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The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 21 Tuesday, November 20, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’ Election turnout among Lehigh students up from 2014 By CHRISSIE FAENZA B&W Staff Northampton County election results have been made official, revealing that 865 voters, or 25.8 percent of those registered, casted ballots at the Litzenberger House polling center for the 2018 midterm election on Nov. 6. Voter turnout at the Litzenberger House, which largely services Lehigh student voters, was over four times larger than that of the 2014 midterm elections. In that cycle, 204 voters, or 6.62 percent of those registered, cast their ballots at the polling location. Voter statistics of Bethlehem’s 3rd Ward, the precinct which Litzenberger House polls, is reflective of the Lehigh student vote because students’ on-campus and some off-campus addresses route them to this location. However, the statistics are not a direct representation of Lehigh students, some of whom may have voted in their home district or by absentee ballot. Northampton County as a whole saw a turnout of 56 percent for reg-istered voters in 2018. In total, 113 million Americans voted this year, which accounts for 49 percent of all eligible voters. This is up from 36.4 percent in the 2014 midterms. Sara Boyd, ‘21, the president of the Student Political Action Coalition, said more millennials voted this year in response to their concerns about the current government. “I think a lot of voters in the coun-try were angry with the way that the government no longer looks like them, and as a result, there are more women in Congress than ever, there’s the most diverse Congress ever, there’s the first Native American con-gresswoman,” she said. Vera Fennell, a professor of polit-ical science, said the candidates in this year’s race also motivated young people to go out and vote. “There were attractive candidates, and when people find attractive candidates, they come up and vote,” Fennell said. “They’re convinced that it’s important and that it’s needed and that it could make a change.” Though millennials are the largest demographic of the electorate, their voter registration and turnout is consistently significantly lower than other groups. The estimated turnout for Lehigh’s polling area is slightly lower than the nationwide turnout for those aged 18 to 29 – about 31 percent. Brian Fife, a professor and the Graduate Student Senate addresses parking concerns Rachel Zuckerman/B&W Staff In this April 23, 2016, file photo, graduate students park in graduate lots on Mountaintop campus. The Graduate Student Senate sent a letter to Provost Pat Farrell on Nov. 7 to express concerns about the new parking policies which will go into effect in July 2019. By EMMA DILLON Assistant News Editor Lehigh’s Graduate Student Senate sent a letter to Provost Pat Farrell on Nov. 7 to express its concerns about parking plans under the uni-versity’s Path to Prominence. According to the letter, Graduate Student Senate believes the new parking services, fees and regula-tions that will go into effect on July 1, 2019, will “significantly impact (graduate students’) financial sta-bility, (graduate students’) ability to carry out innovative research, and (graduate students’) ability to carry out our duties as teaching and grad-uate assistants.” As part of a pilot program, grad-uate students are only allowed to park in Alumni Parking Garage and Zoellner Parking Garage. When the upcoming changes take effect, grad-uate students who wish to park on Asa Packer campus will have to pay $500 for the academic year. Iiona Scully, the president of Graduate Student Senate, said the new parking policy will be detrimen-tal not only to graduate students, but also to faculty and staff as well. Scully said the financial con-straints of parking on Asa Packer campus is immense, as the fee is 2.5 percent of the average teaching assistant income. A cheaper, yet more inconve-nient option, would be parking on Mountaintop Campus for $250. Graduate students who have researcher assistant, teaching assis-tant and graduate assistant permits will also have the option to park on Goodman campus for no charge. “These changes are very inconve-nient for graduate students because most of us teach and work on Asa Packer campus,” Scully said. Scully is also concerned that the parking pass is only valid during the academic year. “Graduate students don’t stop working during the summer or win-ter breaks — as a matter of fact, that’s when we do most of our work,” she said. Under the new parking regula-tions, graduate students will not be allowed to park on campus between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., which Scully said does not coincide with how a gradu-ate student’s schedule works. “We’re on campus until very late or very early for TA purposes or research,” Scully said. “If the librar-ies are open until 2 a.m. we should at least be allowed to park until then.” The cost to park during the eve-nings and weekends during the school year would be $86 and $190 during academic breaks. Graduate Student Senate’s letter also highlights the issue of park-ing accessibility at Saucon Village, where many graduates students live. Saucon residents’ current pass permits them to park anywhere on campus, but the new changes would restrict their parking to strict-ly Saucon. This new Saucon-only pass would not allow students to park there over the summer — even though many graduate students stay over the summer — unless they pay an additional fee. On top of other inequities, Scully said faculty and staff will receive a $250 salary increase for the first year of the parking plan, which will not be offered to graduate students. “We’d like to be offered an equi-table amount of money, especially since we are on the side of lower income,” Scully said. “It doesn’t make sense for only part of the population that is being forced into this new parking fee structure to be given an incentive.” Edward Gallagher, a retired Lehigh professor, has expressed con-cern over the new parking plans in his blog, “The Bethlehem Gadfly.” Gallagher believes lower-paid graduate students, faculty and staff, See PARK Page 3 See ELECTION Page 3
Object Description
Title | Brown and White Vol. 135 no. 21 |
Date | 2018-11-20 |
Month | 11 |
Day | 20 |
Year | 2018 |
Volume | 135 |
Issue | 21 |
Type | Newspaper |
Source Repository | Lehigh University |
Coverage | United States, Pennsylvania, Lehigh, South Bethlehem |
LCCN | 7019854 |
Source Repository Code | LYU |
