|
SGA
Affairs Beat
Crowded
field forms as SGA election season gets underway
Six
tickets enter race for highest student offices
Sarah
Newell - Staff Writer
Editor’s Note:
The sequence of candidates featured in this election overview appear in
no particular order.
The race for Student Government Association president and vice president
will feature six tickets, two times the number of candidates that pursued
the organization’s top two offices one year ago.
The campaign season kicks off March 18 and runs through March 28, with
voting for the presidential and vice presidential race begin March 25.
Students can cast votes until 5 p.m. March 28.
To capture victory, one duo must capture a vote total of 50 percent plus
one vote. Should that not occur, campaign efforts for the subsequent runoff
election would begin April 3 and end April 11.
Voting in any potential runoff election would last from April 8 until
April 11, according to SGA elections guidelines.
The first of the half-dozen entries feature presidential candidate Ryan
Eller and running mate Ezell Williams.
Eller, a sophomore, has extensive experience in SGA including one year
as a senator and a stint as director of state affairs in this year’s
cabinet. Williams, a junior, is the director of campus diversity this
year.
One of their platform goals is a notification for towing.
“We would like to have a call made to the owner of the car prior
to its being towed, provided that it’s a local call. A student position
would most likely be added at the parking and traffic office to aid in
this, particularly on days when there are football games,” said Eller.
The second entry features presidential hopeful David Tilley and
running mate Katharine Allen. Both are currently juniors.
Tilley has served as a senator for the past two years and currently acts
as senate parliamentarian. Allen was vice-chair of the Academic Affairs
Committee her freshman year, was director of State Affairs last year and
is a senator this year.
The pair’s primary platform goal calls for requiring senators to
become more active.
“We’d like to require each senator to either author or co-author
a piece of legislation or to work on a big project,” said Allen.
The duo said they chose this as one of their goals because they feel several
current senators are not taking their positions seriously any more and
are only doing the minimum amount of work.
“We’d also like to have senator evaluations done by the senators’
constituents to help improve SGA,” added Allen.
Along with those two combinations, current SGA sens. William Foster, a
junior, and Amy Dixon, a sophomore, officially entered the race as well.
Foster was the director of public affairs and was in charge of the newsletter
last year. Foster designed both the homecoming float and date auction
T-shirt the last two years. Dixon has been a senator for the past two
years.
“One of our platform goals is to work on the construction around
campus, so that we don’t have to deal with it longer than necessary,”
said Dixon. “Whenever contractors go over the deadlines of their
contracts, we’d like to hold them accountable and fine them.”
Also running for SGA president and vice-president are rising seniors Larry
Smith and Allison Laffin, respectively. Smith was a senator in the fall
of 1999, and Laffin has served as a senator for two years.
Additionally, she was director of research last year and is the rules
pro tem this year for the rules committee.
“If elected, we plan to create a student activism committee, which
would take the place of the state affairs committee,” said Laffin.
“It would hold the administration more accountable and would get
their attention. The presidential role would assume more of the state
affairs’ responsibilities, such as attending the ASG [Association
of Student Governments] meetings.”
Also joining the fray are candidates Timothy Young and Robert Rountree.
Presidential hopeful Young has served as a senator since the spring of
last year. This year is Rountree’s first year as a senator.
Both will be juniors next year.
“One of our goals is to strengthen the community bonds through working
with ACT and other community organizations,” said Young.
Another pair of senators, Steve Wussow and Dustin Bayard, will also seek
the offices of president and vice-president, respectively. Both are currently
serving their second years as senators.
“One of the things that we would like to do is to improve privacy
of those who live on campus,” said Wussow. “As of right now,
we don’t feel that students have as much privacy as they should.”
Police
Beat
Polar
Plunge exceeds county fund-raising
goal by over $4,000
Becky DiVerniero
- Staff Writer
The fourth annual
Polar Plunge raised over $14,000 for the Watauga County Special Olympics
last Thursday, exceeding the $10,000 goal and last year’s total of
$5,800, said University Police Chief Gunther Doerr.
