UA issues statement on alleged assault

At its last meeting of the year, the 2000-2001 Undergraduate Assembly passed two statements on controversial campus issues, one regarding the recent incident at Campus Copy Center and the other about mandatory dining plans for incoming freshmen. About 50 students attended the meeting, primarily to discuss the April 3 Campus Copy Center incident, where third-year Education doctoral student Gregory Seaton alleges he was the victim of a racially motivated assault. Campus Copy denies the allegations. The UA's statement expresses the group's support for Seaton and denounces any alleged violence as unnecessary. Calling the incident a "serious atrocity," and demanding an apology from Campus Copy Center for its mishandling of the situation, the UA states in the document that Campus Copy Center staff should not have resorted to violence, "regardless of who threw the first punch." "Even if Gregory was the one that started it, they still handled it wrong, and they should apologize for that," said UA member Becky Tracy, a College sophomore, during the meeting. The statement also includes sections about the importance of fostering race-related dialogue through open forums, as well as the UA's intent to establish a listserv for students to discuss their thoughts about the incident. The UA recommends that meetings between Campus Copy Center and Penn students, staff, faculty and administration be held to "ensure that incidents such as this never occur again." While the UA voted to freeze its own account with Campus Copy Center, the statement recommends that student groups decide independently whether they want to patronize the business. Also, in a separate statement, the UA encourages professors to order bulkpacks from "various locations to diversify the options available to the student body." The UA statement regarding Penn's decision to require all freshmen to purchase the 17-meal-per-week plan -- the "Penn Titanium Meal Plan" -- voices the group's disapproval of this new measure, particularly its mandatory nature. The UA recommends that if administrators feel they must mandate a meal plan for freshmen, they should demand that freshmen buy no more than 10 meals a week. The UA especially highlighted the lack of student input in the decision to make dining mandatory, noting in its statement the necessity of obtaining student input before making changes to dining policies. "They got absolutely no student input on this at all," said UA member Kirsten Grubbs, a College freshman, who attended the meeting at which administrators unveiled the new dining plan. Dining Advisory Board member Adrian Jones, also present at the meeting, described administrators' surprise at students' reaction to the plan. Dining Advisory Board reaction "was uniformly negative, and [administrators] were very taken aback," he said. The UA cited the "long-standing trend" of freshmen not using all the meals they purchase for the first semester, and then downgrading their meal plans second semester. Under the Titanium Plan, freshmen would be able to downgrade to no less than 14 meals a week for the spring semester. The UA disapproves, believing that students should be able to increase or decrease their meal plans to any of the currently existing options. "They are completely imposing what I thought was a pretty terrible plan as it was, and making it... even more terrible," said UA Chairman Michael Bassik, a College senior. UA member Ethan Kay, a Wharton sophomore, agreed. "Part of the Philly experience and also the Penn experience is having the freedom to explore the city's eclectic culture," he said. "Forcing students to eat at or pay dining services for their every waking meal is ludicrous." The meeting, the last one headed by Bassik, became emotional at the end. Members reminisced about their experiences serving on the UA over the past year, reflected on the group's accomplishments, and thanked various individuals. Many spoke of the UA's importance in their lives. When members said their farewells, some had tears in their eyes, especially when the graduating seniors spoke.