At its meeting yesterday, the University Faculty Senate announced its recognition of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) as the official student government and dealt with athletics and other student issues.

UPUA must appoint a member to fill one of the Faculty Senate seats for the Senate's Dec. 5 meeting, according to a decision made yesterday by the Senate Committee on Committees and Rules.

Currently, 13 members of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) hold seats in Senate committees, which deal with student issues.

By December, UPUA must replace one of those seats, which is currently reserved for the USG academic assembly president.

Assembly President Ricardo Torres said he felt disappointed that he would not complete his second year as a Senate representative.

"But I also understand that the Faculty Senate doesn't get involved in the student government issue," he said.

UPUA replaced USG as the administration-recognized student voice this year.

The Senate committee decided to keep the other 12 elected USG representatives until April 2007. Next year, UPUA will represent students in all Senate committees.

The Senate postponed its informational report on UPUA and USG, so no students were allowed to address the Senate on this issue.

In a speech, President Graham Spanier addressed other issues. Most notable was the 24 percent increase in admissions applications from last year at this time.

The Senate also permitted members of the Student Labor Action Project to question Spanier about whether he would speak with the organization about the role of sweatshops in making Penn State clothing.

Spanier said the administration doesn't plan to act on the issue during this year, but it remains "an issue on the radar."

"It's risky for Penn State to sign onto any programs with a risky tenure of legality," he said. "We're in a wait-and-see mode."

Athletic director Tim Curley also gave a report on new NCAA standards for academic eligibility. According to new standards, a "new amateurism clearinghouse" must approve students before they compete in collegiate sports. This measure will aid in evaluating international students who might have competed on professional sports teams, Curley said.

"It will help clarify the definition of an amateur for all universities," Curley said.

With rising costs, the budget remains the key challenge for the athletic department, Curley said.

"We don't receive any money from the central administration," he said. "We're self-sustaining, and we'd like to keep it that way."

The department will raise revenue through contracts with Nike, the NCAA March Madness Tournament and its own fundraising campaign. From each football game, the department raises about $4 million, and having another home game this year will help the department, Curley said.