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NEWS
News Briefs
The New Paltz Oracle
Senate Fills Last BFC Seat
National Scientists have decoded DNA from an unidentified human ancestor that lived in Siberia some 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. They say this ancestor may be a new member of the human family tree. The genetic material doesn’t match DNA from our own species or from Neanderthals. Instead, it appears the Siberian species had started to evolve away from modern humans and Neanderthals about a million years ago. ***** A Southern California school teacher has been arrested for allegedly teaching while drunk. Toro Canyon Middle School teacher Tonya Neff was taken to the Indio jail Tuesday afternoon and booked for investigation of felony child endangerment. Administrators at Thermal’s Toro Canyon Middle School told the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department that the 47-year-old teacher was apparently intoxicated on campus. Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Tapp says Neff had taken prescription drugs and alcohol and an alcoholic beverage was found inside a container. ***** Police in Connecticut say they had ample warning of a bank robbery because the two suspects called the bank ahead of time and told an employee to get a bag of money ready. Police arrested 27-year-old Albert Bailey and an unidentified 16-year-old boy on robbery and threatening charges Tuesday afternoon at a People’s United Bank branch in Fairfield. Sgt. James Perez says the two Bridgeport residents showed up about 10 minutes after making the call and were met by police in the parking lot. Perez told the Connecticut Post the suspects were “not too bright.” World Briefs, pg. 5
STOCK PHOTO BY FELICE BERNABO
Brian Kimbiz explained the proposed New Paltz Noise Ordinance to the senate. The ordinance could disrupt gatherings in the village. By Pamela Vivanco Copy Editor | Pvivanco57@newpaltz.edu
At the latest meeting of the 49th student senate, members of the body approved Sen. Jeff Fonda to the last seat in the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC). Sen. Fonda, who has prior experience as a BFC member, said that he will be sure to voice his opinion as a member of the committee. Before Fonda was elected, Sen. Rose Faber was nominated to run for BFC by Sen. Eli Conrad-Hampton. In the last senate meeting, Faber was mistakenly denied the last BFC seat when her vote was not counted. If her vote was counted, opposing and supporting results would have been tied. As a result, members of the body voted again and after a brief discussion, Faber was denied the seat. Later in the meeting, New Paltz Village Board of Trustees member Brian Kimbiz discussed the New Paltz Noise Ordinance, a proposal that he classified as unfair and “pretty much targets students around the community for different things.” According to Kimbiz, if this noise ordinance is approved, it would force members of the community to apply for a permit even for a peaceful protest in the village. “It would allow police officers to arrest you at any time without warrant,” he said. “If they think you’re being loud, they could just arrest you.” Kimbiz announced that he is working on a petition that he encourages everybody to sign and that he will present to the Village Board on March 24 and in the next Village Board meeting. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Governance, Brenna Fearey led a discussion about a proposal that was recently put together by the Constitution and Rules Committee in
an effort to create a more functional process at the Council of Organizations meetings. When filling out their charters, clubs and organizations are asked to place themselves under a specific category or house that fits them best out of six houses: fine and performing arts house, academic house, advocacy house, athletic house, media house and the social and cultural house. But, there are instances when different organizations do not accurately fit the criteria of the different houses which can create difficulty. “From what I’ve heard and what I found is that it sounds like a lot of these groups don’t actually fit in and when they meet with their houses, they may not actually share like interests and commonalities and so it’s hard to get something done,” said Fearey. As a result, the idea proposes that they create a house delegates committee with council boards. The house delegate would gain the responsibility to elect a person to represent their opinions and ideas to Council of Organizations, CRC, BFC and Programming Board. House delegates would take up the role of the office allocation committee, they would review and approve charters, and they would pick an appropriate house for different clubs among other tasks. Executive Vice President Abe Uchitelle reported that Records and Registration is planning on adding another day between the registrations of second, third- and fourth-year students in order to make the registration process less stressful for students and faculty. Uchitelle also announced that he, Town Supervisor Toni Hokanson and members of UCAT are working together to change the route and the schedule of the Loop in order to make “it a little bit more consistent, a little bit less delayed and a little bit more efficient.” In order to avoid delay in the one-way street, the Loop will no longer go into Huguenot Court and it will not make a left turn onto
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Southside Avenue. As for the schedule, they are planning to make the Loop run on the hour during rush hour because of the traffic in order to gain consistency. When these changes go into effect, they plan to add weekend services. Uchitelle also announced that there will be a master plan review in the village. The Village of New Paltz is encouraging students to join the committee which will review and revise the master plan. “It could be an opportunity for somebody to really get involved and really have an impact in what direction things are going to go with the village and how the student voice and student role is going to be incorporated in that vision,” said Uchitelle. The committees will discuss the direction of policies for the next five to ten years and well as the economy and transportation of the village and other topics. Council of Organizations Chair Hana Akimoto discussed the importance of different clubs and organizations tabling on Accepted Students day on April 10. “Students don’t come here just for academics... they come here because they want to do activities outside of class too,” she said. In her formal announcement, President Stephanie Samuel announced that the fashion show would be on Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose room. She also announced that the social, where students will get the opportunity to communicate with the school administration, will be held on April 28 from 2 to 4 p.m. in Student Union 100. “It will be a really beneficial program and it’s a good way to get to know the administration and ask them questions,” she said. Vice President for Programming Kevin Purcell said that SA Productions is still looking for students to volunteer for the April 21 concert that will feature Gym Class Heroes and the winners of The Battle of the Bands. The next general meeting of the student senate will be held on Tuesday, March 30.