UA takes positions on campus issues

Confronting two hot issues on the Penn agenda, the Undergraduate Assembly issued statements yesterday on both the ongoing sweatshop debate and the future of the beleaguered South Asian Regional Studies Department. In two separate statements, the UA echoed recommendations that Penn join two labor monitoring organizations, and urged the University increase student representation on a task force examining the state of the SARS department. "Since one of the functions of the UA is to voice student concerns, I think it was important to get the word out to the student body," said UA Student Life Committee Vice Chair Jed Gross, a College junior. The decision to address the high-profile topics came two days after a Daily Pennsylvanian article in which the UA was criticized for shying away from controversial campus issues. UA members dismissed the timing as coincidence. "I think it's just because these two issues are coming to a head right now and we didn't want to wait any longer," said UA Chairman and College senior Michael Bassik. Following a series of meetings, debates and guest speakers over the last few weeks, the UA came to an agreement that the University join both the Fair Labor Association and the Workers Right Consortium. Penn currently belongs to neither. President Judith Rodin is currently deciding which, if any, organization the University will join, following the Committee on Manufacturer Responsibility's recent recommendation that Penn join both labor groups. The UA's statement encouraged Penn to join both monitoring organizations to "enhance the University's ability to ensure that University-licensed apparel is made under acceptable working conditions." At the weekly UA meeting two weeks ago, members heard from representatives of both the FLA and the WRC. Debate was so heated that the UA was originally unable to come to a decisive vote, but this weekend a majority finally voted to recommend joining both groups. Gross, who drafted the UA statement, said he felt very strongly about the issue. "I was a big proponent of this issue before we voted for it on Sunday," said Gross. "I'm not completely persuaded that either monitoring organization would be completely effective alone." And Bassik also noted the importance of this statement. "I think this is probably one of the most informed decisions regarding University policy that the UA has ever made," said Bassik. But while they came to a decisive resolution to the sweatshop debate, the group postponed the decision about whether SARS should remain an independent department. The Save SARS student coalition spoke to the body about the funding problems and small faculty size that may prompt the administration to turn their department into a program -- which would lack its own central hub. The UA noted that they wanted to hear the administration's perspective before voting on SARS. However, the body did recommend adding a student representative to the SARS Task Force -- currently made up of faculty only. A UA contact person will also be appointed to work with the administration and Save SARS. UA Vice Chair Malhar Saraiya was particularly concerned with the lack of a student representative on the task force. "We find that a little disconcerting because the Administration likes to usually put students on these committees to give it a unique perspective," said Saraiya, an Engineering senior. "We think it is important for students to be on this committee in order to have all the information available." Gross also expressed his concern in light of a recent Save SARS petition with 500 student signatures in favor of keeping SARS as a department. "My concern was that the petition secured 500 students yet there is still no student representative on the the task force that is dealing with the issue," said Gross.