The Review The University of Delaware’s independent student newspaper since 1882
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 VOLUME 141, ISSUE 12
FOR BREAKING NEWS AND MORE VISIT UDREVIEW.COM
SGA rejects proposal that would expand presidential eligibility EMMA KINGLSEY Staff Reporter At Monday’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, the Senate debated two proposals, the first focusing on student notification regarding weather cancellation and delays (students will now receive text messages through the LiveSafe app and an email from the university), and was passed unanimously. The second centered on the eligibility requirements for SGA president, and aimed to expand the pool of candidates. In recent years, the president and much of the executive board ran unopposed, partially because so few people are eligible to run for the position. Monday’s proposal suggested that the requirement that presidential candidates serve a year on the executive board be revised, and any senators either elected or appointed should be able to run as long as they have one year of active experience. The proposal did not pass. During the discussion, senators and executive board members debated whether the requirements were too broad while others said it would allow for greater participation rates and representation for the
student body. SGA president Ben Page-Gil said he sees both sides of the argument, but it depends on how you view the organization. “Right now every president has been successful, so there hasn’t been lack of quality,” Page-Gil said. Danielle Imhoff, executive vice president, spoke about SGA’s goals next semester. She explained that SGA is pushing for more proposals and that there should be more come February. She also mentioned one of the first proposals that passed this fall was creating ad hoc committees for non-traditional students to better express their needs on campus. An example of an ad hoc committee is the Green Senate, which works on creating a more sustainable campus. Another ad hoc committee being created is the one for commuter students. “It’s a big initiative that we really want to focus on,” she said. “We’re working on confirming members and it will start up next semester.” Adam Cantley, associate dean of students, was SGA’s speaker at the meeting. As a Title IX deputy, he fielded a few questions about the Title IX office and the recent spotlight
ANDREW KUCZMARSKI/THE REVIEW on sexual violence at the university. “I feel really comfortable and confident about the direction the university is taking,” Cantley said. “We are doing a lot of great things to take it in a new direction.” These new things include the current search for a Title IX investigator and the additions
this semester of a committee for education on handling sexual assault for staff and students and creating more of a government type structure for Title IX on campus. “The university is doing a good job of educating people and empowering action forward,” Cantley said. Page-Gil also spoke about
his recent trip to the White House to learn about the “It’s On Us” campaign, which seeks to bring awareness and stop sexual assault on college campuses. He said it is something a lot of universities are doing and that next semester SGA hopes to focus more on the campaign.
Committee announces new master plan for STAR Campus KELSEY MCKEE Staff Reporter
KIRK SMITH/THE REVIEW Protesters stoods in the rain Monday outside of Sen. Carper’s Wilmington office. This marks a shift in tone from Carper’s April press release.
Local resentment after Sen. Carper announces support for Keystone XL Pipeline KELSEY WENTLING Staff Reporter Unencumbered by the rain, 15 people and two dogs traded in the comfort of the dry indoors for the chance to stand against Sen. Tom Carper, one of few Democrats to support the Keystone Pipeline plan. On a busy street corner in Wilmington Monday, protesters gathered to vocalize their objections to Carper’s announced intention to vote for Keystone XL Pipeline approval in Tuesday’s Senate hearing. The local chapter of the Sierra Club and 350.org, both environmental awareness organizations, organized the rally. “I’m really disappointed that while he talks a good game on the environment, whenever a difficult decision that really makes a difference comes up, he really takes the political route,” said David Carter, a protester from Christiana. The proposed pipeline would carry tar sands from Alberta, Canada to Steele City, Neb., where it would join pre-existing pipelines on its way to the Gulf Coast, passing through the United States. Sen. Mary Landrieu (DLa.), who is facing a neckto-neck runoff midterm election against Rep Bill Cassidy (R-La.), is seeking to gather enough votes for the pipeline’s approval in the Senate. The vote is expected to be close, though Landrieu has several key Democrats by
her side, including Carper. In an April press release, Carper stated he would stand by the Obama Administration’s decision. However, Carper’s communications team has told several media outlets–– including Huffington Post–– that he supports Laudrieu’s proposal. Having worked for 30 years at the Delaware Environmental Institute, Carter said he attended the protest in order to express his dissatisfaction with the Senator’s announcement and ensure that his message to the Senator is heard. “I would ask him to really look at the most important issue of our generation and to stand his ground,” Carter said. “To do the right thing on that issue and not worry about his short-term political interests. That is not the way to govern, that is not the way to lead, and he is failing us.” Much of the controversy surrounding the pipeline is grounded in the debate between environment and economy. Janet Johnson, political science and international relations professor with a specialization in environmental policy said while oil flowing through the United States would increase world supply, the proportion of world oil it would contribute would not have a significant impact on total oil supply or price.
