Sunday's Undergraduate Assembly meeting marked the final chance for outgoing members to convene for new business. Not going out without a fight, the group's agenda included eight items of new business, lasting four hours.
While the Senior Class Board's request for Final Toast and the Meal Donation Proposal deal with more current matters, the proposals on Intellectual Property Rights, Textbook Affordability and class exemption for those celebrating Diwali clearly had an eye to the future. Despite these differences, all five passed with little opposition.
Class of 2009 Board President Brett Perlmutter, a College senior, came to the assembly requesting $5,000 for mugs to be used in the toasting of the junior class by the seniors on Hey Day.
The UA granted the request, noting that the Class Board had already exhausted its sources - the Board contributed $4,500 themselves and received the remaining $25,500 from Alumni Relations and the Vice Provost for University Life.
Perlmutter also said the Class Board was working with local bars on drink specials for those with a mug.
The Meal Donation Proposal stemmed from the donation work of Circle K and More than Pennies. The groups suggest that students with left-over meals be able to donate them to local soup kitchens or homeless shelters. The entire body and representatives from the two donation groups were vocal in their frustration with Penn Dining's cooperation in the projects thus far.
The UA also supported the religious options of a large number of South Asian students as they voted to urge the University to recognize Diwali - traditionally, both a religious and secular holiday in India - as an acknowledged holiday where students cannot be required to take an exam or attend class.
The Intellectual Property Rights Policy Proposal aimed to illuminate the rights students have over their own work within research and academic settings. While several UA members disagreed over whether the University has ownership rights to student work, the proposal ultimately passed unanimously.
The work on the Textbook Affordability Proposal follows student discontent with continuously increasing textbook prices nationwide.
As Wharton freshman and UA member Faye Cheng objected, "It is not fair that a student's financial status should compromise performance." The unanimously passed proposal decided that the UA's Academic Affairs Committee would work on the project over the summer to determine the most feasible solutions.
The UA concluded its meeting with several in-body pieces of housekeeping.
The group reviewed student results from the Survey of Undergraduate Priorities, passed an amendment to the group's bylaws regarding the Airport Shuttles program and planned to distribute this year's remaining UA Contingency fund between Social Planning and Events Committee's Executive Board and the Student Activities Committee Contingency for the next academic year.
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