UA gets in gear as end of term nears

This past Sunday night, in the first Undergraduate Assembly meeting after spring break, the body hurried to implement many of their ideas from earlier this year. Soon, student elections will begin to determine the next members of the group.

n During a particularly productive Open Forum, College sophomore Linda Kang brought up a number of issues for the UA to tackle. Among them were the creation of a map showing all study spaces on campus with hours and capacities, as well as the possibility of creating one common application for student groups to use when applying for funding from various University organizations.

n In new business, the body voted to confirm the Nominations and Elections Committee's recommendations to the six undergraduate University Council seats for misrepresented and underrepresented groups on campus.

The organizations appointed for 2008-2009 were: Asian Pacific Student Coalition, Civic House Associates Coalition, College Republicans, Lambda Alliance, Latino Coalition and Programs in Religious, Interfaith and Spirituality Matters.

n Building on the recently passed Sustainability Proposal, the UA passed the Sustainable Paper Product Proposal, which urges the University to switch from its current Kimberly-Clark bathroom paper products to a more environmentally-friendly paper product line, as other colleges have done. Kimberly-Clark currently follows the minimum Environmental Protection Agency standards and uses less than 20 percent recycled sources.

n The body also passed a proposal to create guidelines for funding UA-sponsored pre-orientation programs, including providing program scholarships for up to half of the regular participant fee.

n Updating on old business, the facilities committee announced that airport shuttles for spring break made a profit of about $500, which will go to the UA contingency fund.

n The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education presented a proposal to increase the availability of online course syllabi in hopes of collaborating with the UA to push the matter through.

In response to the challenge students face when registering for classes due to the large number of courses and incomplete sources of class descriptions, SCUE hopes to have all course syllabi posted on departmental Web sites to help students make more informed course selections.

n College senior and UA member Sarah Abroms gave an update about Penn's current actions to promote sustainability and discussed where students and the University can do more, including using PhillyCarShare, participating in RecycleMania and making sustainable choices in Penn's eastward expansions.

n UA executive vice chair and Engineering senior Dipal Patel presented this year's project for UA freshmen, a FAQ pamphlet and poster for incoming students that answers questions regarding academics, housing, student life, safety and transportation and the UA.

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