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(03/16/05 12:00pm)
Campus Police is unsure whether the trailer that was reported stolen from Lot 5 sometime between Jan. 19-21 was actually stolen or misplaced. The 20-foot long construction trailer was reported stolen by a representative from Penn Lyon Homes, Inc., the company that built the ill-fated Metzger Apartments.
Lieutenant Don Rizzo of Campus Police said that Detective Sergeant Jim Lopez is handling the case and no leads are apparent at this time. Rizzo also said that he does not know what the trailer contained.
He added that this is the only time that anything has been reported stolen from a construction site on campus.
Penn Lyon was ordered to remove all of their equipment and cease work while the apartment site is closed due to litigation, according to Rizzo.
When asked how a trailer being stolen could go unnoticed by the construction workers or anyone else on campus, Rizzo said that it could have taken place after the workers went home for the day at 6 p.m. and anyone who may have witnessed it may not have realized that a crime was occurring.
Brian Murray, director of Campus Planning and Construction, confirmed that the trailer is still considered stolen, as no one from Penn Lyon has come forward to say that it has been found.
However, both Murray and Rizzo expressed the opinion that a misunderstanding could have taken place within Penn Lyon and the trailer could have been misplaced rather than stolen. Rizzo said that occasionally it happens that someone from a construction company's officemay instruct someone to move a piece of equipment from one site to another without informing the first site's foreman.
Murray also believes that the scenario mentioned by Rizzo was possible. "(Maybe) the left hand didn't tell the right hand what it's doing," Murray said. Penn Lyon could not be reached for comment.
"I hope that it was just a misunderstanding," Tara Roche, senior English major, said. "I know there were cars stolen from campus recently, so it seems like the parking lots just aren't secure."
Rizzo said that the report of the trailer theft was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). NCIC, a nationwide network with its headquarters in West Virginia, stores all pertinent information on major crimes, such as lost articles, weapons offenses and missing people, according to Rizzo.
Every police station in the country is connected to the database where they can broadcast alerts to law enforcement and other officials for information in any specified region. The details of an offense are stored in the NCIC database until the crime is solved.
This is not the first time that Campus Police has entered reports from campus into the NCIC. Rizzo said that a few years ago, a female student of the college went on Spring Break to Mexico with her boyfriend without telling her parents.
The student's mother reported her missing to Campus Police, who then broadcast an alert with her information on the NCIC.
When the student arrived back in the country from Mexico, she was stopped by customs officials when they entered her name in their computer and the alert came up.
No charges were filed against the student.
(02/16/05 12:00pm)
Founders' Day, which commemorated the College's 150th anniversary last Wednesday, provided students, faculty and alumni with many ways to celebrate. Events on Founders' Day included a commemorative postal cancellation table, collection of items for the time capsule and the College's 150th birthday party. The daylong celebration culminated in the evening with the Leadership Convocation.
At the birthday party, members of the College community gathered in Brower Student Center as the bash kicked off with a performance by the TCNJ Dance Team to the hit song "1, 2 Step" by singer Ciara. Other performances included the official TCNJ Cheer by the Lions' cheerleaders and a rhythmic demonstration by some special guests, the Fisher Middle School Drill Team from Fisher Middle School in Ewing. All the performances were filmed by Philadelphia Action News 6.
A lighted cake that read "Happy Birthday TCNJ" was wheeled out as partygoers sang "Happy Birthday" to the College. Roscoe the Lion blew out the candles with a little help from his mascot friends from the Trenton Titans, Trenton Thunder, Somerset Patriots and New Jersey Devils.
Like any good birthday party, there was also plenty of free birthday cake, candy and other desserts. The most impressive dessert was a cake replica of the Green Hall clocktower, which stood about three feet tall. There were also party hats, noisemakers, a magician, a juggler and a clown painting faces and making balloon animals.
Anyone who wanted to take a piece of history home with them stopped by the commemorative postal cancellation table. There were College postcards, Founders' Day programs and other memorabilia available to stamp with the exclusive Sesquicentennial postal cancellation.
Once an item was stamped, it could be kept as a souvenir or given to one of the U.S. postal employees who were on hand to mail it. This exclusive stamp was only being given out on Founders' Day, making it a must-have for stamp collectors and a very special College keepsake.
To give a historical gift to the College's future generations, people could donate items to the Founders' Day time capsule. Among the varied items submitted were pictures, magazines, issues of The Signal, business cards, a squeeze toy from the last freshman orientation and a College mouse pad.
