—The Daily Collegian Monday, Oct. 23, 1995 CCSG fixes last year's mix-ups At the first meeting of the semester, CCSG focused on discrepancies in its constitution. By MEGAN DONLEY Collegian Staff Writer The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments held their first conference this past weekend, starting the year with tense debate about proposed amendments to the organization's constitution. Representatives from the Corn ,monwealth Campuses attended, along with the members of CCSG central staff, who are currently at University Park. CCSG central staff includes the coordinator, vice coordinator, regional directors and Committee directors among others. Amendments were proposed to change the titles of the CCSG coor dinator and vice coordinator, to turn an ad-hoc committee into an acting committee and to eliminate the position of a CCSG's represen tative to the University Board of Trustees. But much of the discussion was about the fact that the amendments were proposed at all and the belief that the central staff was taking power away from CCSG as a whole. Assistant Vice President of Stu dent Affairs J. Thomas Eakin attended the conference and spoke to council after it voted on the amendments. "It's fairly clear that some peo ple feel the current central leader ship proposed these amendments for their own benefit," Eakin said. "What was proposed is something that was discussed at length and I concurred with. I hope nobody feels these folks are up to some thing unseemingly." Some council members also Homecoming 1995 "Tails of Tradition" • Homecoming Court John Brabazon Semester: Bth Major: Civil Engineering Minor: Military Studies Hometown: Doylestown, PA Organizational Activities: Penn State Naval ROTC Battalion Commander; President of Penn State Lion Ambassadors, Student Alumni Corps; Penn State Alumni Association, Alumni Council Member. Nancy Cho Semester: 7th Major: Marketing Minor: Japanese focus Hometown: IL Organizational Activities: Overall Greek Sing Chairperson, 1995; USG - Alumni Relations Director, 1995 and member 94-96; Lion Ambassador, Penn State Recruiter 94-96 and Membership Committee 1995. Robi Gray Semester: 7th Major: HDFS Hometown: Uniontown, PA Organizational Activities: Varsity Cheerleading - 1995 Female Mic Man, CoCaptain, Rep. for Student Peer Athlete Network, Member of the 1994 & 95 National teams; Delta Gamma sorority - 1993-94 Scholarship Chairwoman, 1992 & 93 Greek Sing choreographer; University SchOlars program. Larissa Minicucci Semester: 9th Major: Animal Bioscience Minor: Latin American Studies & Intl Agriculture Hometown: Philadelphia, PA Organizational Activities: Penn State Lion Ambassadors, committee director; Agriculture Student Council, alumni relations liaison, academic standards committee representative; University Scholars program, S.A.I.L. - scholars service committee. CCSG Vice Coordinator J. Benjamin Faulds and CCSG Coordinator Matthew Plocki voice their concerns at a meeting Saturday in the Atherton H0te1,125 S. Atherton St. One issue discussed was if the CCSG coordinator should also serve as the student representative to the Board of Trustees. expressed concern because the constitution changed from the pre vious year without the council's consent. The change was the description of the position of CCSG's representative to the Uni versity Board of Trustees. Steve Landon, proxy for Penn State Erie Student Government Association president, said CCSG Vice Coordinator J. Benjamin Faulds and CCSG Coordinator Matthew Plocki changed the consti tution themselves and did not noti fy council. Plocki said the constitution given to him by the previous CCSG administration contained differ ences than the one council was using at the meetings, and he had to accept it with discrepanicies. The Constitutional Review Com mittee proposed amendments to the constitution to clear up the dis crepancies. Dußois SGA President Sandra Dorsey said the voting did not reflect a lack of faith in Plocki or Faulds. "If there is information out there, we need to know it so we as council can make the right deci sion," Dorsey said. Plocki said his overall impres sion of the first conference of the semester was good. "I feel that we have upstanding leadership at the campuses and the potential to leave a great mark within the CES," he said. The first amendment, the com mittee presented to council, which was to change the titles of coordi nator and vice coordinator to presi- Voting for the Court is Today and Tomorrow 9:00 am - 4:00 pm HUB 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Commons Areas All Students Welcome! dent and vice president, failed to be adopted by council. "This title is not going to change any of the duties," Constitutional Review Committee member Jeff Fuller said. "It's just going to make things more clear." Council members expressed dis approval for the title change. "You're a coordinator. You're not a president," Schuylkill SGA Pres ident Araunah James told Plocki. "I have the utmost respect for both of you. But someone else could come in and take a little more power. Everything we worked for could change." Another amendment included accepting the Governmental Rela tions Committee as an acting com mittee. Until the amendment passed, it had been an ad-hoc com mittee. The amendment to eliminate the position of CCSG's representative to the Board of Trustees and add those duties to the coordinators' failed. Both Plocki and Faulds said they were not disappointed about coun cil's rejecting the amendments. "If the council thinks that's what's best, we'll abide by it," Ploc ki said. In other business, Landon was elected to the position of Campus Chair and after discussion was elected in a 34-to-three