Vol 34, No. 3 Student Government by Amy L. Fleagle Staff Reporter Lack of interest in the Stu dent Government Association (SGA) has prompted the appointment, with out provisions in the SGA constitu tion, of two junior senators in two academic divisions, Janet Widoff, the SGA advisor said. Widoff said no senior Hu manities or Public Policy majors had expressed an interest in being a mem ber of the SGA Senate so in order to get full representation two juniors were appointed in each of the two divisions after the spring elections. SGA President Andrea Poplawski said she screened and rec ommended the junior applicants to the Senate for approval. Poplawski pointed to a sec- Bruhn Named New Provost by Jeff Wittmaier Staff Reporter Effective July 1, 1995 Penn State Harrisburg will have a new pro vost. Dr. John G. Bruhn, currently vice president of academic affairs and research at the University of Texas at El Paso, was chosen by the search committee and given approval by Penn State's Board of Trustees. "I have been at the Univer sity of Texas at El Paso now for about three and one half years," Dr. Bruhn said. "One of my career goals is to become president of a small college or university, that is why I applied for the position of provost at Penn State Har risburg." Dr. Bruhn said that the posi tion of provost appealed to him in three ways. "One, it's a broader position of greater responsibility over what I have and would be a promotion over what I have," Dr. Bruhn said. "Also it's the size of institution which I feel is manageable and really have some personal contact with people. Also Penn State is a high quality institu tion. Career wise, it is also an appro priate time for me to move on. I have been in the University of Texas sys tem for almost 25 years, so this gives me an exposure to a different univer sity system." Dr. Bruhn said that he felt that his previous positions in health science centers would be helpful be cause Hershey Medical Center is only a few miles away from campus. "A link with Hershey in terms of future of health programs, like health policy, health administration, and other programs at the baccalaure ate level, those would be areas of growth in terms of degree programs," Dr. Bruhn said. Dr. Bruhn said that other as pects of his past will also help him in his new position at Penn State Harris burg. He has worked with professional programs such as criminal justice, social work, business, engineering, education and the accreditation of all of those programs. Most of those same kinds of programs are at Penn State Harrisburg. Dr. Bruhn said that a third thing that he has done in the past that helped him prepare for this position is that he has a strong background in building cooperative programs with other universities, so he feels that he can do that here. "I have already talked with the head of student affairs, so that I can meet regularly with the student senate executive committee," Dr. Bruhn said. "Also I would like to make myself available for an how to students each month. That would just be 6 to 8 students randomly selected through the computer, so I could get to know the students and know what there concerns are. It would not just tion in the SGA constitution under legislative membership in Article II Section 1, which reads," Each aca demic division, both graduate and un dergraduate, shall be entitled to repre sentation in the Senate...." as the basis for the appointments. "It (the constitution) does not say 'entitled to but limited to,"' said Poplawski. "If it was specifically just one, it would be stated just one." The SGA constitution does, however, state that undergraduate rep resentation is to be "one senator in each of the senior and junior classes, per academic division...." Current members of the Sen ate must approve any one who wants to be appointed to open positions to be a gripe session." Dr. Bruhn said that he would make himself visible on campus and available to the students, so they know that he cares about what is going on. "I plan to be visible on cam- Dr. John Bruhn will officially become provost July 1, 1995. photo by Darrell Peterson pus. You will see me around in the halls," Dr. Bruhn said. "I intend to be accessible to the faculty as well that way. I also I would like to hold peri odic open forums, and they would be open to anyone on campus, students, faculty, staff. They would just be information sessions, the only prob lem is when to schedule them, because we are a commuter campus. Also I intend to eat in the Lions Den at noon for lunch or in the dinning commons and just sit randomly with students to meet them and hear their concerns. Also I would like to attend as many student events as possible." Dr. Bruhn said that he is very excited about coming to Penn State Harrisburg. He said he feels that it is a top quality institution and that he is very impressed with the faculty, staff and students whom he has met. He is going to come in at full speed, he said Dr. Bruhn indicated that he has several areas that he wants to fo cus on to make Penn State Harrisburg a better university. "I want to make sure that