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(01/29/16 4:41am)
In the Student Government Association (SGA) special elections, that began Jan. 20, two senate seats were up for grabs.
“We had two senators step down from their position for various reasons. This usually happens because of a class conflict with senate time, a personal reason, etc,” Elizabeth McKay, the chairperson for the Public Relations and Elections committee, said in an email.
Eight freshmen ran for the one open Freshman Senator seat, vacated by Jesus Robinson, while five students of various classes ran for the open Senator at Large position previously held by David Boggs.
After a few days full of sidewalk chalk endorsements, Facebook posts and homemade posters in the Connell Students Center, the winners were announced Jan. 21 at 5 p.m. Lillian Perry Hicks won the Freshman Senator seat, and Catie Byrd, also a freshman, won the Senator At Large position.
The first was a run-of-the-mill race. The second came as a surprise to some because freshmen aren’t usually get elected for Senator At Large seats since they’re voted on by the entire campus.
Michael Smith, a sophomore senator and law and public policy major, said that Byrd made a smart move.
“Instead of entering the freshman senator election and further splitting the vote among the freshmen class, (Byrd) was able to gain support from her fellow freshmen by giving them one candidate from their own class to vote for in the Senator-At-Large race,” he said in a Facebook message. “It was a bold and, quite frankly, impressive strategy.”
See a recap of SGA’s first Senate of the year on page 2.
(01/28/16 3:58am)
The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings is presenting “A Little Romance,” the first Fabian Concert Series performance of 2016, on Feb. 2.
The concert will feature violinist Donald Weilerstein of the Cleveland Quartet, his wife Vivian Hornik Weilerstein on piano, violist Hsin-Yun Huang and Amy Schwartz Moretti, the director of the McDuffie Center for Strings.
“This concert features two of my teachers from my college days,” Moretti said. “The Weilersteins represent all that is great about music. They are profound musicians, wonderful teachers and amazing people who have hugely impacted the music world.”
Violist Hsin-Yun Huang is returning to the Fickling stage to join the Weilersteins for the night of romantic music.
Feb. 2 won’t be the first time these musicians have performed together. The Weilersteins, joined by their daughter Alisa Weilerstein, performed with Huang in a December concert at Juilliard.
The visiting musicians will be sharing their expertise with Mercer both on and off the stage.
“All three of these artists will be leading master classes for Mercer’s Center students, as well as giving inspiration through their playing in the concert,” Moretti said.
Moretti will be accompanying the three musicians on the violin.
The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. in Fickling Hall. Tickets cost $12 for adults but are free for students with a Mercer ID. Call (478) 301-5470 for tickets or purchase at the door. For more information, call (478) 301-2886.
After the Feb. 2 concert, there is only one more Fabian Concert Series performance in the 2015-2016 academic year. That concert, featuring the Cortona Trio, will take place March 22.
(01/27/16 5:49am)
World Hijab Day
The Muslim Student Association came before SGA to request special funding for Mercer’s first World Hijab Day. The funding will supply MSA with 60 scarves to distribute in the CSC on February 1 to any students that might want to participate.
Students will have the opportunity to wear a hijab to class and around campus. This will be followed by a discussion panel at 6 p.m. in CSC 1. This event is celebrated annually all over the world.
Dr. Pearson, Dean of Students, said that although this may be a controversial idea, the advisor and organization “really thought this through” and the event has an educational aspect. The motion passed with a sweeping majority of ayes. This comes in the middle of the Muslims in America panel series.
New Senators Sworn in
Two freshmen joined SGA after elections last week. Senator Lillian (Perry) Hicks and Senator at Large, Catie Byrd were sworn in at the beginning of the meeting on Monday.
Tea and Coffee SocieTea
Sen. Loos moved to formally recognize the Tea and Coffee SocieTea as a student organization. This group is headed by a freshman and acted as an informal organization last semester. The purpose of the group is to share techniques and tastes in regards to coffee and tea. The SocieTea will meet Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Bears Necessities lounge.
[sidebar title="Upcoming Campus Events" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
February 1: World Hijab Day
February 3: Founders Day
February 16: Residence Life self-assign process begins
February 25-27: Beloved Community Symposium
[/sidebar]
Campus Engagement narrowing focus
The Campus Engagement committee, headed by Sen. Scherf, has narrowed its focus to athletics, student diversity awareness, and SGA outreach. The committee joined with several other student organizations last week to surprise the women’s basketball team at their game against Chattanooga. There were 388 people in attendance.
Mercer Maniacs to reserve student seating
Mercer fans and students set a record for attendance at the Wofford game last week. Mercer Maniacs reported 4500 people were in attendance. It was standing room only 10 minutes into the game, causing many students to leave as soon as they walked in. Although Sen. Lewis said that it is exciting to see such participation, the Maniacs want to encourage students to come out to the games. They announced that the student section will be reserved specifically for students until the start of the game from now on.
ATL campus going tobacco-free
Mercer’s Atlanta campus will be going tobacco-free. In the survey sent out by SGA this past week, 70 percent of students are in favor of a tobacco-free campus. However, at this time the Macon campus will not be making any changes as smoking is not a major issue here.
Survey results
According to an SGA survey, 64 students are in favor of a standing squat rack, and 35 are opposed. An overwhelming majority of students prefer Chick-fil-a to be open earlier to serve breakfast. 29 percent of students want to keep parking procedures the same, while 19 percent want to change decals, and 15 percent believe parking should be prioritized by GPA. The survey also showed that on average, students perceive alcohol consumption on campus is a 2.9 out of 5.
Campus safety update
Sen. Buckner, Russell Vullo, and Dean Collins are planning to go on a second campus safety walk to ensure that their previous findings have been resolved.
Conference & Lodging requests
The Mercer Bearitones requested $650 for accommodations. Actual hotel list price was $630. The Bearitones asked for $20 extra to cover taxes and unforeseen costs. The motion passed unanimously.
Point BLANK requested $1944 for an upcoming competition. The motion passed with one abstain and one pass.
