approved funding for two events, including Greek Week, and announced the results of a survey that indicated student interest in the addition of several on-campus basketball courts. The resolution on parental notification, passed unanimously by the 22 UA members in attendance at the meeting, said that while the UA "wholeheartedly support[s] the notion of personal responsibility and a student's right to privacy," it also understands that "the University has a vested interest in protecting the health and safety of its students." The resolution largely supports the recommendations of a committee headed by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman, who presented a draft notification policy to University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi two weeks ago. That proposal says that parents of students involved in "frequent or serious" alcohol-related incidents that endanger themselves or others or result in property damage could be notified of their child's actions. The UA resolution makes two distinct breaks from the committee's recommendations: it opposes the creation of a consent form to be signed by both parents and students which would allow notification after every policy violation and it calls for the creation of a clear policy for college house evictions resulting from alcohol violations. "We supported the spirit of their recommendations," UA Alcohol and Drug Committee Chairperson Jo Piazza said. "There were a couple of major changes? but most of it was just wording. The College sophomore -- also a staff writer for 34th Street magazine -- said she was pleased with the resolution, noting that its contents came mostly from students who expressed their views at last week's UA public forum. "We think we ended up with a really effective resolution," she said. "We're going to hand a hard copy to every administrator that was at the [public forum]," as well as many who were not. UA Chairperson Michael Silver called the resolution "very strong," adding that it "deals with a lot of nuances" of the proposed policy. He added that he believes University administrators will listen to the UA's recommendations. Silver also emphasized the importance of not requiring consent forms, saying that the idea has "good intentions" but could only lead to problems between students and their parents. The committee's recommendations did not endorse the idea of consent forms, instead suggesting that the University study it further. In its other major action at last night's meeting, the UA approved $2,715 in funding for Greek Week, which began Saturday with the Clark Park Festival. The funding was approved with 20 votes and two abstentions. The Greek community had requested more than $3,600 for the event. The Greek Week funding was a sensitive issue at the meeting, with one UA member angry that the InterFraternity Council had requested funding after Greek Week had already kicked off. Also, the IFC's request for funding marked the first such request since February, when the UA decided to stop directly allocating money from its $30,000 discretionary fund to the IFC, making that money instead available to all student groups. In one of its other current issues, the UA released the results of a survey conducted last week on Locust Walk asking about 100 students if they would like basketball courts on campus. UA member Jonathan Glick, a Wharton junior, said that almost 90 percent of those surveyed said that they would like to see basketball courts added on campus, though only 75 percent of those surveyed said they play basketball. About three-fourths of those surveyed said they would play basketball more often if more courts were available. Glick said that UA members will meet with administrators to discuss the feasibility of creating on-campus courts. Lastly, the body unanimously approved a $500 request for funding for the Ivy Leadership Summit, an event to be held next February at Yale University.