Jim Woods

An attempt to expand the ranks of the Undergraduate Student Government in the 1994 elections failed in last night’s meeting.

The legislation would have increased the number of senators from 25 to 29, adding senators to West Halls, South Halls, Centre Halls and the fraternity district. It fell two votes short of the necessary two-thirds vote.

East Halls senator Larry Santucci said it would be redistributing unequal representation.

“Common sense would dictate in any reapportionment senators would be added to every district,” Santucci said. “For my taste this legislation would create too big of an inequality. The system we have now is fair.”

West Halls senator Andy Ovies said the increase was necessary to assure diversity in representation and added the extra senator would be a security measure.

“What if I had to attend another meeting tonight?” Ovies asked. “Then West Halls would have no representation for that meeting. I think it is a bit much to have only one person representing an entire area.”

Fraternity senator Mike King accused both sides of just playing with numbers.

“It’s gerrymandering no matter how you look at it,” King said. “The question is, which type of gerry mandering would best benefit the students.”

The legislation originally was proposed to change this year’s election codes, but the Academic Assembly tabled the legislation on Monday. The legislation had to sit for one week putting it past the deadline for this year’s elections codes, said USG Senate President Mike Gillespie.

In other business, the USG Senate passed an executive order requiring USG President Rob Kampia to attend the remaining USG Senate meetings during his president’s report.

Kampia also endorsed the order.

“It is a good compromise, but I caution senate in going about things this way,” Kampia said. “We had a communication problem, obviously, but I don’t think the best way to solve it is filling out orders for me to follow.”

But the order was a slap on the wrists for Kampia’s continued belligerence, King said.

“I think the order is way too lenient,” King said. “He continues to act up and thumb his nose at us when we confront him with it. Then when he’s in trouble he wants to work with us.”

King added the legislation was ineffective.

“This is a joke,” King said. “He is supposed to be here anyway.”

East Halls senator Bob Torres said he believed the legislation was a necessary measure.

“We are required to do something about his negligence,” Torres said. “This is the best thing we can do between impeaching him and doing nothing.”

Undergraduate Student Government President Rob Kampia may not have a choice in how he communicates with the USG Senate after tonight’s meeting.

An ad hoc committee will recommend the senate pass an executive order that would require Kampia to attend the remaining USG Senate meetings.

“Every week there is a spot on the agenda for a president’s report,” said Nittany/Pollock senator Lisa Fields. “It is silly that we have to do this. But since he hasn’t been there, this is just our way of telling him what he has to do.”

The ad hoc committee was formed to determine if there was sufficient evidence to impeach Kampia. There were questions on Kampia’s use of the USG briefcase and the whereabouts of an answering machine.

Although there was not enough evidence for the impeachment of Kampia, the committee decided the situation could have been minimized if communications were better between Kampia and the USG Senate, said Senate President Mike Gillespie.

“We need to increase communications,” Gillespie said. “That would have facilitated all of this. The trial would have still happened, but it could have saved time.”

If the USG Senate passes the executive order, it will be broken down into three parts.

The first part states there was negligence in spending for the answering machine and briefcase; the second part requires Kampia to attend the remainder of the meetings during the president’s report. If Kampia cannot attend a meeting, the third part states he must notify the USG Senate at least 24 hours in advance and hand in a written report to be read during the president’s report.

Kampia said he thinks the executive order is the wrong way to solve the problem.

“What they’re trying to do is legislate behavior,” Kampia said. “If they want to anger me, they can pass this executive order and try to force me to do something.”

East Halls senator Wendy Hurst said Kampia’s statement is correct to an extent.

“As far as his attendance at senate meetings, we are legislating behavior,” Hurst said. “We cannot, however, mandate his attitude. That is his own problem.”

Kampia had previously announced he was minimizing his contact with the USG Senate, but reconsidered the action.

“I decided that in the heat of the moment,” he said. “Just because two or three senators have problems that does not mean that I should avoid the other 20.”

Kampia said relations between he and the USG Senate would be more likely to improve if the senators took time to work with him rather than ordering him to communicate.

The order originally required Kampia to stay for the entire USG Senate meeting, but the committee decided to amend the order and only require Kampia to stay for the president’s report.

“It is not fair to Rob to keep him there the entire meeting,” Gillespie said. “Figuratively, a senate meeting could last until 11 (p.m.). Rob’s business with USG Senate is done after his president’s report. This is our effort to be reasonable with him.”

Fields, who was chairwoman of the ad hoc committee, said she agreed with allowing Kampia to leave following his report.

“Everything that involves him happens during his president’s report,” Fields said. “It would be unreasonable to expect him to stay any longer.”

