April 12, 2010

WHAT’S INSIDE

NEWS 1–2

OPINION 3

SPORTS 4–5

CULTURE 7–8 I SSU E

54

The Independent Student Voice of Boise State Since 1933

Volume 22

First Issue

F R E E Apirl 12, 2010

Broncos continue to shuffle players

5

DO-OVER

ASBSU Judiciary declares election null and void

T-shirts from out the back of cars!

PAGE

3

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Why more tuition is a good thing!

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ARBITERONLINE.COM

8

Undergraduate research and scholarship conference to take place Monday Benjamin Mack News Editor

Katy Butler, Jessica swider and Tony Rogers Journalists

I

n a historic move, Elections Board Chair Johnnie Wuest announced Friday that a re-vote will be held for ASBSU elections.

This is the first time in Boise State history that ASBSU election results have been nullified.

Candidates were livid as Wuest announced the revote at noon in the Student Union. Upon the announcement, the crowd awaiting the results went into a state of shock.

According to Wuest, the revote is necessary due to many students who were unable to vote. All votes in the previous election, Wuest said, will be disqualified. However, Wuest said that the ASBSU Judiciary may decide to rescind that decision.

As of press time, no final decision had been reached.

During the course of the two-day election, over 100 students filed complaints saying that they were unable to vote through the voting module accessed through BroncoWeb either by being kicked off the server and having their vote count as a

blank vote or by reading the candidate's platforms and returning to vote and being told by the server that they had already submitted a blank vote.

“There were enough students that were unable to vote that it would change the outcome of the elections.”

Weust said.

Due to the many complaints, the judiciary has decided that there will be a re-vote for all students held this week and the previous election results will not be released due to confidentiality. Students will be able to re-vote on ASBSU president, vice-president and senators.

MITCH ESPLIN/THE ARBITER It has not been decided if ASBSU presidential candidate Jason Andersen reacts to there will be a re-vote on the the announcement Friday afternoon that ASBSU voting proposed restructuring of results will be nullified. the constitution.

Several candidates claimed the judiciaries’ de- Mercado said. “It’s fair, but cision was unfair to students it’s just a surprise.”

Not everyone was and candidates.

“We think this is ridicu- despondent.

“This is absolutely neceslous, the election board knew about this problem from day sary," current ASBSU Sen. Go to one," presidential candidate Chase Johnson said. "I think Jason Andersen said. “We’ll this is a long time coming, arbiteronline.com be loosing more student rep- and I am glad the judiciary for more coverage, and the election board had resentation this way.” candidate profiles, Steven Mercado, a candi- the audacity to do it.”

Others felt the only way for date for Senator at Large, was and a video of the upset by the decision. announcement.

“I am very devastated, but See DO-OVER I page 2 we can’t deny the voters,”

BEAT PETE

Over 500 BSU students will present approximately 250 examples of research, professional work and creative activities at the seventh annual Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference Monday from 1-4 p.m. in the Student Union.

According to a press release, the event is free and the public is welcome to stop by.

“One of the strengths of Boise State, and a source of pride for the entire campus community, is the prominent role that undergraduate students play in research,” said vice president for research Mark Rudin. “This conference continues to provide these students an opportunity to share their projects and be recognized for their exceptional work, which contributes to scientific knowledge, enriches our culture, enhances classroom learning, benefits the community and state, and has the potential to improve quality of life in the 21st century.”

The conference is a way for student researchers and scholars at Boise State to celebrate their work with an audience of peers, professors, prospective college students, community members and the university at large. A faculty jury from each of BSU’s seven academic colleges selected the work that will be displayed.

“From fiction writing to biochemistry, scholarship and research encompass every discipline on campus,” vice provost Sharon McGuire said. “The conference is designed to recognize achievement and further inspire undergraduates to engage in work that typically is reserved for graduate students at other institutions. More students are involved and motivated this year than ever before, and their scholarly efforts demonstrate the richness of the undergraduate experience at Boise State.”

This year’s conference will feature live dance performances, a gallery of visual art, Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese demonstrations, and numerous poster and podium presentations in subjects ranging from engineering to political science.

A full program is available at http://academics.boisestate. edu/undergraduateresearch. Free parking for the event is available by calling Judy Wauer at (208) 426-4062.

glenn landberg/THE ARBITER

Students, faculty and community members line up to race against football coach Chris Petersen Saturday in the third annual “Beat Pete” fundraiser. Of about 1,400 competitors, 564 beat Petersen, raising over $30,000 in scholarships for BSU students.

Boise State’s Student Lecture Series

Where: Morrison Center When: April 15, 6:30 p.m.