Digital Responsible Institution | Lehigh University |
Digital Responsible Institution Code | LYU |
Issue/Edition Pattern | Semiweekly |
Title Essay | Published twice a week during the college year by the students of Lehigh University |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Date | 2018-11-20 |
FullText | The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 21 Tuesday, November 20, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’ Election turnout among Lehigh students up from 2014 By CHRISSIE FAENZA B&W Staff Northampton County election results have been made official, revealing that 865 voters, or 25.8 percent of those registered, casted ballots at the Litzenberger House polling center for the 2018 midterm election on Nov. 6. Voter turnout at the Litzenberger House, which largely services Lehigh student voters, was over four times larger than that of the 2014 midterm elections. In that cycle, 204 voters, or 6.62 percent of those registered, cast their ballots at the polling location. Voter statistics of Bethlehem’s 3rd Ward, the precinct which Litzenberger House polls, is reflective of the Lehigh student vote because students’ on-campus and some off-campus addresses route them to this location. However, the statistics are not a direct representation of Lehigh students, some of whom may have voted in their home district or by absentee ballot. Northampton County as a whole saw a turnout of 56 percent for reg-istered voters in 2018. In total, 113 million Americans voted this year, which accounts for 49 percent of all eligible voters. This is up from 36.4 percent in the 2014 midterms. Sara Boyd, ‘21, the president of the Student Political Action Coalition, said more millennials voted this year in response to their concerns about the current government. “I think a lot of voters in the coun-try were angry with the way that the government no longer looks like them, and as a result, there are more women in Congress than ever, there’s the most diverse Congress ever, there’s the first Native American con-gresswoman,” she said. Vera Fennell, a professor of polit-ical science, said the candidates in this year’s race also motivated young people to go out and vote. “There were attractive candidates, and when people find attractive candidates, they come up and vote,” Fennell said. “They’re convinced that it’s important and that it’s needed and that it could make a change.” Though millennials are the largest demographic of the electorate, their voter registration and turnout is consistently significantly lower than other groups. The estimated turnout for Lehigh’s polling area is slightly lower than the nationwide turnout for those aged 18 to 29 – about 31 percent. Brian Fife, a professor and the Graduate Student Senate addresses parking concerns Rachel Zuckerman/B&W Staff In this April 23, 2016, file photo, graduate students park in graduate lots on Mountaintop campus. The Graduate Student Senate sent a letter to Provost Pat Farrell on Nov. 7 to express concerns about the new parking policies which will go into effect in July 2019. By EMMA DILLON Assistant News Editor Lehigh’s Graduate Student Senate sent a letter to Provost Pat Farrell on Nov. 7 to express its concerns about parking plans under the uni-versity’s Path to Prominence. According to the letter, Graduate Student Senate believes the new parking services, fees and regula-tions that will go into effect on July 1, 2019, will “significantly impact (graduate students’) financial sta-bility, (graduate students’) ability to carry out innovative research, and (graduate students’) ability to carry out our duties as teaching and grad-uate assistants.” As part of a pilot program, grad-uate students are only allowed to park in Alumni Parking Garage and Zoellner Parking Garage. When the upcoming changes take effect, grad-uate students who wish to park on Asa Packer campus will have to pay $500 for the academic year. Iiona Scully, the president of Graduate Student Senate, said the new parking policy will be detrimen-tal not only to graduate students, but also to faculty and staff as well. Scully said the financial con-straints of parking on Asa Packer campus is immense, as the fee is 2.5 percent of the average teaching assistant income. A cheaper, yet more inconve-nient option, would be parking on Mountaintop Campus for $250. Graduate students who have researcher assistant, teaching assis-tant and graduate assistant permits will also have the option to park on Goodman campus for no charge. “These changes are very inconve-nient for graduate students because most of us teach and work on Asa Packer campus,” Scully said. Scully is also concerned that the parking pass is only valid during the academic year. “Graduate students don’t stop working during the summer or win-ter breaks — as a matter of fact, that’s when we do most of our work,” she said. Under the new parking regula-tions, graduate students will not be allowed to park on campus between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., which Scully said does not coincide with how a gradu-ate student’s schedule works. “We’re on campus until very late or very early for TA purposes or research,” Scully said. “If the librar-ies are open until 2 a.m. we should at least be allowed to park until then.” The cost to park during the eve-nings and weekends during the school year would be $86 and $190 during academic breaks. Graduate Student Senate’s letter also highlights the issue of park-ing accessibility at Saucon Village, where many graduates students live. Saucon residents’ current pass permits them to park anywhere on campus, but the new changes would restrict their parking to strict-ly Saucon. This new Saucon-only pass would not allow students to park there over the summer — even though many graduate students stay over the summer — unless they pay an additional fee. On top of other inequities, Scully said faculty and staff will receive a $250 salary increase for the first year of the parking plan, which will not be offered to graduate students. “We’d like to be offered an equi-table amount of money, especially since we are on the side of lower income,” Scully said. “It doesn’t make sense for only part of the population that is being forced into this new parking fee structure to be given an incentive.” Edward Gallagher, a retired Lehigh professor, has expressed con-cern over the new parking plans in his blog, “The Bethlehem Gadfly.” Gallagher believes lower-paid graduate students, faculty and staff, See PARK Page 3 See ELECTION Page 3 |
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