Proposed SGA referendum vote fails
Measure needed 66 percent of the voting population to pass

By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter

A proposal to restructure the Student Government Association was rejected by the student body Thursday by failing to meet the required two-thirds majority (66 percent).

The referendum, which drew 381 online voters, was approved by only 62 percent of the voting population, or 238 votes. The bill lost by 16 votes.

The proposed referendum would have eliminated the secretary position, while the vice president positions in the House of Student Representatives and Programming Council would be changed to Executive Directors and a new executive office created. The SGA Vice President would have been responsible for internal matters, allowing the president to focus on external issues. The treasurer would act for both House and Programming Council, said Cye Fischer, an author of the bill and representative for the Tom Brown-Pete Wright Residential Community.

“It is really too soon to say why it didn’t pass,” Fischer said.

Fischer said he wants to get specific feedback from the students in order to make future proposals stronger. He plans to remain a member in House and possibly reintroduce the bill next semester, he said.

Students didn’t think it was in their best interests and so voted they against it, he said.

“Ultimately we work for the students,” Fischer said. “We need to find out why it failed and remedy it.”

SGA secretary Jason Cordova, who collaborated on the bill, said more research is needed and that there are problems with the current system that can be fixed.

Students didn’t like certain parts of the proposed changes, said SGA President Ben Jenkins.

“I think there were a lot of people who didn’t understand the concept,” he said. “It’s hard to say yes or no when you don’t have the whole picture.”

Elections and Regulations Chairman Brian Becker said this time 81 more students voted than in last year’s restructuring referendum.

“The student body has spoken on this — they either like the way it is or want to spend a little more time with the current system,” Becker said.

Charles Abbott, a sophomore international business, environmental science and vocal performance major represents Foster Hall in House. He said he opposed the bill because House should be more involved with student concerns than restructuring.

“I’m not opposed to change,” Abbott said. “I am opposed to change that has not been carefully thought out.”

Sara Donaldson, vice president of House, said changes and proposals to SGA documents are normal. The timing of the referendum was unfortunate because it would have forced students to make quick decisions about running for office, she said.

“(Today) is the first day people can file for an officer position and (today) is also the first day people know what they can run for,” Donaldson said.

Filing for SGA officer positions begins today and will run until Nov. 6, Cordova said. He said the election will be Nov. 14.

The requirements to run for office will not change.

Jenkins said two different applications were prepared so SGA would have been ready for any situation.
“It could have worked really well but I believe the Student Government Association now has the opportunity to look at things closer and make sure student government is doing what it is supposed to do, which is to focus not on ourselves but on the students,” Donaldson said. “I’m sure the next officers will make sure the structure of SGA is right.”

Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu

Add Ran looks for central role in TCU’s growth
Ferrari’s Commission remarks have some faculty concerned about school’s future

By Erin Munger
staff reporter

The faculty of the Add Ran College of Humanities and Social Sciences have mixed feelings about Chancellor Michael Ferrari’s closing comments for the Commission on the Future of TCU.

Some think the chancellor’s comments left the college out in the cold, while others perceive that the college will play a central role to the growth of the university.

“The administration didn’t encourage me that there was much in store for Add Ran,” said Greg Franzwa, chairman of the philosophy department.

Franzwa said the only issues that will affect the college are facility upgrades and the revision of the University Curriculum Requirements.

James Riddlesperger, chairman of the political science department, said what the college is looking for is acknowledgment as the heart and soul of the university. He said he is encouraged by the facility upgrades and UCR improvements and said they are a good beginning.

“I hope as the commission reports advance into action, it will become apparent that Add Ran is at the core of the university,” Riddlesperger said.

The dean of the Add Ran, Mary Volcansek, said the college is often taken for granted.

“Nothing came out in the chancellor’s final comments that specifically dealt with our departments,” Volcansek said.

Ferrari said his closing remarks at the luncheon were meant to be brief and highlight the most urgent of the recommendations — strengthening the UCR, strengthening the graduate program and upgrading classroom facilities. All of these recommendations include Add Ran, he said.

The facilitator for the college’s task force, Richard Enos, said he met with Ferrari Thursday about the college’s role in the university’s plans.

“I wanted to have some assurance of Add Ran’s position in the plans of the university,” said Enos, an English professor. After meeting with the chancellor he is convinced the college will be central in the growth of the university, he said.

Ferrari said a concern apparent in the college is the physical space it occupies. Currently, the college is spread out in various buildings across campus.

Condensing the college into a central location is a priority, but it will take some time and effort to raise the money to do so, he said. Ferrari said he sees this happening within the next five to six years.

“Within that time period we will be launching a new fund-raising campaign, and finding a way to unite the Add Ran departments will be a top priority,” Ferrari said.

One of the recommendations from the Add Ran task force is a building that would house the entire college.
The problems in constructing a building are a lack of money and the importance of other priorities such as UCR and facility improvement, said Joan Rogers, a task force member.

Ferrari said the process will be expedited if the college receives sizable donations like the business school did with recent donations from James Ryffel to establish center for entrepreneurial studies and a $10.5 million donation from Stephen R. and Sarah Smith to house it.

Enos said the task force recommendation to reduce faculty teaching loads to allow for more research will be handled within the college. One possibility is a grant proposal for endowed professorships, he said. To do this the college needs to make itself more visible, he said.

Volcansek said the ability to make the college more visible lies in the hands of the faculty. The faculty, which is traditionally modest, have written a vast number of books that many people know nothing about, she said.

