The Daily
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Mississippian
Vol. 102, No. 67
The Student Newspaper of The University Of Mississippi | Serving Ole Miss and Oxford since 1911
ASB Senate rejects election bill for second time How ASB Senators voted for Bill 13-10*
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Caroline France Michael Howell James Parrett Eloise Tyner Austin Dean Christopher Newman Rod Bridges Austin Powell Alyssa Wilmoth Paul Neubert Lizzy Wicks Madeleine Dear
Thor Goodfellow Daniel Lindsey Madeline Campbell Molly Edmondson Mary Kate Berger Rachel Lee CJ Robison Vivian Paris Justin Kilgore Brian Kates Claire Waits
Kate Aspinwall Will Yoste Pearce Crosland Cameron Crain John West Kyle Heath Ana-Gayle Christian Ivy Swan Hannah Haley Amy Hall Preston Myers Michael Fertitta Jake McClellan Jordan Wood Cody Smith Sam Hearn
Chris Marshall JD Roberts Matt Froelich Will Boone Nolon Blaylock Jesse Lang Emerson George Zach Harrington Claire Carter Lauren Vonder Haar Cody Welch Jake Loyer Kirstie Montgomery Kali Burney Jacob Fiore Luke Love
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*John Brahan, Annabell McWherter, Jack Ely, Craig Henry and Farjad Khan did not vote. GRAPHIC BY ADAM GANUCHEAU
BY ALLISON SLUSHER ajslushe@go.olemiss.edu
For the second time in a month, the Associated Student Body Senate voted against a student election bill last night. The bill limited the number of campaigners allowed at specific locations on campaign day for student elections. The bill allowed for no more than 20 campaigners per candidate at the Union, no more than 15 per candidate at the Circle and no more than five per candidate in front of Fulton Chapel. ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow, Senator Rod Bridges, Senator Austin Dean and Senator James Parrett authored the bill and presented it Tuesday night. The bill was reintroduced at last night’s meeting after the ASB Judicial Council clarified ASB Senate terminology and procedure Monday night. On Nov. 12, twenty-three senators voted in affirmation of the bill, 19 voted in negation, and nine senators abstained from voting. Since there were not enough senators voting either way to
create a simple majority, the bill failed. The ASB Judicial Council held a hearing Monday night after Parrett filed a complaint that the term “present and voting” did not clarify how abstentions should be counted. After the ruling, it was decided that abstentions would not count as affirmation or negation and a simple majority would be determined from what votes were cast. “Last time (the bill) was presented, the abstentions counted against the overall total for the passage of the bill, so had the abstentions not counted, it would have passed,” Bridges said. “We were hoping with the same argument, with the same changes actually with the compromise that we had with the bill before, we were hoping that the bill would have passed like it should have previously.” The senators voted against the bill last night with 23 senators voting in affirmation and 32 voting against the bill. Five senators did not vote. Senator Cody Smith spoke in opposition of the bill saying the
senate should find alternative solutions to the situation. “I believe that if we would have evaluated more alternatives, we would have something more acceptable to everyone,” Smith said. “I’m not here to represent the majority or the minority. I’m here to represent them all. I believe we could do something that will not inhibit the campaigners but will help the travelers.” Pillow said he was displeased with how the senators voted. “I do not believe that the senate voted in a way that was representative of the student body,” Pillow said. “Although the bill had support of the student body, faculty, staff, advisors, and many senators, those few felt the responsibility to deprive the student body of what it clearly wanted.” Bridges wanted to encourage students to speak to their senators in order to voice their opinions on the issue. “I really want to encourage people to evaluate the situation and really talk to his or her senator about the issue if that it is a problem that they’d like to see addressed.”
UM Honors College student numbers rising BY RANDALL HALEY arhaley@go.olemiss.edu
The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College will be expanding due to the increasing number of students enrolled in the honors program. In 2012, the honors college broke the 1,000-student mark for the first time, with 1,050 students enrolled, according to its website. For the 2013-14 academic year, 1,264 students applied to the honors college, and 626 students were accepted. Total enrollment increased to 1,133 students. “We are pleasantly surprised at the growth and the number of students that qualify to be accepted in the honors college,” said John Samonds, associate dean of the honors college. “The most important part is the public space.
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We don’t have room to have large get-togethers, receptions and speakers.” Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez, dean of the honors college, said the building will be doubled in size. He emphasized the importance of stepping up the honors college during a time in which public universities are becoming more valuable. “It will give the students more classrooms and more study space,” Sullivan-Gonzalez said. “The cost of private universities has gone out the roof since the economy downturn in 2008. There is a greater demand for quality education at a public university.” The honors college provides an increasing number of challenging courses, opportunities for experiential learning both in the United States and abroad and avenues for
effective engagement with community concerns. For the last two years, more than 300 freshmen, averaging an ACT score of 30 and a 3.85 high school GPA, have joined the honors college each year, according to its website. Students enrolled in the honors college hail from 33 states and six foreign countries, with students from Mississippi making up 63 percent of the enrollment. Honors students can be found in every college and school that grants bachelor’s degrees, and currently students are spread over 71 different majors, according to the website. Construction to expand the honors college is scheduled to begin in spring 2014 and is expected to take 15 months to complete. Freshman biochemistry major Blake Sowers, member of the
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honors college senate, said the extension will help grow the honors college. “It’s exciting to see that the honors college is expanding in its number of students,” Sowers said. “This means that more and more
students are trying to get the most out of what the university has to offer them and have decided that the honors college is where they can benefit most and create opportunities for the rest of their lives.”
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