4 I Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 UPUA suggests assault policy change The student government wants Judicial Affairs to strengthen its policy on sexual assault on campus By Casey McDermott COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Student government represen tatives and other on-campus groups will meet with Judicial Affairs officials today to make the case for a stronger response to sexual assault on campus. According to legislation passed two weeks ago, University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) wants the Office of Judicial Affairs to amend and strengthen its current sanctions Eich may challenge Corman for Senate seat Jon Eich is the only Democrat petitioning to be on the ballot in May. By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Jon Eich, chairman of the Centre County Board of Commissioners, hopes to chal lenge Sen. Jake Corman for a seat in die Pennsylvania Senate in the upcoming midterm elections. Eich said he is the only Democrat circulating petitions to be on the ballot in May. If he is voted as the Democrat candidate. Eich will challenge Corman, R- Centre, for the 34th District SPEED SKATE Gold medallist Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic skates in the 3,000 meter women's race at the Richmond Olympic Oval at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in British Columbia, on Sunday. During the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, many more athletes - approximately 2,500 - will compete in 15 sports and over 86 separate medal events, according to the Vancouver 2010 Web site. Fullington buses to provide transportation at Olympics By Hanna Vovchanska FOR THE COLLEGIAN Olympic athletes, officials and specta tors will be transported between events by State College’s very own Flillington buses in the Winter Olympics that began Friday in Vancouver. More than 1,000 buses were summoned from across the continent by the International Trailways to meet the high demand for transportation at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Flillington Trailways contributed 18 buses and 36 drivers, along with two mechanics, a service truck and two driver supervisors, Vice President of Intercity Coach Service Milt Weisman said. TWelve chairlift-equipped buses will remain for the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games taking place March 12 through 21. The team journeyed more than 2,700 miles across the country and across a border to reach the Olympics. “We are very proud to be out there,” Weisman said. “We feel like we’re repre senting the U.S.” While Vancouver benefits from Pennsylvania’s team of expert drivers, for those convicted of sexual assault. Currently, “moderate” punish ment constitutes disciplinary' pro bation with a notation on the offender's transcript. UPUA wants the maximum punishment increase to include the possibility of disciplinary suspension. Its recommendations also change the range of "major " sanc tions from "suspension to expul sion" to "indefinite expulsion to expulsion." according to the legis lation. Student Life and Diversity Chairman Christian Ragland said the meeting with Interim Director of Judicial Affairs William Huston will hopefully be received as a call to action from the student body. "It can't be just a student gov- Senate seat, which is comprised of most of Centre, Mifflin, Union, Juniata and Perry counties, Eich said Eich resigned as chair of the Centre County Board of Elections on Feb. 9. Because the Board of Elections super vises the elections Eich and counts the ballots, it is a conflict of interest for a candidate to be on the board, he said. Eich will, however, retain his commissioner post. One of Eich's main goals is to improve the state budget process, he said this year's 101-day Flillington profits from the supplementary economic opportunity in this otherwise slow month of business, Weisman said. The arrangement also included partial compensation for the cost of diesel for the buses to drive across the country. The company was chosen to commute passengers around Whistler Mountain due to the drivers’ experience of maneuvering on similar road conditions. “We are from Pa. we know how to drive in snow,” Weismen said. But before anyone could cross any border, piles of paperwork had to be com pleted. Human Resources Director Loretta Wagner coordinated the gathering of drivers’ working papers, birth certifi cates, passports, and credentials. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Flillington Trailways Michael Flillington coordinated the necessary bus inspec tions. The drivers are uniformed with specifi cally designed ties of the Trailways logo. They also had to undergo a three-day train ing program of security measures and pro cedures, including not communicating with the athletes or officials unless addressed first. eminent thing," Ragland (junior political science) said. "It has to be a whole student body issue, where we can have a diverse group of student leaders come together and say. ‘This is something affect ing our campus.'" In his request, Ragland plans to be accompanied by other student leaders, like Penn State's Commission for Women Sexual Assault Committee Co- Chairwoman Dahiana Tejada. Panhellenic Council President Sarah Linkosky and Interfratemity Council President Max Wendkos are also invited. Wendkos said all of Penn State's fraternities and sororities are already required to adhere to host or attend programs on sexual assault and gender issues. budget impasse shows there is a need for change. "Centre County and other coun ties in Pennsylvania struggled to keep programs and staff paid." he said. "We need to find a way to change the budget process." And he wasn't pleased with the final product, calling some of the cuts made during last year's budg et process “inappropriate" and cit ing Corman as a leader in impos ing cuts on libraries over taxing cigars. Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation without a cigar tax. he said. If a cigar tax is implemented as Gov. Ed Rendell recently proposed in his budget libraries would not have had to face severe cuts to their funding. Eich said. Matt Dunham/Associated Press "[This policy] promotes an awareness campaign, but it would be beneficial to pursue other courses of action such as strengthening the penalty against students that violate Penn State's sexual assault policy" Wendkos (senior-marketing) said. CPUA President Gavin Keirans agreed, asserting the importance of acting to combat sexual assault at Penn State. "We re looking to act and make some changes through concrete university policies." Keirans (sen ior-business management) said. "We hope that Judicial Affairs is receptive to that and we can get the ball rolling on what is a really serious issue." To e-mail reporter: cmms773@psu.edu But Corman said he was pro tecting jobs by not supporting Rendell's proposed taxes, which included the cigar tax. During a recession, we just didn't want to raise taxes that would cost jobs," he said. Eich also said he supports a nat ural gas severance tax on busi nesses that operate in Pennsylvania and wants to reeval uate Pennsylvania's tax structure and the method of determining legislative districts. A non-parti san group should decide on the districts, rather than the legisla tors. he said. But to make these changes. Eich first needs to get his name on the primary ballot. Feb. 16 is the firs! day io circulate petitions, and Residents denied marriage licenses By Laura Nichols ,RF VRITER One at a time, the five couples asked to apply for a marriage license. And one bv one. thev were rejected. In the last few days of "Freedom to Many Week." Penn State stu dents and State College residents in same-sex relationships went to the recorder of deeds office in Centre County to ask for a mar riage license even though they already knew what the answer was going to be. Behind the counter. Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphan's Court Kimberly Barton answered each couple s request the same way. "Marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman, so I can't give you a license," she said. Allison Jones (junior-nursing) went to Bellefonte with her girl friend. Yvette Lerma (senior-soci ology >. after taking part in the Kiss Out in the HUB-Robeson Center earlier that dav. Although the answer Barton gave them may have been inevitable, the ban on same-sex marriage is like a slap across the face. Jones said. Eric Rhodes, who helped organ ize the local chapter of the nation wide LGBT event, said it is impor tant to have conversations about the ban on same-sex marriage especially in a place like Centre County where it is a silent issue. Each couple that attempted to apply for a marriage license in Bellefonte on Friday simply left the office once they were turned down no protest, no sit-in. Their request was an act of justice. State College resident Shani Robin said. The Daily Collegian Proposed changes to assault policy UPUA supports strengthened sanctions for sexual assault. Current sexual misconduct and abuse policy Moderate: Extended disciplinary probation Major Suspension to expulsion Recommended changes Moderate: Extended disciplinary probation to disciplinary suspension Major: Indefinite expulsion or expulsion Source: UPUA Resolution 41-04 Ashley Rickard/Collegian a minimum of 500 signatures is needed to add his name to the bal lot. Dianne Gregg, chairwoman of Centre County Democrats, said she supports Eich's decision to run for election. “Jon Eich is a public servant. He does things he thinks are right, whether they are popular or not," she said. “He expects public serv ice to have more accountability to the people." Eich served for 20 years in Centre County's planning office and was a county administrator for more than four years. He has been the chairman of the Board of Commissioners since 2008. To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu “I think it takes a lot to come in and be rejected to your face.” State College resident "People are people, and this is a birthright not a privilege," she said. Barton said no same-sex couple had ever come into the office in her 32 years working there. She recommended the couples con tact their local government offi cials. but there was nothing she could do. she said. Robin wasn't angry with Barton for refusing her a license. It is a problem with the Pennsylvania government as a whole, she said. "She works for the system - she has to uphold the unjust laws. Robin said. State College resident Tee Haines and her girlfriend and Amy Anderson, Class of 2009, were told they were not allowed to apply for a marriage license because one side of the document is for a man to fill out, and the other side is for a woman. If either Haines or Anderson attempted to fill out the part of the document designated for a man, they would be effectively commit ting peijury, Barton said. But the couple said the event was ground breaking, even if they knew the request was going to be denied. “I think it takes a lot to come in and be rejected to your face,” Haines said. To e-mail reporter: Icnsol9@psu.edu Tee Haines
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers