The Appalachian
TheAppalachianOnline.com
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Vol. 86 No. 43
Tickets participate in SGA runoff debate Attendance below 20 by second half, as Cox/Barnes and Freemyer/Lee face off by ANNE BUIE Senior News Reporter
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ttendance was low at the Student Government Association presidential and vice-presidential runoff debate Thursday in Plemmons Student Union’s Price Lake Room. Fewer than 30 people attended the debate and after a brief intermission, only 18 spectators remained. Most in attendance were senators or individuals otherwise involved with SGA. The debate was the second for the two remaining tickets, Cox/Barnes and Freemyer/Lee. The four candidates debated, in broad terms, audi-
ence and panelist questions on campus safety, legislative experience, student fees and sustainability, along with a variety of other issues. Presidential Candidate Jake Cox said he didn’t understand the low attendance - the debate would have been a great place for students to express their concerns, he said. “If they want to complain, complain right now,” Cox said. “Complain during elections. Complain now when you can make a difference, not down the road when you can’t be as effective.” Presidential Candidate Evan Freemyer said he wasn’t surprised by the low turnout.
“Just from working with elections in the past couple of years and going to runoff debates, there’s always less people who show up, just like there’s a tendency for less people to vote in a runoff,” Freemyer said. “It’s not unexpected. Do I wish more people were here? Definitely.” After the debate, SGA President Lauren Estes said the tickets need to take more initiative to increase student involvement. “There comes a time when it’s like you’re trying to take over, so start doing it,” Estes said. “It’s your chance to step up.” see Debate, page 2
Student struck by vehicle
Olivia Wilkes | The Appalachian
SGA Vice-Presidential Candidate Eric Barnes responds to a question about student engagement Thursday evening at the runoff debate in the Price Lake room.
Four-day exam schedule approved by Calendar and Registration Committee by ANNE BUIE Senior News Reporter
In a unanimous proposal passed Thursday, the Appalachian State University Calendar and Registration Committee approved a four-day exam schedule with a Wednesday reading day. The recommendation, if passed, will affect semesters from spring 2013 to fall 2015. The committee will now submit its recommendation to Provost Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Gonzalez. At its meeting last Tuesday, the Student Government Association passed unanimous support for a Wednesday reading day and a shortened, four-day exam period. The committee took SGA’s recommen-
dation into account. “This was done in response to the SGA resolution requesting that move,” University Registrar Andrea Wawrzusin said. SGA Director of External Affairs Ann Tate worked with the committee for two months to reach a compromise about reading day. Tate said originally, a lot of faculty and staff didn’t understand why students wanted a reading day during the week - as opposed to the Saturday reading day built into this year’s academic calendar. “They didn’t understand how pertinent it was for students to start studying and to do better on exams,” Tate said. “The more and more we talked to them, they were more willing to
understand that we wanted a reading day and not all students are going to go crazy on a reading day.” Overall, SGA passed two separate pieces of legislation this semester supporting a four-day exam schedule and a Wednesday reading day. Tate said SGA wrote the legislation so people can see how important reading day is to students in the future. “It’s almost setting a precedent for the fact that students want a reading day and we are willing to compromise our exam schedule to have a reading day,” she said. Under the proposed exam schedule, exams would run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The official exam schedules for 2013-15 have not yet been finalized.
ASG attendance too low for quorum by ANNE BUIE Senior News Reporter
Paul Heckert | The Appalachian
An Appalachian State University student was hit by a car turning left at the U.S. Hwy. 321 intersection while she attempted to cross Rivers Street from Holmes Convocation Center to Durham Park Saturday, said Capt. Todd Corley of the ASU Police Department. Police received the emergency call at 11:31 p.m. Graham Jordan, a junior special education major, was transported to Watauga Medical Center and treated for minor injuries, Corley said. Jordan received a citation for walking in a crosswalk when the crosswalk signal indicated a “Don’t Walk” signal for that direction of pedestrian traffic, Corley said.
