Behrend shares services during Spring Service Week Behrend Vol. XLVII No. 28 14 pages SGA election held without stipend requirements Behrend’s student government awaits vote on eligibility requirements by Jason Snyder editor-in-chief Two weeks after Jen Miles claimed an overwhelming victory in the SGA presidential election with running mate Clint Skillen, SGA continues to battle out eligibility requirements for the 2000-2001 academic school year. In September of the fall 1999 semester, the SGA stipend committee proposed a list of requirements that the SGA president and vice president must meet in order to receive a stipend for their duties. SGA officers were not receiving the stipends previously, so in hopes of raising the standard of SGA’s executive board, the idea of stipends was brought forth by then Interim Dean of Students Ken Miller. According to numerous SGA members, including current president Andrea DiPlacido and vice president George Leshnock, the proposal was passed by SGA’s senate. The minutes kept by Rita Camillo also state that requirements for the president and vice president positions were passed. DiPlacido and Leshnock both claim that they met the requirements that were set at the time. Two requirements that they mentioned involved SGA Vice President Skilled sets priorities for 2000-2001 school year by Tracy Jones staff writer Clint Skillen is a seventh semester MET major, and he is currently the President of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity and the Assistant Manager of the Backroom. In running with Jen Miles, he shared many of the same con cerns and wants to investigate similar issues with her in the upcoming year. The proposed academic committees by Miles and Skillen would allow some stu dents to assist in the interviewing and hir ing process of potential professors. These committees are “a really good idea because students should have a more active role in what professors we hire,” said Skillen. Another item to be addressed is parking, particularly commuter parking. “Parking is an issue that needs constant pressure,” said Skillen. “With a few pleas now and then, nothing will happen, but with that constant pressure, things will get done.” Commuter students understand this problem, and be ing a commuter himself, Skillen experiences the parking agony also. Investigation into the base fee that each resident student pays for food services is high on Skillen’s ‘To-Do’ list. “The fee is supposed to go to improvements, but we haven’t really seen any in food or prices,” he said. Security and safety issues area concern many students, and it is important to Skillen and Miles to put an end to vehicle vandal ism in the remote resident parking lots. Com puter and phone privacy, with hacking, prank calls and threats are ongoing problems for resident students. Finally, school spirit will be highlighted, in an attempt to simply get more of it. “The Spirit Station and Spirit Squad did a great job this year, and they brought a lot more having at least a 2.5 GPA, and not being allowed to be president of another organization while in office. Miles, SGA’s current treasurer and president-elect stated shortly after the passage of the stipend requirements, “by issuing stipends it will raise the expectations of the executive board, which will improve the quality of SGA and overall campus life.” The Beacon reported in its October 1,1999, issue that "anyone on the executive board that is receiving a stipend should maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher, and cannot be the president of another organization while on SGA.” The article continued to read that the SGA president “must attend all meetings, and that the 20 hours [required time spent per week at SGA] are not just served in office hours, but also in meetings and anything else that is SGA related.” Weeks prior to this semester’s SGA election, Demian Blair, Miles’ opponent in the SGA presidential election, approached the Election Committee Chair Melody Sherosky to see if all members running on the opposing ticket were eligible under those guidelines, specifically Skillen due to beliefs that his GPA didn’t meet the 2.5 minimum. Sherosky was fans to sporting events than had been there before, but there are still many students we’d like to see supporting Behrend athletics. We’d like to try to get more participation all around, in intramurals and dances, as well as sporting events,” said Skillen. With this semester winding down, the new Vice President will bring these issues back with him next fall, ready to tackle them. This concludes the Beacon’s two-week series on SGA’s plans for the upcoming school year. Clint Skillen The Behrend Bi:a( on Index Police and Safety page 2 Calendar page 9 World News page 6 Features page 10 f f N S HA] t National Campus News page 7 Sports page 12 Editorial page 8 National Sports Page 14 Friday, April 21, 2000 Proposed SGA Eligibility Requirements The following addition to the By-Laws will be proposed at the SGA meeting next Wednesday: - To be eligible to run for the position of Student Government Association President or Vice President, candidates must hold at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA. This minimum GPA