Presents:

Cost: Free to students & the community

An Evening with Author & Leadership Expert

Stephen R. Covey Author of the No. 1 most influential business book of the 20th century according to CEO magazine

Watch Covey's lecture streamed live on arbiteronline.com

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People The Arbiter • arbiteronline.com

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news

Apirl 12, 2010

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Boise State students attend

DO-OVER

National Model United Nations Gerry Wenske

Special to The Arbiter

COURTESY GERRY WENSKE

Jeffrey Dolifka, Trista Gorringe, Lauren Pfeiffer and Alexa Sakolsky-Basquill were among 10 BSU students who participated in the National Model UN Conference in New York March 28-April 1.

Ten BSU students attended the National Model UN in New York March 28-April 1 during spring break.

The students -- Ernest Dunlap, Lauren Pfeiffer, Ben Welker, Alexa SakolskyBasquill, Conor McGee, Gabe Murphy, Kevin Burns, Michael Burns, Trista Gorringe and Jeffrey Dolifka -participated in the world’s largest model United Nations sponsored by the National Collegiate Conference Association.

The conference, with more than 3,000 college

[News page 1]

students from around the world, provided a forum for learning about the U.N. through role playing including opening and closing sessions held in the U.N. General Assembly hall. The BSU students, who represented Oman in the General Assembly and Mexico in the Security Council, also met with the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN. Prior to the trip, the students completed a workshop on the U.N. Gerry Wenske is the faculty advisor for Boise State's Model United Nations and is the Executive Director of the Frank Church Institute.

Boise State stricken with

'The Human Condition'

David Gasch Journalist

As of Fall 2010, Boise State will provide students with a new type of educational experience.

The combined efforts of professors Scott Yenor, Ph.D., Stephen Crowley, Ph.D. and Stewart Gardner, Ph.D. created a class that will satisfy three political science credits as well as three philosophy credits, titled “The Human Condition.”

The professors took a unique approach to the class, with the hope of building a strong, liberal arts foundation at Boise State. Two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, hundreds of students will meet for lecture in philosophy,

the history of philosophy, how it relates to the individual in community and being the best human being possible.

The other three days of the week the class will be divided into 10 sections in which students will be able to take advantage of small group discussions to debate the material.

“For us the fundamental idea is it’s the foundation for a liberal arts education," Yenor said. "We want people who are interested in being thoughtful human beings. This is an avenue to becoming a thoughtful human being.”

The class will satisfy an area one and area two core requirement. The material will range chronologically and topically from Aristotle to contemporary thinkers. From

a political science point of view, the class will address the strengths and weaknesses of certain methods of organizing a community.

“One of the things we hope that people take away from Boise State, along with excellence in their chosen research area, is a sense of how the community they are part of functions,” Crowley said. “This is not one of those classes where we will give people answers but we hope we will enrich people’s appreciation of what some of the alternatives are and what’s involved in making a thoughtful choice.”

The professors began working most actively in the fall semester of 2009. The university replied to their application in January; afterward the three

professors continued working to create lectures, syllabi, ideas and to work out the aesthetics of the course.

The class received funding for one year. The professors designed the class in a way they can tell whether it holds merit and benefits those who take it academically in hopes the class can continue in the future.

“My hope is this class achieves all that we hope for,” Crowley said. “We hope it gives our students better access to the cluster of ideas around the human situation and it gives them a richer learning environment to gain ownership

over those ideas.”

Along with the three professors, several peer learning assistants will also guide the discussion classes. The chosen students include upperclassmen in the related fields, who will receive internship credits for their efforts.

Visit arbiteronline.com for more green coverage.

students' voices to be heard on who they want to see as on ASBSU is to have a re-vote.

“Students who are complaining are the most concerned and willing to vote,” Stephen Heleker, a presidential candidate, said.

For some candidates, the new election will not come conveniently.

During the campaign season, many had scheduled their club events and meetings for the week after the elections had taken place.

“Many of us have prior commitments in the upcoming week, so there might be hard decisions to make in the coming days,” ASBSU vicepresidential Zach Snoderly, Heleker's running mate, said.

“This whole week has pretty much been for nothing.”

Other candidates have to cope with another problem: finances.

“Now that the election was thrown out, I have to go and print more flyers to replace the ones that were torn down today,” said Lindsey Matson, presidential candidate. According to Matson, she has already spent more than $1,000 on her campaign.

Many students expressed annoyance.

“I honestly don’t want to go through with this again,” Lacy Hopkins, a sophomore majoring in elementary education, said after the announcement.

The dates for the re-vote and the method of voting, either online or through a more traditional paper ballot, have not yet been decided.

