F R I D A Y JAN. 28, 2005 Vol. 126, No. 44
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STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
SU: Is Special Olympics legit? n SGAC investigates relationship between Special Olympics Club and ZBT By Liz Neukirch and Jonathan Greenberger
Special Olympics Club Controversy Who is involved?
If you haven’t had falafel on Sunday, you don’t know what you’re missing. Cadenza checks out KWUR’s “immensely popular hip-hop show,” Falafel Beatz.
• Special Olympics Club: SOC hosts a statewide basketball tournament each Feb. with the Mo. Special Olympics organization • SU Treasury: Funds student groups • Student Group Activities Committee: SGAC decides whether organizations can be classified as student groups, which affects Treasury’s funding decisions • Zeta Beta Tau: ZBT fraternity has a number of members in the Special Olympics Club
What are the accusations? • SU members maintain SOC misrepresented its relationship with ZBT • SGAC is investigating this • If SGAC finds SOC is a part of ZBT, it may strip SOC of its student group status—and potentially its SU funding • SOC denies these claims and says it is a legitimate student group, fully independent of ZBT
Student Life Staff Following a confrontational appearance before Student Union’s Treasury, the Special Olympics student group is now under investigation by another arm of SU. At last week’s Treasury meeting, Special Olympics Club representatives appealed for $4,350 in additional funding from SU. The funding request, which was only partially approved, will be used by the Special Olympics Club (SOC) to fund its February basketball tournament, which it hosts on an annual basis in conjunction with the Missouri chapter of the Special Olympics. During the course of the funding appeal, Treasury members asked if SOC had sought out funding from other groups, besides SU—specifi cally the University’s chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity, which has historically had a close relationship with SOC. The SOC representatives denied any connection with ZBT. SU says this denial was a lie. “Special Olympics blatantly lied to Treasury,” SU treasurer Jessica Jones claimed. The question of SOC’s connection with ZBT is significant because it potentially affects whether the club should even be classified as a student group. Typically, fraternities and their philanthropic committees are not considered student
See SPECIAL OLYMPICS, page 3
CNYF receives funding despite mix-up
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By Rachel Streitfeld
Readers sound off in Forum on Anna Dinndorf’s recent claim that private schools give their students an unfair advantage when applying to college.
PAGE 4 Is it fair for the Senior Class to have an elected SU representative who doesn’t pay the activities fee? The Editorial Board takes a look in Forum.
Contributing Editor Despite concerns over the status of the Chinese New Year Festival group, the Student Union Treasury decided to approve the group’s $3,380 budget appeal for next weekend’s performance. CNYF’s budget request provoked a lengthy debate at Tuesday’s Treasury meeting, where representatives ultimately decided to effectively double the amount the group received from SU this year. Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Treasury had granted $3,654.65 to CNYF, which stages a yearly performance to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Last November, CNYF members asked the Student Group Activities Committee to separate from their umbrella organization, the Chinese Students Association. SGAC told CNYF it needed to submit a new constitution to the Student Union Treasury, which could then vote on whether to make CNYF a new group. However, by Tuesday’s Treasury meeting, CNYF had not yet submitted a constitution—though
they had turned in an appeal for increased funding for their show next weekend. Treasury Representative Rafael Walker said the CNYF Treasurer, Jonathan Liu, arrived at the SU meeting with no knowledge that the CNYF constitution had not been submitted. Liu refused to comment on the mix-up, and other CNYF members referred all questions on the issue to CNYF Coordinators Tina Ho and Katrina Yuen. Ho and Yuen did not return phone calls yesterday. “There’s obviously a disconnect somewhere in the group,” said SGAC Chair Harsh Agarwal. “Something wasn’t carried over.” Though CNYF and the Chinese Students Association are technically connected through SU, the organizations have maintained separate business operations, including separate funding, in recent years. CNYF is a campus tradition like Diwali and Black Anthology—all are yearly extravaganzas that draw in large numbers
STUDENT LIFE ARCHIVES
The Chinese New Year Festival ran into difficulties this year because the organizers did not file their See CNYF, page 2 Student Union paperwork on time.
SU urges the creation of GLBTQA resource center By Shweta Murthi Contributing Reporter
PAGE 4 Matt Simonton asks a question fundamental to human existence in Cadenza: Why are most hardcore record collectors men? His answers may surprise you.
PAGE 7 EVA JANSSON | KRT CAMPUS
INDEX News Forum Sports Cadenza
groups. In response to this controversy, the branch of SU that decides these matters, the Student Group Activities Committee (SGAC), has launched an investigation into SOC’s status as a student group. If SGAC fi nds that SOC is not a legitimate group and instead is just a part of ZBT, its SU funding, which last year totaled $4,500, would be in serious jeopardy. SOC insists that it has followed all of SGAC’s rules and is confused about why it is being accused of lying. SU, for its part, says it has good evidence that SOC is really just a part of ZBT and not its own student group. At last week’s Treasury meeting, for instance, Speaker of the SU Senate Marc Bridge showed those in attendance that until recently, ZBT’s Web site claimed that the fraternity helps organize the local Special Olympics. “There are all these references to ZBT putting on the event,” said sophomore Treasurer Rafael Walker. “A lot of [Treasury] members understood that was the case.” While Special Olympics could retain its SU funding even with a majority of its members from ZBT, SGAC rules require that a legitimate student group actively solicit participation from all undergraduates at the University, said SGAC Chair
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Jeff and Winnie Davis of Independence, Mo., march for gay rights on the National Mall in Washington D.C. last year. A newly proposed GLBTQA campus resource center would be a home for gay students on campus and would advocate on their behalf.
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Student Union Senate passed a resolution on Jan. 20 urging the creation of a resource center for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning/queer, and ally (GLBTQA) community. The center would overlook all four GLBTQA groups on campus and pr ov ide a longt e r m support network t h a t would remain active e v e n SU Senator Abram Rose th rough changes in student groups. The new coordinator would provide not only a liaison between student groups and administration but would also reach out to the wider community to provide a long-term support center. The proposition also called for “the creation and maintenance of a GLBTQA resource center with appropriate staff” as well as “the creation of a University Task Force to investigate GLBTQA issues.” According to senior Marc Bridge, speaker of SU Senate, the proposition was passed by the Senate without opposition. Senator Abram Rose in-
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troduced the resolution after meeting with representatives of GLBTQA groups on campus. The students told him about a problem they had noticed: when group members graduated, there was no one to continue their projects. “This is something that could act independently, so that even when someone leaves, there will be continuity,” said Rose. Now that SU has passed the resolution, Rose said the groups are waiting for the administration to make a move. “At any point, the faculty can say, ‘We’re not going to do this.’ Right now the ball is primarily on the court of the faculty,” said Rose. “We’re hoping they decide to get started right away.” Senior Kerry Chaplin, president of Keshet Jewish GLBTQA group, said that the new coordinator position would address needs not already addressed by current GLBT groups. “Spectrum serves a more social purpose and Safe Zones is more educational, but this would cover all the administrative areas of the university that would be very hard for student groups to go to,” said Chaplin. “For example, if a student were to have a breakdown or GLBTQA emergency, health services redirects people to WUPD, so we need to train them how to handle such a student. No one group can go to all GLBTQA services, while com
See GLBTQA, page 3
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