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
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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 *'
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RIGHT: Changes made
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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
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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.”
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