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The Newspaper of Lamar University Vol. 91, No. 8
Thursday, October 23, 2014
SGA presidential impeachment denied LAUREN VAN GERVEN UP EDITOR @thegerven During a closed-door Student Government Association meeting on Oct. 14, SGA President Sabrina Lewis was impeached. However, on Oct. 19 a campus announcement from the office of Vicky McNeil, vice president of student engagement, read as follows: “Last Tuesday, a subset of the Lamar University Student Government Association voted to amend Section 400.3 of the By-Laws of the Constitution Impeachment.
The Office of Student Engagement has reviewed the Texas State University System Rules and Regulations for Student Governments (the “Rules”), Ch. VI, Sec 7.12 of the Rules which states that ‘an amendment to the Constitution or ByLaws of a student government may be adopted by the association in accordance with its constitution and bylaws but the change cannot become effective until transmitted and acted upon by the Chief Student Affairs officer and approved by the President of the University.’ The amendment noted above did not receive campus approval; hence, both the amendment and the group that convened were not in compliance with
the policies of Lamar University and the Texas State University System. Any actions taken by this subset of the SGA premised on this unapproved amendment cannot be endorsed as an official action on behalf of the Lamar University Student Government. The University is dedicated to supporting the Student Government Association as it seeks to affect positive change for the student body while maintaining a diligent commitment to protecting the individual rights of our entire student community.” This announcement followed an an-
Courtesy photo
See SGA, page 2
Student Government Association President Sabrina Lewis, center, is flanked by vice president Ryan Dollinger and secretary-treasurer LaRissa Wilson.
HOMECOMING TO KICKOFF MONDAY EVENTS PLANNED FOR WEEK-LONG CELEBRATION
FLOATS TO HIGHLIGHT HOMECOMING PARADE
BRANDIANNE HINTON UP CONTRIBUTOR
BRANDIANNE HINTON UP CONTRIBUTOR
Monday sees the start of a week of Homecoming festivities leading up to the big game against Houston Baptist University, Nov. 1. The week-long celebration begins with voting for Homecoming Court, beginning at 10 a.m. in 104 and 106 Setzer Student Center. T-shirts will be given away to voters. “Everybody gets a T-shirt that shows up with their student IDs.” Elizabeth Jeanes, marketing coordinator for the division of student engagement, said. “We’re going to have some computers available for students to log into their Self-service Banner to take the online Homecoming voting.” A cake cutting will be held at 11 a.m. in the SSC Arbor. “Anybody can have cake, but you’d better get there at 11, because it’ll probably go fast.” Jeanes said. “The cake cutting is kind of our official kick-off to our week of Homecoming activities.” Monday’s events conclude with the Cardinal Nation Block Party, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., on the lawn in front of Brooks-Shivers Dining Hall. Voting continues Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Activities that day also include Dodge Ball Mania in the Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Greek vs. Faculty basketball game, which tips off at 7 p.m. in McDonald Gym. Capture the Flag will wrap up Tuesday’s activities, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., in the Quad. A campus-wide cleanup will take place Wednesday. Students, faculty and staff are invited to meet in the SSC at 3:15 p.m. to volunteer to make the grounds presentable for the weekend’s visitors. Wednesday’s activities conclude with a Midnight Breakfast at the Brooks-Shivers Dining Hall, from 10 p.m. to midnight, where the winners of the campus decorating contest will be announced. “We currently have five different teams that are competing against each other to decorate some areas of campus in preparation for Homecoming, and the winners of that competition will be announced at the Midnight Breakfast,” Jeanes said. On Thursday, the Bonfire and Pep Rally will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., at the bonfire field next to the driving range on University Drive. The bonfire will follow the “Firefighter Games,” which will be
Homecoming without a parade just wouldn’t be Homecoming, and a parade without floats — well, that’s just not going to happen. This year’s Homecoming Parade will feature 22 floats, plus 14 walking and vehicle entries representing various departments and student organizations. “There’s going to be additional floats, specifically for the football team and the Homecoming royalty, and the LU band is marching, along with area high school bands,” Elizabeth Jeanes, marketing coordinator for student engagement, said. “There will be various VIPs riding in our parade, such as our parade marshal Bud Leonard, the university president, our vice president and deans of colleges as well.” The parade route will circumnavigate the perimeter of the Lamar University campus, ending at the Plummer Building. “It starts at the corner of Jim Gilligan Way and Jimmy Simmons Boulevard — that is by the golf driving range near the baseball field,” Jeanes
See EVENTS, page 5
See FLOATS, page 5
HIGH SCHOOL BANDS TO PERFORM DURING PARADE BRANDIANNE HINTON UP CONTRIBUTOR
UP Megan White
Members of Pi Kappa Alpha put the finishing touches on the bonfire, Tuesday, near the driving range. The bonfire and pep rally, which will take place, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Oct. 31, are part of next week’s Homecoming events.
The Lamar University Homecoming Parade will feature six area high school bands — Deweyville, Kountze, Orangefield, Ozen, Hudson and Memorial. Scott Deppe, LU director of bands, said he is reluctant to call it a band contest. “If it’s a contest, then there are winners and losers,” he said. “The bands aren’t coming here because there is a contest. They are coming to support Lamar. It’s a parade. During the parade, bands will be awarded for performing.” The bands will all receive trophies for their See PARADE, page 5
LU Community garden promotes sustainablilty LAINIE HARRIS UP CONTRIBUTOR
UP Lainie Harris
Tom Matthews, advisor to the Lamar Community Garden Student Association, picks a ripe fig at Lamar's Community Garden, Oct. 7.
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“One of the ideas is, when we’re through with this plot, it should all be better than it was when we found it — the soil should be more nutritious and productive.” That is the philosophy behind the Lamar Community Garden, located between the tennis courts and the Communication Building, Tom Matthews, Lamar University director of assessment, said. The Lamar Community Garden opened in Fall 2012, after Matthews wrote a letter to LU’s vice president suggesting they have some conversations. “He was very supportive,” Matthews said. “We had those conver-
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sations, and the next thing you know we had selected a spot and away we go. There was a committee of about four or five people, and we considered about a dozen different locations, and finally we settled on this one.” The garden’s location has the right kind of sun exposure, in addition to water and electricity, and it doesn’t flood, Matthews said, adding that a number of different plants have flourished there. “There are plenty of beautiful traditional gardens, in fact this is a beautiful campus, but we aren’t trying to duplicate that over here,” he said. “We are doing something much different. It has in common the fact that it’s full of plants, but the way they’re planted and taken care of is much different than how the
rest of the campus is taken care of.” Next to the community garden is the spiral garden. Students built the spiral out of used bricks, Matthews said. Some of the bricks were donated, but the ones they’re really proud of were salvaged after the Brook-Shivers dorm was torn down. “They are the only bricks on campus left from that dormitory, so it is sort of a historical thing,” Matthews said. The Lamar Community Garden Student Association tends the area, Matthews, who is the group’s advisor, said. “They’re not trying to have a straight industrial model,” he said. “They have plants spread out in the garSee GARDEN, page 2
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