vote. The Campus Chair presides over the council meetings. "I felt that because of the amount of complaining I had done, I had an obligation to council to try and do a better job than v hat's been done," Landon said. i * n 1 7 1 l 1 CCSG coordinator's duties will include Board of Trustees not CCSG elected not to combine the duties of CCSG's Board of Trustees representative with those of CCSG coordinator. By MEGAN DONLEY Collegian Staff Writer One of the most controversial constitutional amendments for the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments failed to pass this weekend at the CCSG conference. The amendment was to eliminate the position of CCSG's University Board of Trustees Representative and add those duties to the CCSG coordinator. Jeffrey Butler, former trustees representative, was nominated again for the position, along with CCSG Director of Student Affairs Jason Kamel and CCSG Central Region Director Greg Lattanzi. Elections were held before the decision was made to keep the posi tion in the constitution. "I represent student issues," said Lattanzi, who was elected to the position. "Although I am a nontra ditional student, I am a student. CCSG discusses concerns about fee By MEGAN DONLEY Collegian Staff Writer The Council of Commonwealth Student Govern ments might have been the most optimistic about the student activity fee, but the group is not without its concerns. At the CCSG conference this past weekend, council discussed the fee with William Asbury, vice president for student affairs, and J. Thomas Eakin, assistant vice president for student affairs. "I'm confident that we can do this right so that we achieve the things a student activity fee should," Asbury said. "There should be significant new resources at each of your campuses." Council members expressed concern about money from the fee staying at each campus and also about how much student input will go into how the money is spent. "The decision about where the money goes is really a student decision," Eakin said. "Don't get the idea that the money will be handled differently." Both Asbury and Eakin discussed the accountability they will have for the money collected. "Money will not be held back," Asbury said. "My Although I'm at Hershey, my heart is with the CES. I will do whatever I can for the students of the CES." Butler said although he original ly did not agree with eliminating the position, he supports it now. "The board expects someone who knows everything there is to know about the campuses, and you guys expect a coordinator who knows everything about the campuses," he said. "What we were trying to do here is eliminate any future diffi culties." But Dußois SGA President San dra Dorsey expressed concern that adding the Board of Trustees rep resentative position to the duties of the coordinator and vice coordina tor would have been too much. "The Board of Trustees is the most powerful organization," said Dorsey. "Do we really want some one who is very busy to represent us there?" CCSG Coordinator Matthew Ploc ki assured the council that this would have been a top priority for him and said representation by the coordinator made sense because both presidents of the Undergradu ate Student Government and the Graduate Student Association rep resent their groups to the trustees. goal would be to have you treated as well as student organizations at University Park. There is a great level of accountability." Later in the conference, two members of council were elected to sit on the activity fee implementation committee. York Campus SGA President Thane Fake and Penn State Erie Multicultural Representative Lourdes Tira do were chosen to represent the Commonwealth Edu cational System. Tirado said she was skeptical of the fee at first but now supports it. "I feel like I can represent CCSG on that commit tee," she said. "I have experience and good ideas." Jitu R. Modi Semester: 7th Major: Biology with Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Honors Hometown: Seaford, DE Organizational Activities: Lion Ambassadors; Undergraduate Student Government, South Halls Senator, Weekend Loop, Elections Commissioner, Bicycle Paths, University Safety; Association of Residence Halls Students, Associate Member, Movin' On sub chair. Lisa Moskalski Semester: 7th Major: English Minor: Philosophy Hometown: Waynesboro, PA Organizational Activities: Collegian Opinions columnist; Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity - Fundraising Chair and past PR chair; University Scholars program. Michael Steinberg Semester: 9th Major: Broadcast-Journalism Minor: Spanish Hometown: Boca Raton, FL Organizational Activities: Interfraternity Council President 1994-95; Interfraternity Council Vice President for Relations 1993-94; Penn State Dance Marathon Morale Captain 1995. Chris Velasco Semester: 9th Major: Finance and International Business Minor: Italian Hometown: Quito, Equador Organizational Activities: Penn State Lion Ambassadors, Administrative VP, past Committee Chair and Membership Committee member; 1995 Senior Class Gift Selection and Proposal Committee; Penn State Italian Club - Vice President 1992-93. Jeffrey Butler former CCSG representative to But the amendment still failed and Lattanzi took over as Board of Trustees representative. "I will serve council. I will not act like the position is my own," Lattanzi said. "Whatever council wants me to take to the board, I will. I don't have my own agenda other than to serve the students of the CES." "I'm confident that we can do this right so that we achieve the things a student activity fee should." William Asbury vice president for Student Affairs Board of Trustees
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