Several thousand onlookers watched as 315 participants took the plunge
into Appalachian State University’s Duck Pond.
“It was great to have so many people come out,” said Doerr.
The cost to jump was $25 per person or $20 for a group of five or more.
Donations were also accepted from businesses around Boone. In contrast
to the previous years, all the donations will go directly to the Watauga
County Special Olympics, said Maj. Larry Foster.
“Last year, all the money went to the North Carolina Special Olympics,
and only 15 percent was left for the county,” said Foster.
“This year all the money will stay in Watauga County,” he said.
The event was hosted by local law enforcement agencies, who were aided
by local volunteers.
“We needed a lot of people to pull this event off,” said Doerr.
“We want to thank everyone who volunteered, the behind-the-scenes
people and the officers who went out to solicit from the businesses.”
Several local and national media outlets, including WATA, Mountain Times
Television and MTV, covered the event. Six cast members from the MTV show
“Road Rules” were also welcomed by a cheering crowd as they
participated in the plunge.
Several prizes were given, such as the award for the oldest plunger, Officer
Mike Foley of the Boone Police.
The top fundraising group was the Appalachian Army ROTC and Command Club,
which raised over $1,400, followed by the wrestling team, which raised
over $1,000.
The top individual fundraiser was Sean Joll, a senior criminal justice
major, who raised $136. This was his first year involved with the Polar
Plunge.
“It certainly will not be my last,” said Joll. “There’s
just something about … knowing that you’re doing it for a great
cause and that you have the crowd backing you.”
Joll solicited Appalachian State Aikido members for the money.
“I asked them [to donate] and they followed their hearts,” said
Joll.
All prizewinners received a Polar Plunge trophy, compliments of the
Appalachian Bookstore, and everyone who participated received a Polar
Plunge towel.
An event meeting is in the works to discuss next year’s plunge, said
Doerr.
“It’s not our objective to top every year. We just want to keep
the program going,” said Doerr. “We won’t turn any donations
away, but we aren’t trying to break the bank.”
Business
Affairs Beat
Jump
in sales due to opening of new lots
Director: Rates lower than other UNC schools
Carrie
Baker - Staff Writer
The four largest
parking construction projects on campus will be paid for with money generated
from citations and permits, said Barry Sauls, director of University Parking
and Traffic.
“We’re trying to determine what it will take to cover all this,”
said Sauls. “We have so far managed to keep our parking rates lower
than the larger University of North Carolina system schools.”
“We are legally obligated to cover bonds used to complete these projects,”
said Sauls. “If we can’t meet payments, registration will go
up.”
Last fiscal year (July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2001), revenue generated
from selling parking permits was $674,540. According to statistics received
from Sauls, 8,604 parking permits were sold between Aug. 15, 2000 and
Aug. 15, 2001. So far this year (Aug. 15, 2001 – Jan. 31, 2002) 8,501
parking permits have been sold.
Sauls attributes the jump in sales to the opening of new lots and more
spaces in the John E. Thomas and the Greenwood lots.
Revenue generated from parking citations (July 1, 2000 – June 30,
2001) was $596, 950, said Sauls. According to the parking statistics,
25,126 citations were issued from Aug. 15, 2000 to Aug. 15, 2001.
The number for citations issued Aug. 15, 2001 – Jan. 31, 2002 was
10,381.
Appalachian State University is in the midst of two large construction
projects to create more parking and have completed two others this year.
Currently the most expensive project is the 720-space parking deck located
on Rivers Street.
“[The parking deck] is going to be the biggest outlay of revenue,”
said Sauls.
The parking deck will be paid for in increments of $775,000 per year,
said Sauls. The newly completed Hill Street lot is the next-largest expense
for the Parking and Traffic department.
“The Hill Street lot came in around $700,000,” said Sauls.
