Debate was in the air at Sunday evening's Undergraduate Assembly meeting, which ran for four and a half hours and had a significantly higher attendance than usual. About a dozen students, mostly from Lambda Alliance, the umbrella organization for all LGBT groups on campus, and ALLIES, an on-campus gay-straight alliance, were present to support the much-anticipated Blood Donor Discrimination Proposal, which was ultimately passed by the body.
Due to the late hour, the meeting was the first in six years to adjourn without Communications, the section of the meeting during which attendees usually discuss off the record issues brought up during the meeting.
Major topics from the meeting included:
n After much deliberation of the proposal and numerous potential amendments, UA members passed the Blood Donor Discrimination Proposal by a vote of 17 to 9 with three abstentions. The proposal - which was co-authored by College senior and outgoing LAMBDA chairman Kevin Rurak and College senior, UA member and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist Lisa Zhu - is a response to the Food and Drug Administration's 1983 lifetime ban on men who have sex with men from giving blood.
The proposal argues that the restrictions are a direct violation of the University's nondiscrimination policy during FDA-regulated on-campus blood collections.
The proposal requests that the University examine this conflict and its effects on Penn's population. It also urges the University to issue a public statement acknowledging this conflict and the fact that though the University does not agree with FDA guidelines, it must comply with them.
The proposal additionally recommends that the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy be changed to account for this conflict and that the University support any relaxation of the restrictions.
n College senior and Ñominations and Elections Committee chairman Dan Strigenz announced candidate packets for the spring elections will be available this Friday.
n In time for the upcoming UA budget meeting, two USA Today representatives presented an in-depth look at the UA Readership Program during Open Forum and the benefits the program would provide if continued, such as newspaper display racks that could be customized to aid UA promotional efforts. No specific costs were discussed.
n The UA also passed the Sister-Hall Pilot Program Proposal, the purpose of which is to help incoming freshmen better connect with freshmen in other halls. The UA will implement a pilot program during this year's New Student Orientation with a maximum of three hall pairings and will coordinate group activities between sister halls.
n College senior and UA treasurer Sunny Patel gave a summary of the UA budget review for 2008-2009. The annual budget meeting was rescheduled for next Sunday at 6 p.m.
