Capitol times. (Middletown, Pa.) 1982-2013, October 08, 1982, Image 2
Student Vote To Clean Up Language In Constitution By Donna Kirker The Capitol Campus Student Govern ment Association (SGA) has some housecleaning to do, but they can’t do it without student participation. On Oct. 9, students will not only be ask ed to elect their junior senators, but also vote on a cleaned-up version of the SGA Constitution. According to SGA President Tom Halley, the new constitution is almost ex actly the same as the old, but with an up dated format style. Halley explained the old constitution was “much more formal.” He said the old was “written in the style of the U.S. Constitution,” and that it was very “hard to go through and pick out the things they needed to know.” Merger Means Better Social Plan by Pat Wenger Social activities won’t be competing with one another this year thanks to a merger of two—often conflicting organizations. Until this term, campus social events have been planned by two separate organizations. The Student Government Association (SGA) Social Committee has been organizing activities for all campus involvement, while the Meade Heights Board of Governors (MHBOG) has spon sored social event 3 only for campus residents. Because of the two separate planning The new constitution has “taken out some of the unnecessary jargon,” Halley explained, and “it has been put into a step by step format making it easier to read with easier references.” Another syntactical change would in volve changing the “terms” in the con stitution to match the new semester schedule. Halley explained the old con stitution will not be workable under the new semester schedule. Beyond the basic format changes, there is one change that will effect the students directly, the student body elec tion date. While the old constitution requires SGA elections to be held exactly in the fourth week of the fall term, the new constitu tion would allow some flexibility in groups, there has been a problem with conflicting dates. Frequently, both organizations sponsored activities for the same evening but at separate places on campus. This led to smaller groups at tending each function, and sometimes there were insufficient participants at an event to make it seem worthwhile. That changed thanks to a proposal from Pat Murphey, Coordinator of the Residents’ Living Program. Now there is one organization charged with planning these events, the newly created Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG). According to Edward Palmer, Resi- deciding when the elections will be held. Halley explains this gives the SGA the time to build student interest and par ticipation within their own organization. It will also give the SGA the flexibility to “choose the best week for the election, taking into consideration the week’s schedule of events” on Capitol Campus. Halley believes this change could only benefit the students and increase voter turnout, interest and participation. Other than the election date revision, the new constitution involved only up dating an archaic manuscript to fit the needs of this year’s and future Student Government Association. However, without student participation the new constitution cannot be enacted. Halley explained that the revised con- Stamberg Urges: Sharing Experiences by Judith A. Faruquee “News never changes,” a wise jour nalist once remarked, “it just happens to different people’’ repeated Susan Stamberg on Wednesday Sept. 30 to an enthusiastic audience of nearly 500 who attended the Capitol Campus Lecture Series. Guest lecturer, Susan Stamberg co host of the National Public Radio Pro gram “All Things Considered” warmed up her audience by her opening remarks, “Experience is never complete until we have shared it. ” As she related her climb up the ladder of success we discovered her directness and honesty. Admittedly she wants to put people at ease, she wants to help listeners retain that fragile touch of humanity. She recalled her early days as a profes sional communicator, “It is a wonderful field for a woman...it is so portable.” She related how the microphone helped her overcome her shyness. She spoke of her own energy charged personality and how it helped spark up a less exuberant guest. That is a modest assessment from a woman who has 18 years of radio ex perience behind her, has won the 1980 Ed ward R. Murrow Award, has since 1971 co-hosted “All Things Considered,” the program that was awarded the George Foster Peabody Award and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, and whose first book, published this spring “Every Night at Five: Susan Stamberg’s Ail Things Considered Book” is a best seller. dent Assistant, “This organization will carry on the current programs of the social committee while absorbing the major activities once sponsored by MHBOG. The former MHBOG has become the Meade Heights Community Council with the primary function of hearing the concerns of Meade Heights residents, but still maintaining its tradi tional programs such as road rallies, tail gate parties and the Thanksgiving Com munal Dinner.” “The governing body of the SUBOG will be just as it says, a board of gover nors” stated Jamie Cole, former social stitution came for a vote last spring, but less than 10 percent of the students voted on it. Without at least 10 percent of the voting the constitution cannot be legally instituted. Halley urged everyone to vote “yes” or “no” on the new constitution. To be eligi ble voters must be full-time undergraduate or graduate students at Capitol Campus. Tables will be set up in the main building all day on October 9th. Just a simple “yes” or “no” vote, and possibly five minutes of your time, may help clean up an old manuscript and help the student government operate more ef ficiently. For a look at tha mu cambhrtfoo, taa paga m “All Things Considered” gets its special appeal from the manner which Susan Stamberg approaches reporting. According to Stamberg, she sees the job as “creating order out of chaos and on bad days, chaos out of order.” Stamberg brings the most important things to the listener, the stories that are going to make a difference today, tomor row and even next year. Says Stamberg, “I think people are interested in things behind the scene. I like to report things warm and universal, to bring listeners together.” In pinpointing some things wrong with the quick-paced, fast-shrinking world,' Stamberg cited that we are being over in formed by the constant bombardment of news and advertisement on T.V. and radio, and how impossible it would be to react to everything. She said, “There’s not enough in a person to be able to em phathize with all the news. It’s a simple matter of self-preservation.” She ex plained how some tune it all out and choose to be uninformed which though ef fective, is dangerous. On the other hand, some media give equal weight to everything whether an assassination attempt, sports event or the little guy floating around your toilet tank in a boat. “That,” says Stamberg, “is even more dangerous.” Her advice was to “slow down the flow of information, selectively isolate ourselves (from too much information) and really think about what we do hear and see. committee chairman. Also serving the SUBOG are Bob “Sparky” Sharkey and Joe Fust, co-presidents, Ed Palmer assisting Jamie Cole as co-chairman and Glen Ziegler, treasurer. It has been suggested that the Student Center, which will undergo major renovations, be renamed the Student Union Building to give the new organiza tion a meeting place and to also give students the feeling that a major change has taken place to benefit student ac tivities. Palmer concluded saying, “Through all of this reorganization, it is hoped a better, more comprehensive and exciting social program will be available to all students of Capitol Campus.”