The time capsule will be buried in the entranceway of the new library and will be dug up and opened in the year 2055 for the College's bicentennial celebration.
The College's ambassadors passed out free raffle tickets at the event, and every 10 minutes a new number was called for a chance to win a Lions stuffed animal, T-shirts, bags and other prizes.
At the stand of the College's radio station, WTSR, free stickers and key chains were given out and students Dave Salge and Mike Heitmann performed acoustic versions of hits from yesterday and today.
At another table, seniors could claim a free CD to help them countdown the days to graduation with a new piece of information and trivia for each day.
Entries for the weeklong scavenger hunt, in which students could form groups and try to get the most questions right about the College, were also collected at a table at the birthday party. The first entry received that had all the answers correct would win $150.
"There was a long line this morning of people who wanted to get (their answers) in first," Christina Smith, senior graphic design major, said.
At two other tables, guests could look through past Seal yearbooks and place an order for the new issue as well as look through past editions of The Signal, including the initial 1885 issue, when it was a literary magazine, and the 100th anniversary issue from 1985.
Doris Downey, Ewing resident and member of the Ewing Township Patriotic Committee, said the party was wonderful because she saw some old friends and got the commemorative stamp cancellation to add to her stamp collection.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein also said she enjoyed the party. "I'm having a wonderful time. It's a lot of fun," she said. "It was great to have all different elements of the community involved and I love birthday cake."
The birthday party was coordinated by Janis Blayne-Paul of the Sesquicentennial Planning Committee, who was very happy with the party's turnout. "I am thrilled. I think it's going well," she said. "It seems like we have a good mix of people."
Leadership Convocation
This ceremony, honoring alumni of the College who have made a difference in the community, will become an annual Founders' Day event. This year, the College's Alumni Association honored Ret. Col. Leonard J. Tharney ('54) Nancy Cashel Faherty ('89) and Anthony J. Pasczio ('72).
The evening's keynote speaker was Eleanor V. Horne, vice president and corporate secretary of Educational Testing Services in Princeton and former trustee of the College.
Horne said the College is "always in a state of becoming something better: from good to great and from great to best in class, which we are today." She also called the College "an incredible story of vision, leadership and perseverance."
The main theme of Horne's speech was to point out discrepancies between the number of black children completing their educational careers as compared to a far greater number of white children.
"I urge the College, not just the school of education, to do everything it can to improve the life chances of black youngsters," Horne said.
Horne's speech was followed by one from the president of the Alumni Association, Greg Bellotti ('92), who introduced the award recipients. Bellotti pointed out what all the honorees had in common: "They've all given back to society in significant ways," he said.
Bellotti introduced the Distinguished Service Award recipient, Tharney. Bellotti spoke of Tharney's years of teaching in the education department at the College, referring to the "legacy of thousands of teachers that (Tharney) made better."
Tharney, one of the founding faculty members of the College's International Studies Program, gave an emotional speech that showed him to be humbled and grateful for the honor he had received.
Faherty, the recipient of the Humanitarian Award, is a human services activist, public relations expert and community advocate for youth sports and recreation. Among the many roles she has held, Faherty was president of Angel's Wings, Inc., an emergency care provider for abused and neglected children.
Bellotti called Faherty "a consummate leader and a driving force at whatever she does." In her speech, Faherty said, "Our children need us all to find the humanitarian within ourselves."
Bellotti said the Alumni Citation Award winner, Pasczio, is "very proud, very successful, very humble and he never forgot his roots."
A devoted alumnus, Pasczio is a business leader and chair of the Institute for Children with Cancer and Blood Disorders, an affiliate of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
In his speech, Pasczio thanked his alma mater. "(The College) gave me the courage to dream," he said.
(02/02/05 12:00pm)
The Student Government Association (SGA) passed a joint resolution at its first meeting of the semester to resolve what SGA Executive President Pedro Khoury called "issues in governance."
This resolution, drafted by SGA, the Staff Senate and Faculty Senate, revises a document called "Governance 2000."
According to Annelise Catanzaro, student trustee, the major change in the revised document is that it reinforces the existence of governing bodies, such as SGA and Faculty Senate, so that in the future, concerns are brought to those groups before they are brought to the Steering Committee.
The joint resolution passed by a unanimous vote. Because of the resolution's time-sensitive nature, SGA first voted unanimously to consider the resolution at the same meeting it was proposed, since it normally votes the week following a proposal.
In other SGA business, Catanzaro said that a delegation from SGA will no longer be attending a conference in Texas.
