News

Three vehicle accident occurs returning from Penfield trip

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Published Oct 24, in News

Returning from Student Government Association’s annual Pilgrimage to Penfield event on Oct. 19, one of the eight charter buses experienced a three vehicle automobile accident. The bus was the second to last bus driving and contained 54 people onboard, including three SGA members and the bus driver.
No serious injuries resulted from the accident.
“All of the students on the bus were pretty calm, everyone was concerned about other involved vehicles. There was one girl that reported back pains from the accident,” said Nakita James, a student aboard the bus.
The accident occurred while traveling through Green County, before the overpass near I-20 and headed toward Gray. An SUV driven by a 17-year-old girl attempted to take a left turn in front of the moving bus.
“I assumed she misjudged the distance because when she was turning she took it way too late and hit the front end of the bus right below where the driver would be sitting. That caused her SUV to spin and it spun around a couple times before it rear ended another vehicle,” explained Senior Senator Branden Ryan, who was aboard the bus.
The driver of the SUV was taken to the hospital but no major injuries have been reported. There were three men in the third vehicle that was hit, but all three men sustained minor injuries, according to Ryan.
The accident caused a two-hour travel delay. The buses were expected to return to Mercer’s campus around 11:30 p.m. and did not arrive until 1:30 a.m.
“SGA wants to express our apology for the inconvenience that it happened,” said Ryan. “We understand that these things happen and we are incredibly thankful that all of the students reacted well, remained calm and were very supportive in shuffling around the bus situation so we could get everyone back safely.”

Study Abroad Fair tells students to “Go Away”

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Published Sep 26, in News

The Office of International Programs held the first Study Abroad Fair of the year on Sept. 13 at the Connell Student Center from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The fair’s goal was to show the wide variety of study abroad programs available to Mercer students. It was an opportunity for students to meet the program directors and learn about the curriculums. With more than 20 different destinations, Mercer is “hitting every continent this year but Antarctica,” said Dr. Eric Spears, Director of International Education.
The Fair offered a variety of possibilities from which to choose. Students who are interested in studying abroad were able to gather information about various destinations, discuss opportunities and ask questions to students who have traveled through the specific program. Having a table from every program and destination, the Study Abroad Fair was considered a success among students and faculty. “The study abroad office thinks that it is absolutely essential for students to experience another cultures,” said Beth Walker, study abroad advisor. Mercer Abroad offers learning experiences throughout the world. Whether a semester in Oxford, summer in Jordan on Mercer on Mission, or spring break in Ecuador or Dubai, Mercer’s programs combine academic practice, intercultural experience, professional development, and leadership opportunities.
Dr. Eric Spears expressed that it would be educational malpractice not to offer these opportunities to the student population. “To me as a professor as an academic it would be educational malpractice to not give our students the opportunity to go and experience another culture, another society, while getting academic credit toward your degree,” said Spears.  According to the Office of International Programs, 30% of Mercer students travel abroad every year. Mercer Abroad offers long-term programs of one semester to an academic year and short-term programs from two to six weeks. This year, the fair presented at least five spring break options, 12 Mercer on Mission, and five faculty led programs during the summer of 2013.
Faculty-Led programs vary each year and are usually offered during the summer. Faculty work with a group of students to prepare travel and study abroad as a group. On the other hand, Mercer on Mission is a blend of study abroad and service-learning where a group of students with faculty spend two weeks in class on the Macon campus and three weeks in the field.  One of the novelties of the fair was the Spanish for the Health Professional Program, which is going to be offered for the first time next summer. The program includes the Spanish for Health Purposes II class, taught by faculty, and an internship volunteering at a local hospital. The spring break experience depends on the program and the director. The Office of International Programs advised students thinking about the spring break program, to start applying now through October and students thinking about next summer’s programs to start the application process around the end of November. Exchange programs offer the opportunity to be enrolled at a foreign university and to be completely immersed in another culture. The student is able to register for classes at Mercer, pay Mercer tuition and receive Mercer credit for courses taken at the exchange university. For both semester and academic year programs, students should start applying a year before to go through the process of enrolling and to make sure to take the right classes at the right university.
“The earlier you start planning, the better. I started planning in October through November and went in July,” said Senior Melissa Plyler, a French Major who went on a semester study abroad program to France and was representing the CIDEF program at the fair. She affirmed that going abroad was “one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. It expanded my horizons, both social and cultural.” Mercer International Programs are encouraging students to experience the international abroad and it is going to host the second Study Abroad Fair on Oct. 25 for students to get more information. Dr. Spear’s last piece of advice for Mercerians was the International Programs Office slogan, “GO AWAY!”