Kampia said he believes, if passed, the order would not change anything.

“I attended meetings when I could,” Kampia said. “The only thing that will change is now I will tell them before rather than after why I wasn’t there.”

An ad hoc committee of the Undergraduate Student Government Senate decided last night there were not sufficient grounds to impeach USG President Rob Kampia.

“A motion will not be made to impeach,” said Lisa Fields, Pollock/Nittany Halls senator and ad hoc committee chairwoman. “We are suggesting, rather, that an executive order be passed.”

The committee was formed in response to allegations that the executive branch may have misallocated funds for an answering machine and a briefcase during the summer. Although it did not find sufficient evidence to proceed with an impeachment, the committee decided further action must be taken to assure similar situations do not occur.

This action comes in a three-part executive order, Fields said. Part of the order requires Kampia to attend the remainder of the senate meetings. If he is unable to attend, he must submit a written explanation at least 24 hours in advance. He must also provide a written president’s report in his absence.

Kampia said he believes the committee was a waste of his and the committee’s time, and accused USG Senate President Mike Gillespie of pursuing a personal agenda and displaying incompetence.

West Halls Senator Andy Ovies said he believes the committee was necessary and questioned Kampia’s criticism of Gillespie.

“How can he call Mike incompetent,” Ovies said, “when he lost a $130 answering machine for six months?”

Kampia said the answering machine had been in a desk since the time of purchase, and anybody could have seen him carrying the briefcase around campus.

Once again, Undergraduate Student Government President Rob Kampia is under senate scrutiny about the use of office supply funds.

A motion filed in last night’s senate meeting called for Kampia’s impeachment to discover the whereabouts of an answering machine and a briefcase that were to have been purchased over the summer. This motion, however, failed and was replaced by an ad hoc committee which will investigate the supplies which remain unaccounted for.

“I made no accusations of guilt,” explained East Halls Senator Bob Torres. “There are simple numbers on a receipt, and I want to know why.”

Torres said an impeachment is a formal investigation to look for wrongdoing. It is not an accusation of guilt, but rather a discovery process.

The motion for impeachment was brought forward by Senate President Mike Gillespie. Purchase orders were issued to Kampia and Chuck Thomas, University alumnus and USG executive secretary, for the purpose of buying an answering machine and a briefcase, Gillespie said.

While reviewing the USG purchases, the Student Organization Budget Committee found the purchase orders for the items were drawn from improper accounts, and said they would not cover them. The funds were drawn from the office supplies account.

SOBC said the funds for the answering machine should have been drawn from office equipment funds, and the funds for the briefcase were a personal expense.

Gillespie said he began looking through purchases made at the Penn State Bookstore on Campus yesterday morning, and found the receipt for the items which have not been seen at the office.

“I haven’t seen the briefcase,” Gillespie said. “And if you’ve called the office at night, you know there’s not an answering machine.”

Town Senator Paul Yacisin voraciously opposed the motion to impeach.

“I think we’re proceeding too rashly,” he said. “There’s a process and a procedure for doing this and this is not it. Rob should be given the opportunity to answer for these (allegations) before an impeachment begins.”

Kampia was not present at last night’s meeting and was unavailable for comment. Earlier in the day, Kampia announced he was minimizing his contact with the senate because of prior investigations.

Torres said if Kampia had been present for the senate meeting, he would have been able to answer the allegations.

“Rob has a place here on the agenda,” Torres said. “He’s not here as he should be.”

Gillespie said he felt the impeachment was a necessary measure to ensure Kampia’s due process rights. Gillespie was bothered that the motion failed and felt Kampia’s rights were violated.

“Since justice was ignored, this ad hoc committee has to be done to compensate,” he said.

Pollock/Nittany Halls Senator Lisa Fields was appointed chair of the ad hoc committee. The committee will report to the senate next Tuesday and recommend action from their findings.

Gillespie said this motion was not one of a personal nature, but one of justice.

“I want everybody to know this is not a witch hunt,” Gillespie said. “This is simply a process to make sure everybody is accountable. If Rob would have been here tonight, he could have answered (the allegations).”

Many Undergraduate Student Government senators have taken a do-it-yourself attitude about this year’s senate.

“A lot more of the work that comes out of this senate has come from personal projects,” said USG Vice President Beth Schneck.

Many of the personal projects come from the senator’s interests outside of senate work, but are introduced into senate because of their benefit for students. The projects are introduced into senate through proposed legislation.

“Personal projects are the essence of this senate,” said Senate President Mike Gillespie. “The senators come from a variety of backgrounds and interests, and so the resulting projects represent diverse groups.”