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After months of protests from Newark citizens and a subsequent unanimous Faculty Senate vote that critiqued the university’s plans to partner with The Data Centers LLC (TDC), the university decided to change course. The university found cause not only to end its agreement with TDC in July, but also to revise the “master plan” for STAR Campus. Members of the STAR Steering Committee introduced the revised master plan to community members Wednesday evening in Clayton Hall and held a subsequent meeting Thursday in Trabant Theatre. The previous plan sparked protests throughout the community due to its plans to install a power plant and data center on STAR Campus, which prompted the committee to terminate TDC’s lease. Amy Roe, a founding member of Newark Residents Against the Power Plant, was in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting. Roe, a former mayoral candidate, helped lead the protests against the power plant last spring. ”I think they’ve tried to sweep it under the rug and ignore that it ever happened,” Roe said. The new plan focuses on the northeast corner of STAR Campus and will focus for the time being on between 60-70 acres instead of the entire 272 acres as the previous Master Plan had attempted to do. The
forgone acreage includes the land that had previously been allocated to TDC. Alan Brangman, STAR committee chairman and vice president for facilities, real estate and auxiliary services, said the committee’s vision includes creating an urban campus on the site, including everything from an improved train station, bike path, green spaces, parking garages, roads, businesses and the Health Science Complex,
“We can get anywhere we want to be in a very short amount of time. As far as I’m concerned, Newark is the center of the universe.” -ALAN BRANGMAN, STAR COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR FACILITIES, REAL ESTATE AND AUXILIARY SERVICES
which will provide research and internship opportunities for members of the university. “Our desire is to provide
opportunities for our researchers, students and visitors to be able to bump into each other as you’re on the sidewalks in this neighborhood,” Brangman said. The university is also working closely with the Delaware Department of Transportation to help anticipate and ameliorate the strain on University Avenue where there will likely be over one thousand additional people commuting to and from the site via car, Brangman said. The committee’s original plan was to recreate The Green on STAR Campus, running east to west. Now the committee has decided to implement pockets of “green space” instead, Brangman said. The university’s goal is to establish a major green space within a five minute walk of anywhere on campus. The train station and the Health Sciences Complex sites will serve as the main hubs for students, faculty and workers on STAR Campus, he said. Brangman said the rest of the campus will be populated by businesses that fit into the “3+1 plan”: vision, work, learn and live. One central goal of the committee is to turn the Newark train station into a full-service commuter station. The university must do this before 2018, or it could lose a $10 million federal grant as well as a central feature in the master plan.
See GIFFORD page 3
Almost 10 years after Bonistall death, mother seeks to restart PEACE OUTside MATT BUTLER Managing News Editor
“Time heals all wounds.” This age-old adage, tossed around for centuries, has taken on the form of cure-all mantra for those mourning some sort of loss. For some it is true as the shock of a heartbreak or death fades away. But there are exceptions. The death of Lindsey Bonistall is a case like this. It transcends See SIFTAR page 5 the band-aid cures of time and
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distractions. Never before has a crime shaken the campus or Newark community so much as that early May night in 2005 when James Cook murdered Bonistall in her offcampus apartment. The reminders still exist to this day, highlighted by a memorial tree and bench on Academy Street and scholarships in Bonistall’s honor. Yet absent from campus is one of the most powerful pieces of Bonistall’s legacy, the PEACE OUTside
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Campus (POC) foundation. Kathleen Bonistall, Lindsey’s mother, founded and helps run the organization to this day. She said she still feels the effects of Lindsey’s loss, but that the organization gives her a chance to keep her daughter around in some capacity. She said at its strongest, POC was active on seven campuses at once, though that number has since dwindled to zero. See BONISTALL page 3
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