Finished projects include the refurbished State Farm and Raley lots.
“These projects will all be paid for through self-generated funds,”
said Sauls. “We have two pools of money available now: parking permits
and parking citations.”
The price for State Farm lot permits rose this year from $50 a year to
$100 after the construction.
In addition to larger parking projects, the Parking and Traffic department
does allow about $250,000 for maintenance needs, said Sauls.
“Maintaining gates and painting lines, car greeters, signs and patching
potholes are all considered in the budget,” said Sauls. “We
look for the most pressing needs and work on them over the summer.”
Multicultural
Beat
Magazine’s
third issue in development
David
Forbes - Staff Writer
The Summit, Appalachian
State University’s student literary and visual arts magazine, is
accepting submissions until next Friday.
“There are a lot of talented people on campus that wouldn’t
be seen if not for this magazine,” said Diana Cejas, who has worked
as editor-in-chief of The Summit for all three issues.
The Summit accepts student art, photography, stories, song lyrics, art
and poetry, and is published near the end of every semester as an insert
in The Appalachian.
Works can be submitted to the magazine electronically, one signed and
one unsigned copy, by being e-mailed to appsummit@appstate.edu.
Works can also be placed in boxes found in the English, technology, and
art department offices or be dropped by the Center for Student Involvement
and Leadership office.
“When we first started, we had a staff of just five people. We now
have 19,” said Cejas. “It’s been nice to see the magazine
grow.”
The number of submissions has also increased over the magazine’s
lifespan.
“We try to publish as many of the works as possible, but some judging
has to go into it,” said David Freeman, director of Student Publications
and advisor to The Summit.
The magazine’s four editors and 19 staff members determine which
pieces are published in The Summit during a two-week process using the
unsigned copies of the works.
The debut issue of The Summit was published last spring.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunity to spotlight and highlight
student works [at Appalachian] before The Summit,” said Dino DiBernardi,
who, as director of CSIL and chair of the Media Board, worked with Student
Publications to help start The Summit.
Jennifer Sanford, art editor for The Summit, concurred. “There are
a lot of walls that come up when students try to exhibit their work.
That’s why a student-oriented outlet is important.”
“We received some really good feedback this fall,” said Freeman.
“I hope the students adopt this as their publication, and I hope
the school adopts it.”
Freeman also said he hopes to see The Summit eventually be a stand-alone
magazine of its own.
At the current time, The Summit does not have a budget of its own, and
the cost of its publication is subsidized by The Appalachian’s budget.
The Summit holds open meetings Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in CSIL where anyone
can ask questions about the magazine.
“I think The Summit getting bigger and better with each issue,”
said Cejas. “This is a lot of students’ first taste of publishing.
People shouldn’t be shy about submitting their work.”
Special
Report: Proposed Tuition Increase
Academic
Affairs Beat
Booklet
change saves $2,900
Consolidation of two books a prelude to online listings
Chirs Bohle
- Staff Writer
The ever-present
budget cuts, as well as the need to answer the call of more advanced
technology, have caused a complete redesign of the Summer 2002 Schedule
of Classes booklet, a move officials say saved Appalachian State University
$2,920.
This year’s booklet, which at first appears to be a modest upgrade
from versions of years past, is actually the combination of two booklets
into one.
“We used to have one booklet for continuing students that would
be distributed on campus and one booklet that was nicer, with a glossy
cover, that would be sent to prospective students,” said Assistant
Director of Summer Sessions Gail Hauser.
The current state of the state’s finances, however, caused cutbacks
in certain areas in order to keep things running smoothly, and Hauser
said the new booklet would save a substantial amount of money.
“With the budget cuts going on, it did not make much sense to
continue making two,” said Hauser. “Especially considering
that a good amount of the booklets distributed just ended up in the
garbage anyway.”
The university paid $10,380 this year to print 14,500 copies of the
combined booklet.
Although it does seem like a lot of money, it is indeed cheaper than
continuing the practice of printing two separate booklets, said Hauser.