this is a caring campus," Dr. Bruhn said, "to make sure that the teaching-learn ing environment is the best that we can make it, not only from the humanistic standpoint, but the expertise of the people here and the learning technol ogy. "I want to make the image of Penn State Harrisburg positive," he explained. "I want to make this insti tution better known in this area and make sure that the public knows what they have got here in the way of re sources. So some image building and public relations will be in order and to make use of our alumni in this respect Also I would like to build new aca demic programs that will help Penn State Harrisburg grow academically, in the area of graduate programs and upper division courses. These are all cwvwmim represent their academic division in the Senate, Poplawski said. "If we had more people that wanted to represent the students as senators, that's when we'd screen them and we make the recommendation to the Senate and we approve them," Poplawski said. No senior Public Policy or Humanities majors ran for election to the Senate last fall and none asked to be appointed after the elections. "We wanted to make sure we could have as many students voices on the Senate, then it was an alternative to appoint somebody who was inter ested and wanted to serve," Widoff said. If SGA is in violation of their constitution, the votes of all four sena tors would be invalidated, until a clarification could be made on which senators should rightfully hold the "I think it is also a concern portions. ways that can help Penn State Harris burg to grow." To make sure that Penn State Harrisburg is a culturally diverse cam pus, Dr. Bruhn said that a University should be a leader in helping people better understand people from differ ent cultures, religions, races, and gen ders. "A university should be a place where people tolerate different views and discuss differences," Dr. Bruhn said. On the issue of the parking fees, Dr. Bruhn said that he would look into it and that he really wasn't aware of it. He said that they do have a $l5 per semester parking fee at U.T.E.P. because of a lack of parking, but that there are shuttle buses. "I will certainly look into the parking fees and find out why they were implemented," Dr. Bruhn said. "Also students are certainly entitled to find out exactly where there money is going, but right now I don't know much about it." Dr. Bruhn attended the Uni versity of Nebraska and got his bach elors degree in zoology. He then went on to get his master's degree in Soci ology and History from Nebraska. Then he attended Yale University where he got his doctorate in Sociol ogy. "I started out with a major in zoology, because I was interested in one time in medical school," Dr. Bruhn said. "I changed my mind then to move into the social aspects of medi cine. I started out in research. Never was administration in my plans, but the opportunity to become a depart mental chairman got me away from research and I have stayed in adminis tration all my career." Dr. Bruhn said that to get students involved in student organiza tions, would be a way to get Penn State Harrisburg to feel more like a univer sity and not just a place where stu dents come for their classes and then leave right away. Dr. Bruhn said it is tough to get students involved on a commuter campus but that there are ways of making a commuter campus feel just as much like a regular univer sity. Dr. Bruhn said that his big gest hobby is writing poetry and that his fourth book of poetry will be printed in May. "Cycling, walking, and hik ing are other areas of interest to me," Dr. Bruhn said. "I also like to go to concerts and to the theater and plays." Dr. Bruhn said that he is very excited about moving to Pennsylva nia, because there is a lot of culture and history here. Dr. Bruhn began his career at University of Nebraska School of Medicine as a researcher. He then moved on to Yale University where he Continued on Page 2 Violates Constitution that we (SGA) have a full ranging compliment of students who speak for the concerns (of the students)," Widoff said. The appointment of two jun ior senators in the Humanities and Public Policy divisions, instead of one junior and one senior, possibly puts the SGA in violation of their constitu tion. Any decisions made by the SGA since the appointment of these two officers may be void and could be questioned. Student Court Voids SGA By Cathy Nolan and Amy L. Fleagle Staff Reporters The Student Court of Penn State Harrisburg ruled at a Monday night meeting that due to impropri eties on the part of the election screen- Mg committee and several candidates last week's election results are null and void. The Jordan Award, which is given to the professor at PSH who is chosen by the students for their aca demic excellence, and is determined by ballots placed at the same time as the SGA election ballots, will not be affected. A new election screening committee must be formed and all candidates for SGA offices must be informed of the specific procedures of the election, according to a verdict handed down by Michael Flory, Chief