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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.
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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