The exact cost of last year’s printing was $13,300 for the two
booklets.
Budget cuts were not the only thing that led to the consolidation
of the two booklets, said Hauser. Convenience, as well as the ability
to use superior technology, will eventually change the system even
further, he said.
“This step that we made this year is just the first phase-down,
if you will,” said Hauser. “Soon, you will not be seeing
these booklets at all because all of the information will be on the
web.”
Many larger universities have already been doing it this way for some
time, like the University of Florida and the University of Virginia,
said Hauser.
Those universities publish their class schedules on the Web because
with the number of students they have, it would just be impractical
for them to print booklets, said Hauser.
“We are very close to having the whole system online,” said
Hauser.
“Most of the classes are already up. We just need to make the
application web-available as well as a few other things, then we’ll
be ready.”
Although the online schedules will be more user-friendly, as well
as cheaper, Hauser expressed sadness in the fact the whole process
will soon become much less personal.
“Helping people out is my favorite part of my job,” said
Hauser.
“Once we get everything online, it will be very non-personal,
but that’s just the nature of the beast, I guess.”
In
Focus
Battling
poverty and pride
Low salaries, insurance switch create financial strains in North Carolina’s
third-most expensive area
April
Klaassen - Staff Writer
Students and
their families may be financially burdened by a proposed $150 tuition
increase, but possibly no one understands their stress more than the
staff members who are rallying in favor of the plan.
While students, especially those who support themselves, struggle
to pay tuition, rent and bills, staff members struggle to survive
each month and support their families.
Housekeeper Sharon Taylor faces this struggle every month.
“It’s really tough,” said Taylor. “At my amount
that I make, I can still get government assistance, and I can’t
afford the insurance here at the college.”
Taylor, a mother of three girls ages 10, 8 and 7, currently falls
under pay Grade 50, the lowest for state employees at Appalachian.
“I may bring home $200 more than the poverty level. That’s
before taxes,” said Taylor. “I don’t know of anybody
who makes the average.
I don’t know how they came up with the average, but most employees
are below that.”
Although her husband of one year is also a staff member at the university,
Taylor’s children suffer from high insurance costs, due to last
year’s 30 percent increase and the fact the three cannot be placed
on Taylor’s husband’s policy. Last year’s increase
distressed Taylor because of the effect it had on her three young
children.
“I thought that was ridiculous. I mean, for one thing, for the
family insurance, you can have one child to however many, it doesn’t
matter,” said Taylor. “You still have one set price. I don’t
know of anybody who can afford the family insurance. It’s like
$350 or something like that a month. I can’t afford that.”
“I had to go through Social Services to get insurance. They had
NC Health Choice there for a while, which was actually closed out
because there was so many people in North Carolina that were so underpaid,
they couldn’t get insurance through their work, and they couldn’t
afford insurance,” said Taylor. “There’s a huge waiting
list now because even if they decide to reopen, they weren’t
expecting this many people. I have one daughter on medication that
she’ll have to take the rest of her life, so to get it, I have
to have insurance.”
Although Taylor said she would rather not have assistance, her paycheck
leaves her no choice.
“I’m trying to have pride and not have help, but I need
the help with insurance,” said Taylor.
Even with two staff incomes and perhaps a little more luck than other
staff members, Taylor’s family still struggles monthly.
“Between our money that we make together, we still have a hard
time making it month to month,” said Taylor. “Even though
we own the place we live—it’s just a trailer—and it’s
on his father’s land, which has made it a lot easier for us.
We have to eventually put a roof on the trailer and put another room
in for the girls, but we can’t afford it right now.”
Taylor, who has worked at Appalachian State University for about four
years, is familiar with the difficulties of living in Boone, which
has the third-highest cost of living in the state.
