THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 88
Event of the day Check out today’s free brass ensemble concert featuring students, faculty and professional musicians! Part of the Performance Attendance Recital Series. When: Noon Where: The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave
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INSIDE Arts
Budget ready for president Senate approves SFC budget after a few changes
Food for the soul and the body Eat Yr Heart Out brings together two of Portland's favorite pastimes PAGE 4
Role-play and murder Portland State students put on subversive theater this weekend PAGE 4
Transience and poetry On the Stairs releases a new album tonight at the Woods PAGE 5
Sports
Corie Charnley Vanguard staff
After weeks of appeals and deliberation, the Student Senate has approved the Student Fee Committee’s final budget allocation, totaling $13,151,580, for the 2010–11 fiscal year. At its meeting on March 30, after reviewing the initial budget, the Student Senate submitted recommendations for the SFC to consider. Increases to several different groups’ budgets were proposed, and overall, the SFC responded to all of the requests. The SFC’s total allocation was a 2.75 percent increase from the 2009–10 fiscal year. The budget will now be presented to the university president for the final approval process. Among the several recommendations proposed by the senate was a re-examination of the Greek Council’s budget. However, the only adjustments that were made were related to its stipends, DJ services and travel budget. “There were no specifics regarding the purpose of the [senate’s proposed] examination,” said James Gent, vice chair of the SFC.
ASPSU eligibility issues President temporarily removed from office due to unmet requirements Virginia Vickery and Sarah J. Christensen Vanguard staff
Young gun Freshman pitcher Anna Bertrand sets a new level of dominance at PSU PAGE 6 Vikings finish big Women's golf takes fifth at Cowgirl Classic, Yada nabs second place PAGE 6
In addition, no changes were made to the Organization Budget Council’s budget. According to Gent, “[the OBC] was completely satisfied with its [initial] allocation.” Though the Student Veterans Association submitted an appeal to its budget, it did not address the issues raised by the senate, which regarded the caps on travel and stipend categories. Gent said that the SFC made it clear that though there were caps put on these categories, the SVA could distribute its travel and stipend funds according to its needs. However, to reflect the senate’s proposal, the SFC split the SVA’s funds equally between the president and vice-president’s stipends “for clarity.” The senate originally recommended that the Multicultural Center’s budget be reexamined to restore its co-sponsorship and Peer 2 Peer mentoring programs. In regards to the co-sponsorship, the SFC argued that the costs of events supported by the Multicultural Center be reflected in the appropriate budget. The SFC’s response to the recommendation read, “Without the evidence of true cost, it allows the budget with this kind of line item to… become another funding body of state money that has had no viewpoint neutrality training or training within the scope of allocating state finances.”
The student government vice president was forced to serve as president for three days in mid-March, due to the president’s noncompliance with academic standards set forth in its constitution. The issue has since been resolved through a technicality, but other members of ASPSU may have been in the same situation. Every member of ASPSU is bound by its constitution to maintain certain academic standards to serve in elected, hired or appointed positions. On Sunday, March 27, Eddie Hallman, ASPSU Vice President, received a call from Assistant Director of Student Activity and Leadership Programs Domanic Thomas informing him that he was “acting president” until academic eligibility requirements could be met by President Jonathan Sanford. “There was a period of time that Eddie Hallman was acting president and that wasn’t widely announced,” Thomas said.
It is the responsibility of the university to inform ASPSU officials or members if they do not meet academic requirements. According to the constitution, if the president does not meet eligibility requirements, the vice president is acting president. If both the president and vice president are not eligible, then the chief justice of the Judicial Board acts as an interim president. Hallman also faced eligibility difficulties, which he said were resolved quickly. “That was the case—kind of—but it was bureaucratic, not academic… Both of our situations were resolved without anything shady going down and we’re excited to finish up our terms in office,” Hallman said. The Judicial Board members were made aware of the issue during spring break, and addressed it at their first meeting of the term. The board decided that the students had one week to fix things or the seats would be declared vacant. By Tuesday, March 30, Sanford had worked with his professors to finish his requirements and was reinstated as president. “We’re all official still, everyone on executive staff is fully on right now,” Hallman said. Sanford claims Thomas misunderstood the ASPSU
Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard
Moving on: Student Senate deliberated on and passed the SFC budget to go to PSU president.
