Towerlight, March 26, 1976

tl19760326-000 "ame deleted Senate election void by Bill Stetka he omission of one atonal candidate's e from the ballot has lted in the invalidation ast week's SGA Senate ction, the SGA an-need this week. he name of Jeffrey dad was apparently off the list of Senate didates who had pro-lY filed for office due to inisunderstanding,"" ac-lug to Konrad Herling, Committee chair- . The decision to tage the Senate elec-along with the run-off S.GA president and vice 'dent April 1 and 2 he at a special meeting ne Election Committee onday morning, a ting ed at which tempers on several occasions. t the meeting, the Mittee turned down a uest by Sophia Stevens eve her name included the Senate ballot. yens, who was elected nate last spring and is Shing her first term this g, claims she turned her petition on time to JGA for inclusion on ,hallot, but no one in okiA office ever saw Petition when it was d in. Debate over happened to the g petition drew what some SGA observers at the meeting termed ""strong accusations' against whether Stevens ever turned in the petition. Stevens left the meeting after what she called ""some pushy, insinuating statements.'' ""They said I lied about the petition,"" Stevens said. ""I packed my bags and left."" Herling said, ""Nothing we had substantiated her position."" At this time, there are no plans to include Stevens' name on the ballot. 'They said I lied' As a Senator, Stevens said she ""knew where the petitions were"" and got one and,returned it herself. According to SGA Presi-dent Ann Marie Lowe, petitions for candidates are supposed to be picked up from Donna Serdehely, secretary for the SGA. She checks off the prospective candidate's name when the petition is retunred to her. Stevens said she never saw the secretary about the petition, and apparently no one in SGA ever saw Stevens' signed petition either. Herling says the ""mis-understanding"" in Wood-ard's case comes from Jeffrey. Woodard ...in ""the failure of some candi-dates to make clear their intentions whether they were filing for this spring's vacancies or running for next year's term."" The Senate just recently filled nine Oacancies for the current semester with in-terested people who had turned in petitions like those running for next Sophia Stevens ...out year's posts. Woodard said he filed for both this semester and next year, but an apparent snafu in the Student Gov-ernment included only on tnt this semester's list. He was appointed to fill one of the nine vacant slots last week, and intended to run for one of next year's slots as well. VIII, NO. 22 TOWSON STATE COLLEGE MARCH 26, 1976 The committee became aware of the omission of names from the ballot around noon last Thursday, three hours after the polls opened. Friends of both Woodard and Stevens alerted the supposed-candidates later that day when each /came to the College. Hughes told Woodard Larry Hughes, president of the Black Student Union and a friend of Woodard, informed Woodard that his name was not on the ballot at five o'clock Thursday when the candidate got to the College. Stevens found out after friends told her also, but she at first thought her friends were mistaken. Hughes sent a letter to the SGA requesting that the elections be reheld, and asking that Woodard and Stevens be placed on the ballot. ""It took a lot of deli-beration,"" said Herling, who made the decision to hold another election along with Election Committee members Rick Weber and Mike Behney. He also expressed con-cern that some students would interpret his omis-sion from the ballot as having racial overtones. He appeared to dispel that notion, saying ""It could've been an honest mistake. By granting another elec-tion it goes a long way to imply it probably wasn't racial."" Both Lowe and Mary Hyman, treasurer for the Black Student Union, agreed that the mix-up had nothing to do with race. Stevens would not say yes or no. She said, ""I'd hate to think that's the reason I was left off."" Woodard felt that the manner in which his case was handled ""goes to show black students as well as white students that there was and probably is not any racial tension within the SGA."" ""I truly think Konrad and the rest of the committee evaluated my case to the fullest extent,"" he continued. ""Some candidates will obviously suffer, but it was handled in the most appro-priate way possible and as expeditious as possible,"" Woodard said. Woodard added that Lowe had apologized to him for the mix-up, and he told her ""black students need to be drawn closer to the SGA."" 