Instead, SGA hopes to put the $1,700 given by the Student Finance Board (SFB) to attend that conference toward hosting its own statewide student government conference at the College, Catanzaro said.
The theme of the conference would be "unified SGAs and state advocacy," Catanzaro said.
She also said that SGA plans on inviting other schools' student governments, state leaders and students to this event, tentatively scheduled for March 26.
In an attempt to improve SGA-student body communication, Khoury said that SGA will be embarking on a public relations campaign that includes a weekly show on WTSR and press releases handed out on campus. The radio show will take place every Tuesday and will feature one executive board member and one senator from SGA.
Following the resignations of Thea Schoenbeg and Anup Shah last semester, Mollie Seiferas was sworn into office as vice president of student services and Jackie Kotler was sworn into her position as vice president of community relations.
SGA announced several events it will be holding in the following weeks: "TCNJ Idol," a singing competition to raise funds for tsunami relief, will take place Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Travers-Wolfe main lounge; an alumni dinner is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 26 at the cost of $5 per person; the SGA retreat be Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. in Brower Student Center.
A container was passed around at the meeting for donations to SGA's tsunami charity fund-raiser. There was moment of silence to honor the victims of the disaster. Khoury announced that in the first eight days of SGA's effort it raised about $1,000 for the American Red Cross, UNICEF and Action Against Hunger.
(01/26/05 12:00pm)
After receiving excellent reviews by an evaluation team from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the College seems to be in prime position to be granted re-accreditation in the coming weeks.
The evaluation team, headed by Janet Dudley-Eshbach, president of Salisbury University, recently conducted an on-site peer review of the College as one step in the process toward consideration for re-accreditation.
According to the Middle States Commission Web site, before the peer review evaluation took place, the College conducted a self-study of how well it is meeting its own goals as well as the standards of the Middle States Commission. The College then had to detail this information in a self-study report.
Next, the commission-appointed team of experts from schools similar to the College was able to read its self-study report and visit the campus to gather information for its own report.
The self-study report, the peer-review evaluation and a separate report written by the evaluation team's chair, Dudley-Eshbach, will all be submitted to a committee of the Middle States Commission for review on Feb. 3. The team will then make a recommendation to the full Commission. "Then the Commission will make its decision about re-accreditation," Dudley-Eshbach said.
An institution's respect for the process of accreditation and re-accreditation is seriously considered by the Middle States Commission.
The Middle States Commission states that "the extent to which each educational institution accepts and fulfills the responsibilities inherent in this process is a measure of its concern for freedom and quality in higher education and of its commitment to strive for and achieve excellence in its endeavors."
In preparation for its peer evaluation, R. Barbara Gitenstein, College president, said that the College focused its self-review on the areas of "planning, assessment, institutional effectiveness and resource allocation." These preparations seem to have paid off with the peer review report, which called the College "an institution of remarkable achievement." Among the areas in which the College was commended, the report was especially complimentary of the College's academic achievements.
"(The College) is committed to offering an undergraduate educational experience that rivals the best of what is offered by private colleges, but at a public school tuition cost and from a public school perspective," the evaluation team said.
"I am very pleased with the site team's report of their evaluation of (The College)," Gitenstein said. "I was most proud of the confirmation of our institutional commitment to continuous improvement."
Many students share Gitenstein's pride in how well the College is doing.
"I think the school does a good job overall, especially at maintaining a good image, but there are some things they can improve, such as the housing situation. I feel bad for the people who were supposed to live in the apartments that still haven't been built," Tara Roche, senior English major, said.
When asked if the report provided any negative feedback, Gitenstein said, "There were no areas of serious concern, rather there were a series of suggestions for improvement. Interestingly enough, the suggestions cited echoed suggestions that our own campus self-study committees had recommended," she said.
The senior administration has already begun work on all suggestions that were made by our own self-study committees and confirmed by the site review team."
While Gitenstein did not elaborate on what specific recommendations for improvement were made in the evaluation, she did say that there are nine areas of focus that the College identified at the beginning of the year.
Gitenstein said they include implementation of the new curriculum, faculty/staff development, enhancement of a vital living/learning community, development/fundraising, diversity/inclusion, planning and accountability, public relations, enrollment services and state advocacy.
Gitenstein also said her mid-year report on the progress made in these areas will be distributed at the end of this week.
(12/08/04 12:00pm)
Mercer County residents came together in Brower Student Center last Wednesday night to work together to solve problems in their communities at the College's Public Issues Summit.
