ANGELIC SINOVA
The Office of
Student Conduct at The
Pennsylvania State Universi-
ty is one of the 19 units
within the Division of Stu-
dent Affairs. The Office of
Student Conduct serves stu-
dents by being a resource for
the universities community
by promoting a safe living
and learning environment.
The University Alcohol Pol-
icy is something the Office
of Student Conduct strongly
encourages students to fa-
miliarize themselves with.
The University is negatively
impacted when illegal alco-
hol use or alcohol abuse is
caught on or off the premis-
es. Learning and following
the University Alcohol Poli-
cy is something all Penn
State students should strive
for.
University rules and
procedures regarding student
alcohol violations are specif-
ically established to provide
the following: Therapeutic
or medical support interven-
tions for students, communi-
ty expectations for student
conduct behaviors, and an
orderly and safe environ-
ment for community mem-
bers. The Alcohol Policy
highlights two types of alco-
hol consumption: on campus
and off campus. Though
both have different rules and
repercussions, on campus
drinking is more frowned
upon. On campus alcohol
consumption is defined in
many different ways. The
purchase, consumption, pos-
session, or transportation, or
the attempt to purchase, con-
sume, possess, or transport
any beverage containing al-
cohol, anywhere on the
premises of the University,
will find you in trouble with
the Office of Student Con-
duct. Even if a person is of
legal age (21), this does not
mean alcohol consumption
is allowed. The possession
or use of alcoholic beverag-
es is prohibited in all Penn
State on-campus undergrad-
uate residence hall build-
ings, including University
Park’s Nittany Apartments
and Eastview Terrace, re-
gardless of the age of the
individual.
One weekend where
the Alcohol Policy regularly
comes into play is Penn
States “State Patty's Day,”
traditionally held in March.
LACEY LAPP
Between March 27
and March 29, 342 Penn
State Mont Alto students
voted to elect a new Student
Government Association
president. In the end, the
election score was 177 to
165 and the percentage of
the vote count was 51% to
49%. At 8 a.m. on Friday
March 30, Jalon Alexander
received the news via text
message that he had won the
election by 12 votes.
“] received a text
message from my Vice Pres-
ident Kevin Faust,” Alexan-
der says. “At the time I was
just trying to sleep... but
after that I proceeded to do a
private victory dance and
couldn’t lie back down due
to excitement.”
Alexander had as-
sumed that with the amount
of votes cast, the candidate
would win by a landslide
and states, “To know that
the election was decided by
12 votes just made me a lot
more thankful for the sup-
porters I had as well as those
on my campaign team like
Ross, Fabulous, Alleyssa,
Cassius, Greta, Kevin and
others. Strong willed indi-
viduals such as Meranda
Kholenberg from HDFS,
Xavier, Murray, Amir, Jean,
Ken and other individuals I
talked to really helped shift
the balance.”
Now that the elec-
tion is over, Alexander has
been taking some time to
4
rest after being busy with
the campaign process. On
April 24 and 25, he will be
attending the Council of
Commonwealth Student
Governments meeting in
University Park to “learn
how things work.”
“I really am trying to
reach out to the groups I
talked to during the cam-
paign process to see how
they want issues they find
relevant to be tackled,” Al-
exander explains. “We have
a tough road ahead of us,
and a lot of things talked
about during the campaign
to be tackled but if we join
together, if we fight togeth-
er, if we communicate and
talk with one another, if we
are organized, we together
will overcome. I will do the
best I can to fight and get
what you have all desired
and asked about.”
Alexander thanks
everyone for their support,
including his friends, the
HDFS Group, the Forestry
students, the Environmental
Club, Adult learners and
everyone that watched the
debate.
John Shaffer, who
ran against Alexander,
learned the results of the
election the morning of
March 30 as well. Although
he lost the election, Shaffer
plans to run for SGA Treas-
urer and continue “serving
the student body.”
“After everything,
Jalon was ultimately the vic-
tor,” says Shaffer. “To quote
John Wayne, ‘I didn’t vote
for him, but he’s my presi-
dent and I hope he does a
good job.”