Candidates square off at UP debate
By: Chrystian Tejedor / Production Manager Hordes of students surrounded the Graham Center Pit last Wednesday afternoon to hear what the candidates running for student government president, vice president, representative at large and lower division representative felt were the strongest issues affecting this year’s race. At times, applause and cheers coming from students wearing blue shirts supporting Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates Jessica Morffi and Omar Castillo and students wearing the yellow shirts in support of Armando Rodriguez and Maria Garcia drowned the candidates out. Only after a lengthy cheering session for each presidential and vice presidential ticket were the candidates able to speak. PLATFORMS Debate moderator John Stack, an FIU professor of politics and…
Students volunteer at Trade Center clean up site
By: Asra Jawaid / Staff Writer This Spring Break, 17 FIU representatives, including 15 students, went to New York City to help clean up the mess left behind by the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11th. The group was led by Site Leader Alex Zarut. Patty Temino, the assistant director of the Volunteer Action Center, also attended. They left Miami on Saturday, March 16, arriving in New York the next day, and returned to Miami on Sunday, March 24. Each day they were there, the group usually woke up by 5 a.m. “We all had to be ready to leave [the hotel] by 5:50 a.m. or 6 a.m.,” Zarut said. Other members of FIU’s…
Candidates deliver platforms at BBC debate
By: Adrienne Celaya / Contributing Writer SGA candidates took their places on the podium at the “Meet the Candidates” debate, although few students were willing to listen. On March 27 the Biscayne Bay Campus’ Student Government Association officially presented next year’s potential student government officials at a debate at Wolfe University Center’s Panther Square. As an incentive, free pizza was given out after the event, though many students were already in line 20 minutes into the hour-long program. Students were on hand to witness their potential Student Government Council leaders but many solely came for the pizza. After the candidates stepped up and gave their speech, Assistant Director of Campus Life and Orientation Rafael Zapata…
Punch card voting system ousted by 2003 elections
By: Chrystian Tejedor / Production Manager Student government elections will be held today and tomorrow at four polling sites located on the University Park Campus and one location off campus at the Center for Engineering and Applied Sciences. This is also the last year the punch cards system, which the county employs for all federal, state, county and city elections will be used in an FIU election. “We’re going to move to the computerized system next year,” Elections Commissioner Malik Wilkes said. Polls at the Graham Center Pit, Green Library, housing breezeway and CEAS open at 9 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Jessica Morffi and Omar Castillo are running together for president and vice…
Football ends first week with scrimmage
By: Alex Braswell, Staff Writer Hard hits, big runs and a back-of-the-end zone touchdown concluded FIU’s first week of spring practice. Friday ended the week with a 37-play scrimmage. “For the first week, I can’t tell you how pleased I am with this group,” head coach Don Strock said. Rashod Smith led the running game with 61 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown, while Harold Leath caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. After the offense failed to move the ball on its first two possessions, due to an interception and a punt, the running game provided a burst. On a third-and-five from the 49-yard line, Jerrid Lundstedt burst through the defense,…
Winners and Losers
By: [no author name found] Winners FIU: Finally the fair is leaving, and we reclaim our campus and parking lots. In retrospect, we should take a few lessons from the carnies. It seems to us that parking trailers near campus would do wonders for housing. Alternative Spring Break: Sacrificing spring break for a good cause takes a good deal of dedication. I was planning on participating myself, until a gang of scantily clad party-goers attacked me on the street and forced me to do a keg stand. I always hate it when that happens, don’t you? The Vagina Monologues: We congratulate the dedicated students and alumni who put this together, despite the title’s flagrant false-advertisement….