Psychology Club requested $2245. They asked for nearly half as much as their accommodations will actually cost because several of their participants received Mercer funding to present at the conference. The motion passed with one nay, and two passes.
(11/19/15 6:45pm)
Special committee for parking
Vice President Jolly is spearheading the creation of a short-term special committee to investigate parking related concerns. The goals of this committee are to investigate student concerns, collect and gather data on the current parking situation, and develop solutions to propose to President Underwood. Sen. Cullens asked if all students (commuter and on-campus) would have representation. Vice President Jolly said she
wanted to start with SGA members and then open it up to the student body.
The motion to create this committee passed.
Campus Safety Walk
Sen. Buckner, Sen. Niesen, Dean Pearson, and Chief Collins checked blue lights on their safety walk Nov. 9. They found that 56% are fully functioning. 56% had a functioning blue light and 78% had a functioning telephone communication.
There is a blue light in the lower UC parking lot that “just rings and rings and doesn’t actually connect to the station,” Sen. Niesen said. There are nine stations total, and two more will be built by the freshmen dorms. The Dean confirmed that the blue lights are “mainly for show,” Niesen said, but he agreed that maybe more were needed by the baseball lot. Those on the Safety Walk agreed that the building of the lofts may warrant some new blue lights.
The ceiling of Stetson was inspected, as suggested by Sen. Price at the previous meeting. It will be fixed over winter break when the students leave.
[sidebar title="Upcoming Events" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
Walk a mile in her shoes: Nov. 20
Parking-focused Bear Forum: Nov. 30
Christmas Tree Lighting: Dec. 3 on the Medical School lawn
[/sidebar]
There was also discussion surrounding the possibility of putting up a large steel fence around the Merpo lot in response to reports of break-ins.
Tobacco-free campus
The Atlanta Campus is strongly advocating for a tobacco-free campus. President Underwood is investigating the implications on Mercer’s Macon campus if the Atlanta campus is designated a tobacco-free zone.
Next Bear Forum
The next Bear Forum on Nov. 30 will focus specifically on parking issues. SGA plans to present what they have been working on, as well as listening to student concerns. Although it will focus on parking the Bear Forum is still open to all student concerns.
Young Americans for Liberty
The motion to formally recognize Young Americans for Liberty as a student organization at Mercer passed nearly unanimously. This organization, not to be confused with Mercerians for Liberty, has a national standing with over 550 collegiate chapters across the country.
Young Americans for Liberty will stress the importance of constitution in the educational process, educate about incarceration rates, as well as
serve as an activist group. It welcomes all political ideologies.
Calculator rentals
SGA is still working on making calculator rentals available to students. They tried to go through the library with no luck. Now they are reaching out to the ARC.
If you would like to see a more thorough account of the Nov. 16 Senate, please check out the original SGA Docket.
(11/11/15 8:38pm)
The footage has played on the news for months.
Men, women and children — refugees — fleeing their homelands.
The current focus is on those escaping the conflict in Syria, but the Mercer International Affairs Organization (MIAO) wants to bring light to the issue’s breadth with an event Nov. 16.
“This is becoming such a nationally-seen issue,” said Emily Anspach, one of the event’s coordinators. “The purpose [of Stateless!] is basically to inform students that, you know, it isn’t just Syria. The problem extends past just one or two nations.”
Stateless! will be an event focused on putting faces to the stories of refugees from all around the world. Student volunteers will be given a refugee’s profile, and they will tell the story of that person for the night.
The name of the event is designed to raise questions, according to Anspach, because it’s not a word most people encounter every day. She said that for refugees, the word “stateless” carries a lot of different meanings and brings up just as many questions.
Do refugees identify with the state they’re leaving?
What responsibility does a state assume when they offer refuge?
If a baby is born to refugees in another state, how is that baby identified?
The name, Anspach said, “brings in the questions that we are going to try to answer with our event.”
The stories for the night are being taken from the UN Refugee Agency website, which publishes individual accounts of the crisis.
The event will be Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. in Stetson room 251. If you have any questions, you can contact Emily Anspach at Emily.Loraine.Anspach@live.mercer.edu or Alayna Williams at Alayna.C.Williams@live.mercer.edu.
(10/29/15 4:03am)
[gallery ids="17268,17270,17273,17266,17265"]
The preacher at Maranatha Baptist referred to them as the “Mercer fellas.”
The group of students that performed at former President Jimmy Carter’s church actually go by the name of the Royalty. And Katie Hague, who performed a solo piece later in the morning, doesn’t qualify as a fellow.
The students all travelled to Maranatha Sunday, Oct. 18 to take part in the church service, as well as to learn more about Carter’s life.
The crowd at Maranatha has grown in recent weeks with reports of Carter’s declining health. They flock from all over the world.[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]People are lining up at the doors of the tiny baptist church in the wee hours of the morning to be able to reserve a seat in the sanctuary for the worship service.[/pullquote]
“That's what surprised me about it. There was a lot of variety,” said Joseph Peters, a sophomore at Mercer and a native of Nashville, Tennessee.
“When I first got there, I saw a license plate from where I was from. I was like, ‘is someone like following me?’” he said.
People are lining up at the doors of the tiny baptist church in the wee hours of the morning to be able to reserve a seat in the sanctuary for the worship service.
The sanctuary itself isn’t anything particularly special. It looks similar to other small southern churches. The carpet is an olive green, with a lighter green shade on the walls. Stained glass windows line the room, each with the same pattern of amethyst diamonds.
The pews are a dark wood that creaks with the weight of the curious. Some are there to see the former president. Others have been going there longer than he has.
College students from Macon were there for a variety of reasons.
Chris Fuller, the campus minister for Mercer’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), has been bringing students to see the church for several years now. He said that the trip seems to primarily attract international students who are fascinated by the idea of a former president living less than two hours away.
Fuller partnered with the BCM at Wesleyan College to take a group of about 20 students to Maranatha. Five of those students led worship for the congregation while Fuller preached the day’s sermon.
