Posted on 12/11/2003 8:21:57 PM PST by StopGlobalWhining
The fallout from controversial Halloween photos posted on the College Republican chair's personal Web site has led one student to announce her withdrawal from the university.
Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Pollock/Nittany Sen. Vicky Cangelosi announced her resignation and intention to withdraw at Tuesday's Senate meeting.
She said she no longer feels safe at the university and that she feels Penn State President Graham Spanier put her in danger by including a link to The fallout from controversial Halloween photos posted on the College Republican chair's personal Web site has led one student to announce her withdrawal from the university.
Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Pollock/Nittany Sen. Vicky Cangelosi announced her resignation and intention to withdraw at Tuesday's Senate meeting.
She said she no longer feels safe at the university and that she feels Penn State President Graham Spanier put her in danger by including a link to Penn State's online student directory in his written public statement about the pictures. As a result, she removed her address from the directory and later decided to withdraw from the university.
Cangelosi was not named in Spanier's statement, which was distributed over the Penn State Newswire. Newswire e-mail announcements always include the directory link at the end.
Cangelosi is one of five USG members who attended former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party.
"Quite honestly, I'm very scared of the situation and how it has escalated," she said.
Cangelosi said she is afraid to sleep in her apartment and has not been attending classes.
The USG Senate voted Tuesday to form a committee of senators to investigate the character of USG members who attended the party. The committee could call for the impeachment of the three senators involved: Cangelosi, East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko, and South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci.
In a statement that she made about 1:30 yesterday morning, Cangelosi said her parents are afraid for her safety, and they contacted Spanier, who did not respond. They eventually spoke with Art Carter, assistant vice president for student affairs, Cangelosi said.
She said Carter told her parents that Cangelosi was "imagining things."
Carter is out of town until tomorrow and could not be reached for comment.
Matt Midles, who was appointed temporary parliamentarian for the meeting, told Cangelosi that as a gay student, he feels endangered every day.
"I'm glad that you've been given an insight to what the students who have been targeted feel every day," Midles said. "You're being treated the same way that I've been treated my whole life."
Cangelosi told senators that she did not arrive at the Halloween party until after 11 p.m. and was dressed in a pirate costume.
One of the photographs found on Battaglia's Web site (http://botag.net) pictured former USG member Jason Covener dressed as USG Vice President and former Black Caucus Vice President Takkeem Morgan. Covener's face was painted black, and he was wearing a bicycle chain around his neck.
Cangelosi said no one was wearing an "offensive" costume while she was there and that Covener must have already wiped off the blackface by the time she arrived.
Other photographers portrayed an "oversodomized frat pledge," a "sorostitute" and an unidentified white man wearing blue bed sheets with a caption referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
Cangelosi said there is no truth in the statement that Battaglia's Halloween party was racist in theme.
"I condemn all racist actions and hate speech," Cangelosi said. "I very seriously resent any notion that I am a racist."
At Tuesday's meeting, Banducci, who also attended the Halloween party, addressed his fellow senators about the investigation against him and Ritsko.
"I realize the situation that everyone is in at this table," Banducci said. "I caution you to make a judgment, when you are looking at this, based on the people you know. Judge us fairly."
USG governmental relations director Frank Camarota also addressed the Senate at Tuesday's meeting, where he apologized for his delayed reaction.
"Had I known then what I know now of the recourse of those pictures, I would have taken a stronger stance against them," Camarota told senators.
Late Tuesday night, Julia Graham, USG Supreme Court clerk, issued a statement in relation to her attendance at the party, apologizing to those who were offended by the pictures.
"As much as I regret not taking some sort of action at the party, the simple fact is that it is in the past," Graham said. "So instead of belaboring the points of these past events, I would rather focus upon the future, over which we have control."
Graham indicated that this issue would not affect her duties as court clerk.Penn State's online student directory in his written public statement about the pictures. As a result, she removed her address from the directory and later decided to withdraw from the university.
Cangelosi was not named in Spanier's statement, which was distributed over the Penn State Newswire. Newswire e-mail announcements always include the directory link at the end.
Cangelosi is one of five USG members who attended former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party.
"Quite honestly, I'm very scared of the situation and how it has escalated," she said.
Cangelosi said she is afraid to sleep in her apartment and has not been attending classes.
The USG Senate voted Tuesday to form a committee of senators to investigate the character of USG members who attended the party. The committee could call for the impeachment of the three senators involved: Cangelosi, East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko, and South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci.