'We were at fault' Stevens, like Woodard a member of the College Affairs Committee of the SGA Senate, said she would not attempt a write-in campaign. ""I know what the result would be,"" she said. ""I'll see if any vacancies come up, and if I'm still interested...."" Concerning Monday's meeting, Stevens said ""I learned a lot that I didn't know."" Herling said the com-mittee narrowed down to three alternatives to pui-sue in relation to the matter: they could com-pletely overlook the matter and allow for the appoint-ment of Woodard when someone resigned; they could try to abolish the class senators and appoint or select several new senators; or hold another election. ""We were at fault,"" said Herling. ""Since the re-sponsibility is ours, the fairest way is to have another election."" Woodard agreed. ""I was in favor of the third alternative the entire time,"" he said. ""I think it's fairest to myself and to the other candidates."" inegan-Hartung, Lewis-Payne in run-off vote by Sargent Rock Ce no one candidate majority of votes , Plus one) in last ""8SGA presidential vice-presidential elec- ,erun-off between the `,,w� candidates in each ""(1) will be held April 2, SGA president CadM arie Lowe an-this week. �""ing in a run-off n for President will errY Hartung and the et SGA Vice-presi-anne Finegan. The tt Maeraki dential run-off Lewis of the ;eng ticket against -?; ,l'aYne of the Fine- ""Net. den Schramm and Lucy received third high-est amount of votes in the presidential and vice-presidential elections re-spectively and their candi-dacies for these offices are over. Erik Perkins won his contest for SGA Treasurer with Donna Van Tassel by an impressive 184 vote margin and will be the next treasurer. SGA Senate elections will have to be held again, since one of the candi-dates, Jeffrey Woodard, was not listed on the voting machines. This election will also take place April 1 and 2. With no candidates run-ning unopposed for any position, candidates were itie an Pa ne hopeAL inegan margin was 26 votes more motivated to seek out support of additional stu-dents. This year, as a result, 916 students voted in last week's elections, compared to last year when many candidates ran un-opposed and only 340 students voted. Results of all the elec-tions are as follows: SGA president - of 838 votes cast Joanne Finegan . . . .365 Gerry Hartung . . . .339 Fran Schramm . . . . 134 SGA vice-president - of 808 votes cast Mark Lewis 356 Nancy Payne 331 Lucy Reed 121 SGA treasurer - of 704 votes cast Erik Perkins 444 Donna Van Tassel . 260 Those candidates for the SGA Senate who were the top 14 vote getters are (listed alphabetically): Jae Boston, Duane Dennis, William Dronenberg, Jeff Errington, Veronica Fluel-ling, Steve Haas, William Hannon, Mike Holden, Charles Klein, Norman Ladson, S. Marc Land, Angela Pierce, Steve To-bias, and Donna Sauer-born. These Senate elec-tions will have to be held again and therefore these results have been cancelled by the SGA Election Com-mittee. by Steve Verch ording to SGA vice- :ddent and ent candidate for first Joanne Finegan, reaction when she last te week's election was ""more people YOti (meaning herself) klYbody else."" e Was pen referring to her lead to 26 votes .1;e'errY Hartung, which resolved April 1 and 441-0ff 4i,stIg elections. her ticket with raYne, candidate for 'President, Finegan dOpted the of campaign ""Stressing m to elit eeaacchh and every 4."" through visible 11ile 'ar e Finegan and 'off both locked into races for president fI:'v viee-presiaent respec- (nu one candidate ""Ived a majority of ,,contest), Erik Per- 'le e Youngest member ticket, has sewn up t, surer position. Pinegan and Payne heY can best fulfill peerUPaig-ri phrase be-le, "" tlhiekye Hartung or ,1.i4ce both have in elected SGA `e Positions. In addi- �lted they feel they have to and specify their platform planks rather than base their campaign on broad gen-eralizations of policy. Finegan, attempting to capitalize on students' de-sires for a Concert Series has stated that Towson State will have such a series in 212 days if she is elected. She added that the last petition which appear-ed in Towerlight asking students to pick what music stars they wanted was ""unrealistic and just plain unfeasible.� She advocated offering a broader spectrum of choices, including more groups that would be reasonably possible to get. Finegan has said that by getting direct imput from students about their choices would assume suc-cess of the series. ""We want groups that will attract many stu-dents,"" said Finegan. Pointing to the need for an SGA executive commit-tee to articulate the in-terests of Towson students in Annapolis, Payne has said she will establish such a committee if elected. Payne also advocated that a united SGA take ""stands"" and issue policy statements that explain the positions of students if these positions differ from those of the administra-tion. While touching on the topic of increased com-munication in the SGA, Finegan specified a tri-referendum approach which she feels would ""provide a good, systema-tic way to elicit feedback from students."" ""Students could vote on such topics as Speaker Series and Concert Series, A new policy regarding admittance to lacrosse games is starting, begin-ning with Wednesday's home opener against Salis-bury State, it was announced by the College this week. According to Mark Lon-don, College Center mana-ger, no