“It went exactly as we expected,” said Daniel Kimmel, a sophomore at Mercer. “Chris Fuller kinda prepared us that it was gonna be a pretty small sanctuary, pretty small building, but it was really . . . it was just awesome. It was just cool to see the people that came from all over. People from New Zealand, Canada, everywhere.”
The group of guys that led the main worship service started playing music together in a BCM bible study last year. They’ve started to lead worship at Mercer BCM nights but never performed off-campus before their production in Plains, Georgia.
“This is really our first ‘outing,’ like, outside of Mercer,” Peters said. “So us getting together as a group doing something like that in front of a president is something really special—something you don't get to do everyday.”
Katie Hague is a junior at Mercer who had a solo performance after Fuller’s sermon. She said that she really didn’t focus on the former president.
“I didn't, really, you know, look at Jimmy Carter when I was singing. I just kinda looked over everybody, but it was a cool experience,” she said. “I guess it didn't really seem that different from singing in front of any other group of people.”
The majority of the worship service was made up of traditional baptist hymns with the exception of two pieces. Hague performed “Grace" by Laura Story, and the boys wrapped up their set with “Lay ’em Down” by Needtobreathe.
That song in particular meant the group had to beat a cajon, clap a little, and yell, which seemed to take some patrons aback. But the guys pressed on.
“It's kind of our theme song,” Kimmel said.”That's the one I knew we had to do.”
(10/29/15 2:54am)
For the fans who have watched Anne Hathaway go from gawky teen to intern to Catwoman in films like “The Princess Diaries” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” her newest film will be a change of pace.
In “The Intern,” Hathaway plays Jules Ostin, the boss of her own high-tech start-up called About the Fit.
The movie begins with an introduction to the frantic pace of Ostin’s day-to-day schedule as she attempts to be genuine and accommodating to employees and customers alike.
Ostin seems overwhelmed. She’s late for every meeting, and the company’s investors worry that the workload may be too much for her. They suggest that she bring in a CEO to help manage the company.
Around this same time, 70-year-old Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) comes onto the scene. Whittaker made his living in marketing and managing the production of telephone books for over 40 years, but has since retired and become a widow. He has traveled and enjoyed his time away from work, but when he notices a flier advertising a “Senior Intern” program, he takes a chance. His personality and experience win him the job, and soon he is assigned to be a personal intern for the overworked Ostin.
The dynamics of this duo, along with a side-plot involving a set of younger guys at About the Fit, are simply funny. “The Intern” is full of good-hearted jabs at millennials as well as at the older crowd, but it seems to highlight most the ways in which tradition and change can work together.
In any case, Ostin and Whittaker balance each other out. Whittaker finds ways to integrate his old-school experience into this e-commerce company, and Ostin learns to trust someone else with her ever-growing creation.
But everything isn’t that cut and dry. When the search for a CEO gets serious, Ostin has to decide whether or not relinquishing her control is what’s best for the company. And when Whittaker finds out something that could destroy Ostin’s life away from work, he has to figure out a way to break the news to a boss who has now become a friend.
“The Intern” is a solid, simple movie. The unconventional friendship was a funny one, and though this movie may have been geared towards more of an older crowd, I walked out of the theatre with a valuable reminder. It doesn’t matter sometimes how much the world around you changes. Stick to your gut, and in the end, everything will end up all right.
(10/20/15 8:37pm)
The Visionary Student Panels held last week as a part of Mercer's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) were a way of showcasing student ideas for improving the local and global community.
Until Oct. 27, another platform is offering a similar opportunity to Mercer students and community members alike.
The Knight Cities Challenge is a open invitation for anyone to bring forward their idea about how to make cities better. Like the QEP Visionary Panels, winners receive funding for their ideas. Knight Challenge winners are funded through the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“We’re looking for the people with those good ideas that we might not otherwise hear from,” said Carol Coletta, the vice president for community and national initiatives at the Knight Foundation.
The projects presented in the Visionary Panels Oct. 13 and 14 covered a wide variety of topics like environmental sustainability, the role of social media in combating bias and what it takes to disrupt poverty cycles.
[sidebar title="Visionary Panel Winners" align="left" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
Competitive Category
Macon World Citizens -- Emily Bless, Alayna Williams, & Briana Green
Collect to Connect: Community Asset Analysis in the Bloomfield Neighborhood of Macon, Georgia -- Aaron Scherf & Austin Harrison
Democratic Engagement: A Blueprint to Engage Students in Our Democracy -- Joey Wozniak
Standout Panelist from the Showcase Category
Energy Efficiency -- Demi-Shay Watchorn
[/sidebar]
The questions don't just apply to the area immediately surrounding Mercer, and some students worked to connect ideas in their proposals to potential global uses.
The Knight Foundation's scope, on the other hand, is narrowed. The organization wants ideas that help one or more of the 26 Knight Communities across the United States.
Macon, Georgia just happens to be one of those communities.
Two ideas to benefit Macon won in last year's challenge. College Hill Alliance won $75,000 for their "Operation Export Macon" idea, where a traveling showcase highlights the city's culture and offerings, according to the Knight Foundation's website.
Geoffrey Boyd was awarded $124,300 for his "Macon Civic Spaces" campaign. His goal is to create an umbrella organization “to bring together individual park volunteer groups to create a network of advocates interested in improving and maintaining local parks,” according to the Knight Foundation’s website.
These two Knight Cities Challenge winners succeeded because they had an idea for how to turn Macon into a more vibrant city. And, more importantly, they stepped out and applied last October.
If you are interested in applying for the Knight Cities Challenge, check out their website. For those students who would like to know more about the Quality Enhancement Plan and their visionary panels, check out QEP.Mercer.edu
(10/15/15 6:28pm)
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Projectors. Printers. Laser tag trips. Sound boards.
Organizations on campus need a wide variety of things to function, and they don’t always have the funds to cover them.
Every year, Mercer’s SGA is allocated a certain amount of money, known as Bear Grants, to give to these organizations.
The process to get the money is a long one. This year, senators were able to read through all of the applications line by line before the senate even began.
Even then, this year’s Bear Grants Senate on Oct. 5 lasted over three hours. By the end of the night, $38,097 dollars was allocated to 50 student organizations.
“For Bear Grants, specifically, our main goal is to reach as much . . . of the student body as we possibly can,” said Senator Elizabeth McKay, the public relations & elections committee chairwoman.
Senators seemed to agree that activities, such as laser tag, are fine for organizations as long as the group’s mission meshes with the event.[pullquote speaker=" Senator Elizabeth McKay, the public relations & elections committee chairwoman." photo="" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]For Bear Grants, specifically, our main goal is to reach as much . . . of the student body as we possibly can[/pullquote]
The money originally comes out of the student activity fee that every student pays upon attending Mercer. Then, it goes to the Board of Appropriations, which gives SGA an amount every year with instructions to parse out the funds among groups that meet the BOA requirements.
The amounts granted to each organization varied with some groups like the Robotics Club and Mercer Prosthetics and Orthopedic Club coming away with over $2,000.
Senator Gabriel Gonzalez, the chairman for the fiscal affairs committee, made it clear to senators that his committee, in putting together the pre-approved funding amount, took into consideration the mission of the organization, its prior success, how much they prepared for this year, and how they perform in the meetings, according to the Bear Grants Senate minutes.
The SGA Fiscal Affairs committee went through the Bear Grants a little differently this year. After all organizations applied for the funding and met with the Fiscal Affairs representatives, the committee pre-approved an amount of funding and then shared the applications’ line items with all of the other SGA members.
Because of this, the representatives had more time to look over specific applications and highlight line items that might not be in compliance with SGA’s bylaws.
The senate still took over three hours, but this adjustment meant that the 28 organizations with no problems in their applications could be voted on all at once, and their representatives were free to leave early on in the meeting.
That meant 22 organizations were left to be decided upon in the time remaining.
Questions were raised about everything from leadership retreats to laser tag and bowling to HD-cable projectors.
Senators ruled that a Bear Grant should not go toward funding leadership retreats because they are an exclusive event only open to members of the organization.
For the International Bears Association (IBA), the laser tag was proposed as an event that would give international students a uniquely American experience. The senators passed the motion, seeing that the event is open to the whole school and stays true to the mission of the organization.
The same couldn’t be said for Mercer Asia’s request for funding to cover a trip where students would take part in laser tag and a similarly super-American pastime — bowling.
Senators decided that the organization’s mission didn’t match the activity. According to Campus Life, “the purpose of Mercer Asia is to bring diversity to Mercer University and develop a better understanding of the Asian culture and relationship.”
A representative for Mercer Asia said that the group had planned the event because they recently experienced an influx of international students in their organization and, like IBA, wanted to expose them to more American experiences.
Senators seemed to agree that activities, such as laser tag, are fine for organizations as long as the group’s mission meshes with the event. Since Mercer Asia’s goals are to highlight Asian culture, it isn’t all right for them to design programming and ask for funding to do what IBA already does.
Another issue arose with the funding request of the Mercer Entrepreneurial Engineering Education Program (MEEEP). The group, which is under new leadership, requested an undisclosed amount of money.
Senators took issue with several of the line items — including the request of funds for brand new sound equipment and a projector — inquiring as to why the equipment on reserve did not meet the needs of the organization.
The Fiscal Affairs committee expressed further concern, considering MEEEP’s poor track record with SGA money.
The president and vice president of MEEEP made a point to say that they are now under new leadership. They also emphasized that the equipment would not only be used for presentations on campus, but also would be incorporated into off-campus work as well, which means that the university’s equipment could not be used.
Senator Aaron Scherf then motioned to reduce some of the cuts on the organization, in order to allow the group to grow and expand their outreach. Senators passed the motion unanimously and moved on to the next funding request.
While the mission and track record of the organization can often be things that decide if a group receives Bear Grant funding, another decisive factor is exclusivity. According to Article 3, Section 2 of the SGA Bylaws, a recipient of Bear Grant funding must “make its membership open to all Mercer students.”
Consequently, groups like honor societies are typically unable to receive funding. However, Tri-Beta (biology honor society) and Alpha Epsilon Delta (pre-health honor society) both received Bear Grant money this year.
Senator Gabriel Gonzalez said that while not all honor societies can be funded through Bear Grants, those with national organizations allowing for honor society “associates” are technically open to students who may not meet the society’s requirements.
“For the case of Alpha Epsilon Delta and Tri-Beta, their associates are recognized. That way, the organization is open to the entire student body, and then, we give them funding,” he said.
For a more detailed record of those numbers, please see The Cluster’s online Bear Grants updates article.
(10/05/15 10:32pm)
Bear Grants Senate is tonight: here are your real-time updates. [infographic align="right"]#SGABearGrants Tweets//
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According to SGA President Harrison, the goal is to stretch the Bear Grant money as far as possible, in order to make the widest impact on Mercer's campus. The money for Bear Grants comes from the Student Activity Fee that is rolled into the tuition of every Mercer student.
Twenty-eight organizations were given the go-ahead at the beginning of Senate. Twenty-two have particular line items that senators are discussing tonight.
Please note: the numbers posted below are not all final, and will be updated throughout the night. These numbers are courtesy of SGA's Fiscal Affair Committee.
*Update as of 10/6/2015 at 5:00 p.m. : For those organizations that had funding amounts changed throughout the night, your numbers are not reflected here, because the Fiscal Affairs Committee has not yet updated their spreadsheet tracking these amounts. As soon as these official numbers are updated, these graphs will be updated as well. Senator Gonzalez said he aims to have those up by Thursday.
