Hispanic Symposium Sends Message of Empowerment Benjamin Franklin once said an educated populace held the key to a strong democracy. Earlier this month, several mem bers of the PSH community dis covered the truth of these words. On April 5, a group of 30 to 40 students and faculty gathered in the Gallery Lounge for ah ani mated discussion with three prominent representatives from the local Latino community about the impact of the Hispanic vote in the upcoming presidential elections. The Latino Student Union and the Black Student Union co sponsored the event in an effort to promote understanding among all members of the PSH commu nity. Hispanics represent one of the fastest growing segments of the national population. In one decade, they will sur pass blacks as the largest minori ty in the United States, according to Esmeralda Ybarra Moore, a local business woman and board of directors member for Latino/Spanish dance and art organization, Danzante. With the steady growth of the middle class, which now accounts for 48 percent of the total population, Hispanics could wield significant clout at the polls this year. “Politicians and business peo ple know the numbers are increasing, even at the local level,” said Pedro Cortes, execu tive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs. Pennsylvania’s Hispanic pop ulation currently numbers 315,000. The majority of the Latino population resides in the southeastern section of the state, from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, with some pockets in the north west and western regions. “Latinos want to be a part of the political process,” Cortes By Paula Marinak Capital Times Staff Writer said. “We must all try to be agents of change so that can happen.” “We’re here and we do care,” added Loida Esbri, who has served for two years as the exec utive director of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. “We want to empower ourselves.” The panelists agreed that edu cation will translate to empower ment for members of the Latino community. But empowerment must start in the local schools and universities by expanding curricula to include multicultural studies. Several students attending the discussion also expressed con cern over the lack of Hispanics who want to attend college, and the small number of Hispanic college students earning teaching degrees. With few role models, they feared young Latinos would Continued on Page 4 Chic Remarks High “C w Eddie Cyborg on for Cheers Cher Rats Hi-Fi Chili Peppers page 5 page 5 page 7 page 7 Volume XL. No. Vcdncsda\. April 12. 2000 SGA President-Elect Carissa Herwig SGA Vice President-Elect Joe Werner Herwig & Co. Elected to SGA Posts with Low Voter Participation By Cathie McCormick Musser Penn State Harrisburg’s Student Government Association held spring executive board and senior senator elections March 28, 29 and 30. Open executive committee positions included president, vice president, treasurer, secre tary, committee secretary and board chair. Two nominees, Sophom Choup and Denak DeProsperio, ran for the position of committee secretary. All other candidates ran unopposed. There were no nominees for secretary and board chair; these positions remain open. Carissa Herwig, a public poli cy major, has been elected SGA president. Joe Werner, also a public policy major, will serve as vice president. Krista Austin will fill the posi tion of treasurer and Sophom Choup has been elected to the position of committee secretary. The ballot for senior senators was equally small. All candidates ran unopposed, though write-ins were encouraged. Open positions include senators in Science, Engineering, and Technology and graduate senator-at-large. Newly elected senior senators are Pamea Pelekanos for Behavioral Sciences and Education, Eliott Peyton for Business Administration, Ronald Stegall for Humanities and Kendra Pfautz for Public Affairs. Herwig, a former student of West Chester and Dickinson, has been a PSH student since the fall 1999 semester. She served as SGA senator for the spring 2000 semester and was asked to run for president by current SGA President Roderick Lee. “I’ve always wanted to be president of SGA,” Herwig said. She decided to run even though she is a relative newcom er to campus. She remembered thinking, “If I don’t do it, I’ll Capital Times Staff Writer regret it for the rest of my life.” Herwig received her first taste of student government as a fresh man at West Chester where she served on the Curriculum and Academics Policy Council. She was one of three students who worked closely with the provost and faculty on changes Continued on Page 3 Retraction and Apology The article about Patrice Gaines written by Ken Lopez in the March 29, 2000 issue con tained numerous factual errors including the following: Patrice Gaines’ team of journalists were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, but did not win it. Ms. Gaines did not use hero in while she was in high school. She was not pregnant at her graduation. She was never sen tenced to five years in prison, but rather to probation. Her parents died much later than the article indicated and she did not contemplate using drugs at that time. She is working on a story for The Washington Post on a mur der and is not writing a book about it. The Capital Times regrets these errors and apologizes to Ms. Gaines. The Capital Times also extends its apologies to our readers. Producing a newspaper that is informative and accurate is our highest priority. It is for this reason that a story about Mary Daly’s recent lecture on campus will not be printed. The story was written by Lopez and, with his agree ment, was pulled from publica tion. Matthew McKeown Editor
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