Vanguard The
Volume 45, Number 30
March 31, 2008
Meet the Horror Club see page 6
Serving USA SinCe 1965
Collins, Hendrich to face off in runoff Graduate aid Smith takes VP uncontested; Shepard defeats Fowler; Skewes is new CJ; McGee is AG Leigh Patton MANAGING EDITOR
Jason Shepard
lwp302@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
Candidates running for the Student Government Association for the 2008-2009 academic year gathered in the SGA office March 28 to await the results for the winners. At 7:20 p.m. the anticipated Student Government Association candidates hovered around the window where the results of the winners were posted. Caitlin Collins and Mikey Hendrich will have a runoff for president because neither candidate reached the 50 percent accumulation of votes needed to win presidency outright. Collins received 493 votes, Hendrich 282 votes. Third-place presidential candidate Jeffrey Ryan Harris recieved 216 votes. Chapter 505 of the SGA code of laws states, “A majority of the total votes cast is necessary to win any of the elected SGA offices other than senator and student-atlarge.” “A run-off was definitely something I expected.” Collins said. “There were three strong candidates running, which made it really hard for any one person to get the majority of the votes. I'm just happy that I am going to have the opportunity to be one of the candidates in the runoff.” Jason Shepard won the seat for treasurer having 572 votes where his opponent Todd
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF jason.shepard@comcast.net
Marzieh K. Atigh / Photo Editor
Candidates running for the Student Government Association look on the results of the winners in the SGA office March 28. Collins and Hendrich will have a runoff next week.
Fowler had 346 votes. Shepard plans to focus his efforts on streamlining and simplifying the appropriations process along with communicating more effectively with the student body as a
whole. “I hope to affect immediate change,” Shepard said. “My biggest goal will be to work with the senate to immediately proX
see RUNOFF, page 22
University continues to vacate Hillsdale homes Jason Shepard EDITOR-IN-CHIEF jason.shepard@comcast.net
Leigh Patton / Managing Editor
The University of South Alabama is in the process of vacating 19 homes in Hillsdale to make room for a mulit-purpose storage and facility unit. Eventually South Alabama plans to get completely out of the single-family housing rental business
Inside
to increase
Lifestyles pg. 6
It has been the stated long-term intentions of the University to get out of the single-family housing business, and as the University continues to slowly move forward with this plan, some students are not happy. “We were told that we were being kicked out so the University could build a football stadium,” Mathew Wilkinson, a civil engineering student at USA and current resident of Hillsdale, said. “I am outraged.” Wilkinson is one of 15 residents who are currently being told that their leases will not be available for renewal. The University plans to use the land to build a multi-purpose storage and facility unit. An additional four already-vacated homes will also be demolished to make way for the new facility. “The University has no plans to build a football stadium,” Keith Ayers, University of South Alabama director of public relations, said. However, Ayers acknowledged that there might be some “kernel of truth” to the rumor.
Fine Arts pg. 8
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Entertainment pg. 10
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The University of South Alabama Foundation recently approved a proposal presented by Dr. Patsy Covey, University of South Alabama vice president for academic affairs, that will provide the University with an annual grant of $471,000 to support expansions in the University’s graduate aid program. Graduate assistanships and fellowships are usually provided to academically talented graduate students in order to allow these students to become fully involved in scholarship. “Graduate assistantships … are universally recognized as an essential component of graduate education,” Covey said. “They allow students to become immersed in the scholarship and professional activity.” Competitive graduate assistantships can also lead to great productivity and greater levels of research output by the various departments in a university, according to Covey. Of the $471,000, $246,000 will go towards the creation of 22 new USA Foundation Fellowships. The new fellowships include two fellowships for the University’s new interdisciplinary program in environmental toxicology, 10 new fellowships for the College of Engineering, two new fellowships for the School of Computer and Information Sciences, two for the College of Allied Health, and six new fellowships for the department of psychology’s recently approved Ph.D. program. The remaining $225,000 will go toward supporting increasing the stipend levels of 73 of the 132 currently offered assistantships. The University currently has approxamiately 1,800 full-time graduate students, according to Covey. “We can only support about 7.2 percent of our graduate students [with graduate aid],” said Covey at the Foundation’s board of directors meeting. “We have an insufficient number of assistantships and cannot be as competitive as we would like to be.” For example, prior to the approved increase, the University of South Alabama College of Engineering was only able to provide three total assistantships. These assistantships came with a tuition waiver and $6,000 stipend for the academic year. The national average for engineering
see HILLSDALE, page 19
Sports pg. 12
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Opinion pg. 15
see GRADUATE AID, page 18
Classifieds pg. 23
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