*Update as of 10/6/2015 at 8:00 p.m. : It has come to our attention that some of the numbers below are incorrect, due to a malfunction with the original Fiscal Affairs spreadsheet, which was not caught until late Tuesday. Senator Gonzalez has issued an apology, apologized, and clarifies the situation in the statement below:
"As the chair of the Fiscal Affairs Committee I would like to apologize for the above information given to the Cluster. The excel sheet that was given to them and included the full composite review of the BearGrants budget suffered some unaccounted changes and some values [were switched] between organizations. We have the record of the amount that is supposed to go towards each organization and we are working on making a new week report with the finalized values from yesterday's senate, which will be then given to the Cluster to post here. I apologize for any confusions this may have caused and please refer to me for any further questions or concerns." -Gabriel Gonzalez Fiscal Affairs Committee Chairman
The Cluster has just received access to those final, updated numbers and will be updating the graphs below to reflect the amount requested and the final amount received. We apologize for any confusion and would like to thank our readers for holding both SGA and the Cluster accountable.
Academic Organizations
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Honor Societies
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Media and Arts Organizations
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Multicultural Organizations
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Service Organizations
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Special Interest Organizations
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(09/29/15 1:42am)
Bear Forum
About 15 students attended tonight's Bear Forum with SGA and they raised a variety of concerns, including:
Internet speed and bandwidth
Requests for more Bear Card tappers outside of Residence Halls
Potential of a feature in the Mercer Mobile App that would allow you to see which study rooms are available
Possibility of expanding some houses on Greek Row in the future to accommodate larger incoming classes
The speed and efficiency of maintenance requests being filled
Urgent care possibilities for students
Requests for water bottle refill stations in more places
Extended Physician hours for the Health Center
Possibility of securing campus with gates at night
Question of how small organizations can hope to compete for event dates when bigger organizations schedule overlapping times
Could we have a library printing allowances worked into our student fees ahead of time
Can there be more dining options open with longer hours on the weekends
These questions were all directed to the appropriate parties. Various committee chairs agreed to take actions on items like organization scheduling and food service hours, and the senate promised to follow up with each student that filed a comment.
SGA President Harrison said that he hopes to have a Bear Forum every month, on the last Monday of each month.
Katie Atkinson
It's Tailgate Time
The October 3 Sophomore Tailgate is set to be a busy day. United Way will have a tent set up to raise money and awareness for their #bears4books initiative, the student Sustainability Committee will be actively working to help tailgaters recycle their trash throughout the day, cultural organizations will have new tents on Cruz Plaza, and Mercer Maniacs are hoping to have a record setting game attendance.
Bear Grants
The annual Bear Grants meeting is next Monday, October 5. Senators are receiving all of the applications this week, and they will be going through to comment on line items before the meeting in hopes of streamlining the process.
Funding for Food
SGA voted tonight against a proposed amendment that would mean student organizations could apply for special funding from SGA for food-related expenses. The amendment was designed to help organizations that specifically support cultural awareness through the food. Senator Cullens, the author of the legislation, said that he had organizations like Mercer Asia in mind when putting the amendment together.
The proposed amendment read:
In special cases, student organizations may request appropriations for food-related expenses, if and only if:
The event specifically supports cultural awareness using food;
The event is open to the entire student body.
The requested funds support no more than 15% of food expenses for the event.
The event is not a part of a fundraiser to help further support a student organization.
Food will not be authorized for meetings in which only members of the organization are present.
The amendment did not pass, and the motion to reconsider the amendment did not pass, so the legislation as it reads above is now dead. However, Senator Cullens can bring another version to the floor if he so chooses. Members of the senate body expressed an interest in seeing this happen.
(09/22/15 10:27pm)
Mercer University, the College Hill Alliance and Macon-Bibb County announced Tuesday that Chen's Wok, Papa John's Pizza, and (potentially) Momma Goldberg's Deli will be coming to Mercer Landing, the new development across Mercer University Drive.
Additional dining options will be announced at a later date.
The hotel is set to open in Fall of 2016.
For more about the full hotel development plans, read here.
(09/22/15 3:26am)
PARKING
Student Government Association (SGA) President Austin Harrison met with President Underwood very recently, and in that meeting, they discussed parking. President Underwood told Harrison that he wanted students to know that 120 parking spots should be coming online next semester.
On the same note, the parking deck across Mercer University Drive will be online for the October 3 football game, which should alleviate parking stress on game day. [sidebar title="" align="right" background="on" border="none" shadow="on"]
Dates to Remember
September
23: Contract Services Survey will be closed
24: Macon an Impact (5 p.m.)
25: International Bears Association annual Field Day (3 p.m.)
26: MerServe Service Saturday (8:30 a.m.)
27: Pilgrimage to Penfield (10:30 a.m.)
28: Bear Forum (6 p.m.)
October
3: United Way Day at Mercer football game
5: Bear Grants Senate
13-14 : QEP Visionary Panel
22: United Way "Read2Succeed" Macon-Bibb County event[/sidebar]
PILGRIMAGE
Pilgrimage to Penfield is this weekend and registration is nearly full. Senator Fulton said that as of Sept. 21, there were already 560 registered -- and that’s six days before the event.
DEBATE CLUB
Jaz Buckley presented the senate with the idea for a new Intramural Debate Club (not to be confused with the university's pre-existing Debate Team).
Buckley said that she got the idea after she won the Top Speaker award at the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) tournament in March 2015. A lot of people expressed interest in joining the Debate Team, but a lot of them were hesitant because they didn’t have enough experience or because they feared it would take up too much of their time.
Buckley said that she sees this team as a solution: it would allow novice debaters more time to practice before competing in tournaments and would be a less demanding introduction to debate. She pointed to the Forensics Team at the University of Oregon as a model for the organization that would be here.
She also said there is a lot of potential for the debate team to incorporate a community engagement element because college students in the club could help high school debate teams develop and sharpen their arguments.
The senate approved the creation of the organization.
MAC PARTY AND UNITED WAY
Senator Lewis told everyone that the Mac Party, which his committee collaborated with community organizations on, was a success.
"[The Mac Party] exceeded all of our expectations,” he said.