 

Greeks prepare for recruitment

Go Greek!

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Published Aug 15, in News

Here come the Greeks! That’s right, next week begins the annual tradition of recruitment amongst the 17 International Greek Organizations. The Greek Community has been a tradition at Mercer since 1869 and currently comprises 26 percent of the student population. The Greeks consist of three governing councils, the National Panhellenic Council, Interfraternity Council, and the National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Recruitment is a process that happens all year for all councils to bring in new members to the organization. Formal recruitment is a period during the year where IFC and Pan chapters conduct a formal process to recruit new members. IFC has a schedule of events for potential new members and chapters also schedule informal events.  NPHC has a new member informational week (Sept 10-15) and an Intake Process.

The National Panhellenic Council consists of four sororities at Mercer, Chi Omega, Phi Mu, Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Gamma Delta. The recruitment process is a series of formal events that are run by the Panhellinc Council, a group of representatives comprised from the four sororities. These events allow potential new members (PNMs) to learn more about the Greek community, sorority life and individual sorority members. “It is a week long, with three main evening events during which you will be entertained, laugh, meet new people and have fun,” said Cindy Drury, advisor for the Panhellenic Council.
During recruitment there a quite a few rules that sorority members have to adhere to.  “We have a document called the Formal Recruitment Guidelines that outlines all of these rules and guidelines.  These rules are in place to make sure that every chapter displays and encourages virtuous behavior, thorough cooperation, honesty, and fairness,” said Drury. Those going through recruitment most also adhere to a few technical rules, which are explained during Information Night on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
To help assist with the decision making process the Panhellenic Council trains a group of women, known as Pi Chis, for the purpose of providing a more enjoyable and less stressful atmosphere during membership recruitment week.  All Pi Chis remain disaffiliated during recruitment week.  Disaffiliation enables Pi Chis to answer questions and guide potential members without bias or preference to a particular chapter. “Your Pi Chi will provide information about the week, accompany you to recruitment week functions, and provide a listening ear as you make decisions concerning sorority membership,” explains Drury.
Anyone interested in recruitment should attend a dessert social in the MEP refractory at 8pm Monday, Aug. 20. Formal Recruitment begins on Tuesday, Aug. 21 and concludes with Bid Day on Saturday, August 25th. The last day to register for Panhellenic Recruitment is Tuesday, August 21st at 7pm. Panhellenic costs $35 to start the recruitment process.  This money goes toward a t-shirt cost and other fees Panhellenic has to pay to ensure a successful and smooth recruitment.
IFC consists of eight fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lamda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Nu. Formal Recruitment begins Monday, August 20 with Bear Fair. All chapters will have tables there and IFC will be there to help register men. The first informal event is Monday night, August 20 when the IFC executive members will be available to talk to any interested men in Plunkett basement and Roberts foyer at 7pm. Computers will be on hand so that men can register for recruitment. All men will need to be registered for recruitment to go through the process. Registration for IFC recruitment is free.
Freshmen can expect a great opportunity to make connections with not just current Greek men but also alumni and other first year students. “Even if guys are not sure, I would encourage them to sign up and go through formal recruitment because of everything offered the first two weeks. They will be invited to a ton of social events and get to know a lot of people. Also, every chapter is very different so finding a chapter that fits you is pretty easy once you get to know each chapter. That is why formal recruitment is so important at Mercer. It allows both new and current men to experience all of the chapters and really get to know some of the members to make sure it is a good fit,” said Carrie Ingoldsby, IFC Advisor and Director of Campus Life and Student Involvement. The process is almost two weeks long so there is ample time to get to know people.
IFC Execs run Formal Recruitment. They are not the same as NPC’s Pi Chis but they are still there to work with potential new members.
“It’s a great overall experience that will make college life more meaningful and fun. If you are coming into college with not just a desire to connect socially but also to make career connections from Engineering to Business to Law then I would recommend Greek Life. Greek alums represent a wide variety of career choices. It is also a chance to get academic support for those more challenging majors including pre-med and Engineering. Greeks work hard and are involved across campus in other leadership roles. Greeks also give back to the community through philanthropy projects and events. I would encourage all students to try it out. For example: athletes or those with busy majors will find that Greek chapters have a lot to offer them,” said Ingoldsby.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) is the umbrella organization for the nine historically African-American fraternities and sororities.  Although it is not known exactly when the organization came to Mercer’s campus, it was organized in May 1930 at Howard University, Washington D.C.  The stated purpose of the organization as written in 1930 is, “Unanimity of thought and action, as far as possible, in the conduct of Greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations.”
NPHC is a Greek council composed of nine fraternities and sororities: Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Iota Phi Theta.  This coalition is frequently coined as “The Divine Nine.”  The Divine Nine members can also be classified as either Collegiate Chapters, or Alumni Chapters.  The Alumni Chapter members serve as a guide or mentor to the Collegiate chapter members during their entire collegiate experience which includes support during the membership intake.
As NPHC fraternities and sororities do not recruit but instead host formal informationals, interested students should attend NPHC 2012 Information Week held Aug. 20-24th. During this week each organization selects a specific day to represent their organization by wearing paraphernalia and conducting a university-wide program in which educational material including the organization’s mission, membership criteria, and social calendar are provided for interested candidates.
Interested males and females will have several opportunities to meet and ask questions of current NPHC members by attending any of the university-wide programs that are held during the academic year.
While membership into NPHC is restricted to students who possess at least 30 credit hours and meet the GPA requirement specified by each organization, all students are invited to attend the NPHC 2012 Information Week activities.  Attendees can expect to meet new faces, learn more about NPHC Greek organizations and have tons of fun.
NPHC membership costs vary due to several factors including, but not limited to, the administrative fees required by Mercer and each organization’s national association.  The amount collected may also vary based on the number of trainings, conferences, and community programs that are planned for an academic year.
“As NPHC organizations do not recruit, the University and Macon community alike can expect to see the spirit of Greek unity, motivation for academic excellence and commitment to public service demonstrated during the Information Week held August 20-24th and in the days that follow,” said Melinda Robison-Moffett, Co-Advisor of NPHC.