In a statement that she made about 1:30 yesterday morning, Cangelosi said her parents are afraid for her safety, and they contacted Spanier, who did not respond. They eventually spoke with Art Carter, assistant vice president for student affairs, Cangelosi said.
She said Carter told her parents that Cangelosi was "imagining things."
Carter is out of town until tomorrow and could not be reached for comment.
Matt Midles, who was appointed temporary parliamentarian for the meeting, told Cangelosi that as a gay student, he feels endangered every day.
"I'm glad that you've been given an insight to what the students who have been targeted feel every day," Midles said. "You're being treated the same way that I've been treated my whole life."
Cangelosi told senators that she did not arrive at the Halloween party until after 11 p.m. and was dressed in a pirate costume.
One of the photographs found on Battaglia's Web site (http://botag.net) pictured former USG member Jason Covener dressed as USG Vice President and former Black Caucus Vice President Takkeem Morgan. Covener's face was painted black, and he was wearing a bicycle chain around his neck.
Cangelosi said no one was wearing an "offensive" costume while she was there and that Covener must have already wiped off the blackface by the time she arrived.
Other photographers portrayed an "oversodomized frat pledge," a "sorostitute" and an unidentified white man wearing blue bed sheets with a caption referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
Cangelosi said there is no truth in the statement that Battaglia's Halloween party was racist in theme.
"I condemn all racist actions and hate speech," Cangelosi said. "I very seriously resent any notion that I am a racist."
At Tuesday's meeting, Banducci, who also attended the Halloween party, addressed his fellow senators about the investigation against him and Ritsko.
"I realize the situation that everyone is in at this table," Banducci said. "I caution you to make a judgment, when you are looking at this, based on the people you know. Judge us fairly."
USG governmental relations director Frank Camarota also addressed the Senate at Tuesday's meeting, where he apologized for his delayed reaction.
"Had I known then what I know now of the recourse of those pictures, I would have taken a stronger stance against them," Camarota told senators.
Late Tuesday night, Julia Graham, USG Supreme Court clerk, issued a statement in relation to her attendance at the party, apologizing to those who were offended by the pictures.
"As much as I regret not taking some sort of action at the party, the simple fact is that it is in the past," Graham said. "So instead of belaboring the points of these past events, I would rather focus upon the future, over which we have control."
Graham indicated that this issue would not affect her duties as court clerk.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2000/11/11-17-00tdc/11-17-00dnews-4.asp
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2000/12/12-07-00tdc/12-07-00dnews-1.asp
[Black] Caucus calls for diversity education [Penn State College Republicans]
I have been unsuccessful at attempting to find exactly how much African or black blood is necessary to characterize someone as "black" at Penn State. Do you know?
Is it the "single drop of blood" criteria posited by some? Or is there a specific number such as 1/8th, as in the famous Plessy v. Ferguson Octoroon Supreme Court case. Or is is 1/16th, or 1/4th, or what?
It's the liberal arts and the administration that gives Penn State it's bad reputation.
On re-reading your reply, I realize you never even disagreed with what I said. You concede my point with your "so what". You merely wanted to call me names because you're unhappy with reality?
And that's all he's accused of, poor judgment. Serving in USG is not a right, it's a privilege. USG can impeach anybody it likes in a kangaroo court, because it's not real government. If it were, the government could/would be facing a civil lawsuit over this matter.
You can contort yourself in various ways to try to frame the question in order to make the so-called "conservatives" in this case look like the sole victims, but you can't do it persuasively. People wearing racially offensive party costumes to draw attention to injustice??? Please, that is straight out of the liberal handbood on victimology.
I find it hard to accept these idiots as conservatives at all. Conservatives don't party in blackface and kkk sheets. They don't post pictures of same on the Web. They don't cry victim and appeal to racially divisive politics when they're caught in the wrong.
If the repercussions of their offensive behaviour are out of proportion to the offense, then stand up and say so. But don't pretend 2 wrongs make a right. And don't pretend that any of this has anything to do with conservatism.
Sure, it's obvious that some blacks exploit the racial divide in America to nurture their own racism and discriminate themselves. And yes I hate that and am eager to see it disappear from our cultural landscape. But giving the racists among blacks ammunition like these idiots did hurts whites in the culture war and gives black racists power and influence.
I'm interested because I'm from Pennsy, attended PSU, and was in USG at one time. But mostly, because I don't like people dragging racism into this forum thinking this it's is a safe place for race hatred.
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