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UPUA Votes to Ban Exams on Election Day

Each week, I find myself longing for those two special hours every Wednesday night when our student government convenes in 302 HUB. I always leave confident that the world has been changed for the better. This week was no different, with two earth-shattering pieces of legislation brought to the floor and multiple personnel confirmations to ponder over.

The night began with a talk about the history of Penn State from Board of Trustees member Anne Riley. “We are blessed with commonwealth campuses, so any student who wants a Penn State degree can get one,” Riley said.””[The future] is in your hands. Let’s hope we can make Abraham Lincoln a little less sad in his portrait in Old Main.”

The Presidential address followed Riley’s remarks. President T.J. Bard said that he met with President Erickson this week to discuss fifteen goals to pursue regarding State Patty’s Day. Bard and other UPUA members will be visiting local merchants this week to discourage them from selling State Patty’s Day merchandise. The assembly will also be reaching out to local landlords to recommend tougher restrictions on guests and parties during that weekend.

After the President’s remarks, several membership positions were confirmed.

  • “Dutch” Del Markward as On-campus Representative (approved 27-3-1)
  • Dray Krishnan as On-campus Representative (approved 27-3-1)
  • Mallory Reed as Commissioner for Elections Publicity (approved 28-3-0)
  • Erik McCann as Commissioner for Campaigning (approved)
  • Nick Grassetti as Commissioner for Candidacy (approved)

After a quick unanimous approval on on legislation disallowing the Chair of the Assembly to vote on the Academic Affairs committee, the floor was opened for Resolution 24-06 which recommended that faculty restrict scheduling exam on U.S. Election Day.

Governmental Affairs Chair Adam Boyer said, as he introduced the legislation, “If only a few dozen more people vote because of this, it will be worth it.” It seemed generally inoffensive, and the resolution quickly passed 34-1, with Off Campus Representative Eli Glazier casting the only no vote.

This comes as great news for the two students who wanted to vote in the 2008 election but didn’t have time because of their day-long exams. After all, the polls are only open from 7 a.m to 8 p.m. You all know how hard it is to find time to vote during that small thirteen hour window.

The next order of business was a resolution to endorse compliance with PA Open-Records law. “We’re in a situation where as long as it’s feasible and beneficial to the university, we need to comply,” President Bard said. “I’m more scared of our appropriations this year than every before.” The resolution passed 29-1-4.

Before the meeting adjourned, a couple interesting topics were brought up in the liaison and committee reports. Caleb Fernandez announced ARHS’s plans to host a “Skate Patty’s Day” event, which prompted a Twitter craze among UPUA members to create their own pun-induced holidays (My personal favorite was ‘Cafe au Lait Pattys Day’).

During his report, Governmental Affairs Chair Adam Boyer also brought up the idea of renaming Park Avenue “Paterno Way”. He says he’ll be looking into the feasibility of such a project.

T.J. Bard Tie Rating of the Week: (3.5/5) President Bard went with a simple red striped tie this week, which complimented his shirt nicely. The only thing keeping this one from a 4 was the fat Windsor knot that didn’t really work well with the black suit or color scheme.

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About the Author

Kevin Horne

Kevin Horne was the editor of Onward State from 2012-2014 and currently holds the position of Managing Editor Emeritus, which is a fake title he made up. He graduated from Penn State with degrees journalism and political science in 2014 and is currently seeking his J.D. at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. A third generation Penn Stater from Williamsport, Pa., Kevin is also the president of the graduate student government. Email: [email protected]

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