TL20060413-01 "Sharon Leff Associate News Editor The Student Government Association election debate came down to two words Wednesday afternoon: experience and reassess-ment. With SGA elections scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 19, the �Vital FOUR� and �Vision� parties set aside two hours to field qu e s t i o n s from the stu-dent body. The Vital FOUR empha-sized experi-ence among their party mem-bers, McShane Murphey, David Butler, Stephanie Cox, and Alyse Toulotte. The Vision party, composed of Patrick Dieguez, Jenny Haley, Andrew Ondish, and Matthew Vaughn- Smith, stressed the need for change and reassessment of some SGA pro-cedures. �A lot of things within the SGA are done because that�s how they�ve always been done,� vice presidential candidate Haley said, pointing out how current senators inefficiently send similar e-mails to student orga-nizations. Vital FOUR vice presidential can-didate Butler said that reassessment is not a new concept. �Every SGA does that � we reas-sess certain things � for example the election policy was reassessed this year because we didn�t feel it like it was efficient enough for our students,� he said. Candidates from both parties agreed that the campus would ben-efit from some improvements. �Since we have experience in stu-dent government we realize there are issues that need to be addressed,� Murphey said. All four of the Vital FOUR execu-tive board candidates are currently in the SGA: Murphey is the vice president, Butler is director of a c a - demic affairs, Cox is a senator, and Toulotte is director of communica-tions. Three of Vision�s candidates are in the SGA: Dieguez is director of on-cam-pus affairs, Haley is a senator, and Vaughn-Smith is a senator and direc-tor of student groups. Dieguez president of the University R e s i d e n c e Government and Ondish is a building council treasurer. Brian Ward, president of the College Democrats, caused one of the few tense moments in the debate. He came to the microphone and said: �You continually say that you have such great communication already for the student organiza-tions. I don�t even know who my senator is� No one has e-mailed me, approached me, come by my office, come by anything. I have no idea who he is and if you know I�d like to know,� he said followed by laughter from the crowd. �Have you come to the SGA office to even let us know?,� Butler responded. �I thought it was your job to come to me,� Ward answered. The moderator of the debate then asked Ward to sit down. Thursday, 4/13/06 www.thetowerlight.com Heidi Greenleaf/The Towerlight SGA presidential candidates Patrick Dieguez of Vision and McShane Murphey of Vital FOUR were present at a student debate Wednesday afternoon to speak about the goals of each of their parties. Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice weekly Parties go head-to-head in debate INSIDE: This Weekend.....3 Perspectives......5 News.................9 Beyond............15 Arts.................17 Movies.............18 Classifi eds.......21 Sports.............24 News: Greeks and song - you thought the two would never converge - guess again News: Confused as to why you�re not graduating? Get an advisor Vital FOUR, Vision parties discuss their platforms, goals, aspirations for TU, & why you should vote for them STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS COMING IN MONDAY'S TOWERLIGHT: Micah Frye and his band Layhill perform at annual Battle of the Bands; panel names winner to perform at Tigerfest on April 29 Arts, page 17 The Towerlight IMPACT letter stirs campus controversy Statement about homosexuality by Vision party candidate causes concerns among Queer Student Union, Student Government VOTE ON APRIL 18-19 SGA VOTERS GUIDE See DEBATE, page 11 Kristi Funderburk News Editor A Student Government Association election candi-date from the Vision party sparked controversy this week after writing a letter on behalf of a religious group called the IMPACT Movement. On Monday, April 3,attorney general candidate Matthew Vaughn-Smith addressed a letter to cam-pus ministries concerning �a movement encouraging persons to �come out.�� It specifically referred to an upcoming event by the Queer Student Union. It was signed, �Humbly serving the kingdom, Matthew Vaughn-Smith.� The letter�s statement that to be homosexual is to �give in to Satan� created turmoil for the Vision party, which removed Vaughn-Smith from the ticket on Monday but accepted him back on Tuesday. The QSU addressed the letter at their Tuesday meeting and also brought up the issue at the SGA debate on Wednesday. �I�m angry. I was hurt,� junior deaf studies major Michael Poole said as he addressed the candidates at the debate. He also said some QSU members felt �concerned� about the letter. Later, Poole elaborated on the group�s concerns. See LETTER, page 11 VOTE � 9 Questions for Vital Four and Vision page 5 � Senators Speak Out page 6 � Word on the Street page 7 "
