The Appalachian
TheAppalachianOnline.com
Thursday, March 27, 2012
Vol. 86 No. 41
Hatley/Hanna found responsible for major violations by HANK SHELL News Editor
The Student Government Association’s Election Judicial Board found presidential and vice presidential candidates Steven Hatley and Chelsey Hanna responsible for two major campaign violations in two separate hearings Sunday and Monday. The board sentenced Hatley/Hanna to a 48-hour campaign suspension for their second major viola-
tion Monday, Hatley said. The defendants chose to have a closed hearing and additional information was not available at press time, though the Cox/Barnes ticket was listed as a plaintiff. Hatley commented on the board’s decision after the sentencing. “They’re good people,” Hatley said. “They do the best that they can. They heard the facts of the case and they made the decision that they did. I think maybe that the punishment was a little
bit excessive. That’s why I’m going to attempt to appeal it, but I guess that’s just life.” The first violation came Sunday, when the ticket was issued a written reprimand for violating election bylaw 8.1, which states that “candidates and their staff may not use campaigning which is or can be construed as slander, libel or statements with malicious intent.” The ticket was also found in violation of SGA election policies and procedures 11.3 and 11.4, which
define campaign staff. Elections board Pro-Tempore Tiffany Teague filed the accusation over a Facebook post by freshman Sarah Lane. In the post, Lane accused presidential and vice presidential candidates Jake Cox and Eric Barnes of communicating with audience members via text message during Tuesday night’s debate. Appalachian State University and Hanna were tagged in the post. Hanna said she com-
mented on the post later, referring Lane to Elections Board Chair Frank Byrne. Teague argued that the allegations in the post were erroneous and were published with malicious intent to defame Cox’s character. She also said Lane was acting in the capacity of a campaign staff member. Individuals acting in support of a candidate can be considered part of their campaign staff if the judicial board believes the candidates would reasonably have
been aware of their efforts in support of their campaign, according to 11.3. Hanna said during the hearing that her ticket was not affiliated with Lane and that she believed all Lane was trying to do was “spread awareness.” The board found Lane to be a campaign staff member and subject to election bylaws, as defined by policies and procedures 11.3 and 11.4. Hatley commented on see Violation, page 2
UNC-system student governments try to overcome voter apathy by ANNE BUIE
Senior News Reporter
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ppalachian State University, along with other UNC System schools, consistently records low voting numbers in Student Government Association elections. At Appalachian, 2,598 students voted in the 2011 presidential and vice presidential election and 2,323 voted in the runoff. That was a frustratingly low turnout, SGA President Lauren Estes said. Still, Estes said she understood the difficulties associated with mobilizing students to vote. “When you’re campaigning, you only reach out to a few people who are involved with something,” Estes said. “It’s hard to get in touch with people who aren’t involved on campus.” SGA has continued to work toward an easier, more effective voting process. SGA elections are held online via Appalnet and, last year, SGA set up laptop voting stations around campus. The stations will be set up again this year, by Varsity Gym and Belk Library & Information Commons. “It has certainly helped,” Estes said. “When you make the voting process easier to understand, you have a better likelihood of people actually voting.” N.C. State’s Student Government also sets up polling stations throughout see Voter Apathy, page 2
Infographic by Aaron Fairbanks | Information compiled by Anne Buie
Physical Plant avoided $219,000 cost Students involved respond by KELLI STRAKA
Senior News Reporter
Appalachian State University’s Physical Plant reduced heating and lighting for 10 days during the 2011 Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks, saving the university around $219,000, physical plant employees said. The money saved during the 2011 breaks is the most the physical plant has saved since it started reducing heating and lighting usage two years ago, Physical Plant Energy Manager Jerry Marshall said. The reduction in energy usage was made necessary by a reduction in allocations from the state. The physical plant’s utility budget has not been increased even as Appalachian has added more buildings and square footage to campus, Marshall said. “Even though we’ve cut our consumption, there’s no real dollars
because they’re not giving us additional dollars to begin with,” Marshall said. “If we hadn’t done it, we would be over budget.” During the 2011 breaks, the physical plant avoided energy usage by using automatic programs to regulate energy expenditure by on-campus systems. The programs determine whether to turn down or turn off systems based on outside temperatures. A system cannot be turned off completely while people are in the building. Under the current holiday break schedule, the physical plant reduces and turns off power in buildings for approximately four days over Thanksgiving Break and approximately eight days over Winter Break. The Physical Plant has expressed interest in arranging holiday breaks in a way that will allow more time for systems to be turned off, Marshall said. But because holiday
breaks are set at the state level, changing the schedule would be difficult. Still, the current cost avoidance aligns with Appalachian’s goals of lowering energy usage and reducing its climate footprints, Sustainability Director Ged Moody said. “To be able to put out such large numbers saved in such a short period of time is really a great shot in the arm for all of our sustainability and saving measures,” Moody said. University Sustainability Specialist Crystal Simmons said the cost avoidance shows commitment to these goals among Appalachian’s staff members. “Looking at areas where we can become more efficient and save money helps us be more fiscally responsible with the money that we have for electricity and energy needs across campus,” Simmons said.
