Muslim Chaplain Resolution - the UA hereby:
1. Recognizes the need for an Interfaith Fellow and Campus Minister to the Muslim Community.
2. Commends the Chaplain’s Office for its strides towards meeting the needs of Muslim Students.
3. Calls upon the University to establish the Interfaith Fellow and Campus Minister to the Muslim Community as a permanent, full time position.
4. Strongly Urges the University to expand the benefits and Institutional Support of the Interfaith Fellow and Campus Minister to the Muslim Community.
5. Supports the incorporation of as diverse a range of views and opinions into the University as possible.
6. Signs the letter of support found in the Appendix (see meeting packet).

IFC/UA Textbook Exchange Resolution – the UA hereby:
1. Requests the creation of a website for Penn students, and Penn students only, to exchange, buy, and sell, textbooks with no middleman.
2. Requests the implementation of a system similar to the one at Princeton which identifies books using ISBN number or course number and compares book prices to the buyback price and sale price (both new and old) available at the bookstore.
3. Suggests that the UA promote the new trade via all-school emails and other marketing techniques.
4. Encourages professors to post book lists by the beginning of add/drop period to ensure that the book exchange is a viable option for students.
5. Will work in conjunction with the IFC to set up and manage the website.

The New York Times Sponsorship Money Reallocation Authorization Resolution – the UA hereby:
1. Commits to extend the conversation of funding electronically over the summer and holding a straw poll after substantive online debate.
2. Grants the UA Executive Board the ability to determine whether to allocate the $12,400 to funding the New York Times based on straw poll.
3. Requires the UA Executive Board heavily consider the straw poll and the body’s opinions.

On Friday April 23, 2010, about 40 students from Shaw Middle School will become honorary college students at Penn’s campus. Throughout the day, we will have a keynote speaker, a mock management class, lunch at 1920 commons, a tour, and a student panel on college life.

The primary goal of the event is to excite students about the college experience, in the hopes that they will be motivated to work harder in middle/high school and strive for a college education. The secondary goal is to bring students from a variety of groups together for a University-wide service project.

We are inviting students and student groups to co-sponsor our event. There are one-hour shifts from about 9am to 2pm, but we encourage students to sign up for as many shifts as they can. On top of that, we hope that our co-sponsors can spread the word about the event and help with the actual planning if they’re interested. Click HERE to sign up for a volunteer shift.

***POSTPONED***Wednesday, April 7, 7pm-8pm, Claudia Cohen G17

Abridged Biography:
Elisabeth L. Rosenthal was named science editor for The New York Times in the summer of 2003. Previously she had been a correspondent in the Beijing bureau since the fall of 1997. During her tenure in Beijing, she broke a number of landmark stories on health in China, including the spread of AIDS among Chinese population, the demise of the rural health care system and efforts to market patented U.S. drugs in China. Prior to that she had worked as a metropolitan reporter covering health and hospitals. She was a regular contributor at Science Times for three years before joining The Times in July 1993. In 2006, Ms. Rosenthal was part of a team that won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award for Excellence in Explanatory Reporting. See the full bio here.

Tuesday, March 15 (TODAY!)

UA Steering – Vice-Presidential Forum

7.00pm in the LGBT Center

A special forum for Vice-Presidential candidates before UA Steering, a peak body of 34 campus coalitions that the winning Vice-President will chair and lead next year.

Thursday, March 18

Politics at Penn – Presidential Forum

12:00 p.m. in the Harrison College House Rooftop Lounge

Sponsored by the Penn Democrats and the Penn Political Review

Friday, March 19

Civic and Community Engagement — Presidential Forum

12:00 p.m. at Civic House

Sponsored by CHAC  - LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED!

Diversity at Penn — Presidential Forum

6:00 p.m. in the ARCH Auditorium

Sponsored by the Latino Coalition, Lambda Alliance, Asian Pacific Student Coalition, UMOJA, United Minorities Council, Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women, and PRISM

Saturday, March 20

Academic and Residential Life — Presidential Forum

12:00 p.m. in the Harrison College House Rooftop Lounge

Sponsored by the Residential Advisory Board and the University Honor Council

Presidential and Vice Presidential Forum

Sunday, March 21 at 3:00 p.m. in a To Be Determined Location*

Sponsored by the Daily Pennsylvanian

*Please stay tuned for the announcement of this location.

Sunday, March 21

UA and Penn Student Government — Presidential Forum

9:00 p.m. in Ben Franklin Room in Houston Hall

Sponsored by the Undergraduate Assembly

• A major increase in SAC funding: an extra $64,000 for student groups (or 7.77% increase from last year!).
• Restructuring Spring Fling finances: accounting changes mean that while Fling is unchanged its true cost is now reported and accounted for; plus, the recommendation includes a little bit extra for Concert talent.
• A major increase in Connaissance Major Speaker Honoraria funding (from $61,000 per semester to $75,000 per semester).
• Restoration of the SPEC Film Speaker Event with $13,000 of funding.
• Some program eliminations:
  • Dolphin email accounts ($4950)
  • SPEC Concerts Small Show Series ($3000)
  • SPEC Connaissance Philomathean Society Annual Oration Co-Sponsorship ($3000)
  • Minority Scholars Weekend ($2250)
  • SPEC Special Events Third Spring Fest ($2000)
  • SPEC Connaissance Haitian Solidarity Week Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • Haitian Solidarity Week Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • Holocaust Memorial Day Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • GUIDE Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
• Standardization of SPEC Jazz and Grooves and SPEC-TRUM Spring Concert with Fall Concerts, involving cutting:
  • $10,550 from SPEC Jazz and Grooves Spring Concert
  • $7,950 from SPEC-TRUM Spring Concert

The final budget is available in a printable version (for legal-size paper!) or an online Google Docs version.

See below the jump for an itemized list of approved amendments. And tell us what you think in the comments!

The ten approved amendments (i.e. changes from the budget recommendation) were:

1. All funding for Ivy Council ($4163) was revoked.
2. The SCUE Research Symposium was granted full funding (total $1950)
3. SCUE Internet, banner hanging, and print toner costs were funded at a total of $272
4. NEC Spring Candidate Packets were cut by $100 and increase NEC student government information fliers were increased by $100
5. NEC Midnight Breakfast food and beverage allocations were increased by $300 (from $2200 to $2500) to reflect the loss of a lucrative catering contract.
6. SPEC Connaissance Spring Non-Annual Co-Sponsorships were increased by $3000 to $15,500
7. MLK Day, Kwanzaa, Cari-Fest, Kappa Scholarship Ball, and La Unidad Latina line items were revoked and placed in SPEC-TRUM Non-Annual Co-Sponsorship, which was thereby increased from $6,000 to $17,300
8. MSA Islam Awareness Week Connaissance Line-Item was increased to $2500 from $2000.
9. The UA Dolphin Server charges were restored to pay for web accounts (but not email), increasing the Dolphin Line-Item to $500 from $0.
10. The Sophomore Class Board was granted an additional $1000, to $13500, to promote a larger and ever-better Sophomore Skimmer.

For more information and answers to any questions, please contact Patricia Liu, Vice-Chair for Elections, Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC).