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See which INSIDE family-friendly In the Bubble 2 activities Opinion 4 Nashville off ers Sports 6 page 8 THETHE VOICEVOICE OFOF VANDERBILTVANDERBILT SINCESINCE 18881888 Life 8 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 • 118 TH YEAR, NO. 58 Fun & Games 14 SPECIAL REPORT STUDENT GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION Board of Diversity at Vanderbilt is an SGA, Interhall fit to form eight-part series appearing in Trust forms every Monday and Friday issue in September. Expense With this series, we are attempting to bring diversity Vanderbilt Student Government to the forefront of campus Committee discussion. Board members The profi les are not meant to showcase one group over to monitor another but to demonstrate the depth of the Vanderbilt chancellor’s use of community. university funds. While the series will offi cially last for one month, it is meant By Darcy Newll to demonstrate The Hustler’s A S S T N E W S E D I T O R commitment to consistently represent the entire Vanderbilt A Board of Trust committee community. was formed at the spring board meeting to monitor Chancellor Gordon Gee’s spending. Percentage of Interest in the committee comes after a Wall Street Journal article Jewish students printed on Tuesday charged the Board of Trust as being “loosey- increases 10 goosey” with supervision of Gee’s spending. percent in four Th e article suggests that scrutiny of spending is a new years activity of the entire board, not just the Expense Committee: Schulman “For the fi rst time, the full Center provides board will get reports about his expenditures and pay packages. motivation. A second new board committee By Nicole Floyd is scrutinizing potential confl icts A S S T N E W S E D I T O R of interest and likely will look at photo illustration by JONATHAN DIETZ / The Vanderbilt Hustler the university’s longtime contract Vanderbilt has taken steps SGA (left) and Interhall (right) held meetings this week to discuss Boone Lancaster and Devin Donovan’s plan to create Vanderbilt Student Government. with a parking company in which to make itself more attractive a trustee holds a big stake”. to the Jewish community in Members will approve new government at end of month. However, Vice Chancellor the four years since Chancellor for Public Aff airs Michael By Glenna DeRoy Gordon Gee made a public call NEWS EDITOR organizations on Oct. 25 and 26. In addition, take on all of the responsibilities and the Schoenfeld disagrees. “Oversight for increased numbers of Jewish the entire student body must approve the services that are currently off ered, but it will has never been ‘loosey-goosey’”, students in a 2002 Wall Street nterhall and the change in an online referendum. Th e date of eliminate the redundancies and ineffi ciencies he said. Journal article. Student Government the referendum has yet to be determined. that currently exist,” Donovan said. “Vanderbilt has always had a Vanderbilt’s Jewish population Association will dissolve Interhall President Devin Donovan and Courtney Salters, director of student rigorous process for reviewing all has grown to represent 12 percent in February to form SGA President Boone Lancaster said they governance for the Offi ce of Student expenditures, whether they are of the undergraduate student one governing body, Vanderbilt Student believe this change, which seeks to limit Activities, agreed that becoming one the expenses that the Chancellor body, up from 2 percent in 2002, Government. ineffi ciency and help students adjust to the organization will decrease the diffi culty of incurs for his position, or the and Reform Judaism magazine In order for this to occur, Interhall and new residential college system, is in the best collaboration. building of a new building. Th is has listed the university as one SGA must amend their constitutions to interest of the student body. “At times, there’s been a duplication oversight has been controlled of the top 30 private schools for allow for the dissolution of each of their “Vanderbilt Student Government will Please see VSG, page 3 by staff , administration, and the Jewish students. Board of Trust,” Schoenfeld said. “Th e reason we were so SERVICE Th e Expense Committee was public about recruiting Jewish formed at the request of both the students is because we wanted chancellor and the Board’s Ad people to know we were Students Hoc Committee on Government doing it,” said vice chancellor to review how the board allocates for public aff airs Michael its funds to the chancellor and Schoenfeld. “Th ere were a lot construct other offi cials. of top students that weren’t Th e committee is a permanent considering Vanderbilt, and fi xture to the board, and meets on that’s unacceptable to us.” a regular basis to review university Schoenfeld likened the ‘the house expenses, adding an additional reasoning behind the building level of oversight to university of the Schulman Center and spending. Th e members of the the increased recruitment that Vandy Expense Committee, appointed of Jewish students to the in June, are the chairs of the reasoning behind the major