Lewis also highlighted the upcoming United Way “Read to Succeed” event, which will be occurring October 22.
He said this will be a great community engagement project where students will be in classrooms across Macon-Bibb county to read the book “Not Norman” to students. There will also be a United Way emphasis at the October 3 football game, he said.
“The goal is to put a book in the hands of every child,” Lewis said.
More details for the United Way events will be coming out soon.
CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Scherf is currently working with a wide array of students, both on and off the senate, to develop the Campus Engagement Committee. The committee has already been created, but the senators spent time Sept. 21 discussing exactly what the duties and scope of the new committee are going to be, as outlined in the proposed amendment to the SGA bylaws.
The concern that several senators expressed was how future senates might interpret the wording of Senator Scherf’s proposed committee description. As a result, after some time spent editing the article in the senate, the senators moved to send the legislation back to the Campus Engagement committee. They agreed that it might be easier to make the revisions to the article in an informal meeting. Then, Senator Scherf will bring the revised legislation back to the floor for voting.
View the full SGA senate minutes here.
(09/15/15 3:40am)
Every fall, five freshman join the SGA senate table with a plan to leave their mark on Mercer.
This year's class president is Alexandra Kirschbaum, the only girl of the freshman senator set. She was class president for three years in high school and said that she is going to work hard to reach out to her classmates.
"The only way to build a community is to establish bonds with the people, who live in them. In addition to my 'required' SGA duties, I plan on thinking of ways to bring the freshmen class together," she said. "It will be a challenge, considering there are eight times the amount of people in this class than there were from my high school, but I will give it all I have in hopes to build up our community."
And Kirschbaum doesn't seem to do things halfway. At one point, she "baked all 94 students in [her] class brownies on the last Friday of every month," she said in her campaign page on Facebook. "Just because I love sugar, and they definitely deserved it," she said.
Pornchai Chantha is also all about reaching out to other students. He has experience with several different kinds of outreach and community service, including everything from mentoring to working with Mostly Mutts Rescue in Atlanta.
Chantha said he's "really personable" and wants to use that skill to benefit the student body.
"I hope I can help reach out to more people and be a good bridge between what goes on behind the scenes and what the students want," he said.
Like a lot of the freshman class right now, Chantha said that he's working on time management, which includes finding time to talk to his family.
"We text everyday, but I prefer calls," Chantha said.
Chantha and Kirschbaum won't be the only ones drawing on social ability to keep students in the loop. Jesus Robinson said he's also hoping to use the social skills he developed in high school to make everyone feel included.
"I hope to establish a strong rancor with the freshman class and to keep them involved in things going around on campus," he said. "It really helps students to feel a sense of belonging."
A common theme among the new senators is the desire to cultivate the feeling of welcome and familiarity on campus. But some senators found that connection long before they were bears.
"Being from Macon, I met a lot of students through other students I went to high school with," Spencer Williams said. "They had a big impact on my decision making. Timothy Lewis, Jane Gibson, and John Mitchell really took me in and showed me what Mercer had to offer."
Williams said that Lewis had a big part in making him want to join SGA.
Cole Porter is also relatively local, but a little farther down I-16. He's from Dublin and named Joey Wozniak (former SGA President and Dublin native) as one the people that has impacted him the most since being at Mercer.
Porter worked with civic organizations like the Dublin Downtown Development Authority in the past, according to his campaign event. He said that work has led to a passion for community development, and said that he is working with this year's External Relations Committee to expand on that passion even more.
"Currently, we are working with business owners to foster relations between their businesses and Mercer students. Shopping local is important to Macon, and we want our habits as students to reflect our respect of that importance," he said.
Porter has some ideas he'd like to see play out in the future, too.
"One thing I would like to see is Mercer's art students working together with groups like Macon Arts Alliance to showcase Mercer Art exhibits around the city," he said.
(09/09/15 8:28pm)
The cones are gone. The new asphalt is smooth. Dark.
A stretch of Mercer University Drive was under construction this summer as part of the Second Street Corridor project, a Macon-Bibb initiative that is working to make it easier to come downtown.
The first few legs of that process have been completed. On one section of Second Street, there is a vision block that was completed last winter, with infrastructure innovations like reverse angle parking, green space and increased sidewalk space.
The next phase, which connected Richard Penniman Boulevard with Second Street, was completed August 20. It’s designed to make it easier to go downtown for those who are traveling north on I-75 or are driving from west Macon.
Yet, all of this doesn’t really affect students at Mercer who don’t have a car. But one part of this plan could be a potential transit option for students in the future.
In earlier talks about the Second Street Corridor, a fixed public transportation line was proposed.
“Either a trolley, streetcar, electric bus,” said Macon-Bibb Mayor Robert Reichert in an Telegraph article published in December 2014. “But the main thing is to make [the Second Street Corridor] green, sustainable, pedestrian friendly, retail friendly, conducive to walking and outdoor restaurants.”
Since that article was written, plans have shifted a bit. The initial idea, Stanley Dunlap at the Telegraph reported, was to have a trolley line. That was going to be expensive. Now, Macon-Bibb is opting for electric buses.
This fleet of five electric buses and a charging station would cost approximately $8 million. Macon-Bibb is applying for grants to cover that cost.
The vehicles, the Telegraph reported, would be equipped with Wi-Fi and would provide “educational” tours stretching to Middle Georgia State University.
“We moved away from the trolley idea, because we can expand that transit system quicker for less money,” Chris Floore, spokesman for the mayor, told the Telegraph.
So there may be more buses down the road. Questions remain as to whether or not the system would be used for tours only.
In the meantime, students without cars on campus do have a variety of options when it comes to getting around town, including buses, shuttles and bikes.
The distance one can go depends largely on the mode they choose. The Macon Transit Authority (MTA) can take students the farthest, but takes requires planning ahead and a long time on the commute itself.
A more limited route is provided on an MTA bus dedicated solely to transporting Mercer students. The shuttle takes students to Cherry Street on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and offers a series of trips to the shopping center on Zebulon Road every Wednesday night.
