NEWS
April 26, 2013
New Senate executives discuss next year’s pians
BY KATY ANDREWS
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This past week, Guilford held elections for our new senate
team and the results are in.
Every year, the student body votes for the next Senate
executive board. This year, the students elected junior Samir
Hazboun as President, junior Justin Przezdziecki as Vice
President, junior Daniel Veizaga as Interclub Council Chair,
junior Josh Strassburger as treasure and junior Nick Huckins
as secretary.
There was concern that there were not enough candidates,
so Senate extended the application process for two extra
weeks. However, on election day, about 450 students came
out to vote, which is a strong turn-out.
"I chose to run for Senate President because I feel that my
skill set is extremely complementary to what is required for
the position," said Hazboun. "I love composing emails. Tm
good at chasing down flighty administrators, and I have lots
of blackmail on Aaron Fetrow.
"All kidding aside, I really want to help give students
the opportunity to pour all their energy into what they love
at Guilford and not waste time getting burnt out on all of
the bureaucratic hoops that you occasionally have to jump
through."
Meanwliile, other candidates have different hopes for the
2013-2014 academic year.
"I ran for Senate so that I could get involved and meet
new people," said Huckins in an email interview. "I want to
be able to look back on my college experience and feel that I
really made a positive impact on the school and its students."
The new Senate-elects have a lot to say about how they
plan to make the Guilford we know and love a better place for
faculty, staff as well as both current and prospective students.
"A cool new idea that I believe was brought up by Samir
Hazboun is to start a scholarship that will be aimed at
undocumented students to help ease the financial pressure
that-college is-associated with“-said^trassburgerr^'^amir's
job would be to get the scholarship approved, while mine
would be to find and or request funds for this purpose."
Huckins has a few new ideas as well.
"My biggest goal next year will be to get as many people
involved with student Senate as possible," said Huckins. "To
do this, I believe that we will have to improve and expand the
way we advertise for activities and events. If we are able to
get the word out more effectively and to a larger amount of
people, I believe we can increase the amount of participation
in Senate."
With all of these budding ideas. Senate has a lot on their
plate for the upcoming year.
"Next year I plan on taking most of the leaders to a day
retreat where they will learn to contract, plan, execute and
set goals for their club or organization," said Veizaga. "Also,
this way they will all interact with each other and learn about
other fun and interesting clubs."
The Vice President - elect is looking forward to working
with the new executive team.
"We just started working together as a group and are all
very excited to help build on the great job that this year's
student Senate has done," said Przezdziecki. "We have a few
ideas in the works, and once we have them more organized,
we will promptly announce them at Senate meetings."
The new Senate team has a lot of exciting ideas in the
works and-is ready to put their skills to use.
"I'm really excited for the upcoming year and would like
to thank everyone who came out and voted on Election Day,"
said Przezdziecki. "I can't wait to see all of you at student
Senate meetings and other meeting opportunities throughout
the next school year."
However, there are concerns about the lack of females on
the executive board for next year.
"I am worried about the presence of a female voice,
and I just hope there's a lot of intentionality about having
conversations about gender and having conversations about
what they're not thinking about and challenging themselves to
question the dynamics of the conversation," said sophomore
Alexandra Haridopolis, current Senate secretary. "I hope that
there are a lot of women who apply for steering positions."
Budget cuts require layoffs
BY BrnTtAKY MMRDQCK V, ;
As you enter Campus Life and make
your way to the back of the office, you
will see one door closed without a
single light on in the room. The name
plate reads: Tammy Alt.
Last year, when the college was
facing a $2 million shortfall due to
federal and state cuts; a series of plans
were made to cut faculty and staff over
the next two years. Former Associate
Dean of Students Tammy Alt was laid
off earlier this month due to budget
cuts.
"This had nothing to do with
Tammy's performance but (was)
rather all about budget cutting," said
Vice President for Student Affairs and
Dean of Students Aaron Fetrow. "It
was a position identified by me a year
and a half ago. If it came to needing to
cut budgets, eventually one of the last
positions I would move on would be
an associate dean because I have two."
Alt's duties included enrollment
management. First-year Experience
lab instruction and a retention and
withdrawal initiative.
"I had Tammy as my EYE lab
teacher, and she helped us transition
into freshman year by arming us
with the knowledge we needed about
Guilford and college life in general,"
said first-year Morgan Rudd in an
email interview. "She impacted our
whole class in a positive way. I will
miss Tammy. I already do."
Senior Lydia Rain also had Alt as
her EYE lab teacher and has worked at
the front desk of Campus Life for two
years.
"It's sad when students come in and
ask for her, and I have to tell them that
she no longer works here," said Rain.
"She vyas not only wonderful but a big
,, support system for a,lot of students."
, Associate Dean of Students Jen
Agor will be taking over the retention
and withdrawal process.
"Tammy was really fun to work
with and had great relationships
with students," said Agor. "She went
to hospitals to see students, talked
to parents and really made the extra
effort of making time for students
■ when they heeded her." . '
Sophomore Olivia Tibbs
experienced firsthand just how
caring and passionate Alt is about her
students.
"Tammy is the sweetest woman
you'll ever meet, and I can't believe
she is gone," said Tibbs. "When I was
in the ER, she personally called my
mom to check up and on. Nobody else
did that."
Colleagues and friends of Alt had
nothing but great things to say about
her.
"Tammy is smart, caring,
collaborative, engaging and
thoughtful," said Assistant Academic
Dean for Advising and Academic
Support Barbara Boyette in an email
interview. "Tammy was my retention
partner and would jump at the chance
to discuss issues and help make
Guilford a better place."
Assistant Dean of Career and
Community Learning Alan Mueller
enjoyed collaborating with Alt and
took notice of her passion for the
success of Guilford students.
"I appreciated Tammy's advocacy
and ability to bring conversations
about policy and programs back
down to the level of how something
might directly impact a student," said
Mueller. "It is a valuable perspective."
Though budget cuts will continue,
Fetrow does not anticipate any further
reductions of staff in Campus Life.
Solving the athlete, non-athlete divide
BY JOHN KLUEPFEL
Staff WnfTHi
"We can never go nowhere unless we share
with each other," said Tupac Shakur in his song
"Changes." "We gotta start makin' changes.
Learn to see .me as a brother 'stead of two distant
strangers."
Guilford's student body should take Shakur's
advice in dealing with the athlete/non-athlete
student divide on campus.
A Principled Problem Solving group is working
on solving this divide. The group met in a forum
with students on Wednesday, April 17, to discuss
the issue. This is not the first time that PPS has
dealt with this issue over the years.
"Last year, there was another PPS group who
also worked on the athlete/non-athlete divide,"
said sophomore PPS scholar Byron Hamilton.
"They took a survey and found that a majority of
the students agreed or strongly agreed that there is
athlete/non-athlete divide on Guilford's campus."
This year's PPS group plans to create events
and awards that will hopefully create relationships
between the non-athletes and athletes.
"We're creating a pilot program where essentially
an athletic team would sponsor a non-athlete club
that would (in turn) sponsor the athletic team,"
said Hamilton. "It's a cosponsor where the athletes
would go to X number of events, and the non
athlete club would go to a number of events.
"We would also like for four or five members of
each to share a meal together where they can get to
know each other and have a personal relationship."
At the forum, students talked about these ideas
and other general feelings on the issue. Some
students believe that the divide occurs simply
because athletes have similar interests.
"I think the divide occurs because of social
habits," said senior former track runner Rashon
Miller. "What do you spend your time doing?
What you do with your free time defines whom
you hang out with at Guilford. It's up to that
person and whether that person is willing to go out
of their comfort zone."
Although some students believe this issue is
legitimate, many believe that the athlete/non
athlete divide is overstated and that there are
divides spread across campus.
"It's an umbrella term for all the divides that
we have on campus," said junior PPS leader Jamie
Rodgers. "It's just easier to look at people with the
same type of gear on and group them, instead of
looking at them individually."
A large problem with the divide is students'
perceptions. Some students believe that athletes
receive preferential treatment in academics.
"As an athlete. I'd say we don't," said sophomore
tennis player Blake Brown. "We're not getting paid
to do this. It's a volunteer effort, and many times
we aren't even excused from class for going on our
matches. I think it's more of a perception."
Recruitment might also contribute to the
athlete/non-athlete divide.
'There is a divide, and it is hard to diminish,"
said junior PPS Scholar Ryan Phillips, former
basketball player. "It stems from recruiting.
Sometimes things are left out from what Guilford's
experience is really like."
Head Women's Softball Coach Dennis Shores
works at breaking the divide with inclusive
campus events.
"I got the softball team to start Relay for Life
on campus to pull all different areas and types of
people on campus to work for a great cause," said
Shores.
The athlete/non-athlete divide is a widely
discussed issue at Guilford, but it is a positive sign
that the community is actively working to solve it.
The PPS group will work at solving the issue
with a Dick Dyer award.
"We want to make a Dick Dyer award for the
best collaboration between a sports team and a
non-sports team," said Rodgers. "We're hoping
that will motivate others to do the same."
Although PPS is committed to solving the issue,
it may not be enough. The forum did not attract
more than a couple of students, and many believe
the issue will not be resolved.
"I honestly think the athlete/non-athlete
divide will never end," said senior Howard Hurt.
"Students can acknowledge the divide all they
want, but the PPS groups are the only ones actually
committed to the cause."