The theme of the evening, "Collaborating Across Communities," was fitting as 105 residents from Mercer County towns joined to discuss whether or not municipalities should jointly attack problems such as sprawl and high taxes.
The results showed that while the participants shared many different ideas on the topic, most agreed that municipalities sharing services is something that should be looked into as a possible improvement on the current system of home rule by individual communities.
The ideas were organized into document form for submission to the Mercer County Planning Division, other local officials, the media and the participants themselves.
In his address to the Summit, state assemblyman and keynote speaker Reed Gusciora (D) said, "Our state continues to remain fragmented along municipality lines." He said that forums, such as the Public Issues Summit, help to form "ties that bind."
The participants, in groups of about 10, discussed the pros and cons of four different approaches to decide whether combining with other communities on certain issues is a good idea and if so, how it should be done.
The possible approaches were to support municipal independence and home rule, promote equity through regional tax-sharing, achieve greater municipal efficiency through shared services or consolidate municipalities and regionalize local government.
After reviewing the approaches, the participants took individual surveys rating the importance of each method and then worked together in the second session to draft a statement of what they think is important and should be done about resource sharing by municipalities.
At the end of the discussion sessions, the results were tabulated and the groups' statements were combined, copied and distributed to all in attendance while the participants mingled. William Ball, associate professor of political science, referred to this quick work by his staff as "a small miracle."
Participants left the student center with looks of accomplishment on their faces. Brian Malone, editor of The Times of Trenton and discussion moderator, summed up the evening as "a textbook example of how local government should work."
The Summit was sponsored by the College's Leadership in Public Affairs Program, The Times and the Mercer County Planning Division. Financial support for the Summit came from a gift to the College from Nexus Properties.
(12/01/04 12:00pm)
Starting this year, student staff members of Residence Life will no longer receive guaranteed housing after completing their year of duty.
It was part of Residence Life policy in the past to offer guaranteed housing to its student staff members as a bonus.
This bonus was granted to students the year after they served their term on staff. This meant that a student could work for Residence Life one year, and then be guaranteed a place to stay on campus the next year even if he or she chose not to work for Residence Life again.
The only condition by which a student would not be granted guaranteed housing was if the student was entering his or her fifth year at the College.
Now, staff members who decide not to continue in the Residence Life program will receive lottery numbers without the stipulation that they be guaranteed for their next housing assignments.
Michael Robbins, First Year Experience (FYE) area director and staff selection coordinator, calls the change "one step further toward making the lottery process more fair."
"There are so many groups that get guaranteed housing that it was throwing off the lottery process," Robbins said.
Robbins called the old policy "a perk" that no longer makes sense. "It's not necessarily a logical form of compensation," he said.
Myson Sheppard, a senior criminology and justice studies major who was a Community Advisor (C.A.) during the time of the old policy, disagrees with Robbins. "I think that (Residence Life) should do everything they can to give bonuses for (staff members) because it's such a big responsibility and the small stipend they give every two weeks is nothing," he said.
Some current staff members claim to have been unaware of the change in policy. One current C.A., who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her chances of being hired again next year, said that Residence Life did not properly inform the students of the change.
She also said Residence Life continued to advertise guaranteed housing as being part of the deal during the application process last year.
"It's partly our fault for not reading our contracts thoroughly, but I would never think the College would promise something like guaranteed housing while they were advertising and then not deliver," she said. "I just always thought we were a bit more professional than that."
Robbins said that guaranteed housing was not advertised during last year's application process and that all the candidates were notified of the change prior to accepting their positions.
When asked if he thought that this new policy would have a negative impact on the number of applicants to Residence Life positions, Robbins said that the number of applications for most jobs this year was comparable to the year before, except for Assistant Residence Director applications, which he said were triple the number of applications in previous years.
As for the number of staff members who will be re-applying to work again next year, Robbins says he has had to make additional photocopies of the application form to fill the demand - something he says he has never had to do before in two years.
He also said that he will not know for sure how many are re-applying until the applications are due Dec. 10.
Robbins said the reason why some people choose not to reapply is because of other things that come up, such as studying abroad or student teaching.
"There's not a whole lot of staff working for us who, once they start working for us, choose to leave because they don't want to do it anymore," Robbins said. "I don't think (the new policy) is going to be the deal breaker for them."
To some students, guaranteed housing being taken away makes all the difference. When asked if he still would have applied to become a C.A. had this new policy been in effect during the time he was applying, Sheppard said, "I definitely would still have applied, but I'm not sure if I would have accepted employment if they offered me the job."
