THE DAILY COLLEGIAN IFC officials to be elected By Vera Greene and Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITERS Tonight the Interfraternity Council will elect a new president for the 2011-2012 term in a race with only one candidate. Current IFC Executive Vice President Dan Florencio is run ning unopposed for president. Florencio (senior-philosophy) said that as he's been talking to greek community members throughout his campaign he's heard a lot of positive feedback on changes implemented by the cur rent board. But he said he wants to work on some grass roots initiatives among IFC fraternities. I want to change and improve communication and education within the IFC community," Florencio said. In addition to president, other top leaders for the 2011-2012 exec utive board will be elected. Each of the nominees will be Hazleton math By Mike Hricik COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER For Marlene Guers, the class room was not a place where stu dents could hide from a profes sor's gaze. Co-workers and family mem bers remember Guers's reputa tion for the individual attention she gave in her math classes, going over difficult concepts up to 15 times until students mastered them. Penn State Hazleton Interim Director of Academic Affairs Marlene Guers of Hometown, Pa., died at home after a short illness on Nov 19. She was 61. Guers, a senior instructor in mathematics at Penn State Hazleton. took over as interim director of academic affairs on Aug. 1 during the medical leave of Director of Academic Affairs Monica Gregory, who died on Sept. 27. university spokesman Geoff Rushton said. Penn State Hazleton hired Guers as a part-time math instructor in 1981. She was promoted to full-time in 1982 and became a senior Organizations discuss racism, media By Alyssa Sweeney COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Delicate issues were confronted head-on by student leaders at the Diversity Roundtable in the HUB-Robeson Center on Monday night. Connections between racism, student groups and the media at Penn State were topics of discus sion between members of groups like the Penn State NAACP University Park I Tndergraduate Association. College Democrats able to give a speech up to five minutes in length depending on the position they are running for. Candidates will also field ques tions from council members and may have other people speak on their behalf, Vice President of Communications Dan Cartwright said. Nominations for the positions of president, executive vice presi dent, vice president for finance and UPUA representative occurred at the Nov. 9 IFC Presidents' Council. Nick Grassetti, who serves as the current University Park Undergraduate Association rep resentative, is running to main tain his position. The other two positions have four nominees going into today, Cartwright said but he said that technically anyone can be nominated for a position the day of an election and run. After the four positions are elected tonight, interested fraternity members can apply for instructor dies instructor in 2001, Rushton said. Her husband, David. said his wife will be best remembered for her compassion. She cared for just about any body she came in contact with," David Guers said. Guers also coordinated the Penn State Hazleton Honors Program, which provides aca demically talented students with challenging learning experiences, Rushton said. Guers earned the Penn State Hazleton Council Outstanding Teaching Award in 1999 and 2007 for distinction in teaching. Rushton said. Penn State Hazleton Chancellor Gary Lawler said Guers's accolades were deserved. "Teaching math for her was an incredible passion. She was always looking to go the extra mile, - he said. Lawler said both Guers' sense of humor and professionalism made her an invaluable part of Penn State Hazleton. Guers served as a part-time faculty coordinator in her spare time, training and orienting part- and College Republicans at the conference. Questions of minority media coverage, as well as reader per ceptions including the Homecoming Week stabbings within the black community and the racial taunts at the Michigan game were discussed. . . UPUA President Christian Ragland (senior-political science) said interaction between minority and other groups and contact between all groups and the media was important to avoid controversy. the remaining executive board positions, Cartwright (senior energy, business and finance) said. The newly elected president, executive vice president and vice president of finance will interview the candidates in about two weeks and make the final selec tions for the board, he said. The current executive board will tran sition with the new board until the 2011-2012 executive board takes over officially on Jan. 1, Cartwright said. IFC President Max Wendkos said he is proud of the work his executive board has done over the past semester. Wendkos (sen ior-marketing and psychology) said he plans to leave a "detailed transition report" for his succes sor that will talk about the chal lenges he will face, and Wendkos's own suggestions for the future. To e-mail reporters: vhgsoo3@psu.edu, mers2oo@psu.edu "Teaching math for her was an incredible passion." Gary Lawler Penn State Hazleton chancellor time faculty members, Rushton Guers is survived by her hus band. David. of Hometown, and her son, Matthew of State College. Rushton said. Visitation hours for Guers will be held today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Wednesday from 9 to 9:30 a.m. at Joseph S. Blazosky FUneral Home, 81 E. Catawissa St.. Nesquehoning. A funeral mass will begin at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church in Nesquehoning. In lieu of flowers, contributions for the Penn State Hazleton Honors Program can he sent to Penn State Hazleton, 76 University Drive. Hazleton. PA 18202. To e-mail reporter: mjhsso7@psu.edu A solution is just more engage ment," Ragland said. "If we brii g cultures together, that's real r'..-er sity Some people say therc s neg ativity or a lack of presence of minorities in the media. We should all just do a better job of collabo rating more." NAACP President Travis Salters said he thinks media sources and non-members need to interact with minority groups more in order to get a better understanding of cultures. "I don't think it's a problem, but Monica Rudolph (senior -public relations) answers questions at a mock press conference at Innovation Park on Monday. Mock-conference puts students in 'hot seat' By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Public Relations student Lisa Mei stared crisis in the face Monday but she managed to remain calm in the hot seat as she fielded questions about a sex ual assault case as part of a class assignment. Mei (senior-public relations) and her peers in Steve Manuel's section of COMM 471 (Public Relations Media and Methods) were given details about a fiction al scenario in which three U.S. Marines raped a 12-year-old female. Mei undertook the role of press officer for the Marine Corps at a mock press conference. To make the scenario as realis tic as possible. students from other communications classes acted as journalists and photog raphers for the conference and fired question after question and snapped photos. The conference was a culmina tion of what students learned in their public relations classes at Penn State, student Michael Young said. Students had time to prepare and brief for possible questions, he said they received the case details about a month ago. After finishing his presentation, Young senior public relations) said the experi- at Diversity Roundtable it's something that could be worked on," he said. UPUA Representative Anthony Christina said he believes in a proactive approach to student groups and the media. "I think it's an organization's responsibility to go in the media and correct something. - he said. "Show the media a true represen tation of the club." Ragland also emphasized self promotion among student groups and encouraged attendees to con tact media sources to develop con- TUESDAY, Nov. 30, 2010 I ence was worthwhile - You just really have to take a deep breath, go in and run with it," Young said. He said he someday hopes to be in the hot seat at a media rela tions job. Each 10-minute conference began with an opening statement by the public relations students, and then students from other communications classes asked questions. Some students said they had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for Manuel's class. "It's nerve-wracking," Monica Rudolph (senior-public relations) said before she went to stand behind the lectern in front of her peers. But in the end, students agreed that the event while stressful was a fun experience. "This is really something you want to do in college before you go out and have to do that in real life," Mei said. Some of the faux journalists said they were happy not to be the ones under the spotlight. "They all did a good job. I would get nervous personally," stand-in journalist Olivia Boutcher (junior broadcast journalism) said. To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu sistent relations for exposure UPUA Chief of Staff Dustin Dove said all minority coverage, like the photo of LGBTQA Kiss out, should be published. "I think it's great that they had that right there on the front page, I think exposure is the best way to get rid of the hate," Dove (senior secondary education) said. "Maybe it's a bit shocking, but sometimes, people need to be shocked a little bit." To email reporter: arss474@psu.edu
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