CCJ recieves $1 million grant to fund the center’s newsroom

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Published Aug 15, in News

The Peyton Anderson Foundation awarded $1 million on July 29 to the University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism to help fund a newsroom in Phase II building of The Lofts. The newsroom, which occupies about half of the ground floor, will be named the Peyton Anderson Newsroom in honor of the Foundation’s founder.

“The trustees are especially pleased to be working alongside the Knight Foundation to support the establishment of the new Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University,”  Karen Lambert, president of the Peyton Anderson Foundation said.  “The decision of the University to name the Center’s newsroom for Peyton Anderson seems a fitting tribute to Mr. Anderson, who was the face of journalism for many years in this region and whose generosity will continue to make Macon and institutions within Macon, such as Mercer University, stronger for years to come.”
The Peyton Anderson Newsroom will be primarily used for Macon’s newspaper, The Telegraph. The Telegraph’s staff began moving into the newsroom August 14.
The Center for Collaborative Journalism is a partnership between Mercer’s Journalism and Media Studies Departments, The Telegraph and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB). The Center for Collaborative Journalism employs a model similar to a teaching hospital. Student journalists and media studies majors will work and study along side professionals from GPB and The Telegraph.
Within the Peyton Anderson Newsroom, journalism and media studies students from Mercer will experience a real-world newsgathering. The money from the Peyton Anderson Foundation will be used to give students and professionals access to a high-tech working environment.
Once established, the Center for Collaborative Journalism will reach out to engage the community in an unprecedented public forum. A pilot program of the center will be a thorough student-led coverage of the Macon Miracle and its effects on the community.
The Center’s facility will also include classrooms and offices for Mercer’s Journalism and Media Studies Department. Journalism and Media Studies students have first pick for housing in the level above the center.
“Even with all of the communication tools available, there is no substitute for face-to-face collaboration,” Tim Regan-Porter, the center’s director, said “Having students work and study in a daily newsroom fosters an energy, creative spirit and real-world knowledge acquisition that we believe will benefit students, The Telegraph, GPB and the community.”
The $1 million from the Peyton Anderson Foundation is being awarded in addition to the $4.6 million the University received from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“We are deeply grateful to the trustees of the Peyton Anderson Foundation for funding the Center’s Peyton Anderson Newsroom, a key component of this nationally significant initiative in journalism education and community engagement,” Mercer President William D. Underwood said. “These two foundations have made it possible to launch the Center in new facilities designed to take full advantage of this unique partnership.”

