TTTT? 1 OH UILFORDIAN Greensboro, N.C. Volume 92, Issue 16 www.guilfordian.com February 10, 2006 Senate holds mediated restructuring meeting Students, senators voice lingering concerns josh^Cohei^ Staff Writer "Social change cannot happen in one meeting," said Senate Secretary Lili Sharpless as the meeting continued into its second hour. On Jan 30, members of Senate met under the guidance of two Conflict Resolution Resource Center (CRRC) counselors to dis cuss a possible restructuring of Senate. Senators held the restructuring meeting to voice their concerns about the current struc ture of Senate and the balance of power. To help keep the meetings calm and pro ductive, CRRC counselors Will Johnson and Dana DiMaio mediated. They led the dis cussions, kept notes, helped answer ques tions and moved the conversation forward when Senators got stuck in arguments. "The CRRC was involved in mediating past Senate meetings and people felt that it helped things remain calm and productive - so they brought us in to this meeting," DiMaio said. The meeting was divided between sena tors who want to see a change in structure and senators who do not see the need for change. Former Senator Malcolm Kenton was one of the leading voices of change. "There are people who are discontent with the way [Senate] is being run. There needs to be a way for everyone to voice their ideas and concerns," Kenton said. Senate President Ali Stewart explained that Senate has already made big changes this semester. "We've tried to move away from Senate's role as a bank for clubs," Stewart said. "In doing so, we will be able to deal with bigger issues concerning stu dents." Senator David Norton suggested that Senate allow an open number of seats for non-Senators in the Senate meetings. Currently, non-Senators can go to Senate meetings and voice their concerns, but they cannot be part of the actual decision-mak ing process. The proposed change would enable any number of non-Senator students to come to a Senate meeting and be part of the decision-making process. Senator Chris Lampkin was quick to point out the potential danger of having an unlimited number of open seats for regular students. "You'd be running the risk of a huge group of students coming in and swaying a decision in their favor without any opposition." "I realize that a huge group could make an unfair impact," Kenton said. "We need regulation, but it shouldn't just be a number of non-Senators that can come to the Senate meetings and be a part of the process." The CRRC counselors followed Lampkin's statement by marking his ideas down in their notes and opening up the floor for further questions. There was a general consensus among the people in attendance that the current Senate executives are doing a good job. However, the current Senate executives won't always be in charge. "The current Senate is good, but who knows what the future holds," said senior Seniors Will Johnson and Dana DeMaio mediated the Jan. 30 Senate meeting Continued on page 3 Colleges use Facebook to incriminate students Pascale Yallee Senior Writer All of those pictures posted on Facebook of beer pong tourna ments that you thought were harmless could get you in trouble with Campus Life. Colleges check up on students' non-scholastic activities using Facebook.com, a popular social networking Web site created by Harvard students in 2004. "Student can be charged judi cially if their comments or pic tures violate Guilford's code of conduct," said Alyson Kienle, Associate Dean for Campus Life. "It doesn't really matter whether the photos were taken on or off campus." Chris Hughes, spokesperson for Facebook, said that himdreds of professors and deans across the country have added their own profiles to the site. This does not exclude staff at Guilford. Aaron Fetrow, Dean for Campus Life; Randy Doss, Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life; and Watts Dixon, Landscape Project Supervisor, are among staff at Guilford who have Facebook accounts. Dixon said that he signed up for no particular reason. "Sometimes I surf Facebook and look at the photos, but I never think about how old the students are." "I did sign up so that I could investigate students when there are complaints against them relating to Facebook," Kienle said. However, she said that there isn't someone in Campus Life who is surfing the Web site hoping to bust stu dents. Jonathon Vogt, jun ior, created a Facebook group entitled "Are You A Little Creeped Out By Campus Life Being On Facebook?...Yeah, Me Too" and cited www.aclu.org (American Civil Liberties Union - an organi zation dedicated to preserving rights of American citizens) as the group's official website. "I wanted to raise awareness so kids wouldn't get themselves in trouble by posting incriminating photographs online," Vogt said. ^ t ■■ '4 H W ‘t. V? - X 'fA-. 4^' ' Mass, police used MySpace.com to "The fifth Amendment states, 'No person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a wit ness against himself.' I think it is pretty clear that kids are incrimi nating themselves on Facebook," Vogt said. "While I respect [Campus Life] and the job they have to do, I don't think they should be using Facebook as a tool for their investigations." With Campus Life on Facebook, many students, including Vogt, feel that it is inevitable that if illicit photographs are posted, or if there is a party pro moted on the site at which underage drinking could take place, then Public Safety would find out about it. Some students catch a gang feel they should have been warned about Campus Life's involvement. "If Campus Life wants to continue to use Facebook to support judi cial charges, they need to issue a d u statement or revise the handbook so students know what they are getting into," Vogt said. Colleges across the country are tracking Facebook, and other social networking Web sites, in order to charge students judicial ly- In October 2005, Pennsylvania State University's campus police used Facebook to identify stu dents who participated in an on- campus riot when swarms of stu dents ran onto the football field after their team scored a victory. Campus police were over whelmed and had difficulty iden tifying the rioters until they were tipped off about a Facebook group named "I Rushed the Field After the OSU Game (And Lived!)" In January 2006, police in Stoughton, Mass., used MySpace to track, identify, and arrest three teenagers, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education Newsletter. The teens were Continued on page 3

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