In addition, a coordinating position was funded to act in an administrative role for the Peer 2 Peer mentoring programs. According to the SFC’s response to the senate recommendations, no changes were made to the Jim Sells Childcare Assistance Program, as “childcare, as a whole, received a five percent increase.” Gent said that while increased funding would be beneficial, the program did not appeal the initial budget allocation. Las Mujeres received an additional $100 to cover events hosted by the group. According to Gent, a doubled line item in the student group’s budget allowed the SFC to increase its funding. Overall, Las Mujeres received an adjusted allocation of $11,221. KPSU received a $21,566 increase, resulting in a total allocation of $176,429. According to the SFC’s statement, the SFC predicts that
KSPSU’s demand for DJ services will “create a demand for an increased repertoire within KPSU’s music collection.” As a result, $5,000 was placed in a designated reserve to cover this cost. In addition, $15,000 was placed in reserve for the purpose of increasing stipends, due to the SFC’s “routing of DJ services of KPSU.” PSU’s debate team received a $24,960 increase in funds, raising its total allocation to $54,184. However, most of that money is in designated reserve unless the debate team meets certain requirements, such as finding other possible avenues of funding, understanding the SFC funding levels will likely decrease in the future and that only “necessary” team members will travel. “Given that [the debate team’s] mission is unique, and that it is solely based around competitive travel…[its mission] was completely hindered by the original allocation,” Gent said.
Constitution and mistakenly promoted Hallman. The constitution states that undergraduate students who are elected, appointed or standing as candidates for office must maintain a minimum 2.00 GPA per term and are required to be students in “good” standing, as defined by the university, throughout the term of office. Undergraduates must complete at least four academic credits per term, excluding credits earned through ASPSU participation and classes designated as pass/no pass, incomplete or otherwise not awarded a GPA, as defined by the university. Sanford said a professor allowed his grade to be entered as an “X” rather than as an “Incomplete” until he completed some work, after which time the professor entered a grade. According to the university’s grading policy, an X or Y grade does not count toward the calculation of grades and it is used when there is an insufficient basis for a grade. “The way it’s going is that I had an ‘X’ on my account, it says [in the constitution] only incompletes, and that’s what people have been cracking down about,” Sanford said. According to Thomas, other students faced similar situations of ineligibility, a list of whom was sent to the J-Board, but the Vanguard was unable to obtain a copy of the list by press time. Reasons that these ASPSU members couldn’t meet requirements ran the gambit from grade issues to number of credits
passed to minimum class registration requirements, Thomas said. “Some chose to resign, some have fixed their situation to be in line with the constitution, but not the student stipend agreement,” Thomas said. Yet, he went on to say, “This was the lowest [number of students not qualified] I’ve seen in the last few years.” The student senate is planning to take a vote in late April on a proposed change to the constitution regarding half-time requirements. The change would be that ASPSU members would have to be enrolled in at least six, rather than four, academic credits to keep their positions. This change would bring the requirements in line with the Dean of Students Stipend Policy. The senate will have to decide if it takes immediate effect or not. If it does, the change will affect a lot of students, Thomas said. “The four to six change is one that I absolutely applaud,” he said. Student-leaders must meet a host of requirements in order to keep their positions. All students receiving a stipend from the university fill out Student Stipend forms in which they agree to specific terms, including maintaining satisfactory academic performance. The ASPSU constitution also has several other requirements for its officials to comply with throughout the academic year. The constitution can be found on its Web site at www.aspsu.pdx.edu.