College Democrats, Republicans to debate on election-year federal issues by MARK KENNA
Intern News Reporter
Appalachian State University’s College Democrats and College Republicans will hold a debate Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom. Issues discussed will include the Keystone XL Pipeline, the economy, the American Jobs Act, contraception and the Affordable Care Act, alternative energy, the voter I.D. bill and President Obama’s performance thus far, College Democrats President Lia Poteet said. The questions were agreed upon by both sides. “They really picked a lot of the key topics that are relevant right now in the country,” College Democrats Advisor Charlie Wallin said. Sean Ridley, director of the Department of Communication, will moderate the event. The two parties will debate eight questions, with two minutes for each topic and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. After an intermission, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions. “What makes these questions different from the last meeting is that they are more federal-based questions, whereas the questions from last debate were more state-based,” said senior Kelsey Crum,
vs.
Who: College Republicans and College Democrats What: Debate on the economy, the voter I.D. bill and President Obama’s performance thus far. When: Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Where: Blue Ridge Ballroom in Plemmons Student Union chairperson for the College Republicans. Last semester’s debate encompassed the Occupy movement and Amendment One. The College Democrats, College Republicans, AppSpeaks, the Debate Team and Alpha Phi Alpha will host the event.. “When people who are well-informed on the issues help other people who are not, that is a wonderful thing,” College Republicans Advisor Phillip Ardoin said.
to Kony 2012 criticism By EMMALEE ZUPO Senior Lifestyles Reporter
As Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign has faced widespread recognition and criticism, Appalachian State University students close to the cause have reacted with continued support. The nonprofit works toward the apprehension of the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army and the arrest of its leader, Joseph Kony. The Kony 2012 campaign debuted March 5, with the release of a 30-minute documentary aimed at making Kony infamous for his crimes. The video went viral, but criticism followed. The accuracy of the video itself, the effectiveness of the campaign and Invisible Children’s transparency and use of funds have all been called into question. But Appalachian’s chapter of Invisible Children has grown since the campaign began, CoPublicist Natasha Greendyk said. “The day after the movie came out, I had probably five people in my class approach me immediately and ask me questions about it,” Greendyk said. “And then we had about 120 people add us on Facebook within three days.” Junior technical photography major Daniel Szmczyk is currently traveling as an Invisible Children “roadie” and hosting screenings of the Kony 2012 documentary. Szmczyk remains an Invisible Children supporter and said the screenings - which are hosted at high schools, colleges and places of worship - provide an opportunity to address criticism. “Even just today, at the university we presented at, we got a lot of criticism on the spot, faceto-face,” Szmczyk said. “A lot of them were concerned with finances - like where funds go. And I can proudly say that Invisible Children, as an organization, is fully transparent with their finances.” The financial information Szmczyk referenced can be located at invisiblechildren.com/critiques and charitynavigator.org. The second site rates nonprofits and foundations on a four-star basis. Invisible Children’s overall score
is 3/4 and its Accountability & Transparency score is 2/4. As the Kony 2012 campaign faced criticism, the filmmaker behind the documentary was detained and hospitalized after suffering what appeared to be a mental breakdown. The behavior of Jason Russell, also a co-founder of Invisible Children, was attributed to exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. Libba Moore, co-publicist for the Appalachian chapter of Invisible Children, thinks the breakdown was the result of widespread criticism. “I don’t think it’s in anybody’s brain capacity to imagine what it’s like to be attacked by the media, by your local community, by everyone,” she said. “We’re keeping him in our hearts and minds. We’re still on his side.” Though those involved with Invisible Children stand by the cause, some students have criticized the Kony 2012 campaign. Many assert that the influence of the LRA has decreased considerably since 2005, when Invisible Children was founded. Senior technical photography major Tommy Penick said he thought the campaign diverted attention from other, more relevant things happening in Africa. “While I do believe that Invisible Children has done some pretty impressive things in terms of bringing light to issues, I think that the amount of energy that went into this could have been used somewhere else,” Penick said. “This issue has really gone down since they started this.” Others, like junior secondary education major Jordan Carter, are supporters. “To me, the basic message is that Joseph Kony is a horrible person and he has done horrible things in the past,” Carter said. “Even if he were to completely stop, he still did these things and he should be punished for them.” Joseph Kony’s warrant for arrest is currently recognized by the International Criminal Court and has been since 2005. His listed crimes include 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes.