The Stetson Reporter

U N IJV E R S I T Y a | note from the editor | Next Wednesday, April 12, the editorial board will not release an issue" of The Reporter.' This gap in our production cycle will permit the editorial board to complete contract and scheduling preparations for the 2000-2001 academic year. The Reporter' will be issued twice more during this academic year, on both April 19 and 26. wed 0 5 apr-00 Student government elections held in CU by kasia walosik | Students today will select the next president and vice president ofthe university's student government association. The candidates for next year's SGA president and vice-president took the stage last Tuesday night to explain their platforms and answer questions asked by.the student body. The candidates for the election are David Gobeo and running mate Sal Mancini, and Brian Mistier and running mate Celeste Sakowicz. "During our sophomore year we would shoot for the shortest meetings possible, and I don't feel that this is the case this year," said Mancini. "We are bringing in speakers, and I think that we are getting a lot more communication between the senators." Many current SGA representatives failed to stay for the debate. "I was so disappointed to see so-many of our senators walk out just as the debate was ready to begin," said Senator Becky Kruse. "These are the people that are supposed to be involved in Stetson politics and care about the future of their SGA." The thirty-second response period seemed to- cause problems because audience members were not receiving complete answers. As a result, many members of the audience asked-repetitive questions. While addressing one multicultural issue Mistier said, "It think it's a good question. I*m sorry I have only 30 sec- S2a onds so keep asking it again so I can speak longer." The repetition was primarily strong in areas dealing with expanding multiculturalism and extending diversity on campus. Approaching this concern Mistier said, "We are in a unique position of actually determining Stetson policy. Therefore, we can institutionalize some' of the [multicultural] programs so that you have students when they first arrive on campus going to those events as part of their initial program." Gobeo encouraged students to use SGA as a tool for making the student body aware of multicultural programs. "Student Government has a' very unique announcement period," said Gobeo. "Since we have representatives from every group, a representatives from an organization such as H.O.L.A. can let everyone know to come to their functions. The all the representatives can go to their representative groups to. encourage their members to attend such events." Although taking different approaches on ways to deal with the university administration, and possessing some differences in some platform ideas, both sets of candidates did agree on some things. Both pairs intend to increase communication between themselves and the student body. . Both also intend to use the SGA website to post meeting agendas and other information that is pertinent to the oraanization of SGA. Kasia Walosik writes weekly for The Reporter. MISTLER: Brian Mistier (top) arid Celeste Sakowicz (left) advocated a platform at last week's debate that included improving student health and considering the use of sit-ins as a persuasive tool. PHOTO BY TERESA SCHWARZ Mistier hopes to empower by kasia walosik | The main platform presented by Brian Mistier and Celeste Sakowicz focuses on. given" students more power. According to presidential candidate Mistier, "The largest problem facing Stetson from the student point of view is power. We can shout and yell as loud as.we want but . if we do not have the power to make real change apathy will continue." "I know how difficult it is to get approval to deviate from traditional ways of doing things, but the only way to secure the future of. this student government and to make our voices heard is to keep trying, though not in the same manner as the past," said Sakowicz "We can no longer go to the adminis tration for information or their.opinion. We have to do our own outside research. Find out if it's within legal bounds. Do things on our own so that we can present them with precise facts, not ideas," added Sakowicz. Expanding on the methods he and Sakowicz intend to use to achieve these goals, Mistier said, "I will set up an effective web site, have SGA minutes posted around school, and set up Holler Fountain chats." "We must give students the right to choose their own meal plans, to move to. more off-campus food options, to decide who visits them when,and to have the power to demand that Stetson fulfill its alleged responsibilities to the environment," said Mistier. Kasia Walosik is taking a calculus class right now. The Reporter brings you a close look at this year's candidates, their running mates, and their platforms Gobeo to continue current work by kasia walosik | David Gobeo and Sal Mancini hope to continue the efforts made by the current SGA. "I've been extremely involved here at Stetson," said Gobeo, "[yet] nothing has had such a significant impact on my leadership skills as serving as the current vice president of SGA." Mancini emphasized the strengths of this year's SGA. "Our meetings have been extended. We have been having great meetings and great input from all the senators," said Mancini. Gobeo hopes to continue the positive progress made in SGA this year. "Many ofthe campaign.promises we made last year have already come to fruition. One of our main goals for next year is getting juniors to be able to live off campus without financial penalty," said Gobeo. "I felt that two years ago SGA was not a very powerful organization, and one year of David and I being president is not going to cause SGA to go from nothing to everything. You cannot expect radical change in one year, you have to work gradually, its not going to happen all at once. However, we have made many stepping stones throughout the years," said Mancini. • With the experience they have had over the last year, this team believes they can represent the student's needs even more in the coming year. Kasia Walosik is a first-year student majoring in biochemistry. Faculty preparing to approve new major by valerie futch | Anew aquatic and marine biology major has'been approved by the university's natural science faculty and will begin in the fall of 2000. The faculty has approved the major and soon the curriculum will go before the arts and sciences faculty to gain approval as well. Dr. Melissa Gibbs, associate professor of biology and director of the Aquatic and Marine Biology program said that the university has "a very strong department for this program." "It will be a nice, unique program that will fill a niche that's been empty in this area," added Gibbs. [ read this story in News, page 2a ] Cohen band plays to intimate crowd by brian campbell [ Dubbed by some as a Sarah McLachlan rip off, Jen Cohen proved last Thursday evening to the small, yet satisfied group at Night Lites that she is no copycat. Cohen and her talented backup combo, as they easily tore through their set, proved themselves to be unique, and substantially different from McLachlan, or any other popular female vocalist. "It's often hard to find bands that are both talented and entertaining—especially live," state-freshman theatre major Vanessa Aranegui. Aranegui, however, seemed to feel that pop artist Jen Cohen met the difficult criteria. [ read this story in Life, page 1b ] Pi Kappa Phi wins SLIDE, SLIDE, MS. AMERICAN SLIDE; Ted Burkhalter and the Pi Kapps sHd past the Eliminators 14-8. photo by an- drea.maginor [ read this story in Sports, page 7b ]