Justice of the Student Court. A meet ing of the new committee and the candidates must be held before the new elections take place, next Mon day and Tuesday, April 24 and 25. All members of the new elec tion screening committee must be ac tive in the screening process, Flory said. The Student Court deter mined that the previous election screening committee failed to ensure the candidates running for the offices of president and vice president under stood the procedures outlined in the SGA Constitution and By-laws. Several of the candidates, although not specifically named by the court, were found to have violated procedures laid out for the elections. The investigation centered around charges brought to the Student Court by Jen Wilson, candidate for SGA vice-president. Wilson alleged A Constitution and By-Law Revision Committee has been formed to review the SGA constitution, which has not been updated since its original drafting over 20 years ago. Widoff said the committee has expressed concerns about the con stitution and the provisions it makes for the appointment to senatorial posi tions. The committee will "review, tecluiically correct, and make any nec essary amendments and changes to the constitution and by-laws...in ac cordance with the current constitu tion," according to the proposal ac cepted at the January 17 meeting. A sample change to the con stitution distributed to the SGA mem- Election Results her opponent in the election, Felicia Wallace, violated campaign guidelines that restrict candidates from election eering within 20 feet of the polls. Flory was contacted by Wil son the evening of Thursday, April 13, at which time an investigation into the charges was requested. During the hearing charges against Duane Brooks and Wilson were also debated. Brooks, candidate for president, was questioned about the number of campaign signs he posted in the campus buildings of PSII. Candidates are limited to 15 2x3 campaign posters according to the elec tion procedures. Wilson, candidate for vice president, was also said to have been campaigning within 20 feet of the polls, on Thursday, April 13. Flory said the main break down in the election process was with the election screening committee and, because four of the five candidates were not aware of the full definition of electioneering, they cannot be fully accountable for the violations. Andrea Poplawski, SGA President and head of the election screening committee, defended the actions of the screening committee during the hearing, saying they fol lowed the guidelines set for them by the SGA Constitution. "The Constitution says the screening committee is to conduct the elections," Poplawski said during the hearing. "It doesn't say they are to enforce the rules." After the verdict, Flory said he made the only decision he felt he could, under the circumstances. "This may not be the best solution to the situation, but it is the fairest," Boxy said. As for the candidates in volved, the verdict wasn't met with April 19, 1995 bers and discussed at the January 17 meeting was to "eliminate the class restriction placed on senatorial seats." This change, if recom mended by the committee, passed by the Senate and voted on by the student body, would allow two students per division to have positions on the SGA Senate regardless of their class. Widoff said the SGA cur rently has no provisions for the situa tion that occured during this semester, when no seniors were interested in representing their division on the Sen ate. Continued on Page 2 enthusiasm "I just want this ordeal to be over," Brooks said, adding that the election process has been stressful and his academic performance has suf fered because of it. Flory gave SGA President Poplawski 24 hours to form a new election screening committee, which will screen all candidates at one time, in the presence of the Student Court. When Poplawski said there would be no eligible members of SGA to serve, Flory said volunteers from the student body could fill the positions. Flory also said students from another Penn State campus could be brought in to coordinate the screenings and the elec tion process. At the SGA meeting on Tues day, April 18, Jen Wilson announced she is withdrawing from the elections, and will instead serve on the elections screening committee. Flory provided a copy of the Student Court's decision on the matter to all members of SGA present at the meeting. Flory said the letter will be posted throughout campus, informing the students of the Court's decision. Flory also said he would al low members of the former screening committee to serve on the new committtee, contrary to his decision the previous evening. After Hory's announcement, Senators Scott Stewart, Daniel Kane and Vice-President Kei Fuller, who served on the original committee, also volunteered to serve again. Wilson commented later she withdrew because she felt the Student Court's decision was wrong, and that not being aware of the rules is not a valid excuse. "Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law," Wilson said.
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