Gillespie said he believes it is not always possible to work within committees on personal projects and is pleased with the projects that have come from individual efforts.

But USG President Rob Kampia said he believes personal projects can be done by anyone and the senate’s time could be better spent.

“I think people have become more concerned with their personal projects than they are with the senate,” Kampia said. “The senators could be much more productive working together on projects that change administrative policies.”

Town Senator Adam Bender has worked closely with disabled student interests.

Although most of his work takes place outside of the senate, he invited a speaker from the group ABLED to talk with the senate. As a result, the senate voted to send a letter to the Office of Physical Plant that expressed the senate’s concern with University building accessibility for disabled students.

Marc Van Camp, chairman of the Administration Contact Committee (ACC), also does work with ABLED. He said his committee’s purpose is to work on personal projects.

Van Camp said he believes senators are missing out on resources by working alone and he would much rather see senators work through committees.

“I’ve always preached against individual projects,” he said. “They are restricting themselves by not working through committees. Rather than having one person tied up in a project for a whole semester, you could have nine people knock it off in a month.”

Van Camp said the ACC delegates powers for each personal project within the committee.

Centre Halls Senator Julie Donnell said personal projects help senators work together and communicate. She created the easel project, in which the senate voted to place easels throughout campus to inform students of current USG projects and affairs.

Donnell said she has been contacted by many senators for suggestions for the easels and believes her individual project has helped improve communication between senators.

“There has been dissention in the senate regarding personal projects,” she said. “They say it diminishes the unity. I think they help bring us together.”

Pollock/Nittany Halls Senator Lisa Fields said senators live among many of their constituents and take on projects that will help the people they represent.

“Many of these projects do not involve senators from other areas, so they are easier to work on alone,” Fields said, adding that the projects increase communication between senators.

“Senator (Mike) King and I worked very closely on the Weekend Loop project,” she said. “I think they are a good reason for the senators to work together.”

A year after the Undergraduate Student Government Senate reduced its size, senators disagree on whether it was an effective move.

USG Senate President Mike Gillespie originally thought fewer senators would result in a less powerful senate, but after a semester, he said he is pleased with the reduced senate’s output.

Under the Mark Stewart administration, the USG senate voted to reduce the number of senators from 34 to 25 to remedy numerous vacant senate seats.

Gillespie said he backed the idea after he discovered that a senate staff would be created. The staff helps senators and committees work on projects. Senate staff members can see for themselves the work required of senators.

But Andy Ovies, West Halls senator, said he thinks more senators are necessary to be effective.

“I think the senate staffers help out and are effective,” Ovies said. “I don’t think, however, they should be left doing the job of a senator. If we had more senators, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

Ovies and Town Senator Marc Van Camp both believe the senate should be returned to its original size.

“It is effective now,” Van Camp said, “But I feel it could be much more effective if it were at full strength.”

By eliminating senators, Ovies said USG is eliminating perspectives.

“I think the size is restricting,” he said. “I know last year when there were two senators from West Halls, and we had different perspectives for what was right for West Halls. Now it is just me.”

USG Vice President Beth Schneck said the current size works well and senate meetings and projects run much more smoothly with the reduced senate. Schneck presides over senate meetings.

“I don’t think it is necessary to increase the numbers,” Schneck said. “Many of the senators have done quite well with personal projects, and as for the senate, most of its work is internal. So I feel that increasing the numbers would only complicate things.”

But Van Camp said the reduced numbers are hurting committees and if the ranks were restored, the committees could be more efficient.

“If one person misses a meeting we stand a chance of not making quorum,” he said. “If we had more people, conflicting schedules wouldn’t hurt us as much.”

A quorum is the number of senators needed to vote on issues. The number depends upon the size of the committee.

Ovies and Van Camp want to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to return the senate to its original size, but not all senators think bigger is better.

“I think we should stay with this size,” said East Halls Senator Wendy Hurst. “This is the first session with the reduced senate, and I think there are more good things to come with this size.”

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate suspended senate appointment bylaws last night to expedite the appointment process for unrepresented town seats.

The resignations of Mike Quigley, Josh Lannin and Brad Bernstein last night left six of the ten town senator seats open.

“This is a unique occasion,” said Senate President Mike Gillespie. “I’ve never seen problems like this in my two years in the senate.”

The Senate Appointment Review Board interviewed and ranked eight prospective senators for two previous town openings. As a part of suspending the senate appointment bylaws, the names and rankings of the remaining six candidates will be sent to the Organization for Town Independent Students for faster appointments. All applications received by tomorrow will also be forwarded to OTIS for review.