“Before I got married, I was living in an apartment, and I paid
about $400 a month,” said Taylor. “Even at the pay they
give you, your finances at the end of the month are slim because you
only get paid once a month. It’s extremely hard. You have to
scrape up a lot of money to pay. The prices for apartments are very
high.”
“If you’re single and you have your own place, and you don’t
have anybody else to depend on, it can be extremely hard,” said
Taylor. “If you have children, it’s harder. I myself have
to pay $100 a month almost just to pay for my children’s lunches
at school.”
Most parents desire to give their children every golden opportunity,
but Taylor’s income does not allow her that luxury.
“What’s hard for me is my girls want to go to basketball
camp and stuff like that, and I have to look at them and tell them
I can’t do it because I cannot bring about that amount of money
out for them,” said Taylor.
Sometimes, survival requires sacrifice.
“It’s hard because you have to sit there and put bills before
anything else,” said Taylor. “I have to decide whether I
can swing getting things maybe needed this month or have to wait until
next month. If it’s a field trip my kids want to go with their
class, I don’t want to have them be left out. I have to figure
out how I’m going to work that in.”
While some staff members receive additional income from another job,
Taylor said she feels she has a greater duty to her other, unpaid
job as a mother and wife.
“[My husband] does some odd jobs during the summer. I myself
can’t really take on another job even though I’d like to,”
said Taylor.
“Basically, because I need to help the kids with school and keep
up with the housework at home, I can’t do it.”
However, Taylor said she is trying to gain better employment.
“I have taken some classes here at ASU to try to further my education
and try to move up within the college,” said Taylor.
Moving up, though, is not a goal easily attained, she said.
“I’ve tried to go through the system here to get another
job at the college,” said Taylor. “Once you get into housekeeping,
it’s one of the hardest jobs to get out of. The job description
for the minimum requirements for housekeepers is only an eighth grade
educational level. You kind of get branded with that. It’s just
hard to move place to place within the system.”
Taylor hopes the proposed tuition increase will make life a little
easier.
“If they do keep their word, that it’s going to go to the
lowest-paid employees, I feel it could help us,” said Taylor.
Upon hearing about Faculty Senate’s disapproval of the increase,
Taylor said she felt offended. “I really don’t keep up on
politics of the whole thing, but it kind of outraged me because I
don’t know if we actually supported them going and getting theirs,”
said Taylor. “They need us just as much as we need them. If they’re
willing to pass $300 for theirs, we’re asking for half that much.
We need it to get above poverty level.”
“I feel we’re only asking for half as much, which will spread
to a lot of people who get paid a lot less than any of the faculty.
We do want to keep good teachers and everything, but we also want
to keep good commitment of the workers in other fields.”
Although Taylor said she does not want the students to be burdened,
she feels they can help raise the standard of living for workers.
“If it’s going to be for a limited time, I think the students
could help out in that situation, if they’re willing to understand
our situation too, especially in the building services. We have caught
the short end of the stick through all the budget cuts. We’ve
lost people’s positions. There used to be three housekeepers
in this building during day shift,” said Taylor. “There’s
only two doing three’s work, and we’re always cutting back
on a lot of stuff because we’re trying to save the college money.”
“It’s a give-and-take,” said Taylor. “If we’re
willing to give up a lot of positions and everything else, students
should be willing to help us out a little. I don’t expect them
to keep doing it. I wouldn’t want them to keep increasing tuition.”
Dissatisfied with the way the situation was handled by university
officials, Taylor empathizes with the students.
“What bothers me is that instead of grouping both faculty and
staff for a tuition increase together, which would not have been quite
as much of a shock to the students, I believe, [the administration]
separated it to where they give faculty the $300 and now people start
asking for some for the staff. It just double-bombs the students,”
said Taylor. “I feel for the students. I know how expensive it
can be.”
Taylor does not wish to offend students or faculty. She said she merely
hopes to raise the standard of living for her family and her fellow
employees.
“I just feel that the lowest-paid employees deserve a chance
to make at least above the poverty level.”
|
 |
 |
