STUDENT ACTIVITIES SGA hosts open forum for store MIKEO. WEHRER n m s fdilni Student Government Associa tion (SGA) and Student Activities hosted an open forum on Sept. 9 to get students’ opinions about a pos sible on-campus convenience store. Last year, Behrend students paid a new facility fee and took an on line survey to determine how the students would like the money to be spent. The top student request was for a convenience store on campus. The co-chairs of the student fa cility fee, SGA President Brad Ko valcik and Student Activities Director Ken Miller, explained to the students and staff in atten dance that the purpose of the forum was to determine what form students wanted the new store to take. An average of 35 students sub mitted responses to an on-screen survey using the PRS clicker sys- FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE “Yeah, we do not formally associate with them. ‘Formally associate’ means rush events, mixers, social parties, and basically any kind of sponsored event that would associate our name with theirs.” MARC MANCINI Interfraternity Council President index News Photoßeview.... Local/National.. Opinion 5 tern to provide instant feedback and answer tallying. This system is also used by some classes at Behrend for quiz and test pur poses. Attendees were asked to answer questions ranging from the store’s hours to what kind of products a college convenience store should carry. Some of the answers surprised SGA President Brad Kovalcik. “The biggest one was what time should the convenience store close,” said Kovalcik. “The entire executive board of SGA had antic ipated that the student input was going to be that it needed to be open as late as possible.” According to Kovalcik, the exec utive board figured people would want the convenience of being able to go to the store at late hours. However, Kovalcik also added that they were not sure if students would go to the convience store past a certain hour. The students’ vote made the answer more clear. HEATHER MCGOVERN news editor Following a series of misdeeds by Sigma Kappa Nu (SKN), an unofficial fraternity, Behrend fraternities and sororities are limiting their social in teractions with the organization. Sigma Kappa Nu, more well-known as “Skins,” has become perhaps most well-known recently for their parties, one of which resulted in 82 underage drinking charges last Spring. As a result, a concerted effort is un derway from the governing associa tions of fraternities and sororities at Behrend to distance the official groups from SKN. Panhellenic Council and the Inter fraternity Council (IFC), the organiza tions that govern the six officially recognized fraternities and sororities, have issued an official statement de tailing restrictions towards associating with members of SKN. The statement discourages officially recognized fraternities and sororities to associate with SKN, which Panhel lenic and IFC does not recognize as a fraternity, in certain ways. “Yeah, we do not formally associate with them,” says IFC President Marc Mancini. ‘“Formally associate’ means Business 6 Humanities 7 Culture 8 kJL • Qrtrkrlc Q 10 Registered Member OjJUI to J?" I £ Associated Collegiate Press SGA President Brad Kovalcik explains poll results at the open forum in Reed 117 “lt seemed like they [students] were pretty honest about it and went with midnight.” “As part of the forum we had some open-ended questions and we talked about some of the re sults,” said Kovalcik, “[store hours] was one of the ones that we discussed and it never really oc- rush events, mixers, social parties, and basically any kind of sponsored event that would associate our name with theirs.” However, the issue becomes more complex over the defintion of an “event.” According to Jennifer Dou glas, a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, an effort was made to limit interac tions in an extreme way. “They considered an event at first to be three sisters with one SKN mem ber,” she says. Following some meet ings, that stance was allegedly retracted. What has resulted, she says, is a confusion over the definition of an event itself. How many of each side must be present for something to be considered an event? According to the IFC constitution, a “mixer” is defined as an event in which “people attending are exclu sively from one sorority and one fra ternity.” Regardless of the exact definition, Panhellenic and IFC are limiting the interaction in order to distance their organizations, not attack SKN. “We’re not going to be bashing them or anything. I think that would do more harm than good,” Mancini says. “I don’t think saying all the bad curred to me, but it’s a really good point they brought up. “[Students] said the convenience store, if it was made, should prob ably be open later on weeknights because people are stuck on cam pus studying. Then, things about them, all the things they do, and why you wouldn’t want to as sociate with them will do any good be cause we don’t hate them,” Mancini says. “There are many members of each fraternity and sorority that are friends with [the SKN brothers] so it would just stir things up a little bit” in a negative way. IFC and Panhellenic plan on taking numerous steps to carry out this state ment, but the process is predicted to stretch over a long period of time. “1 don’t see a change in this year. I think it’s going to take a while,” Mancini says. “The only thing different is that we are reinforcing this” with an official statement, says Hannah White, Presi dent of Panhellenic Council. “I think this year is the first actual year that steps are being taken,” says Mancini, “and 1 feel like it’s the first step in a process that needs to be done right now. “This year, it’s going to be just about promoting the positives about nation ally recognized organizations. Which is why I think the Greek page in the Beacon will really help a lot. We’re just going to step up and promote us [as campus-recognized chapters] a lot more.” mostly cloudy possible AM rein Forecast courtesy Matthew Alto, weather editor See Forum on page 3 5 71 56 75 59 SGA forum results Questions asked of students at the SGA forum on Sept. 9 What time should the convenience store open each day? A. Before Bam B. Between Sam and 12pm C. Between 12pm and 4am D. 4pm or later What time should the convenience store close? A. 10 pm B. 11 pm C. 12 am D. 1 am E. 2 am or later Which category of items is the most important to you? A. Food B. Personal Care Products C. Cleaning Items What type of food would you like to see? A. Snaclu/Pre-prepared B. Frozen Foods C. Nonalcoholic Beverages D. Deli Items E. Pre-prepared Meals Would you like to see Creamery Ice Cream come back to campus? A. Heck Yes B. Yes C. No D. Absolutely Not Which personal care products would you want? A. OTC medication B. Shower supplies C. Dental Care D. Misc. Hygiene E. Cosmetics What cleaning items would you like to see? A. Laundry supplies B. Disinfectants C. Dusters D. Computer-cleaning E. Kitchen Cleaning Do you have a car on campus (or U-Gate)? A. Yes B. No Would you buy a loaf of bread for $3 on campus if you could get it for $l.BB at Wal-Mart? A. Always B. Sometimes C. Rarely D. Never How important is tobacco sale to you? A. Very Important B. Somewhat Important C. Only during Finals D. Not Important At All Would you like to see Slushies or milkshakes? A. Ym B. No Would you like to see a small cof fee bar at this store? A. Hi B. No sunny and mild
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