State funding for health sciences facility on hold, not guaranteed this year by KELLI STRAKA Senior News Reporter
The chances of receiving state funding for a new College of Health Sciences building this year are “slim,” Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Susan Pettyjohn said. Appalachian Regional Healthcare system pledged nine acres of land toward the building last month. The land is located at the corner of State Farm Road and Deerfield Road. Appalachian State University was tasked with securing state funding for the facility’s construction by the end of 2014. Initially, in 2008, state funding would have cov-
ered 10 percent of the project’s total costs. This would have covered conceptual programming and design for the project, Pettyjohn said. But due to revenue shortages and cuts from the state, Appalachian did not receive funding for the project. However, the project is currently the university’s first-priority capital project when requesting state funding, Pettyjohn said. “There is hope, when the state does have funding for capital projects, that we will be one of the highest priorities,” she said. Other possible sources of funding include public see Funding, page 2
At an Association of Student Governments meeting this weekend, attendance was too low to accomplish meeting goals. The organization, which unites student leaders across the UNC system, planned to discuss its budget and nominate candidates for ASG president and vice-president. However, attendance did not meet quorum - a fact that was frustrating for some in attendance. “This was the biggest [meeting], the most pertinent that people needed to make it to, so naturally no one showed up,” SGA President Lauren Estes said. ASG’s budget was supposed to be read three times – once over the weekend and then twice at the next meeting. For now, ASG presidential and vice-presidential nominations have been approved without quorum. The general body decided to announce unofficial nominations at the weekend meeting. The ASG presidential and vice presidential tickets include: Arjay Quinto and Juan Virella, Ron Hinton and Kevin Kimball, and Appalachian student Cameron Carswell and Alecia Page.
Quinto and Virella are currently waiting on the amendment of an attendance bylaw before they can be approved. Carswell, who is currently the SGA Director of Civic Engagement at Appalachian, selected Western Carolina’s Page to run as her vice-president. “I think Western and Appalachian get grouped together as the mountain schools,” Carswell said. “There’s the perception that the smaller mountain schools don’t matter as much as the central universities, and I think we have that common frustration that our universities are just as important.” Carswell said her platform with Page focuses on unity and transparency. Currently, Appalachian’s SGA is one of the few student governments to regularly attend monthly ASG meetings with the required number of constituents, Estes said. “We’re even more ineffective if people don’t bother to come,” Estes said. “When people aren’t there, we literally can’t even conduct business. It’s incredibly frustrating to be one of the schools who has shown up to every meeting with four people.” ASG President Atul Bhula did not reply to The Appalachian’s request for comment. ASG will hold its final meeting at North Carolina State University April 20.
Staged explosion tests emergency response by REBECCA GITLEN News Reporter
Around 52 students volunteered to act as victims of a staged lab explosion in the CAP Science Building Friday, as part of an annual exercise used to test emergency response. The exercise, which began around 12:40 p.m., served to test rescuer response and communication, Seth Norris said. Norris, who coordinated the exercise, is the director of Appalachian State University’s Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management. The Boone Fire Department, Watauga Emergency Medical Services, the Watauga County Rescue Squad, Watauga Medical Center, local law enforcement agencies and a heli-
copter participated in the exercise. Rescue teams arrived to a realistic-looking emergency scene. Students were in character and covered in bloody makeup. Junior nursing major Deborah Gainey participated in the exercise and was instructed to pester the emergency responders and ask them to find her friend. “It’s cool that I got to see everybody in makeup,” Gainey said. “People have fake bones sticking out and one girl’s brains are popping out.” Fire and EMS teams cleaned students “contaminated” with chemicals from the imaginary explosion in a decontamination tent. Victims who see Emergency, page 2
Olivia Wilkes | The Appalachian
Caldwell County Critical Care Paramedic Cecil Teeters and Emergency Medical Technician Terry Clark prepare “victims” of Friday afternoon's emergency exercise for ambulance rides. The training exercise included a mock lab explosion in the Chemistry, Astronomy and Physics Building and involved over 100 total participants.