(11/10/04 12:00pm)
Members of the campus community who depend on the campus Child Care Center during the day may soon have to find a new place to bring their children.
According to Magda Manetas, director of Student Life, the Child Care Center, located in Forcina Hall, is under review after a failed attempt by the College to move the center into a larger facility.
"A property was purchased on Pennington Road that was headed for renovation," she said. "Bids (for renovation) were sent out twice and both times came in significantly over budget."
Because of this unforeseen difficulty in fitting the renovation into the budget, Student Life has made the decision to appoint an ad-hoc committee chaired by Manetas and Student Life Vice President Mary-Elaine Perry.
The committee will be comprised of faculty, staff and students and will "re-examine the mission and purpose of the child care center before pursuing the renovation project," Manetas said.
Manetas said the reason for wanting to move the Center into a larger property is that the current location in room 159 of Forcina Hall is "not optimal."
According to the director of the center, Connie Danser, the Forcina Hall room is licensed for up to 25 children. Danser says that current enrollment is 15 children, but because the children don't all come at the same time, there are never more than 14 children at a time. Manetas said that if the center were at maximum enrollment, it would be cramped.
Another reason why Student Life felt a larger site is necessary for the Center is because it is concerned with the Center's "ability to provide outdoor recreational space," for the children. According to Manetas, new safety codes that have been put into place call for a certain amount of "fall space" in the playground. For example, if there is not the required amount of clear area around the base of a sliding pond for children to land safely, the slide must be removed, according to Manetas.
In order to comply with these new safety codes, the Center has been forced to remove much of its playground equipment.
Student Life is considering three possible plans of action regarding the Center. One option is to continue working with the construction companies to reach a bid that is low enough to financially enable the Center to move.
Another option under consideration is to keep the Center as it is, if it is determined that the price of renovation will not come down and the Center is proven to adequately fulfill its purpose.
Should the committee determine that moving the Center is not financially viable and the Center is not meeting standards of operation, the final option would be to close the Center down.
Should the committee choose to close the Center, Manetas said Student Life may "work with other local facilities, such as Merrill Lynch," to set up alternative sites where parents could bring their children.
Danser said she hopes the Center "could continue either in its current form, or some other form." She said that the Center is "a unique and special place" because the children receive "so much individual attention."
When she informed parents of the possibility of the Center closing at a recent back-to-school night, Danser said the general feeling of the parents was summed up by one parent who said, "When something is so good, you don't change it."
Felicia Jean Steele, assistant professor of English, has a daughter who attends the Center. She said if the Center were to close down, "It would be a great loss to the campus community. (The Center) demonstrates that we really are a community with a common goal - that is to educate our children."
Manetas said it would be "at least several months" before a decision about the fate of the Center would be made. She said nearly all the members of the committee have been named and that Student Life hopes to choose a date for the committee's first meeting this week.
Manetas said the decision would take time to make because Student Life "would need to do an adequate study regarding the future of the program."
She also said she feels the Center provides a "quality program" and the review of it is "in no way a reflection of the caliber of staff (it has) been able to attract."
(11/04/04 12:00pm)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have to stand for 10 hours as part of your job? If you have, just ask a Sodexho employee.
According to food services manager Linda Carter, Sodexho's company policy calls for its employees to stand at all times, unless they have a medical reason for having to sit down. The only time employees are allowed to sit is during their 10- or 30-minute breaks.
A cashier for Sodexho who wishes to remain anonymous disagrees with this rule.
"We work ten-hour shifts. That's bad for your back!" she said.
The cashier also said a girl was written up for sitting down at the cash register after being told not to.
Carter said this was not true. "Not one person has gotten written up for sitting," she said.
According to the employee, if a worker is written up three times, they will be fired. "It looks bad for business," the employee said. "They used to have chairs a while ago. I guess people were taking advantage, falling asleep."
Carter, however, said Sodexho has never had chairs and employees were never allowed to sit.
She said that cashiers were taking chairs from tables and moving them over to the cash register in order to sit.
According to Carter, whenever she sees an employee sitting down, she just signals to them to stand.
"If they continue to sit after we tell them to (stand), they would get written up," Carter said.
Carter defends the policy as necessary not only for professionalism, but for safety as well.
She said if someone tried to steal the cash register while a cashier was standing, the employee would be "at a more prone position to flag someone down."
Carter also said the job of cashier is "the most important in the place" because they monitor who comes in and out and they handle cash. "They're the eyes and ears for us," she said.
As for slow times when there are no customers, Carter said employees are supposed to use the time to wipe the tables.
Jeff Pillar, senior political science major, said he thinks cashiers should be allowed to sit.
"That's probably Sodexho at its worst," he said. "It's a really bad excuse that (cashiers) have to be protecting the cash register."
Carter said she is sympathetic towards the cashiers and all the other employees who have to stand all day, but still feels that this policy should be enforced.
"I understand the frustration, but they don't get paid to sit," she said.
(10/20/04 12:00pm)
Spurred by lagging attendance at Student Government Association (SGA) meetings, SGA has begun a pilot program involving members of SGA visiting students in their residence halls and at Brower Student Center to ask them about any concerns they may have.
Lauren LeBano, vice president of Academic Affairs, which is heading the pilot program, thinks it is important to "get out and talk to more people besides the time when (they're) trying to get elected."
The Academic Affairs committee said it plans to meet with students at least once a month. The committee is made up of LeBano, Kris Moore, junior class president, Chris Kuhn, junior class secretary, Blair Gumnic, senator of science, Laura DeLucia, senator-at-large and Sam Schneider, senator of business.
LeBano said most students have been telling them that Carte Blanche "sucks."
Other popular issues with the students the committee has talked to include a lack of parking spaces, conflicts with the new scheduling grids, equipment not being maintained in the Physical Enhancement Center (PEC) in Packer Hall, and safety on campus.
LeBano said after hearing the students' concerns, she notifies the appropriate committee of SGA so the problem can be addressed.
Tara Roche, senior English major, said she thinks the pilot program is a good idea. "Some people may want the chance to talk to SGA about a problem but can't make it to the meetings or feel uncomfortable speaking at them," she said.
However, not all students are impressed with SGA's attempts. Kevin Turner, sophomore computer science major said, "I guess it's alright, but I think if people actually had a problem that SGA could help with, they would just (go to) SGA."
Danielle Sutton, senior sociology major, also doubts whether the pilot program have an impact.
LeBano said she feels that the program has been a success thus far, and has recommended to the SGA executive board that it be continued in the future. "We plan to continue. I know my committee will do it at least once a month,"
(10/13/04 12:00pm)
The Student Government Association (SGA) managed to recover from technical problems that brought back memories of the botched 2000 presidential election, successfully holding their own fall elections last week, and the results are in.
Lee Whitesell and Marco Zelaya were elected senators of culture and society, Jonathan Cherng and Ravi Kaneriya for senators-at-large, and Giancarlo Giametta for freshman class vice president.
The other open positions were uncontested. The winners by default of these positions are Sam Schneider for senator of business, Todd Stoner for freshman class president, Stefanie Maffa for freshman class secretary, Erick Torres for senator of science and Teo Paoletti for senator of education.
Voting was originally scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday. However, it was discovered Monday that a flaw in the voting machines made voters unable to choose two candidates per position, as is required for the positions of senators of culture and society and senators-at-large.
Voting for freshman vice president, the only other contested position, was not affected because this position only requires voters to choose one candidate.
To correct the problem with the voting machines, SGA election chair and alternate student trustee Stefanie Nieves decided to shut down the voting machines used for the two senator positions and disregard the votes that were taken on them. People who used the voting machines to cast their votes for the senator positions on Monday were asked to return and vote again using paper ballots. In order to accommodate voters and further ensure fair results, the election was extended and extra day to Wednesday.
Pedro Khoury, executive president of SGA, said he thought the voting machine problem had a positive effect on the voting system. �An extra day was given, so if anything, I think that gave candidates more time to get people to come vote,� he said.
Fairness appeared to be a top priority for the members of SGA overseeing the election. When a personal friend of SGA student trustee Annelise Catanzaro asked if he still had to show her his ID to vote, Catanzaro insisted that he did saying, �It doesn�t matter (that she knew him).�
Catanzaro said SGA�s procedure for tabulating votes is designed to make the election as fair as possible. Catanzaro explained that SGA waits at least one hour after the polls close to allow the candidates time to file any complaints they may have.
After any complaints are heard, the election committee counts the votes in the presence of two graduating senior members of SGA, the SGA advisor and any delegates appointed by the candidates to observe, should a candidate choose to do so.
Heather Gerson, freshman elementary education and history major, said she feels that voting in the SGA election is very important. �I think it�s important (to vote) whenever you have the chance to just to have your voice heard.�
SGA encourages all students to make their voices heard. Catanzaro said, �When there are issues that are pressing with the students, they become more vocal ... We always want people to voice their concerns on our Web site.