Although the Undergraduate Assembly's efforts to connect with their constituents proved somewhat fruitless yesterday evening -- as fewer than 10 non-UA undergraduates attended the first UA Across Campus meeting -- the group was nonetheless productive, approving a plan of action regarding college houses and passing a proposal for recycling at Greek and off-campus locations.
UA Across Campus is one aspect of the UA's efforts to facilitate communication between their body and their constituents. Held at McClelland Hall in Ware College House -- closer to most students' homes than the meetings' usual Houston Hall locale -- the meeting was advertised via flyers, all-school e-mails and word-of-mouth.
Before the meeting, UA Chairman and College senior Jason Levine said that he would optimally like to see 50 to 100 undergraduates attend. When it became clear that such a goal would not be reached, Levine encouraged the body.
"I'm happy with the turnout, and I don't want anyone to be discouraged," Levine said. "We're going to continue doing this."
The meeting included an open forum for questions and comments from the audience, during which the seed was planted for an amendment to the College House Plan of Action.
Proposed by the Student Life Committee, the plan was passed unanimously after a lengthy debate regarding the suggestion of an amendment to include the issue of coed housing in the plan.
In addition to addressing four other concerns -- the college house brochure, a new "College House Homecoming," the freshman living program featured in Harrison College House and college house governments -- the plan now includes a fifth focus.
Noting that the UA passed a proposal last year stating that it would advocate for coed housing, the plan will support the development of a coed housing system.
Opponents of the amendment feared that the controversial nature of coed housing would overshadow the four other points outlined in the plan, yet advocates stressed the necessity of keeping coed housing development a priority.
Also unanimously passed last night was a proposal to encourage recycling at Greek and off-campus houses. The success of the proposal is particularly noteworthy because it marks the first time a voting committee member -- an undergraduate selected by application to sit on one of the UA's four committees but not the general body -- presented a proposal.
College junior Jonathan Zatz, serving his third year as a voting committee member, presented the proposal.
This meeting also marked the first for the eight newly elected freshman members.
Wharton and Engineering freshman Brett Lacher said, "At this meeting, we really got a full sense of how the UA works. ... We saw proposals, we saw them argued and we saw what happens to proposals -- the whole process of amendments. So we really got a full glance at what happens."
