Penn Park Tennis Court Fees Eliminated! The UA worked with Penn Athletics to remove the user-fee for undergraduates at the Hamlin Tennis Courts of Penn Park. We are happy to report that it will no longer cost $5/user per hour of reservation. That said, it is extremely important to remember to still make a reservation before using the facilities. One can do so here: http://penntenniscenter.com/reservations.html Questions about this project? Contact our CPE director, Dan Bernick at cpe@pennua.org

As always, you can find everything discussed at this week’s meeting here: https://docs.google.com/View?id=dnhzxtk_9fw9ms2g9

Muslims are required to fast during the daylight hours of the holy month of Ramadan, which overlaps with Fall semester. This means that Muslims at Penn with dining plans are at a disadvantage; dining halls aren’t open before sunrise.

That’s why the UA, led by UA Representative (now Treasurer) Sakina Zaidi, secured free breakfasts for observant Muslims during Ramadan after unanimously passing a resolution to give Muslims “Fast Food” for Ramadan. The meals will be handed out during the evening meal of Iftar, and are funded by the Office of the Chaplain and Penn Dining Services.

In addition, the MSA has announced its intention to have a memorial banquet on 9/11, to which President Gutmann and student leaders will be invited, as a direct result of this project!

Except it’s still not a good deal for most undergraduates – to break even on the Pass, you have to take SEPTA at least twice every day (including weekends) on average. Check out below the fold for the math.

That being said, the PennPass is a great and convienent deal for our small but significant commuter undergraduate population. But it’s not a good deal for those living on campus; not even the most dedicated urbanite travels into Center City and back every single day of the week for the whole semester.

The UA will continue to lobby for a good deal for undergraduates across this city from SEPTA – hopefully with SEPTA’s transition to a tokenless system we will finally see a PennPass that works for undergrads!

The math adds up pretty easily:

1. A pass costs $280 per semester.

2. Fall semester has 94 days between first day of classes and last day of finals (inclusive), according to the Registrar. Note that the Pass does run for the whole of September and December in the Fall, but are you really going to be here before term starts and after Finals?

3. $280 per semester divided by 94 days comes to $2.90 per day.

4. A SEPTA Token costs $1.45. It is good for one trip.

5. $1.45 multiplied by 2 comes to $2.90.

6. $2.90 is what you’re spending per day on the PennPass.

BOTTOM LINE: The PennPass is only worth your money (breaking even, not saving anything) if and only if you take SEPTA twice every day, including Saturday and Sunday.

UA representative Mark Pan, in conjunction with leaders of More Than Pennies, Circle K, Sigma Alpha Mu, and several other organizations around campus, decided to put those leftover meals to good use: feeding the homeless. Unfortunately, there was considerable resistance to permitting the donation of meals outright – so the UA passed a forceful resolution in favor of meal donation.

Sure enough, a few weeks afterward More Than Pennies was allowed to station volunteers outside of all three dining halls on Wednesday, April 29. The event was publicized by freshman-wide email sent by the UA. After one day, More Than Pennies had 531 students donate 10,300 meals! Simply by donating their spare meals, over 1,000 people in Philadelphia homeless shelters had food.

This fantastic initiative attracted a lot of attention from the local media, featuring in MSNBC’s “Making a Difference” segment on May 23 (check out former UA Representative Grant Dubler around 2:00). Check it out below or here.

In addition, a task force led by Mark Pan, the UA’s Civic and Community Engagement Director, and Mark Chou of the Living Water Christian Fellowship launched a major multi-partisan panel discussion on the casino development, filling a large Huntsman classroom with curious students.

As the approval process for the proposed Foxwoods casino moves forward, the UA will keep a watch on an issue that has a large impact on the local community, including undergraduates living at Penn.