one will be admitted through the gates by show-ing their ID card. Students, faculty and alumni must show their ID at the ticket booth on the North side (next to Burdick Hall). They will get a ticket that will admit them through the gates. Also, ushers will be main-taining the designated sec-tions in order that Food Services personnel may enter the stands to sell re-freshments. letting us know exactly what their choices are,"" said Finegan. Understanding the need Please turn to page 9 Perkins wins Treasurer by Steve Verch Winning a landslide vic-tory over his opponent Donna Van Tassel for SGA Treasurer, Erik Perkins emerged last week as the only candidate for SGA office that won his position on the first ballot. Perkins claimed 444 of the 704 votes cast, or roughly 63%. Donna Van Tassel of the Schramm - Reed ticket finished with 260 votes, or 37% of the votes. Running with Joanne Finegan and Nancy Payne (candidates for SGA Presi-dent and Vice President), Perkins stated that after hearing the results he ""went out and shared victory with some close friends"". Asked why he received such a large plurality at the poles as compared to the other candidates, Perkins stated that in his race he Presidential hopeful Joanne elections. Finegan votes in SGA TL photo by Beej was running against only one other person, hence the vote was not as splintered as in the presi-dential and vice presiden-tial races. Regarding his particular victory over Van Tassel, Perkins said he could not think of any reason why so many people voted for him, other than that he had such a good running mate. ""All I can say is that I belong to a fantastic ticket because of the two (Fine-gan and Payne) I'm run-ning with,"" said Perkins, who will finish his term as SGA Senator this April before taking over as Treasurer. Donna Van Tassel, cur-rently College Union Board president, was favored by Towerlight in an editorial before the election. Van Tassel stated that she would serve out her term as CUB president and then decide if she would remain interested in a CUB executive position. She also mentioned that Per-kins had offered her an assistant position to him as Treasurer. ""Erik had asked me if I would help him as an assistant once he became Treasurer. I said 'no' but I will work with him on a specific project is asked,"" said Van Tassel. Perkins, eager to begin work as SGA Treasurer, has already notified Kathy Kolar, current Treasurer, that he would like for them to meet and begin pre-paring for his eventual take-over as Treasurer. One of Perkins first projects once he takes over would be the Concert Series, an idea that Perkins feels many students want. Also interested in the Speaker Series, Perkins commented that he would like to see some changes here as well. Please turn to page 7 Schramm, Reed, Van Tassel lose by Steve Verch Attempting to explain the results of last week's elec-tions, Ron Reaser, campaign manager for the Schramm/ ReedNanTassel ticket cited a breakdown in communica-tion as probably the main reason why their campaign failed. Fran Schramm, candi-date for SGA president, received 134 of the 838 votes cast for president. This was not enough to include Schramm in the run-off. Please turn to page 7 Hartung, Lewis optimistic by Steve Verch Commenting about last week's elections which resulted in a run-off be-tween himself and Joanne Finegan, Gerry Hartung, candidate for SGA Presi-dent, says, ""I think it shows that no candidate has a real advantage or disadvantage. All are qualified and known."" Hartung was referring to more than just his own contest. On his ticket for vice-president is Mark Lewis, who is also locked in a run-off with Nancy Payne of the Finegan ticket. Currently Assistant Sec-retary of Organizational and General Services in SGA president Ann Marie Lowe's cabinet, Hartung received approximately 40.4% of the votes cast for president. Finegan receiv-ed 76 more votes than Hartung, or approximately 43.6% of the vote. Citing studies of national voting elections, Hartung indicated that 10% of all voters instantly pull the first lever on a voting machine. Hartung says he was sure some students did this, as Finegan's name appeared first, his second and Fran �Schramm's third on the voting machine. The can-didates finished in this order. Lewis' name appeared on the first lever for Vice-president with Payne's name second and Lucy Please turn to page 5 Class elections a joke by Kathy Pascuzzi ""People are not inter-ested in running for class office,"" said Konrad Her-ling, chairman of the Elec-tion committee. One petition was filed for each class president position, and none for the other class offices. Offices other than class president were filled by write-in votes. Herling said that most candidates re-ceived only one or two votes, and that the largest number of write-in votes was five for Chris Bucha-nan, senior class vice pres-ident. All write-in offices are officially unfilled, since the committee has not yet Please turn to page 7 "