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SGA passes bill to place T numbers on students’ Eagle Cards By ANNALISE FREITAG Beat Reporter In the Oct. 27 SGA meeting, a bill was passed which will give new students the ability to have their T number on their Eagle Cards. This bill was proposed by Freshman Senator Dylan Miller after he noticed how many students did not know their T numbers while trying to pick up S.O.L.O. tickets. “They spent a lot of time stand-
ing on the sides or in the corners of our office trying to go through their iLearn looking for their T numbers,” Miller said. “They weren’t able to find them, and I figured this would actually be a lot easier.” The bill includes the option for students to refuse having their T number on their Eagle Card. Miller said he received feedback from this bill saying the only real safety concern if someone knew your T number would be if teachers sent out grades by T number in a mass email, for instance. Others said they simply wouldn’t
feel safe with their T number on their Eagle Card, Miller said. Senators discussed these potential security concerns, but SGA Secretary Savannah Savage noted that other major universities include students’ ID numbers on their cards, so there must not be any major safety problems. “We had our ID numbers on our cards,” said Jason Bennett, a 2013 graduate from the University of Tennessee at Martin. “We would use that number to log in to the website portal and some professors would want us to provide it
on our assignments and exams. I didn’t have any safety concerns or knew of any.” The bill will only apply to new students who are getting Eagle Cards for the first time, starting in Fall 2016. Current students would have to pay the standard $10 fee to get a replacement card if they wanted their T number on their card. Freshman mechanical engineering major Austin Monroe said he doesn’t care to get a new Eagle Card with his T number included. “It would have helped at the
start of the year,” Monroe said, “but a couple weeks into the year, I naturally memorized it. I think the idea is good, but it doesn’t work for me personally.” “Our goal in SGA is to provide for the students, and be a voice for the students,” Miller said. “I figured we might as well make two groups of students happy, rather than just one.” For Tech to provide new Eagle Cards to all current students, it would cost the university $109,000, so the bill is not requiring Tech to provide new cards.
Meet the 2015 Homecoming candidates
Taylor Frye
Jennifer Ball & Zach Ring
Molly Campbell & Connor Pearce
Taylor Atchley & Kyle Anspach
- Taylor represents Sigma Phi Epsilon.
- Jennifer represents Kappa Delta. - Zach represents Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
- Molly represents Alpha Delta Pi. - Connor represents Sigma Chi.
- Taylor represents Phi Mu. - Kyle represents Phi Gamma Delta.
John Adam Turner
Victoria Cass & Austyn Cooper
Chloe Massey & Tanner Dunn
Caroline Dodd & Philip Gant
- John Adam represents Alpha Gamma Sigma.
- Victoria represents Delta Phi Epsilon. - Austyn represents Tau Kappa Epsilon.
- Chloe represents Delta Gamma. - Tanner represents Kappa Sigma.
- Caroline represents the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. - Philip represents the Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
Homecoming candidates announced, king and queen title to change for Centennial celebration By RYAN GIBBONS Beat Reporter Gone are the days of Homecoming King and Queen. The Student Government Association has changed the titles to Mr. and Miss Tennessee Tech in honor of the Centennial celebrations continuing throughout the year. Elections will be held online Nov. 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “The decision was made last spring when Emily (McDonald) was still president,” said current SGA President Bobby Adams. “I think her intentions were for that to become a permanent thing for future elections, not just this year.”
To be a candidate for Mr. and Miss Tennessee Tech, one must be a currently enrolled full-time student at Tennessee Tech of at least junior status and must have an overall quality point average of 2.50. All candidates must be sponsored by a student organization, and each organization cannot sponsor more than one candidate for each Mr. and Miss Tennessee Tech. “I wanted to run for Miss Tennessee Tech because I’ve been very involved on this campus, and I thought it would be a great way to represent Tech and the rest of the student body,” said Molly Campbell, the candidate for Alpha Delta Pi. “Most people run for Homecoming court because they want the attention, but I’m run-
ning because I love this school and everything it stands for,” said Zach Ring, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon candidate. After paying the $50 charge to run, candidates must also submit a budget not exceeding $750 and turn it in to Adams before they begin active campaigning. If the candidate exceeds $750, the candidate is immediately disqualified. Because of controversy in past elections, a new rule has been added to the Homecoming regulations. “The collection of T-numbers and/or PIN numbers will be strictly prohibited. With proof of the collection of any student voter login information, the candidate will be immediately disqualified from the election.” Another change students may notice is the return of the Election Day voting booths. After
a one-year absence, the SGA decided to allow this again saying it’s a part of Homecoming tradition. However, the booths are not allowed to be inside the library or the ground floor of the Roaden University Center. According to the Election Rules, candidates may not put flyers on cars but can use window paint with the permission of the car’s owner. Door-to-door campaigning is not allowed in the residence halls. Sidewalk art and chalk is prohibited on Centennial Plaza but allowed outside the library with the approval of the dean of the library. Any campaign violations will be decided on by the SGA Election Commission Committee, which has full authority to decide the outcome of the violation.
Oldham addresses questions from students during his Chat with the President By MEGAN WILLIAMSON Beat Reporter
On Thursday, Oct. 29, students, faculty and staff filed in one after the other as they stood in line to get their food and quickly take their seats as Tennessee Tech President Philip Oldham took the podium for a Chat with the President. Chat with the President allows people to come in and talk to Oldham about their concerns and ask questions about issues on campus. The main topics discussed were: guns on campus, how the university can better comRead More Online
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municate with students, and construction plans. With the recent college shootings at Umpqua Community College and Northern Arizona University, allowing guns on campus has been a major dispute around the country. “Because of recent state legislation and court rulings, eight states now have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses,” according to an article on the National Conference of State Legislatures website. “These states are Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.”
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With eight other states, including Tennessee, considering allowing concealable weapons on campus, students wanted to know how Tech planned on implementing the new legislation. Oldham said he feels that allowing guns will not make this campus safer. However, Vance Bogard, a senior mechanical engineering student feels that having concealed weapons on campus could be a positive change. “Unfortunately school shootings are increasing,” said Bogard. “I think that one of the ways that we can be safer is to have responsible gun owners be able to
protect themselves on campus. I think it’s something we shouldn’t just write off. I’ve carried legally for over two years now, and I just think it’s something that could be beneficial.” The next topic dealt with the university’s communication tools. Recently, a survey was sent out about Tech Times and what could be done to improve it, which received more than one thousand responses. Bobby Adams, president of the Student Government Association, also had some suggestions on how it could improve. “I think that having a sorting system would be
nice,” said Adams. “Having an athletic section, student organizations section and an administrative section would help us pick out the important events to each person. Right now it’s kind of a hodge-podge of events.” President Oldham also talked about the decisionmaking process of opening or closing campus because of inclement weather for the upcoming spring semester. Last year, Tech students received a whole week out of class because of ice. “There is one slight change that we anticipate for this winter,” said Oldham. “Last year, we used the traf-
fic light system of red, yellow and green light to let students and faculty know about campus status. Red meaning closed, green meaning open, and yellow meaning come if you can. We agreed to get rid of the yellow light and either close or open campus for safety reasons.” Oldham also talked about the five-year construction plan for campus. With the completion of Oakley Hall this semester, Jere Whitson Building, Kittrell Hall and Bartoo Hall are expected to be renovated next. Once those buildings are finished, the plan is to begin the engineering quad renovations.
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