If students would rather forego the bus, there’s also the possibility of renting Bear Bikes. These bikes can be rented for the semester and come with safety equipment so that students are safe riding them and can feel safe leaving them in a rack.
Whatever option students pick, there are ways to access different aspects of Macon -- and if all goes as planned, there may be even more possibilities down the line.
(08/31/15 8:53pm)
Mercer University’s art department is planning on expanding their offerings next fall, and to make the space, they are turning an old downtown art-deco style building into a top-of-the-line studio and gallery space.
The department is going to be adding a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in addition to the Bachelor of Arts that they currently offer. In order to accommodate all of the expected new students, they needed more workspace.
“We will be recruiting freshmen to come into Mercer as art majors, which we’ve never done,” said Gary Blackburn, the chair of the art department. “A big part of the BFA is going to be recruitment, and one of our recruiting tools is this building.”
Plans for the upstairs space include cubicle-style studios for individual students to use, a break room and an open area for critiques.
“We’ll be able to promise students coming in that their junior year they get their own studio, which no other school in the state does,” Blackburn said.
The new facility will also provide gallery space on the first floor with high-quality LED lighting, movable walls and a commercial kitchen. Plans are to make a space that can be used by both the art department, the poetry circuit and possibly other galleries for exhibitions and receptions downtown.
In the basement of the building, a ceramics studio will meet the needs of the BFA students.
“We’re gonna grow the BFA slowly, but the first 3D area that we have full studio and faculty for will be ceramics,” Blackburn said. “There’s a lot of reasons for that locally because of the history and the clay in the area.”
He declined to name the donors who have helped make this project a reality but said that the facility should be finished by the fall of 2016.
(08/31/15 8:33pm)
The COW party is hard to describe.
“We are not religious rush,” Mercer University’s Dean of Chapel Craig McMahan said, dismissing any similarities between the party and Greek recruitment.
There were a lot of freshman in the room though, and the hope is that these ministries can become like families and support systems for both new and old students.
The COW party — or Christian Organization Welcome party — at its core is a crash course in religious life on campus. A representative from each organization shares a little bit about their group, including when and where they meet. Then the microphone passes to the next person, until all of the campus ministries have been spoken for.
There is a message. There is music. There is fellowship.
The COW party has been happening in the RLC for “about 15 or 16 years,” Chris Fuller said. Fuller is the minister for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and his organization meets in the Religious Life Center every Thursday night.
This cross-shaped structure is also where the All God’s Anointed People Evangelizing (AGAPE) group meets every Monday.
But in the future, the COW Party might not happen in the RLC. The building may not even be called the same name.
McMahan said that there are plans in place to repurpose the RLC. He didn’t specify what those plans entail but confirmed that there is a major change coming.
“We’re working with the administration, and they’ve been very cooperative in terms of trying to find us a place that’s going to be suitable (and) that will support the activities and ministries that we have,” McMahan said.
He said that he doesn’t know the time frame for the project.
“I think everybody wants to see religious life land in a good spot, and so, if you’re a family, and you have three bedrooms, and all of the sudden you have a third child, that’s a good thing. But somebody’s got to squeeze together a little bit. So we’re just looking at how to do that well in a way that provides some new work here on campus but also doesn’t in any way diminish the work of the campus ministries,” he said.
When asked what sort of program or work was coming to the facility, McMahan didn’t specify.
“It is my understanding that it will be a completely different kind of thing going on in here. And that, I really don’t have enough information to say what that is,” he said.
The Cluster reached out to Provost Scott Davis for comment about the project but has received no response.
(08/27/15 8:04pm)
There’s something so invigorating about a new space. You move in and immediately you’re presented with a blank canvas that’s going to belong to you - and maybe a roommate or two - for two semesters.
A lot can happen in two semesters - which is why you need a great home base where you can crash, process and get ready for whatever’s coming next.
So how do you craft a space full of warmth and comfort out of cream walls, navy carpets, and regulation furniture?
Hang out.
First off, fix those walls. You can’t put nails in the wall, but don’t let that stop you from making the space above your bed your scrapbook. I recommend Command Hooks or masking tape. Then, you can go all out.
Posters. Pictures. Canvases. Tapestries. There are SO many options to change up those boring blank walls. You can find a lot of them on websites like allposters.com or Pinterest.
Next step?
Get comfy.
Who cares if your walls look great if your bed is hard and uncomfortable? Absolutely nobody. We’re college kids, which means we need to lay in bed for hours on end sometimes (and that’s okay). What isn’t okay is doing that in a bed that feels like it was put there just to forcibly realign your spine.
Get comfy. There are a lot of ways to do this, both for your bed and for other furniture you may have in your residence hall. If you need a softer mattress, opt for a squishy mattress pad. They’re magical. If you feel the need to create your own personal inferno, then pile on the blankets and prepare to hibernate. They’re a great way to add color and texture to a space to add more visual interest.
If you anticipate doing a lot of homework in bed, invest in some pillows. Propping up on a pile of pillows can reduce stress on your neck and back and puts you in a prime Netflix-watching position (because we all know what you’re really doing).
Brighten it up:
Lamps. Christmas lights. Curtains. They all have a way of softening the harsh fluorescents that are sometimes used in overhead lighting. Use lamps and christmas lights for a softer light in your space, and curtains in the windows can help you to bring in natural light without always having to deal with harsh, direct sunlight.
Hide it away:
Find a way to minimize your clutter. Plastic sliding drawers can be a great way to add storage under your bed or in your closet, and small drawer organizers can be a great way to turn the catastrophe that is your chest of drawers or desk area into a more manageable chaos. This will keep the surfaces clear and make your space look more put together.
Be kind:
The most important and transformative part of your home for this year is the relationship between the people in it. Whether you’re living with one person or nine, there has to be a level of respect and courtesy between people living together.
This means that you may have to compromise. Sorry, but your giant Yoda poster may not be okay over your friend’s bed. You might have to agree to disagree on color choices.