“We need the faculty to toot their horns just a little bit about their accomplishments,” Volcansek said.

Erin Munger
erebm@netscape.com

Bittersweet Symphony
Three university concert groups to perform Brahms’ composition, ‘A German Requiem’

lBy Wendy Meyer
staff reporter

Famous composer Johannes Brahms in 1865 rushed to Hamburg to see his 76-year-old dying mother, but arrived at her death bed too late.

Though grief-stricken, the pain from her death led Brahms to produce his most famous work.

The TCU Symphony Orchestra, the TCU Choral Union and Concert Chorale will perform Brahms’ “A German Requiem” 3 p.m. Sunday in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium. Admission is free.

After the deaths of his lifelong friend and mentor Robert Schumann and his mother Christiane Brahms, the composer began to arrange the requiem, which is traditionally a piece for Catholic mass. The traditional requiem is a prayer for the departed souls of the dead as they move through purgatory.

David Dunai/CO-PHOTO EDITOR Ronald Shirey, director of choral activities, offers advice to violinist Alejandro Gomez, a Paschal High School student, Thursday night at Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium. Three TCU music ensembles will perform Brahms’ requiem at 3 p.m. Sunday at the auditorium.

German Gutierrez will conduct the TCU Symphony Orchestra and Ronald Shirey, professor of music and director of Choral Activities, will conduct the TCU Choral Union and Concert Chorale.

“This is the piece that propelled Brahms to international fame in 1867,” Shirey said.

Brahms’ requiem is different from the traditional one of the Catholic mass because it isn’t meant to be a theological argument or a religious presentation. It is a human and personal approach for dealing with death, Brahms indicated in letters to his friend Karl Reinthaler.

Brahms searched through the German Bible by Martin Luther for texts for his music, frequent TCU guest conductor Lara Hoggard said.

“Arranging these in consummate architectural design and setting them to music of the highest inspiration, the composer eloquently reveals to all who listen, or who sing, his abiding personal conviction that the paradox involved in death and mourning, and the hope for eternal life, can indeed find reconciliation,” said Hoggard, who is director of Choral Activities at the University of Oklahoma.

The program also features Amy Pummill singing soprano and David Grogan singing baritone.

TCU graduate Grogan has performed the baritone solos in Brahms’ “Requiem” at Richland College and has performed with the Fort Worth Opera and the New Mexico Symphony.

“It’s an awesome piece and Brahms’ most well-known piece,” said Jenny Vanderholm, a senior vocal music education major. “It’s beautiful and it’s a lot of fun to sing.”

Vanderholm said the choirs have been rehearsing the piece since the first day of school. The TCU Choral Union practiced about two hours a week on the piece while the Chorale spent about seven hours a week working on the piece, she said.

“TCU Orchestra is just wonderful to work with,” Vanderholm said. “Rehearsing can get very repetitious but the performances are always very moving.”

Wendy Meyer
wendy037@hotmail.com

Students to attend ethics awareness conference
Five students chosen to represent TCU in ethics discussion held at West Point, N.Y.

By Chris Gibson
staff reporter

Five TCU students will be spending most of next week discussing ethics with college students from around the country.

As part of the National Conference on Ethics in America, hosted by the U.S.Military Academy, the students will travel to West Point, New York, Saturday to Nov. 2.

In its 30th year of existence, 14 of those open to civilians, the conference was established to promote ethical awareness in collegiate communities as well as in professional career fields.

Penny Woodcock, program coordinator for the Leadership Center, said this is the fifth year TCU has sent students to the conference and they have been pleased with past years’ results.

“I think this is an important conference for our students because it gets them thinking about ethical issues during college,” Woodcock said. “Students not only get to form their own opinions about what ethics are, but they get to interact with students from all over the country and see different viewpoints.”

Senior marketing and finance major Elizabeth Gipson was part of the group who represented TCU last year, and she said the conference was a great learning experience.

“It was worth it just for the fact that we got to see how other students at other schools defined ethics and other character issues,” Gipson said. “We tried to conduct focus groups here on campus to see what TCU students thought about ethics, but it is really difficult to make a big change with just three of us.”

Fostering different viewpoints is one of the main goals of the conference that last year brought together approximately 150 undergraduates, representing 60 institutions. Blake Hestir, professor of philosophy, said ethics are an important part of the learning process in college.

“Once you graduate, there will be a lot more moral dilemmas in your job and in every area that you deal with,” he said. “Part of the course here is to develop the skills used to recognize and negotiate those dilemmas.”

Sophomore kinesiology major Joshua Hawkins will be one of the students making the trip to New York. He said ethics are important and would like to see TCU form an honor code similar to that of the military institutions.

“One thing I’ve always wanted to see on this campus is an honor code,” he said. “I’m in ROTC, and I considered the Air Force Academy as a school, so it is something that I’ve been cognizant of.”

Along with Hawkins, junior philosophy major Bonnie Talbert, junior speech communication major Paige Reeve and junior religion major Mandy Mahan were chosen to go to the conference based on their involvement with the Leadership Center and in extracurricular activities.

Senior economics major Kenny Oubre will represent the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
Woodcock said students leaving with a clear understanding of what is ethical and honorable is the main goal of the ethics conference.

“The students will be in groups discussing what each of them thinks honor and ethics means,” she said.Part of their responsibility is bringing something back that they are going to try and implement on this campus. We want them to take what they learn from the conference and apply it here at TCU.”

Chris Gibson
c.j.gibson@student.tcu.edu

Contact Us!