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Scanlon - Johnson - Badall

The Newswire staff sat down with Craig Scanlon, Carter Johnson and Josh Badall.

What are some projects you championed this past year?
Scanlon: I started out with the rummage sale. The Ride Board, I put that together. And also sand volleyball courts, I was kind of the initial contact person for that. I guess one of the more immediate projects I’ve been involved in are the student-administer forums.
Badall: This is my second year on SAC. I’m the chair of the weekday committee, and we put on events Monday through Thursday, and we do late night snack and Carter and I have established the Pregame Madness that’s been going on—one hour before games.
Johnson: One thing that I’ve done this year is extend a micro loan program that’s extended to all clubs across campus. Another big project of mine is a student managed equity fund.

Where would increased funding for your new programs come from?
Scanlon: I can talk about that a little bit being on the current executive ticket because I’ve had insight into the funds that were able to use and that were allocated this year, and basically a lot of our projects this year weren’t necessarily funds driven—it was coordinating with other offices on campus to get those things done, so I’ve kind of seen as the year’s progressed a surplus in our budget, and we’ll probably have some money left over at the end of the year, so when we were formulating this, I kind of had that in mind, looking at how we could best utilize the funds for next year. Because in the business world, you want to try to maximize your funds down to the first percentile.

Why are you the best candidates for this job?
Scanlon: Passion and experience.
Badall:Yea, I agree, I think it’s the intentions and experience. All three of us have the best intentions for the Xavier student body and the campus. And we have the experience and the knowledge to back it up.

Do you see your lack of diversity as a problem? What if anything are you going to do to compensate for it?
Scanlon: I think plain and simple, we’ve shown results in the past, we’ve had experience, and so with that I think that we’re the best people for the job in essence, so just based on that. I feel like we can empathize with the needs of any student.

Would you consider adjusting your salaries?
Scanlon: You know I know past executives have donated that back in terms of funds, but I know we’ve had complications with that this past year, and really it comes down to this is a position that you have to put a lot of time and energy into. I would almost consider it as kind of an internship, so kind of receiving compensation for that and providing you with experience for maybe things you’re interested in later.
Johnson: Another issue that it is such a time commitment. It almost leaves no room for a job. We’re not going to bid on the election.

What would you do to change the perception that SGA is not transparent?
Scanlon: I think just showing our past, like for myself I’ve had so much experience with so many clubs and organization that have allowed me to see different way, a different side of Xavier outside of SGA, so I bring that to the table when I act as an SGA member. I think I bring all the student concerns that I hear from all the other student organizations I’ve been involved with across campus.

What are your current relationships with the administrators?
Johnson: I mean, we’re close, but business is business, and we’re not elected by the administrators, you know? We’re elected by the students.

The Newswire staff sat down with The Newswire staff sat down with Esteban Gamboa, Chris Hale and Bianca Callejas.

What are some projects you championed this past year?
Gamboa: I’m on the Student Life Committee. I’ve been the chair of the student life committee for two years.
Free airport shuttle—I run that. As well as the housing fair. Last two years, we’ve done student appreciation day. Where we give out the t-shirts and free food, and stuff like that.
Cajellas: I’m on the SAC side, so I do a lot of event planning. And then this year I put on the 9/11 memorial and planned XU at the zoo. I’m in the process of planning an aquarium trip. While they’re on the Senate, I’m on the SAC side, so we balance each other out.

Why are you the best candidates for the job?
Gamboa: Well, we have a broader scope on campus, based on who we represent.
Hale: I think it’s about time we get a fresh perspective out there, you know, we need to open the windows and let a little fresh air into SGA. It’s getting a little stingy in there. We need to get people with new ideas, and we need to push this thing a little bit further.

Do you consider your opponents’ lack of diversity a problem?
Cajellas: I don’t even think it’s so much of a problem as much as it’s who they’ve reached out to, and I think that when we were formulating our platform, we really tried to go to all these different clubs. It’s not even a matter of diversity, it’s a matter of staying inside your comfort zone. I think that in that regard, we’ve gotten out there a lot more.

