a student newspaper of the university of tulsa
april 15, 2013 issue 23 ~ volume 98
Voter turnout:
21%
With 931 voting for president and no fewer than 891 voting in any category, this year’s executive elections enjoyed a turnout of 21.4%. With the exception of Ben Chong, who was elected treasurer by a 558-vote margin, all candidates won by less than a hundred votes.
Executives to take office after highly contested race The +/- system was among the central issues in this year’s hotly contested SA executive elections. Walker Womack Student Writer
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lthough vestigial posters and chalk markings—with slogans like “He’s the Baum,” “Vote Mancini and Chong” or even “Join Me and Together We Will Rule the Galaxy”—still litter the University of Tulsa campus, the polls for next semester’s Student Association executive offices are closed, and the results are in. Next autumn will usher in the victors of the SA executive officers’ elections, with last semester’s treasurer Katlyn McGouran as president, Brett Baumgartner as vice president, Victoria McGouran as secretary and Ben Chong as treasurer. For the most part, the elections were close. In the presidential election, for instance, McGouran won with a rather slim majority, 52% of the vote. In last year’s election, on the other hand, John Lepine ran for president uncontested except for 13 votes to a write-in candidate. No position was uncontested this semester, and the fierce competition between candidates was decided with relatively high voter turnout: 931 ballots were cast in the presidential race. This contest also saw some “negative campaign tactics,” as described by presidential candidate Jordan Hendrickson. Hendrickson’s Facebook page the day of the election noted that “very “negative posters (had) been hung regarding Hendrickson’s opponent Katie McGouran. Hendrickson
made clear that she was not “involved in the creation, printing or hanging up of these posters.” The posters made an appearance in Campus Security’s daily report for Apr. 10, noting that an “unknown suspect had posted untrue information on the doors of Keplinger Hall.” Multiple winning candidates included the potentially polarizing plus-minus grading system, announced in March, in their platform. Both President-Elect McGouran and Vice-President-Elect Baumgartner featured it prominently in their policy profiles, with each promising to make concerted efforts to fight the upcoming shift Whether their respective victories validates the stance as shared by the majority of the student body is open to interpretation, but there is no doubt that the issue will color the Board’s politics over the course of the next semester. Now that the elections are over, the candidates will have time to implement campaign promises for next semester as the current officers are transitioned out. Baumgartner wrote that his highest priority, as head of the SA Senate, would be to increase recruitment for that body in earnest. By integrating the best of incoming freshmen as senators as quickly as possible, Baumgartner hopes to establish more cohesion and to “keep senators around in order to have less of a turnover from year to year.” The set of winning candidates have a wide range of experience levels, ranging from freshman to multi-term Senators and cabinet members. Moreover, the winners are far from a single unified ticket. While Ben Chong was elected trea-
surer, his ticket running-mate, Michael Mancini, lost to Baumgartner for the vice-presidency. Also of note is the election of two McGourans, Katie as president and Victoria as secretary, to executive offices. Baumgartner, when asked whether he found the prospect of working with a family duo to be alarming, said that although he “didn’t know Victoria that well,” his past experience with Katie on various SA projects prompted his “full faith that she will be a great president.” Baumgartner also noted that the connection between previous president John Lepine and the elder McGouran, who is engaged to Lepine, will ensure a “smooth presidential transition” in terms of experience. The election also included a vote a measure banning the lineitem veto. Although the “yeas” to the proposed amendment held a majority, the two-thirds margin required to pass it was not reached. Thus, it will not be in effect next semester, and the line-item veto will remain in the president’s arsenal. The line-item veto became the subject of contention after President Lepine controversially rejected funding for a portion of a Senate bill allocating travel money to Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority to stay in a Tulsa hotel. Representative Shaliah Thierry took the case to the judicial branch of SA, which nominally consists of seven justices, though only five participated in this case. The majority of the court, consisting of Justices Charlotte Hale, Ali Calkins and J. Christopher Proctor, sided with Lepine in a 3–2 decision upholding the line-item veto.
Jill Graves / Collegian
The Holmes Student Center and the adjacent parking lot are slated to be replaced by a new dorm and office.
Holmes to be replaced by housing A 300-bed housing facilty and office space is to occupy the current site of the Holmes Student Center. Anna Bennett Staff Writer
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hings have been quiet on campus since construction wrapped up on Razor and Stephenson Halls in the fall. But soon that may change, as the university now plans to begin construction on a new dormitory and adjoined offices that will be on the current site of the Holmes Student Center. Bob Shipley, TU’s VP of Operations and the Physical Plant, has confirmed that the university has contracted Hastings + Chivetta Architects to design the 300-bed dorm and adjacent office space, which would replace both the Holmes center and the adjacent parking lot. Hastings + Chivetta may not be a familiar name to many students, but their work certainly is. They are currently the primary firm responsible for buildings on TU’s campus. In addition to the freshly minted Rayzor and Stephenson, they are also responsible for the Lorton PAC, Collins Fitness Center,
the Case Athletic Center, Collins Hall and Helmerich Hall. Hastings + Chivetta updated the existing “master plan” of the university in 2002, and designed the subsequent renovations of Tyrell Hall and McFarlin Library. On a smaller scale, the Hurricane Hut is also their architectural handiwork. So when the new dorm is unveiled, it will undoubtedly look very aesthetically familiar to students. Should the university proceed with the plans, several adjustments would need to be made to accommodate the displacement the construction would cause. Shipley says that the offices now located in Holmes will be located in the new building once it has been completed. Though “the interim location for the Holmes staff has not been determined,” there is talk that some of the offices may be temporarily housed in the basement of Keplinger Hall, the current interim location of the Center for Global Education. Replacing lost parking space is another major concern, as parking in general is a hot topic at the moment. Shipley assuaged the fears of some, saying that the parking
See Building page 4