14/PSH NEWS ™.,™ s Graduating president reflects on rocky year with SGA Terry Wolf Capital Times Staff Mike Hermick has been president of the Student Government Association for the past year. That year has had its ups and downs. He has seen success and failure and has met both head on and with a positive attitude. Hermick named some of his successes as the system-wide leadership conference Penn State holds yearly, involving all the Penn State Campuses. The conference was held at Penn State Harrisburg last fall. As SGA president, Hermick was on the board that planned the entire conference. Hermick said he is also very proud of another project he was involved in, Project Alive. Project Alive is designed to create social change by working with inner-city children on drug abuse education and prevention. M*. •» Hermick has also been a driving force in other important SGA sponsored projects such as Rites of Spring and Autumn Fest. He feels that members of SGA have "gained experiences through the student government leadership, through the leadership conferences on this campus, and they have gained a general leadership quality that they can take into the workplace and with them the rest of their lives." Not everything has been great though, there have been some things that, for one reason or another, haven't lived up to his expectations. Hermick said that the "failures, for lack of a better term" include the SGA Open Forum and the Dance Marathon. He said he was "disappointed in the turnout" at the Open Forum, but "at this point I can look back and understand why.” ; sk h v> f rt f i >*/ I / jjfe 3. k { The Dance Marathon, which was to have happened in early April, was due to lack of involvement by the student body. Hermick said it was "a beneficial thing and I really wish it had gone through." Proceeds from the event were to have benifitted AIDS research. ”1 just wish the student interest was there," Hermick said, adding that he feels AIDS is a serious threat to college students. "It's a serious disease and there's no cure for it, I think any efforts that can be done to help for the research are just tremendous." Hermick feels his experiences with SGA and various committees, such as the Administrative Council, Student Affairs Committee, Awards Banquet, Rites of Spring, and others, have helped him grow. He feels they have helped to show him PSH sets election guidelines With the beginning of an election year, the college community may receive requests from candidates to speak, distribute materials, or seek signatures on petitions. In the event that this happens, university policy is as follows: Candidates may stand outside the entrances to college buildings to distribute literature or request signatures on a petition, but this must be done in a manner that does not interfere with the business of the institution. At Penn State Harrisburg, candidates may speak inside a building only by invitation of clubs or organizations, or by invitation of staff or faculty members as part of a program agenda or course syllabus. "how the system works from an administrative level.” Hermick's previous experiences as president came from clubs and organizations, and he says that "really didn't require the kind of administrative flow" that he had to have as SGA president. Hermick said as SGA president he had to work with various members of the administration, such as Janet Widoff, James South, Ruth Leventhal and others, and he feels he has picked up an "administrative political correctness" that he can take with him. He said he eventually wants to work as a coordinator in student activities or a director in strident affairs. Hermick had only a few words of advise for incoming SGA president Rick Delgiomo. "Good luck," he said. Candidates may speak to the group in a designated meeting area, but not in such general traffic areas as the main lobby, corridors, dining areas or other common areas. At the end of a presentation, a candidate may ask for formal support by requesting signatures on a petition or distributing literature that clearly designates the source of the material. All publicity and promotion of A political candidate's appearance on campus should be done in a manner that clearly states there is no institutional endorsement of a particular candidate. On-campus publicity and promotion should contain the following sentence: "The university does not, in any way, endorse or promote the candidacy of this, or any other person."
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