Would you do anything to help expand Norwood relations?
Gamboa: We used to go to the city council meetings, you know. If we were a university, kind of like Notre Dame, where every student lived on campus, then I could see that, you know, forget it, don’t mess with it. We should have a liason to these council meetings, and I don’t see why there shouldn’t be [one]. I mean, we’re living in a city, and we should definitely have a connection with these people to be included in relationships. I mean, there’s no reason why these residents should be wanting us out, I mean, I understand we’re loud, we party, our music is loud…
Hale: One thing that I learned that’s involved with the Jesuit institution when I was looking at this school, one thing that’s at every Jesuit university is that they are built inside cities, they are built among neighborhoods for a reason—to interact with the neighborhoods. It seems like if we’re hiding from a neighborhood, pretending they don’t exist, it’s really going against our core values as a Jesuit university. We need to interact with them. We need to work with them and not against them.

Would you consider adjusting your salaries? (SGA President makes roughly $7,000/ year and Vice Presidents make roughly $5,000/ year.)
Gamboa: We talked about that, actually. Chris actually said he’d be willing to give up his stipend.
Hale: In my personal opinion, yes, I don’t think that money…you give $1000 for four years, I don’t think I should take that back from you. I think it’s a volunteer job. That’s my personal opinion, I’m not speaking for the rest of these guys, but I would give it back. And you can quote me on that.
Gamboa: I’d be willing to take a pay cut, but I would not do it without payment.
Cajellas: I think we’d all be willing to get pay cuts, I don’t think that’s an issue. Actually I didn’t even know that you got paid until Este asked if I wanted to run.

How will you communicate SGA goings-on with the average student?
Gamboa: I think the biggest problem on this campus is the disconnect between student government and the student body. I mean we do so much the students don’t even know about. I mean, we have the biggest budget of any other organization on campus. Our budget is $800,000. And it’s going up. As tuition goes up, our budget goes up. One of the things we want to develop through our platform is a website, I don’t know if any of you have been to the SGA website—it’s garbage. It’s not fun to go to. There should definitely be a fun, interactive website where you want to go. Hale: It’s not the students’ fault, as much as it’s SGA’s fault. I don’t know if you know, Sodexho’s been here since 2001, our cafeteria service. There’s been eight forums on Sodexho. And who gets invited to these food forums—it’s all SGA. More than half of SGA live off campus. These should be open for the students. These things need to open up to the students.
Gamboa: Just because we’re student leaders, I mean I don’t feign and try to act like I’m the most intelligent person at Xavier University. I think that there are so many resources and people that have creative ideas that are on campus that aren’t in SGA, and we should exploit those.
Hale: One thing about anything that you run, it runs better with more voices. Voices that actually have the time to listen. You know, Senators are supposed to do individual projects and help achieve the Senate platform for the year, so I think that if we really want to achieve all these things it’s not going to be the three of us, it’s going to be the whole school behind us.

Faculty Profile: Sr. Rose Ann Fleming

Stephanie Metz
Assistant Campus News Editor

Sr. Rose Ann Fleming has worked at Xavier for 24 years as the academic advisor for student athletes. Under her guidance student-athlete graduation rates have been very high. Here she describes her love for Xavier, Cincinnati and salmon.

Q: What degrees do you have?
I have a B.A. from College of Mt. St. Joseph, and a masters in English from University of Detroit. I also got a masters from Xavier in education and then I got my Ph.D from Miami University in educational administration. Then I came back here and got a masters in business. I also got my law degree from Northern Kentucky University.

Is it true that you are also a women’s rights lawyer?
Well, I do that on a volunteer basis basically in the evening, and on the weekends, when I’m free. I have a paralegal; she does a lot of that work for me.

What do have on your iPod right now?
Well I like music, particularly like folk music, but I don’t carry an iPod.

If you could have a dinner party with any five people living or dead, who would they be?
I would definitely invite my twin brother and his wife.
And then I think I would fill in the rest of the table with family. I have five nieces and nephews and their children. We would overflow!

What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to exercise. I like athletics, I like to jog. If I’ve got time, I like to play golf.

What’s your favorite thing about Xavier?
The people. This is a very accepting community and I’ve loved every minute I’ve been here the last 24 years.
The other thing I like about it is I feel they really care about the student. I feel that faculty go 110 percent out of their way to take care of the individual needs of the individual students.

What’s your least favorite thing about Xavier?
I think they’re working on it. The whole plan that has been revealed to us as far as expanding the campus is really envisioning far beyond my vision what is needed.
I think it will all be there. If I had to mention one thing I’m glad it’s going to include it would be a parking facility and relatively close to where I am.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what one book would you bring?
I think I’d take the Bible.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
I like Cincinnati; I don’t think I’d move. It’s in the middle of the county. It’s big enough to offer a variety of the arts and entertainment. It’s got a lot of excellent restaurants. It’s got a lot of diversity. I couldn’t think of much more.

