The Stetson Reporter

n esults M /t~~~X\ u ;i\i 1x3.3 A § ™ CASTING BALLOTS: Only 20 percent of the student population voted in the election, photo by becky kruse Voting turnout up over last year by julie gowan | The voting booths closed last Wednesday afternoon to count the ballots Senator hopes to strengthen SGA influence BY BRIAN CAMPBELL | With the SGA elections recently held, . besides the same familiar faces participating in the activities, there are also many new students becoming involved with the Student Government Association. One such student, Patrick Smith, hopes that Stetson's Student Government Association helps'him to further develop leadership skills as well as to offer him some kind of political experience. . As a freshman, Smith decided that the position of Senator for Carson- Hollis was a good place to begin his involvement, with the program. In regards [ see SENATOR, page 2a Smith. for who was elected senators for Smith, Emily, Nemec, And Chaudoin hall. "We approximately had 20 percent of the four halls vote," said President Sal Mancini. That is five percent more than those who voted last year inthe President Election. Helping Mancini run the booth was his vice president David Gobeo. Two representatives were elected from each residence hall, five communter students, and one representative from each, campus organization. Results for Stetson Hall were not finalized at press time. Students who were running for the positions were campaigning on many different issues. Nicole Forostoski, for example, wanted to work towards an elevator in Chaudoin Hall, better food in the Commons, and efficient parking for students. Student Government will officially have its first meeting Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. "Our goal this year is to make people more aware. For students to believe in SGA, and that they are being represented. At a small school,' each individual Vote does count, and we want students to know that," said Mancini. The issues hitting the table this year are making Stetson Hall 24/7 visitation and moving Spring Break forward a week to be aligned with state schools. "It's good that SGA has these goals for the year, but how efficient will they be in completing their task," said Natalie Aponte, sophomore business major. "I would like to see these changes made, but will it take SGA three years to institute 24/ 7 into Stetson Hall?" "We already have surveys going out to residents in Stetson Hall, that were given to Hall Director, Garrett Epps," said Mancini. "Last year we had about a 20-25 percent response on surveys from Emily Hall. Since the Resident Assistants are handing them out individually this time, we hope we see a larger turnout.". This weekend the entire body of SGA will be going on a retreat to go over the process of the meetings and the "ins" and outs of SGA". "We plan to start writing bills while were at the retreat, so in that when we return committees will get into full swing, bills will be voted on and Ihe year can begin for us," said Mancini. Next Wednesday SGA will be co- sponsoring a forum with The Reporter on the new admissions and mission statement. "We hope to have a good turnout, I believe this is an issue that affects all students and the experience each individual student has at Stetson," said Mancini. "I think that the student body needs, to closely scrutinize the proposed mission statement, because it is so particularly poorly written," said Hamrick, editor-in- chief of The Reporter. Julie Gowan is the News editor and part of the 20 percent of students who voted in this election. GAGE GORMAN. KELLY GRAVES Best Apartments JANELLE HATCUJEJBL KELLY PEGRAM Emily HEATHER PORTER. MIKE KUREK Chaudoin. JACKLYN NEISHWAX. ALIA WHITACRE Nem££, VACH VIVACHASAWQGSE. KARL FUTZ Carson-Hollis. CHRISTY MISTLER. ALICIA HUNTER ^Celebration and meditation focus of Jewish holidays ,-BY KAITLIN BELLEROSE | Last • Friday, Jewish people celebrated Rosh Hoshanah. , *: From sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday Jews brought in the Jewish New Year. ^: "It is the holiest time of the year ' for Jewish people," explained Rabbi Barry Altman, adjunct professor of religious studies and spiritual leader of Tempk Beth-El. The day is spent in temple and used for rest and relaxation. During their meditation, Jews evaluate their relationship with God. Rosh Hoshanah serves many purposes. Also known as the Day of Remembrance, Rosh Hoshanah com-' memorates the creation of the world and the Jews' selection as God's chosen people. Ten days from the start of Rosh Hoshanah, September 20, is Yom Kip- pur. "Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. You basically give and ask forgiveness," said Jason Holtz, Rabbi Altman's teaching assistant at Temple Beth-El. Friends seek forgiveness from each other as a symbol of God's forgiveness of them. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th dayofTishiri. Jewish people spend the eve of Yom Kippur in prayer and meditation and recite the KolNidre. As a result of the recitation of the Kol Nidre, they annul all vows they made to others in the previous year. , During Yom Kippur, Jews must abstain from eating and drinking, wearing perfume or lotion, sex, washing, and wearing leather shoes. Kaitlin Bellerose compiled this article with the assistance of Rabbi Altman, Jason Holtz, and the Jewish Holiday Page, at www.philo. ucdavis. edu/~bruce/ RST23. ALANA House renamed BY LUIS MALDONADO | On •Wednesday, September 8, 1999 students and members of the faculty met to discuss what was formally known as the ALANA House. That building is now being referred to as the Cross-Cultural Center (CCC). Organizations that were represented at the meeting included the ; Black Student Association, the Caribbean Club, Common Ground, the Hispanic Organization for Latin American Awareness, the Indian Student Association, and the Multicultural Student Council. Members of these organizations met with Dr. Leonard Nance, the impetus behind the idea, as well as Tammy King, the Director of Multicultural Affairs. Students and faculty met to discuss the aims of the CCC. The two facets that the center is comprised of are academic and social in nature. . While Nance expressed the idea that "the house should serve as an . educationalresource center," he was also open to the idea that it could be used for student organizational purposes. All were in consensus that the house should serve as a resource center where educational tools such as books, magazines, pamphlets, and computers would be at the disposal of all Stetson students. Similarly, Nance proposed the idea that certain classes could be held there, such as Africana or Latin American Studies courses, while also encouraging the use of the center as a lecture hall. The primary concern of the students^—the house's social component—-was also discussed. Members of the various organizations expressed an interest in having a meeting place and suggested that the ALANA house would be ideal for that purpose. Students and faculty agreed that besides housing the building's director, this location would also house the student organizations. The students would be allowed to hold meetings and social gathering at this center. Furthermore, as junior Klem-Mari Cajigas suggested, it will serve as "a place where students can come in and relax." However, the Cross-Cultural Center is still a work in progress. Although the concern about a lack of furniture has been remedied, there are still several things to work out. Among those is the name of the house. As Nance stated "The change in name was believed to more accurately represent the constituencies for whom the house has been established." Furthermore, the current name more clearly "reflects the academic purposes for which the house has been intended." Also, as Dr. Nance proposes, "the house should have a director and perhaps an assistant director"— positions which the university has yet to fill due to lack of funds. "The individual hired for this position might, for example, have both an academic and a non-academic role and in that regard, should be familiar [ see HOUSE, page 2a ] O'Neill new director for first-year English by shoshana resnick | Dr. Megan O'Neill is enthusiastic about her new role and students at Stetson. O'Neill has recently accepted the position as director of first-year English students. She has made the jump from Creighton University in Nebraska where she taught for three years. Before beginning her teaching career she received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico and Undergraduate from East Washington University. ' O'Neill has reason to be enthusiastic about her new role. She had to go through several phases before becoming the selected applicant. [ read this story in News, page 2a ] Final Fantasy 8 earns top ratings from fans by ben burbank | Attention fans of intelligent video gaming! Some fresh air has just been blown into the lungs of the slowly dying "smart games" industry. Brought over just recently from Japanese shores, Squaresoft's newest installment to their ever newest installment to their ever popular Final Fantasy series of role playing games completely reanimates the plot-based gaming idea. Thirteen years ago, a small company named Square launched a series called Final Fantasy that now sells millions of copies worldwide. The idea was to create a world based on a cross breed of science-fiction, Elizabethan culture, and Japanese folk lore. [ read this story in Life, page 3b ] Ladies defeat Cats DIGGING: Catie Collins (4) digs for the ball as Trae Terry (16) looks on. Lady Hatters defeated the Cats at Tuesday's game. Hatters are now 5-2. photo by katarzyna walosik [ read this story in Sports, page 4b ]