requirement must be upheld for the duration of the school-year term. GPA eligibility will be verified by the Director of Student Affairs. - Presidential candidates may not be the president of any other Penn State Behrend club or organization during their term as SGA President. This does not include the brief officer transition periods that other clubs and organi zations may have at the beginning and end of the school year. (This “brief’ period will be discussed at next week’s meeting for clarification) This requirement applies only to the President. not yet an SGA senator when the stipend requirements were passed in September. She claims she asked Leshnock if all resolutions passed by SGA were attached to the SGA Constitution. Leshnock informed her that they Sherosky read through the SGA Constitution and found that the only requirements for an SGA president or vice president is that they both “must have completed at least one year of SGA services Beacon leaders remain in place by Michael Frawley managing editor This past week the Beacon Advisory Board reappointed Jason Snyder to the editor-in-chief position of the Behrend Beacon for the 2000- 2001 school year. The Board felt that Snyder had done an admirable job with the Beacon this year, and has confidence that he will make the paper even better next school year. The Beacon has undergone a great deal of change under Snyder’s guidance this past year. For the first time in the history of the newspaper at Behrend, there are now color photos on the front page of the paper. “Color photos add a lot to a newspaper, and 1 feel that they have done a lot to raise the quality of the Beacon" Snyder explained. However, Snyder is not finished with the improvements to the front page photos: “I’m not yet completely satisfied with the clarity of the photos, and we are working with our printer to improve them for next year.” Other changes that Snyder has implemented include complete changes to the layout of the paper, which included a new masthead, a new lighthouse logo, and various changes to different sections of the paper. Matt Wiertel, the Beacon's current sports editor , said, “during orientation I observed the old style of the Beacon-, through hard work and dedication the quality of the paper has improved a great deal.” Snyder has more plans for next year to improve the paper. He plans to feature more investigative stories that will keep the community up to date with news that it doesn’t hear anywhere else. Snyder said, “1 feel that it is important to keep the campus informed about issues that could affect them in the long run. I feel informative pieces are what distinguishes us as a newspaper, not a newsletter.” Also planned for next year are a multitude of new features for the paper, such as an Arts and Entertainment section, Behrend Briefs, and monthly Health and Money supplements. Snyder hopes that by including new features like these, the paper will reach out to an even greater audience next year. Most of the editorial staff for the Beacon next year is in place: Mike Frawley will be returning as managing editor; Liz Hayes will be the news kcfivetj apr mao B£HRfciJD COLLEGE Beacon before beginning their term.” Nothing was in the constitution about stipend issues, and no record was found of any by-laws, even though the stipend requirements were to have been added to the by-laws in September when the resolution was passed. Sherosky’s reasoning as to why they weren’t added was, “no one knew whose responsibility it was to attach the by-laws to our Constitution.” Leshnock added, “it was not spelled out for us. It was something that ABOVE: Snyder (left) and &€&COfl Frawley (right) will return , v> as editor-in-chief and *' managing editor, respec- ' iHßKppi tively, next school year. ST ■ RIGHT: Changes made to the Beacon in the 1999- ■-JP . 2000 school year 3|g|~ PHOTOS BY JEFF MILLER editor, with Heather Twining as assistant news editor; Rob Wynne will be taking over as wire service editor; Katie Galley will be staying on as editorial page editor; Karl Benacci will be moving from news to be the new features co editor with Jermaine Hardy; Doug Smith will be sports editor; and Nicole Green will again be calendar editor; Jeff Miller will stay on as photo editor; Deanna Symoski will be returning to the Beacon after a semester off she will Lion teams enter AMCC tournament play u * «a» A Penn State Erie Student Publication SGA overlooked Blair pursued the issue two day s before the election was to take place and approached Sherosky with the October 1, 1999 article from the Beacon that stated the requirements. This was after the Election Committee had decided that Skillen could run for vice president, despite the rumors that his GPA didn’t meet the suggested requirement. Stipend continued on page 3 be the editor of the new Arts and Entertainment section. Kristine Harakal and Kim Zuck will be staying on in their positions as business manager and advertising manager, respectively, and Kevin Bruner will be the new office manager. Doug Smith said, “I feel that the paper will run much smoother because most of us have worked together for a year now.” 1111 ,1 7 Eric
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers