Newspapers / Brevard College Student Newspaper / May 2, 1995, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Brevard College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Clarion May 2, 1995 Page 2 More Problems In The S.» G«, A Jon Ostendorff Clarion Asst. Editor This semester it seems that controversy and argument are the only interesting things to come out of the Student Government Association, and the elections for new officers are no exceptions to this strange standard. The facts are simple. There was an election, and a SGA President and Vice-President were chosen by the votes of returning students. However, the losing candidate for Vice-President felt the winning candidate had broken a rule by being in the voting area while the voting was taking place. It was later discovered that the candidate was actually at the ballet box at the time of the voting. So the losing candidate for Vice President contested the election of the winning candidate. This contest was brought to the Judicial Board and it was decided that a voting rule had been broken. As a result of this a new election would be held be tween the two candidates for Vice- President with J-Board members moni toring the process. In this new election Vivian Rivers (winning candidate of the 1st election) was ousted by Lisa Trapp (losing candi date of the 1st election) for the position of Vice President. This is where the argument and controversy begin. According to Vice President Dustin Calhoun (who was monitoring the voting) a large crowed had gathered at the ballot box, so he asked Vivian Rivers to help him witji the voting process which involves crossing off the names of students after they have voted. This is where the violation was made. Rivers was a candidate, and the rules of election clearly state that candidates cannot be in the voting area after plac ing their votes. When asked why this was allowed to take place, Calhoun said he didn’t know he was breaking a rule. However, when the same question was presented to Vivian Rivers she said she reminded Calhoun that it was against the rules for her to help with the bal lots, but he told her it would be OK. Another interesting fact is that President Christopher Ford saw Rivers at the bal lot box but did not remind her of the rules or ask her to leave. When ques tioned about this Ford said, "Even if 1 had the power to stop it, Dustin and Vivian should have known better." Calhoun believes the complete opposite, "Chris Ford, being the President should have corrected us". The newly elected President, Lyle Alexis, who believes th*at both Calhoun and Ford were at fault said, "the Presi dent and Vice-President were aware of the rules". Unfortunately, the division and argument that has plagued SGA this semester has carried over into the elec tions of the new officials. The problem is simple. The out going President and Vice-President are supporting different candidates for the same position. Chris ffi ffl m m rgument topher Ford said that "Lisa Trapp has the right to ask for Vivian to be dis counted." The truth is that she does have that right, thus new elections, Dustin Calhoun said "In my opin ion, due to Vivian’s incentive to learn about social Board, I believe she is the best person for the job. Lisa Trapp did not and has not shown the same incen tive. " The truth of this is that he may be right. River’s has worked on the academic standards committee to create the mission and purpose of Brevard College, which is reviewed by the committee that accredits this school. She is also a Student Ambassador and has recruited six new freshman for B.C. This background is quite impressive. The fact is that the out-goin^ President and Vice-President of SGA have chosen sides and are blowing the problem way out of proportion. This is ridiculous (although very believable) be cause this is not their election. I hope this kind of division is not inherited by the new SGA members. However, it seems some good has come out of this problem. Andrea Piner, SGA Advisor, said that "the excitement is good" for SGA. Also the controversy has made more students aware of the SGA. The fact that twice as many peo ple voted in the second election than in the first clearly shows this. Congratulations to Lyle Alexis (SGA President), Lisa Trapp (SGA Vice President Social Board) and Stephany Nutting (SGA Vice President Judicial Board). I am sincerely looking forward to seeing good things come out of SGA next year. Americans Come Together. Why? Lara Sweet Clarion Asst. Editor On Wednesday, April 19, 1995 at about 9:00 a.ip-, the Oklahoma City Federal Building was bombed. It is believed that it was a para-militia group that instigated the bomb. Hundreds were injured and many were killed, including 20 children below the age of 7. The side of the building collapsed upon the explosion producing a pile of desks, phones, insulation, plastic, steel, con crete, coloring books, and human bod ies. The coloring books came from the day care center on the second floor of the building. President Clinton’s words rang out moments after the explosion with under lying anger. "These people are killers and must be treated like killers, justice will be swift, certain, and severe." As Americans across the country watched the unfolding tbrTor. vve asked many questions. Why Oklahoma City? Why did those hundreds of people die? Why, especially, did those people in the federal building deserve to die? Why were the children’s lives taken? What kind of people would be so cruel? These questions are asked over and over by the media and by the persons sitting in their living rooms reading and watch ing. As we watched the disaster on the television and read the graphic articles in the newspaper, we felt, and still feel, a sense of anger, sorrow, and rage. We saw the police officer handing the baby girl, no more than 6 months old, to the fireman. After the photo was released and printed on almost every front page of every newspaper in the country, we learned that the baby girl died. An innocent child. We saw the rescue workers who worked around the clock trying to salvage the injured and the dead. Millions of people watched and lived the calamity! How did this affect us.' Many psychologists have stated that just viewing and experiencing other peoples’ tragedy can do just as much damage psychologically as if they were directly affected themselves. We see the suffering and the pain in the eyes of husbands, wives, children, friends, rescue workers, and reporters, as they tell about the devastating scene that they have witnessed. Throughout this tragedy, we con tinue to hear the words that Janet Reno said at one of the many press conferenc es held about the situation. "We believe that the Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic affair." One of our own fellow Americans thought up and carried out this evil act. We are breeding these types of sick individuals in our nation. But we do not care unless a bomb ex plodes ill the Heartland of America. Or., do we reMly caireT i -'-i-; Americans come together. But why? We are not related to these peo ple. Do Americans only come together in a catastrophe? It seems that way. We are too busy with our own lives to care any other time. Do we really caie deep down in our hearts? We only care about what is affecting us in our own little surroundings at the present. Reality is all around us. We never stop lo loo around and see what we have. We do not realize things so detrimental and evil can happen in our small lives, people who do care only care for a short time before they have to get bac to their own selfish lives. 11 It has been almost two weeks since the bombing. Isn’t it about tin for everyone to stop caring and get to thinking about their own lives now. "It can’t happen to us." is ‘yP' ical American response to all otlensi situations. "It won’t happen to u ^ How do’weToi'ow?" '"
Brevard College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 2, 1995, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75