Brown and White Vol. 108 No. 8

              the brown and white lehigh university's student newspaper founded in 1894 vol 108 no 8 friday september 29 2000 all the lehigh news first senior class continues tradition byjessisteinitz news editor seniors celebrated their turn to give back to the lehigh community sept 26 at the senior class gift unveiling in the alumni memorial building the unveiling ceremony hosted by the senior class gift committee and senior class council is held annually to promote class unity and excite the senior class about the senior class gift campaign this year's campaign theme is class of 2001 rises to the top the senior class gift campaign raises money so that seniors can present a gift to the university the funds raised for the senior class gift support university pro grams such as scholarships athletics faculty improvements and career services according to christy anderson 01 chairperson of the senior class gift committee the program continues a tradi tion begun in 1928 to show school pride the senior class gift is a program designed to give something back to lehigh for the education we have received and the friendships and memo ries we have made here anderson said anderson also emphasized the importance of alumni financial support if it were not for the the generous donations of alumni we would not be able to receive the high quality of educa tion we do or have the beautiful modern campus we get to enjoy every day anderson said funds for the senior class gift are raised through senior contributions and donors may choose from three different contribution packages the sayre plan under which the donor pays 1,125 over five years b&w photo by ryanucwinko includes a presidential reception a zoellner gala concert a leadership mug a goosey gander voucher a senior night pass and a thank you event under the senior plan the contribu tor pays 150 over five years and enjoys a goosey gander voucher a senior night pass and a thank you event senior class president brian witlin 01 and senior class gift committee chairperson christy anderson 01 unveil this year's banner at the ceremony election necessitates planning by paul kaser news writer on nov 7 millions of americans will be flocking to the voting booths to elect the next u.s president if you are 18-years-old and a u.s citizen you are eligible to be one of them living in a democratic country the right to vote is a major right we are given yet also one that is underused according to the u.s census bureau voter participation is at an all-time low with only 42 percent of registered voters participating in the 1998 congressional elections statistics show that only 39.2 percent of citizens ages 18-24 were registered to vote of those only 16.7 percent made it out to the polls in november of 1998 samantha day 04 a member of the college democrats thinks these statistics reflect the lehigh attitude as well i think on any campus there is a lot of voter apathy she said the students still think that they have a couple years lots of kids don't care they go with their parents beliefs getting young people to vote has been a national issue for quite some time and many organizations that are popular with a younger demographic are making it a top priority to raise interest in politics mtv's choose or lose puts a pop spin on politics in efforts to increase young voter participation this year mtv is teaming with the world wrestiing federation for a smackdown your vote campaign so far over 40,000 new voters have been registered at tables set up at live wwf events the majority of them in the 18-24 year-old age bracket politicians realize younger people aren't voting focusing more of their campaign time on such issues as social security and medicare programs that are more perti nent to an older demographic barret katuna 04 thinks younger voters are not getting deserved attention older people are getting more atten tion than young people she said so if more young people get out then politi cians will focus more on issues that are relevant to them when asked about how important it is for college students to get out and vote aaron bergmann 03 felt strongly about the issue it's extremely important he said if we as a group don't vote then we won't be paid attention to earlier this week the college democrats set up a table in the ulrich student center they encouraged stu dents to vote got them registered and supplied them with applications for absentee ballots if you are not already registered to vote then you may print out an applica chi o to become official by sarah goldman news writer chi omega officials gave information sessions to upper class women earlier this week attempting to start a new colony at lehigh susan roberds chi omega national treasurer sarah hackett associate director of chapter development kimberly martin director of extensions and tristan rappold jenny lauer and nora wilkes the national consultants spoke to upper-class women to share their experiences with chi omega each of the women are chi omega alumnae from various schools around the country lauer said lehigh was chosen for colonization because of the high caliber of students chi omega first presented plans to the panhellenic council three years ago and was invited this summer to begin the colo nization process chi omega plans to take over leavitt house next fall as living quarters for its new members for now it is centralized in mcclintic-marshall barre frankel 02 thinks a new soror ity will be positive for lehigh's future i think it's a great idea to have a new sorority on campus because it gives girls a greater variety to choose from when rushing and it expands the representation of sororities at lehigh frankel said jessica brams-miller 02 said she thinks the sororities need greater repre sentation she said the sororities on campus seem to be in the minority right now so i think that a new sorority will help to balance out the greek system a little the new sisters of chi omega will be founding members with a chance to start new traditions at lehigh officials said students who attended the session are pleased with the idea of having the opportunity to mold chi omega's future those who are chosen to be found ing sisters will make the sorority what see voting page 5 see chi omega page 5 see seniors page 5 e^m football team looks to alert heightens who was affected by 1 get offense back on safety the verizon strike i see page 20 i volleyball 18 world news briefs 2 pizza professors 8 i feature 19 aromatherapy 3 hidden treasures 13 | field hockey 20 multicultural center 4 not just a face 13 ju\ck fact human thigh bones are stronger than concrete c c°m