Locke, Ekeke win SGA presidential election by landslide

Elected as new student body president, vice-president

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Published Mar 30, in Campus, News, Student Government

Juniors Jordan Locke and Ike Ekeke were recently elected to serve as the new SGA president and vice president. Locke and Ekeke have served on 5 of the 8 standing committes during their tenure with SGA.

 

Juniors Jordan Locke and Ike Ekeke were elected last Wednesday to serve as the new SGA president and vice president for the coming year.

Election officials said 734 votes were cast. Locke and Ekeke won 477 of these, earning them 65 percent of the vote.

Locke’s supporters cheered on as the banner displaying the results was unveiled around 6 p.m. in Connell Student Center.

Locke and Ekeke ran on the campaign slogan “A Better Mercer,” and their platform focused on progressive feasibility.

Their other goals include: revamping the Bear Bikes program, continuing green initiatives, improving the implementation of student organizations, dealing with safety and parking issues on campus and working on SGA transparency.

“I’m very excited and honored to be able to serve the student body in this capacity in the upcoming year,”  Locke said.

Locke has served on the Public Relations and Elections Committee, has chaired the Macon Connections Committee and has chaired the Heritage Life Committee twice. Both he and Ekeke have served on the special committee for Bear Bikes.

Ekeke has served on the Student Life and Organization Affairs Committee, Contract Services Committee and on the special committee for Absence Legislation Reform.

Ekeke said thinking about all the students he could help in his new position motivated him to accept Locke’s request for him to be vice president. He also felt that he and Locke had similar ideas on campus issues and admired the work Locke had done on the Heritage Life Committee.

“I was excited that I would be getting to work with him and help out the student body,” Ekeke said.

Locke also based his decision to run on a desire to improve the student experience at Mercer. “I eventually made the decision to run because I’m very passionate about the university and making it a better place to go to school,” he said.

Locke said he is personally passionate about seeing the Bear Bike program thrive, but he feels another issue is of utmost importance to the student body. “I think that the issue I see as most applicable and beneficial to the student body is improving the number of cameras and lights in some of our under-covered outdoor lots.”

When asked what issue on his platform was most important to him personally, Ekeke said he would have a tough time deciding between SGA transparency and safety on campus.

“I feel safe [on campus], and I feel like we should take steps to make sure all students feel the same,” he said.

As for transparency, Ekeke hopes to utilize technology to communicate more effectively with students. One proposal on the table is to place a kiosk in the lobby of Connell Student Center to give students an opportunity to voice their opinion on current issues.

“When it comes to new technology, we always want to try it out,” Ekeke said.

Both juniors are excited about the results of the election and confident that they are up for the challenge.

“I, undoubtedly, am someone who pours their soul into their work. As SGA President, I will not hold myself to any other standard,” Locke said. “I believe that, between Ike and I, we cover a vast section of the student body and the comprehensive Mercer experience.”

“My legs got kind of weak when the banner was dropped,” Ekeke joked. “I’m very appreciative of the support from the student body, and I’m going to do everything I can to represent students as well as I can.”

SGA President Trent White expressed his enthusiasm for the year to come.
“I was very pleased with the platform they ran on, and I’m very excited to see what’s to come,” White said.