What would you want to eat if you could choose a last meal?
Probably the thickest piece of salmon you could find.

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Police Notes

Jan. 28, 3:16 p.m.- Campus Police and Residence Life investigated a report of a strong smell of marijuana in a residence hall. A small amount of the drug and paraphernalia were confiscated.

Jan. 29, 12:30 p.m.- A student reported continual verbal abuse by another student.

Feb. 2, 3:12 a.m.- Campus Police transported a student to a residence hall after Norwood Police had cited the student for underage consumption at the corner of Montgomery Road and Lexington Avenue.

Feb. 3, 12:26 a.m.- A student carrying an open container was cited for underage consumption.

Feb. 3, 12:41 a.m.- Two students smoking marijuana outside a residence hall were cited for drug abuse and underage consumption.

Feb. 3, 1:46 a.m.- A student stumbling through the C-1 lot was cited for underage consumption and transported back to the residence halls.

Feb. 3, 3:17 a.m.- An officer on patrol discovered damage to the entrance and first floor of Brockman Hall.

Feb. 3, 6:41 a.m.- A student carrying an open container was cited for underage consumption.

Feb. 3, 4:44 p.m.- An officer on patrol discovered damage to the front door at 1612 Dana Ave.

Feb. 3, 8:26 p.m.- A student reported that his or her vehicle had been broken into and the stereo system stolen in the South lot.

Police Note of the Week

Feb. 3, 5:03 p.m.- An officer on patrol discovered graffiti scratched onto a sign outside of Residence Life.

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 News Briefs

Meghan Berneking 
Campus News Editor

Photoshop training

In this introductory session presented by Discovery Services, we will cover the Photoshop interface, creating a new image, layers, history, text tools, canvas manipulation, filters, red-eye correction and file formats. The training session will be held from 1:30 - 3 p.m. Mon., Feb. 25 in the McDonald first Floor Computing Lab and is open to all faculty, staff and students. Session space is limited to 18 people. For more information contact Jessica Murphy, murphyj1@xavier.edu.

E/RS lecture

Erik Reece of the English Department at the University of Lexington will speak on his book “Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness” at 1:30 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 11 in Gallagher Theater. This work of literary nonfiction concerns the mountains of Appalachia. The lecture is sponsored by the Ethics/Religion & Society Program (E/RS) which is also coordinating several classroom visits by the author. Reece will visit a number of these classes during his time on campus. For more information, contact E/RS Co-Director Kathleen Smythe at x3279.

Cinderella’s closet

Help disadvantaged girls enjoy their prom and be princesses for an evening. Students, faculty and staff, please donate gently-used formal dresses no more than five years old, accessories, shoes or unopened makeup at any residence hall desk through Feb. 29. Help deliver the dresses on March 8 or help with transforming the girls’ selection room into a palace. Women can also help girls select the right dresses and do alterations. Call Amy at x3323 or sign on to www.cinderellasclosetnky.org for more information.

Local Summit

The Community Building Institute, in collaboration with Invest in Neighborhoods, Inc., will host The Sixth Annual Neighborhood Summit on Feb. 15 and 16. The Summit is a combination pep rally and information session focused on the success of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods and the potential for their continued improvement. The Summit will open with dinner and keynote address from Dr. O’Dell Owens. This year’s theme is Clean, Green and Serene. There are four breakout sessions offered throughout the day. Valuable neighborhood resources are also available at vendor tables. Contact the Community Building Institute at x3896 for more information.

Battle of the Bands

The DEBUNKIFY campaign leaders are looking for bands and individual performers to participate in the Battle of the Bands on Feb. 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Kelley Auditorium. Winning band or performer wins $250. Interested participants should email mcmurrayjt@xavier.edu no later than Feb. 20. Visit www.debunkify.com/xu to find out more about the XU DEBUNKIFY campaign.

SGA debate

Student Government Association controls one percent of undergraduate tuition. That’s almost $800,000, which goes to fund all the clubs and activities on campus. You have a chance to vote for the next SGA executives, so educate yourself about the candidates at the SGA Executive debate. Come to the debate at 8 p.m. Wed., Feb 6 in the GSC atrium to find out more. Contact Katy Baldwin, baldwink@xu.edu, for more information.

X-shirt

Continue the tradition and buy this year’s X-shirt for $9.99. Part of the proceeds goes towards the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. A wide variety of other men’s and women’s clothing items are 25 percent off until March 8. Contact Tracy Post at x3744 or email postt@xavier.edu.