The judiciary plans to meet this week to discuss the details.

Benjamin Mack contributed to this report.

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Opinion

3 Watch videos of Student Voices on arbiteronline.com.

Apirl 12, 2010

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Bookworm or party animal?

Find a balance Haley Robinson Journalist

O

ne thing that many college students struggle with, especially during their first year, is how to handle a new level of freedom. There are the curve-destroying nerds who bury their noses in books and won’t come up for air until they graduate. Then there is the other extreme -- the party animals who only sober up for an hour or so to fail a test every couple of weeks. While neither of these options are very appealing, it is difficult for most to find a middle ground. So what exactly is a GPA worth?

While social life is important, when it comes down to it, studies should take a certain amount of priority. Perhaps if college was cheap, it would be acceptable to spend every

day getting drunk and wasting opportunities, but it's not.

According to an article in the New York Times, in the United States, only half of students who enroll in college end up with a bachelor’s degree. Boise State's statistics are even more dismally low with a graduation rate of 28 percent.

There are many reasons that a student would drop out of college, but certainly a major factor is the inability to balance the work load with social life.

Of course, socializing should never be left at the wayside. Social interaction is a vital part of self development. Constructing relationships and finding people to connect with are necessary for self-discovery.

Many students develop their social skills in college.

Boise State Junior Zack Barerra is

STUDENT VOICES: Cody Stubblefield

"When I start doing really poorly, I put more effort into my studies."

Who cares what the Bible says?

Josh Gamble Columnist

for students.

"There is a balance to be struck between grades and a social life, but grades definitely come first," Snoderly said. "New Student and Family Programs is relatively new, but we really want to become an outlet for new students to find a way to get involved and reach out to other places across campus -- places like the Career Center, Cultural Center, and the Women's Center where they can use the techniques developed in the classroom, and apply them to social networking."

Though it is extremely important to have a balance between these two necessary components of life, at this phase school is what should be taking first priority. So for those who haven't tried this yet, maybe it's time to put down the beer bong and pick up a text book.

A while back I saw a photo of a protester holding a sign that said, “America is a Christian Nation.” Sorry to invoke my column’s name-sake and be a buzz-kill, but that’s a load of crap.

Some of you may care what the Bible says, and care quite a bit. It may influence your personal creed and beliefs, and even how you vote.

Regardless, American government is secular. Our founding documents were written by men, not God. The main argument against gay marriage is a biblical one. Some of you may remember my article a while back called “Homophobia: The Ignored American Epidemic.” In it, I tried to refute the widely-held notion that homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible. Well, that didn’t work well. People disagreed with my interpretations of various verses.

That interpretation and disagreement is everyone’s right as an American. I respect that everyone sees the Bible differently and holds different religious beliefs. It’s also your right to hate who you wish to, which I have less respect for, but won’t try to take away.

However, I do have a legal argument to counter your religious one: who cares? There is no secular reason why gays and lesbians should be denied the right to marry. And contrary to what religious protesters may think, we are not a “Christian nation.”

Sure, the word “god” appears in our founding documents, but guess who else has a god: almost every other religion around.

Some people complain, “That’s changing the definition of marriage!” or “violating the sanctity of marriage.” I don’t care. The sanctity of marriage stays in the church. There is no sanctity in the court house. Besides, marriage in America is hardly sacred anymore. Changing the definition of marriage to include samesex couples doesn’t invalidate your marriage. It doesn’t threaten you in any way. Unless you’re a gay man or woman, the legalization of gay marriage doesn’t affect you at all.

If your church doesn’t want to perform same-sex marriages, that’s your business. The government has no business forcing preachers to perform marriages they don’t support. However, it doesn’t have a right to deny two people in love a secular marriage license without a legitimate secular reason.

I’ve heard some say gay marriage should be put to a referendum. That’s ridiculous. One person’s romantic life is not public business. Legalizing gay marriage doesn’t mean you have to approve of homosexuality. Your personal beliefs are just that -- personal.

If you really don’t like the idea of gays and lesbians getting married, an acquaintance of mine has a solution.

Take marriage out of the government altogether. When a couple, gay or straight, goes to the court house to sign documents after a religious ceremony, they all receive a civil union, so let’s call it that. Leave marriage to churches, and let the courts deal with the legal aspects secularly, as they were designed to function.

How do you find a balance between having a social life and maintaining a good GPA?

Jenna Hunt

Patrick Knudsen

sophomore Business major

a student who prioritizes time with people over studying.

"I value the social life," Barrerra said. "Success really is about who you know and how you compose yourself to them. You can get all the A's in the world but if you don't ever go out, they won't help you."

