UA postpones alcohol policy reform

Changes to the University’s alcohol policy were not presented at Sunday’s Undergraduate Assembly meeting as originally planned.

Students from the UA have been working with campus leaders since August to reform Penn’s alcohol policy.

Their recommendations will be presented to the UA on Dec. 4. The delay was in part due to the UA’s and the Office of Alcohol and Other Drugs Program Initiatives’ desire to finalize the new policy’s wording, UA President Tyler Ernst said.

As noted in the minutes, Ernst, an Engineering and Wharton senior, said he wanted to “keep [the resolution] under wraps until it is a full packet.”

The UA has been under review for allegations of initiation rituals involving alcohol since the end of October.

Instead of the alcohol policy, the UA discussed other topics at its Sunday meeting.

The UA has succeeded in piloting a locker system for engineers. Engineering students will now be able to store their projects and books in one of 53 lockers in the basement of the Towne building, which is part of the Engineering Quadrangle located on 33rd and Walnut streets.

The lockers are being offered for free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Depending on students’ response, the UA will decide whether to increase the number of lockers.

Engineering sophomore Linday Tsai, who pioneered the project, is working to publicize the program. She encouraged other UA members to do the same. “Tell your engineering friends to go use it so we get to keep them!” she said.

Members also discussed ways to reach out to incoming freshmen before they step onto campus next fall.

Wharton freshman Daniel Fine, who initiated the discussion, said he hopes the University will do more to reach new students during the summer before freshman year.

There is “a period of no communication” after being accepted, he said, which is “an issue.”

Members discussed the possibility of sending out surveys over the summer to match students with relevant clubs. They also suggested revitalizing the GOPenn website — a website run by the Office of Student Affairs with event listings from student groups.

“If we could get GOPenn working, I think that would be the easiest platform,” Tsai said.

UA members also discussed their body’s midterm review results, which addressed issues such as the UA’s presence on campus.

Engineering and College junior Mike Rivera said in response to the results, “We need a marketing campaign. I don’t know what we are doing to get our names out there.”

Representatives also addressed the issue of requiring state identification for voters in Pennsylvania.

“Providing ID’s for people would be incredibly costly and difficult,” College junior and UA Treasurer Jake Shuster said.

UA members proposed that student ID’s like PennCards be accepted as a legitimate form of voter identification.

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