SigEp captures intramural title in last five minutes

By: Joey Cruz / Contributing Writer Sigma Phi Epsilon had to win the Sports Cup twice. After advancing to the fraternity intramural soccer championship, SigEp was all but secured the Sports Cup award, which goes to the overall leader in points among fraternities competing. But coming into the final game, Pi Kappa Alpha regained points by technicality, which opened the field up for a final that not only defined a soccer championship, but a Sports Cup as well. SigEp waited until the final minutes of the contest to win, by scoring two goals with only five minutes left in the game for a 2-1 victory on April 8 at the intramural fields. “It was even…

Home runs not enough against the Hatters

By: Sergio Bonilla /Asst Sports Director After winning a back and forth three-game series against Western Kentucky, the Golden Panthers faced Stetson University with a tired pitching staff. The Golden Panthers used five pitchers to get through the first of two mid-week games before facing the No. 2 team in the conference, Middle Tennessee State University. But Stetson University punished FIU with a barrage of hits winning 13-7 on April 7 at University Park Stadium. Playing against the 13-17 Stetson Hatters, compared to the 21-9 Western Kentucky on paper, looked to be a relaxed game for head coach Turtle Thomas and the Golden Panthers. Instead, the Golden Panthers’ bullpen could not hold their early 4-1…

Elected Student Media leaders provide stability

By: Julia Cardenuto / News Director Members of the Media Board hired the leadership for FIU Student Media on April 8. Christopher Necuze, Rick Martinez and Pablo Penton officially got the positions of leaders for next year’s FIU Student Media. Necuze, a senior journalism major, was the editor in chief of The Beacon during the Spring semester, and will keep his post for one more year. “I think we’ve come a long way on one semester,” said Necuze, who has been working for The Beacon since 2005 and has served as opinion editor and production manager. “I look forward to improving the paper and making it more responsive to students.” Martinez, a sophomore computer sciences…

Rosenberg gaining support for FIU’s presidency

By: Julio Menache / Staff Writer When Hilda Mitrani, president of Multilingual Marketing, Inc., started a Facebook group back in early December to get Mark Rosenberg, the former chancellor of the state university system, nominated as a possible candidate for FIU’s presidency, it only consisted of close friends and business leaders she had met over the years. “The first hundred people who joined the group were friends of mine,” said Mitrani, who graduated from the University of Miami. “I wanted to get people who went to FIU to join.” Now the grassroots campaign has grown to more than 400 members, as members of the University community have come to support the former FIU provost and…

New SGA constitution relocates senate seats, establishes BSU as governing council

By: David Barrios / Senior Staff Writer A newly revised version of the Student Government Association constitution passed during last week’s elections and it has been in effect since April 3. The revisions include the addition of the Black Student Union as a governing council within both campuses and the reorganization and reallocation of several Senate seats in both University Park and Biscayne Bay Campus Student Government Councils. Drafted by Kenasha Paul, SGC-BBC vice president, and edited by members of the University-wide Council during the March 25 meeting, this constitution also has reorganized the document from the Spring 2008 version. “The purpose of this new constitution is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of each…

Golden Panther Band at risk after six years of service

By: Jorge Valens / Asst. News Director After six years of existence, FIU’s Golden Panther Marching Band faces elimination in the shadow of massive budget cuts. On March 24, a public forum was held in an empty sound hall at the School of Music in order for students and band members to emphasize the importance of the band and to voice their opinions on how the band can be spared. According to Carla Geiger, FIU Athletic Bands’ director, the College of Architecture and The Arts, also known as CARTA, currently funds 65 percent of the band; the remainder is split between Student Government Association and the Athletics Department, each funding 21 percent and 14 percent…