Sept 21 issue

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THE CAMPUS

September 21, 2016 – Volume 110 Issue 30

SGA to plan semester goals, focus on previous projects Sage Tokach

will be more willing to defer if the caf is closed during the event and if the vendor provides food Sodexo does not already make, Rhodes said.

LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Student Government Association plans to involve more of the student body in their decisions this academic year. SGA members will attend a strategic planning retreat to brainstorm ideas and goals for the semester. The retreat will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Room 214 in Dulaney-Browne Library. Senators encourage students to attend and share their own requests. SGA will compile a Top 10 list of the most important items to focus on for the year. Top priorities and goals for the year will be determined after the retreat, but, in the meantime, SGA President Nic Rhodes is focusing on the progress of past projects. Food service SGA had several meetings last year with Sodexo, the campus food service provider, to negotiate to-go boxes for hot food in the caf and food trucks on campus for special events. Sodexo agreed to test a hot food to-go pilot program, allowing students to take a box of hot food home from the caf Monday through Friday, but only during lunch. The pilot program is underway and will end Sept. 30. Sodexo officials also agreed to revise their catering guidelines and off-campus vendor rules, which they are scheduled to publish at the end of the month, Rhodes said. Instead of banning all outside vendors, Sodexo agreed create a form to allow students to apply for an outside vendor for their event. The applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but Sodexo

Plus or minus Rhodes continues the push to change the university grading policy to a standard system, one without the plus/minus scale. SGA distributed a survey last semester asking student opinions, and the majority voted in favor of the change, Rhodes said. He added that Dr. Jonathan Willner, chairman of economics and finance, transferred current student grades to the standard system and saw a GPA increase for 60 percent of students. "We'll put up a resolution in the next few months that clearly states our request to change the system, along with the data to support it," Rhodes said. "However, I was told that until we have a permanent provost, instead of an interim, there's not much we can do." The budget SGA's monetary allocation from the university remained the same as last year. Additionally, they have some leftover funds, allowing them to increase the Student Activities Council budget by a few thousand dollars. SAC is the organization in charge of creating events for the student body. They're typically in charge of things like Homecoming and Big Event. "We wanted to give most of the excess money to SAC, because that's the part of SGA that students see and directly benefit from," Rhodes said. "We also plan to set aside some funds to revamp the website. The only iffy part about the budget is the Student Bar Association budget." OCU mandates SGA to allocate a certain chunk of money each

semester to the SBA, the law school's version of SGA. The amount of they receive is based on their enrollment data, whereas SGA's budget is not. SBA's budget has decreased at a lesser rate than SGA's during the past few years. "We think it would be more fair to give them a standard percentage of our budget or simply let OCU's financial people handle their allocation, instead of it being part of our budget," Rhodes said. SGA received a budget cut last year, but still allocated more money to SBA than it had in previous years, according to Student Publication archives. They worked on renegotiating the budget in the fall semester, but continue to have issues with it. Student Senate Senate also will see some changes this semester, beginning with seat revisions. The seats are split into academic and grade level-based districts. To get a more accurate student body representation, SGA plans to change to a population-based representation, Rhodes said. Enrollment in each school on campus will determine the number of representatives they receive. Every school will get one to four senators. Additionally, Holly Randall, SGA vice president and Student Senate president, changed Senate meetings from weekly to biweekly. "This change will create more substantial and productive meetings," Randall said. "It will allow us to handle more legislation per meeting." Students who are not on Senate will be invited to attend monthly town hall meetings to voice their opinions. Faculty and staff can also attend the discussions.

Moving image arts sees changes Taylor Rey STAFF WRITER

Donovan Lawson Student Publications

Strong girls, ice cream swirls Laura Kariuki, acting freshman, and Reily Preston, acting sophomore, decide what they want while supporting Gamma Phi Beta’s philanthropy Sept. 14 at Roxy’s Ice Cream Social, 1732 N.W. 16th St. Students went to Roxy’s and Empire Slice House, 1734 N.W. 16th St., to help raise money for Gamma Phi Beta’s national philanthropy. See more photos of Gamma Phi's philanthropy, Building Strong Girls Week, on page 3.

