The 16th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association met Wednesday night for one last regularly scheduled meeting before departing for spring break.

President Erin Boas was absent from the meeting, but Vice President Najee Rodriguez welcomed the assembly, provided an individual report, and quickly moved on to new business.

New Business

The group began the meeting discussing Policy #8-16, which allowed for amendments and updates to the UPUA Bylaws and Operational Code. The bylaws were previously updated on April 28, 2021, and the organization made necessary changes to reflect accuracy in the code.

The assembly then moved on to Policy #9-16 and similarly discussed amendments to the UPUA Constitution. While the group spent the majority of the meeting discussing these proposed amendments, the Constitution saw no adjustments as the voting did not meet the two-thirds threshold to pass.

The final piece of legislation scheduled for Wednesday night was Bill #31-16, which proposed that UPUA, in partnership with the Graduate & Professional Student Association, provide funding for 50 bicycle helmets to distribute to the student body to promote bike safety.

According to UPUA’s bill, bike helmets are “often overlooked.” The assembly’s research estimated that 70 to 80% of fatal bike crashes involve head injuries, but less than a fifth of bikers wear helmets.

UPUA and GPSA will split the costs of the helmets and each purchase 25 to be distributed in the HUB on March 28 and 29. The assembly passed the bill and will contribute $1,250 toward the purchase of the helmets from the Bicycle Shop downtown. GPSA will fund the remaining 25 helmets.