It’s all about finding a balance between what everybody wants, not just one.
And that goes way beyond deciding what kind of shower curtain to get.
Just remember to be kind, and remember that not only do you have to live with them -- they have to live with you.
(08/27/15 6:52pm)
The COW party is hard to describe.
“We are not religious rush,” Mercer University’s Dean of Chapel Craig McMahan said, dismissing any similarities between the party and Greek recruitment.
There were a lot of freshman in the room though, and the hope is that these ministries can become like families and support systems for both new and old students.
The COW party — or Christian Organization Welcome party — at its core is a crash course in religious life on campus. A representative from each organization shares a little bit about their group, including when and where they meet. Then the microphone passes to the next person, until all of the campus ministries have been spoken for.
There is a message. There is music. There is fellowship.
The COW party has been happening in the RLC for “about 15 or 16 years,” Chris Fuller said. Fuller is the minister for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and his organization meets in the Religious Life Center every Thursday night.
This cross-shaped structure is also where the All God’s Anointed People Evangelizing (AGAPE) group meets every Monday.
But in the future, the COW Party might not happen in the RLC. The building may not even be called the same name.
McMahan said that there are plans in place to repurpose the RLC. He didn’t specify what those plans entail but confirmed that there is a major change coming.
“We’re working with the administration, and they’ve been very cooperative in terms of trying to find us a place that’s going to be suitable (and) that will support the activities and ministries that we have,” McMahan said.
He said that he doesn’t know the time frame for the project.
“I think everybody wants to see religious life land in a good spot, and so, if you’re a family, and you have three bedrooms, and all of the sudden you have a third child, that’s a good thing. But somebody’s got to squeeze together a little bit. So we’re just looking at how to do that well in a way that provides some new work here on campus but also doesn’t in any way diminish the work of the campus ministries,” he said.
When asked what sort of program or work was coming to the facility, McMahan didn’t specify.
“It is my understanding that it will be a completely different kind of thing going on in here. And that, I really don’t have enough information to say what that is,” he said
"We are not at a point where we are ready to announce repurposing of the Religious Life Center. There are still discussions going on about the future use of that building, as well as potential new locations for Religious Life Center programs, should they be relocated. The bottom line is that plans have not been finalized, so it would be premature to talk about what may or may not change," said Larry Brumley, vice president of marketing and communications .
(08/27/15 6:29pm)
Jeff Hugdahl has been teaching chemistry at Mercer University for 18 years. And for at least 10 of them, he’s been riding his bike to work.
The trip takes him anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes and is made up of roads that weren’t designed for cycling. But Hugdahl said that isn’t an issue for him.
“I’ve ridden in a lot of cities in my lifetime, so I kind of know how to ride in traffic. (In) Austin, Texas, I did a lot of riding, and that was back before it became really bicycle friendly, probably. Before it grew up a lot,” Hugdahl said.
Sometimes, though, sharing the road with cars and trucks can be problematic. Drivers don’t always recognize that cyclists also have a right to use the road.
Hugdahl said that just last week, he was riding on Rivoli Drive near Wesleyan College. He recognized that he was causing a hold-up — he was only going about 20 miles per hour on a road that was too narrow and too busy for drivers to pass him safely.
Someone started to lay on the horn.
“Eventually the cars went around me when it was clear to go around,” Hugdahl said. “Except for the last person, who proceeded to stay right behind me, right on my wheel.”
Hugdahl edged his way to the center of the road, slowing down a little in an effort to make sure that this driver knew he had the right to the road.
He said that not all drivers are like that, but he also said that he’s learned to pick and choose his battles.
“Somebody wiser than me once said that right of way is something you yield, not something you own,” he said. “I’m gonna lose in every battle with a big car or a truck. So that’s kinda how I try to live my life. I let ‘em go.”
Ideally, infrastructure improvements would mean that less of those conflicts occur, Hugdahl said. But that kind of change typically comes from local government initiatives and a united cycling community.
So when Hugdahl heard about Bike Macon, a new advocacy group in Macon that was having their first meeting Tuesday, August 18 at Just Tap’d on First Street, he was curious.
“I thought about going, but I kinda forgot about it,” he said. “I wanted to get a beer at the end of the day anyway and just happened to find them and remembered, ‘oh yeah, they’re having this.’”
The group’s inaugural meeting filled the Just Tap’d basement, and the crowd was a mix of everyone from cyclists in full dry-fit to everyday-looking folks who sipped on their choice of beer while Rachel Hollar, the group’s founder, went through a presentation of Bike Macon’s goals.
She emphasized the importance of public space, including streets, in a city such as Macon. One of her goals is to bring attention to those areas in a way that highlights how public areas can be utilized by everyone and build a sense of community.
Hollar opened the floor for various organizations to share their biking initiatives. JR Olive spoke about the work the College Hill Alliance has done to promote cycling, such as the shared bike lane on College Street, their weekly Bike ‘n Bites lunch meet-ups and their part in the 2015 Cherry Blossom Parade.
Aaron Scherf, a junior at Mercer, stepped up to talk about Bear Bikes, which is a Mercer program funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that rents out bikes and safety equipment to students and provides bike racks and a repair station on campus.
Other representatives told the group about upcoming events around Middle Georgia, including the 2015 Georgia Bike Summit in Milledgeville in November.
There was some talk of cyclist and motorist education gaps when it came to sharing the road, but the focus of Bike Macon’s first meeting seemed to be more on how to bring together cyclists in the area and inspire more people to bike.
“What we really believe it’s going to take is just more people realizing that you can bike in Macon,” Scherf said. “It’s not that (people aren’t) out there (riding their bikes) already. They’re just so spread out, and nobody notices them,” Scherf said.
After the meeting, Hugdahl said he was looking for more projects to improve streets in the city to make cycling safer, like expanding road shoulders and educating people on basic rules of the road.
“Make life a little bit easier for everyone to get along,” he said.