The moving image arts department has gone through some changes with faculty this academic year after Fritz Kiersch, former department chairman, left the university. Kiersch started the department and oversaw its growth and development for the last 10 years, but took a position this semester as a professor at Point Park University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Casey Marks, film production senior, said he was surprised Kiersch left. “I’m actually kind of sad that he left. I really felt like I

had bonded with Fritz,” he said. “I actually found out from an incoming student that he wasn’t coming back this year. He didn’t tell us." The department now has a smaller faculty, but Bryan Cardinale-Powell, professor of moving image arts, said it will not hurt the program. “Our program is not going to go away because of this. In fact, we hope it will continue to grow,” he said. “We appreciate everything Fritz did for us, but we still have lots of opportunities for our students and we’re continuing to work in teaching narrative, storytelling and film making.” Matt Payne, television writer,

was brought on as an adjunct professor and new additions are being added to the building. “We are going to get a new screening room and a new postproduction suite within the semester that the students will be able to use,” Cardinale-Powell said. Despite being sad, Marks said he's hopeful for the program. "I’m sad because you make these connections with people and then you don’t even get an email saying goodbye," he said. "But I’m not worried about it, I think we’re in really good hands with Bryan.”

Students take over local store, host weekly events Sage Tokach LIFESTYLES EDITOR

OCU students took over The Hippie Store and turned it into That Hippie Place, a clothing store, concert venue and artist hangout. Before its transition, The Hippie Store, 2412 N. Shartel Ave., had a 4.5-star rating on its Facebook page. "The lady that owned the store ran it for 10 years and was trying to sell everything out," said Sarah Feist, music theater senior. "She mentioned to my friend, Larz, that he should take it over, so he took the idea and ran with it. Now, we're using it as an art space, as well as a store to support itself." Feist works with Alumnus Seth Adam and their friends Larz Hoban and Forrest Wright. They host weekly art events and manage the store, using the pre-existing merchandise. The previous owner left records, furniture and several odd items with the group, as well as the entire clothing inventory, which the group sorted through and organized by season. "We only have the summer

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clothing on the racks right now, so we'll start transitioning to fall and winter clothes soon," Feist said. "There's a lot more. There are all kinds of vintage and period clothing, as well as some costume dresses I could see us renting out or selling to a theater company eventually." The upstairs apartment is condemned, but the space includes a loft and storage to house the offrack clothing. During concerts and events, racks are pushed to one side, making room for a stage and dance floor space. That Hippie Place hosted a back to school concert Aug. 28 featuring two bands from OCU, LFNC and One Minute to Paradise. The friends also performed in their own bands, SHAKTI, in which Feist writes the songs, and Moon Sun Reflection, which is composed of the same band members, but Seth and Forrest write the music. The back to school concert was open to the public, and about 100 people attended throughout the night. All live music events are free, but donations are appreciated, and eventually, there will probably be a cover fee of about $5, Feist said.

Besides concerts, That Hippie Place is used as a venue for activities like flow jams. Flow jams allow people to create flow art, dancing with hula hoops and spinning poi. Poi is a small ball of woven flax, attached to a chain with a swivel. Spinners hold handles and create a rhythmic dance by spinning the poi. Some artists dip the poi in kerosene and spin fire. Free, public flow jams occur every Thursday night. Other events include movie nights every Sunday evening and musical meditation sessions at 10 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Thursdays. Adam hosts the free meditation hour. People usually do light yoga, stretch and relax while I play the harp, he said. "We're picking up steadily, and every week we make more profit and have more people come to our events," Feist said. "It's funny how people come in and feel welcome. They want to hang out and give us things." Local people have donated money and other items like pianos and dresses. A woman known as "Big Mama" occasionally brings in food for the owners

Sage Tokach Student Publications

Forrest Wright, Sarah Feist, music theater senior, and Alumnus Seth Adam sit on a couch in That Hippie Place. Bands formed at OCU, like LFNC, SHAKTI or One Minute to Paradise use the store to rehearse and perform during shows. That Hippie Place, 2412 N. Shartel Ave., is hosting a Halloween concert Oct. 28.

and their cats, Feist said. The group often rehearses in the space, and people stop by just to listen and hang out. "It's a fun space to mess around," Feist said. "Random people come in to play chess, practice head stands, unicycle, or learn how to juggle. One time, some high schoolers came in and we did a bunch of round offs." Feist and the other owners plan to continue their weekly

events and host concerts once or twice a month. They have a Halloween concert scheduled for Oct. 28, but they haven't set a time yet. Long-term ideas for the space include selling more local art, opening an art gallery, giving lessons, making it a public rehearsal space, and creating a non-profit organization. "We have a lot of dreams," Feist said. "Right now, it's about

getting people here. It's a store, but it's an art house where we all help each other. It's a space to create and have feedback." To become involved or schedule a rehearsal time at the store, email thehippiedippyjoint@gmail.com or stop by the space during their business hours, which are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m Thursday through Sunday.

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