SARB chair Lisa Fields said she believes this plan will show OTIS the need for immediate action.

“The problem is, if it would have to go back through SARB, it would take one to two extra weeks.” Fields said. “This way we can give the applications straight to OTIS rather than re-interview some of them second and third times.”

Mike King, fraternity senator, questioned whether it was fair that the new applicants would not have to be scrutinized by SARB.

East Halls Senator Wendy Hurst feared the suspension would set a precedent for future bylaw suspensions.

Fields said that was not the intention of the suspension and that she plans to introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to make the process more efficient.

In other action, the senate passed the USG/Association of Residence Hall Students Elections Bill of 1993. The budget, submitted by Head Elections Commissioner Gregory Hamluk, requested that $3,428.55 be acquired from the special elections and general accounts. The special elections account would contribute approximately $1942, and the general election account would give $1485.

The account will cover three election debates and various campaign expenditures.

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted last night to transfer $1,000 from its unrestricted account to cover USG’s office supplies account debt.

USG spent $400 more than what it was allocated for office supplies this year, primarily on copies and faxes in the HUB Copy Center, USG Town Senator Adam Bender said.

Three pieces of emergency legislation were passed to keep USG operating for the rest of the semester and offset the debt it has already run up.

“I can’t ever imagine being in a debt situation,” said USG Senate President Mike Gillespie, saying the problem illustrates “classic mismanagement.”

At the beginning of the year, the office supplies account was allocated $1,300 for various expenses. By the beginning of 1993, the account had dwindled to a mere $300.

Since then, the account has dropped even more — on one day alone, $198 was spent on faxes in the copy center, Bender said.

“That’s 14 percent of our office budget in one day,” he said.

The problem has become so bad that basic day-to-day functions have been suspended.

“We can’t send mail right now,” Gillespie said, lamenting that he is unable to send mailings to State College Borough Council members advocating the passage of the proposed fair housing ordinance.

No one was blamed for the problems at the meeting, but several senators implied that many of the charges came from the executive branch.

The legislation placed set caps on the number of copies USG members can make and required that copy codes be assigned to each member to keep everyone accountable.

“We have to be accountable to ourselves,” said USG East Halls Senator Larry Santucci.

In other business, the senate voted to allocate $400 to suppliment the USG/Panhellenic Weekend Loop.

Fraternity Senator Mike King and Pollock/Nittany Halls Senator Lisa Fields, who sponsored the legislation, have decided to run the Weekend Loop for a nine-week trial period starting Feb. 5.

The new, improved Weekend Loop will have four stops, all of which are to be located under street lights, King said. The loop will also have a volunteer safety rider to assure perspective riders of their safety, he added.

Fields said she believes the trial period will take place during a time of demand.

“It is too cold to be walking all the way to Beaver (Avenue) to catch a Town Loop,” she said.

King and Fields assessed many of the problems that last year’s attempted Fraternity Loop ran into, and tried to prescribe remedies to make this loop more successful.

“This year’s will ultimately be a resounding success,” King said. “We will have advertised a week in advance and every sorority has been exposed to this through their chapter’s vote.”

The Panhellenic Council approved plans for the Weekend Loop at their meeting last night.

Ten members from the University Board of Trustees participated in Omicron Delta Kappa’s informal informational session last night to discuss concerns with student leaders.

The trustees addressed questions varying from student involvement in the University community to the extent of the power of the trustees. But the overriding topic was whether the University’s budget should be open.

Along with the budget discussion came the debate of whether Penn State was a public or a private university.

“Does it really make a difference?” asked Trustee Ben Novak. “If you are able to get the best from both worlds, I would think that you would be happy.”

The discussion of Penn State’s status led into, at times, heated debate about the University’s budget, and whether salaries should be included.

Trustee Jesse Arnelle said he believes the University would no longer attract the best professors, administrators or specialists if salaries were made public.

“If a person negotiates a contract under a closed budget, it would be an invasion of that person’s privacy if it were to be made public,” he said. “If we were to say this information has to be made public, we stand the chance of missing out on those people.”

Brad Haartz (graduate-industrial engineering) said he believes last night’s discussion was mutually beneficial.

“It was an excellent opportunity for both sides to hear each other,” he said. “Now, whether they take any of it to heart only they will know. I definitely think some of them did.”

Trustee member and state Sen. Roger Madigan said he also believes last night’s discussion was a success.

“I got a lot out of it, such as what students felt was important,” Madigan said. “As a legislator, I feel it is important for me to get information from my people and I feel as a trustee I am elected to represent all the constituents of the college community, and the more input I get, I can do a better job.”