Budget, Audit, Board Aff airs renovations that were done built’ and Compensation Committees: to the Bishop Joseph Johnson ASHLEY WEBSTER / Habitat for Humanity Orrin Ingram, Denny Bottorff , Black Cultural Center. Freshmen build wall panels at Providence Park, an all-Habitat community. Members of Vanderbilt’s Habitat for Humanity will use these John Hall and Larry Wilson. walls to begin construction of the Vanderbilt-sponsored Habitat house on Saturday. The house will be completed and dedicated Oct. 22. “We want Vanderbilt to be Th e committee’s fi rst step will attractive to as many students as be to work on a general policy possible,” Schoenfeld said. GREEK LIFE statement for fi scal responsibility, Schoenfeld, along with said committee member Denny Dean of Admissions Doug Bottorff . Christiansen, said the push to NPHC decides to cancel Stompfest Th e purpose of the statement attract Jewish students was part is “to try to clarify what the ‘tone of a larger diversity project. Council to pursue programming options in lieu of Homecoming event. at the top’ should be and to make “What it all boils down to sure the Board of Trust and the By Caroline Scali is we are trying to develop a CONTRIBUTING REPORTER participated in Stompfest 2005 and similarly enjoyed her university’s general offi cers are all diverse class of students with experience. on the same wavelength.” diff erent backgrounds and “I’m really sad about it being cancelled. I thought it was a big Next, Bottorff said the perspectives so that the dynamic Th e National Panhellenic Council cancelled Stompfest this success, maybe not in terms of achieving the overall goals of committee will develop a series of exchange can take place in the year, after members’ concerns about last year’s event and the loss of promoting diversity, but a huge step in that direction,” Nasmyth sub-policies for the general level classroom,” Christiansen said. the NPHC house were brought to the attention of the council. said. of expenditures as it related to “As we continue to broaden Stompfest was held for the fi rst time last year, and according Th e second reason involves the loss of NPHC’s fraternity house general offi cers of the board, such our recruitment approach and to NPHC President Steven Harris, was intended to “foster and the council’s priority to settle the issue. as the chancellor. diversify as a university, more working relationships between the respective chapters of the “Now is the time, more than ever, to start focusing their eff orts Th e committee will also Jewish students is only natural.” Greek councils on Vanderbilt’s campus.” Th e event, a part of on those issues that are council specifi c,” Harris said. monitor those expenditures on Administrators contribute the Homecoming, featured IFC and Panhellenic Greeks performing “NPHC council has other goals for the year that they think are an ongoing basis, he said. growth of the Jewish community steps taught by NPHC Greeks. Members of NPHC houses also of higher priority,” said Alex Schwartzmann, senior president of “Th ey’re not investigating to a variety of factors, of which performed. Kappa Delta and a Stompfest participant. “Stompfest takes a lot allegations of wrongdoing, they’re meeting quotas is not one. However, some of the NPHC organizations felt that the intent of PR and coordination, other things they are focusing on this providing an important judiciary “How we make our selection of the event was not fulfi lled, Harris said. year. ...I understand why they are canceling the event.” role that members of the board decisions is a holistic process,” “Although the purpose of Stompfest was a positive one, all of “However, I think they should schedule a similar event to allow perform,” Schoenfeld said. Christiansen said. “It’s not the the NPHC organizations that participated did not have a positive the Panhellenic and IFC members to learn about the history “My view is that many of issue of being Jewish, it’s the experience for various reasons,” he said. and values about the NPHC houses in a constructive manner,” the issues raised in the Wall issue of your whole fi le and what Two factors went into NPHC’s decision, Harris said. One Schwartzmann said. Street Journal article are about you have to bring to the table.” reason was that the relationships that “were thought to have been Th e loss of the NPHC fraternity house as a result of Sigma governance practices that already In fact, religious background is formed during the weeks of preparation for the event seem, for Nu’s return to campus is an issue that, according to Harris, “is are being or have been addressed not used in Vanderbilt’s selection some NPHC members, to have vanished after the fact.” weighing heavily on the hearts of the members of the NPHC - those having to do with single- process, and there is no part of However, Senior Lauren Cassell, executive vice president community.” source contracts, budgetary the current application that asks of Alpha Omicron Pi and a participant in Stompfest 2005, Harris said that the NPHC is working to devise an alternative oversight, and so forth,” said Bruce for a prospective student to reveal disagrees.