The Utah Statesman, april 14, 2010

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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ISC Executive Council elections open to more voters

By BENJAMIN WOOD assistant features editor

Recent changes in the International Student Council (ISC) constitution allow for greater student participation. Under the new system, all international students will be able to vote and students with executive experience in a university-recognized international organization will be eligible to run for ISC Executive Council positions, said Konrad Lee, ISC faculty adviser. Previously, only students who attended 50 percent or more of the ISC’s general meetings were able to participate in ISC elections – as voters or candidates – and ISC secretary Kathleen Tam said that only resulted in some 20-40 students. “It makes it so that not many people can vote,” Tam said. “We have limited people running and limited people voting. We’ve expanded our requirements so that more people can run for the positions.” At USU there are more than 1,000 international students from 85 countries, and beginning with this year’s upcoming election, all international students will be able to vote for ISC leadership. Not every represented country has its own student organization with leadership positions, like the Chinese and Indian student associations, but Lee said students who have been involved with ASUSU can qualify for ISC candidacy. Lee said the idea for the change

CHANGES TO THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION will affect who can vote and run for Executive Council positions during elections in the coming weeks. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo

came from the current students serving on the ISC Executive Council. Students recognized the need to broaden the scope of the ISC Executive Council while preserving country representation. “I’m fully supportive of the changes,” Lee said. Regarding the stipulation that

candidates have previous leadership experience, Lee said it is especially important in the ISC to ensure a committed executive. “International students face challenges that local students don’t face,” Lee said. “They face complications that we don’t even think about.” Lee said that unlike local students

who can often adapt their number of credit hours or even opt to take a semester off to earn money, international students are under VISA stipulations that require a certain number of credit hours, among other things, to remain in the country. Unlike some other student leaders on campus, members of the ISC Executive Council

do not receive a financial stipend, something that Lee said he would like to see changed. “Our Executive Council is an amazing group of students,” Lee said. “They contribute so much to the university.” The elections will be held in the coming weeks, and Lee said a meeting was held with the various international organizations to inform all eligible candidates of the changes and to present the new constitution for their feedback. He said some groups were concerned about disenfranchisement in the new constitution. Any changes, Lee said, were inclusive, not exclusive, and the ISC hasn’t heard anything but positive responses. Tiffany Evans, director of student involvement and leadership, said her office has been working with the ISC to facilitate the changes in the voting process. The same program that is used during USU general elections, where students log on with A numbers and are identified by their college, will be implemented for the ISC Executive Council elections. “You log in, you’re identified as an international student. Bam! The ballot comes up,” Evans said. “The system will be in place for this year’s elections.” Applications are being accepted for council candidates, Tam said, and students who would like to know more about eligibility requirements and the election can contact the current members of the ISC Executive Council. – b.c.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu

ASUSU continues Difficult projects are worthwhile, prof says discussions about new Access Center By CATHERINE MEIDELL assistant news editor

By CHELSEY GENSEL news senior writer

A steering committee to direct the efforts of locating and designing the new Access Center, a division of student services, will meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14, in the Senate Chambers located on the third floor the Taggart Student Center. Diversity Vice President Krista Bustamante said specific students have been invited to be a part of that committee, but all are welcome to attend and share their input. Other upcoming events discussed at the ASUSU Executive Council meeting Tuesday include a Republican debate and the HURD Bowl flag football tournament. USU and ASUSU will host a debate featuring Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and three Republican candidates vying for his seat in the upcoming elections, and will be held in conjunction with the Cache Valley Republicans Convention. The debate will be open to students as well as the public and will be held at 12:30 p.m. April 30 in the Sunburst Lounge in the TSC. The HURD Bowl flag football will take place Saturday, April 24, preceding the USU football team’s spring game and will be coached by the USU football coaching staff. Four teams will compete for a championship trophy and a prize to the MVP of the tournament will also be awarded. The tournament was first opened to HURD members, but Athletics Vice President Jeremy Winn said about 40 spots remain on the four co-ed teams and signups are now open to all students. Winn said those interested need to e-mail hurd@aggiemail.usu.edu by April 18. A meeting will be held the following Monday for participants. The outgoing ASUSU Executive Council passed several bills in its final meeting, including one

- See ASUSU, page 3

Inside This Issue

The intellectual minds of USU students are capable of doing hard things that “aren’t going to be done unless someone stands up and decides to do them,” said Charles Swenson, engineering professor. Swenson was selected to give the Last Lecture, an event hosted annually by the Honors program. This has been a tradition at USU since 1976 and influential professors are asked to give a speech as if it were their last. This year, Swenson received the most nominations from students to give the lecture which he titled “We Choose to Go to the Moon.” The event took place Tuesday in the TSC Ballroom. The ballroom was filled with Swenson’s students, one of which introduced him and has known him since childhood. Ben Carroll, junior and electrical engineering major, and Swenson lived in the same neighborhood while Carroll was growing up. Carroll said not only was Swenson his professor at USU, but his scoutmaster and mentor. “He is inspiring,” Carroll said. “One of my defining moments was in his class banding together with others in the class. ... He changed the way I learn.” Two of Swenson’s greatest passions are teaching and space, specifically heliophysics, the study of the sun and the space between the sun and other planets. He said he researched projects pertaining to heliophysics for NASA and became a member of the panel that approves project proposals sent in by researchers throughout the U.S. Swenson said he did a lot of difficult and intensive research while working at NASA, like many others who work in his scientific field. Though the pathway

4/14/10 Aggie Angels, USU’s first club for anyone with a motorized bike, aims to promote unity between bikers. Page 5

to progress in heliophysical research is strenuous, it is necessary and beneficial to mankind, he said. To prove his point, Swenson presented a quote by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 that states, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one

we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” Since NASA sent astronauts to the moon, scientists have been working diligently to travel to other parts of the universe by creating space vehicle designs that have the potential to make these goals happen, Swenson said. However, when the Obama administration began in 2009, the reality of sparse funding for these projects presented itself. Swenson said Obama and his staff decided to not put forth the funding necessary to further space travel. “You are probably wondering how in the world I got into NASA,” Swenson said. His work with NASA began by him submitting a proposal outlining his interest in studying the effects of lightning on the upper atmosphere of the Earth, he said. When it was rejected, Swenson said he felt he had been treated unfairly and called NASA discipline scientist Mary Mellott to express his concerns. “It didn’t go over well,” Swenson said. However, Mellott later invited him to join the proposal review panel and was first overwhelmed by the complexity of the review process. He said after he spoke with Mellott about his first-day experiences on the panel, she asked him if he would rather study rainbows or lightning. “Rainbows are pretty, but they don’t mean anything. Lightning is important,” Swenson told Mellott. Mellott agreed and told him to invest his time in the important things, not the pretty things, he said. Richard Fischer,

JESSE WALKER photo

Junior college star prepares to battle for starting point guard duties in 2011. Page 8

- See NASA, page 4

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