Though social develop is important, the time spent at college should be used to build a platform for a professional life. College offers opportunities to learn skills and discover resources that would be otherwise unattainable.

For students struggling with this balance, there are campus resources accessible to all. BSU offers academic advising, for example.

Orientation Coordinator at the New Student and Family Programs office, Zach Snoderly, hopes that the office will soon become another resource

the buzzkill

sophomore Psychology major

junior General Business & HR Management double major

"I find that a balance... is really important. As a freshman I didn't know how to do that."

"I try to make my friends understand that as a dual major it's kind of important to me to not have to retake all these classes, especially when I'm paying for them."

Natalie MacLachlan sophomore Theatre & Secondary Education major "I think that you really need to take advantage of your education because it only exists now."

Christina Coats junior Sociology major "I think (a balance) is really easy...the most important thing for me is school."

BSU tuition hikes necessary Jessica Swider Journalist

It's official. Boise State University's tuition and fees will increase 9 percent this fall. That means that you will be paying approximately $438 more a year.

State Board of Education President Paul Agidius told The Arbiter, "There are two ways students are denied access to education: When students can’t attend, and then if they can, but courses are not available. Our job is to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

While student outrage over these fees is clear, what most Boise State University, and other Idaho college students, fail to realize is that college in Idaho is, even after tuition increases, an amazing bargain. The University of California system will suffer a tuition hike of over 30 percent in the fall, making their tuition increase by $2,500.

That's roughly half of Boise State's overall total student tuition. While it is irritating to pay more and take out more loans, Boise State students should consider themselves lucky that their overall tuition is still reasonably low.

Not only are our tuition increases reasonable, but they're necessary. Whether or not you support the fee increases, they're needed to counter the educational budget cuts that Gov. Butch Otter has made.

If students should be outraged at anything, it should be directed at our government and their lack of support for education. Of all the cuts in spending that could be made, our government is quick to axe money for education needs.

"The economy is the driving factor in this. The cuts in this budget reflect that. It’s not about the value or the worth of one position or another,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-

Jerome, in The Idaho Statesman.

However, Idaho schools have lost $200 million in two years in funding, including these cuts, according to the Statesman. This seems to be a ridiculous amount of money when there are plenty of other areas that could take a cut, even a minor one.

Some students understand that these are tough economic times.

Sophomore and Electrical & Computer Engineering major, Charlie Harster, said, "They obviously raised our tuition for a reason. If they can justify that it's going to something useful and productive, then I'm fine with it."

It seems that our attention is obviously being focused in the wrong direction.

The real injustice that's unfolded before our eyes are the state budget cuts, not the tuition hikes. Students need to consider themselves lucky and suck it up.

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the future

BY N. BLACK & S. CLEMENT Tribune Media Services Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Aries (March 21-April 19) Today is a 7 - If you can take the day off with your significant other, you’ll discover romance at your fingertips. If you can’t, plan an evening that starts as early as possible.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today is a 7 - Take extra care when working on creative projects, especially when using sharp instruments. Make refinements in small increments, and evaluate as you go.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) Today is a 6 - Every time you meet a deadline, you turn an obstacle into opportunity. Delivering ahead of time eliminates pressure for everyone and frees you for the next great idea.

Cancer (June 22-July 22) Today is a 5 - You find yourself in the spotlight without part of your costume. Oops! Grab an associate or two and ask them to fix it, now!

They’ll jump to help.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) Today is a 5 - You may be tempted to tiptoe around a problem today.

A better strategy would be to face obstacles head-on while pulling strings in the background.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Today is a 5 - Be aware of your partner’s unusual needs. The challenge is to meet demands even when neither of you enjoys the process.

Add empathy, and then just take care of it.

Today is a 6 - A solid strategy for work would be to challenge all participants. Inspire enthusiasm by focusing on practical outcomes that everyone can appreciate.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Today is a 5 - Spread your charm as far as you like. There’s plenty to go around. Meanwhile, keep your opinions to yourself.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Today is a 6 - You’ll get more done today if you work around everyone else. They have their own challenges, unrelated to yours. Leave them to their own devices.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Today is a 7 - Everything will work out the way you want if you pay attention to your partner’s requests.

If you don’t, you’ll face major obstacles.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Today is a 5 - You surprise even yourself with your careful management. You recognize the challenge in stretching dollars to cover it all.

Reward yourself, too.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) Today is a 6 - What a difference it makes to be aware of your partner’s foibles, and vice versa.

Both of you feel a bit compulsive today. Creative teasing is in order. ___ (c) 2009, Tribune Media Services Inc.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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