Month: February 2019

The two finalists running for student body president are Brett Coleman, a junior communication major from Midway, and Taylor Godfrey, a senior population health major from Buckeye, Arizona. The student body voted to eliminate Dane Campbell, a junior exercise science major from Prescott, Arizona.

Godfrey came in first place with 753 votes, Coleman second with 551, Campbell last with 479, and 19 voted “other.” The total number of voters came to be 1,800 out of a total enrollment of 9,950 and 6,125 being full time students.

Godfrey said she is going to continue to do what she can to put herself out there and let the students know she wants their voices to be heard. She has made it a point to speak to different types of student leaders such as the sports teams, international student leaders and veterans.

Godfrey mainly wants to accomplish a sense of community, she said. Something she loved about Dixie State University when she first came here was the friendly and inviting environment. However, since then she has seen a divide form between people around campus. Not that the environment has become less friendly, she said, but that it has become harder to be friendly to each other. She wants to create an inviting environment again and ensure that all students feel comfortable.

“I feel like I have the capabilities to influence people for the better,” Godfrey said. “That’s why I’m running.”

Godfrey believes her previous student government roles have prepared her to feel comfortable and have given her the ability to go out and get input from students, she said.

Godfrey said she feels relieved about how the election has gone so far. She was not completely confident in herself going into the elections because she knew that she and the other two candidates had viable arguments for being good candidates.

“Everyone that is running has something different to bring to the table,” Godfrey said. “It’s honestly what the students want.”

Godfrey said she is confident in what she has to offer to students, how she has promoted herself and her platform, and is confident in the support she’s had throughout the election process.

Coleman will continue to promote his platform to students around campus, but he wants to improve on talking to more students in general to give them the opportunity to make an informed decision. He wants to do better at reaching out to larger populations such as Multicultural and Inclusion Center, international students, art students and the athletics department, he said. 

“One of the areas I know I can improve on is reaching out to the athletes,” Coleman said.

Coleman said he loves DSU, and running for student body president is a great opportunity to give back to DSU and the students. He said he believes he is the most qualified person to lead students in a great way and represent them well.

“I recognized that I have the skill set that is needed as a student body president to help make sure the student association can continue to move forward,” Coleman said.

Coleman said he is feeling good about the election so far; it has been exhausting, but he has enjoyed meeting students and talking about his platform.

Coleman remains hopeful in the turn out and he and his team are working as hard as they can, he said.

Campbell said he is disappointed and shocked about losing, but thoroughly enjoyed his campaign. He put his heart and soul into it, he loved the marketing for his campaign, and he is glad he got to participate in such a cool experience.

“My one downfall was that I wasn’t forceful enough,” Campbell said. “I could have been more persistent when talking to people about voting.”

There are two pieces of advice Campbell would give to future candidates.

“Build a strong campaigning team,” Campbell said. “And if you have any desire to run, then start your freshman year and start getting your name out there because I believe if people know your name, that will help you monumentally.”

General elections will open Tuesday at 1 p.m and close Thursday at 1 p.m. Vote by logging into canvas and clicking on the link at the top of the page that brings you to the list of candidates to vote for.

Facilities in the Kenneth N. Gardner Student Center have started taking preventative measures in hopes to curve the rising amount of theft on campus.

The Market now has a gate blocking off one of the exits, and the Campus Store no longer allows student bags inside the purchasing area. Both areas also have cameras and signs littering the problem areas.

“Theft has increased quite a bit all over campus,” said Marci Miller, the operations and technology coordinator for the campus store. “We felt that one of the biggest things that [students] do is put things into their backpacks, so we feel that putting something like [the bag ban] out will help to lessen that a little bit.”

Cashier Reese Rasmusse, a junior computer science major from Toquerville, said he thinks the Market experiences theft multiple times each day. He said the most common items to be stolen are drinks and Subway sandwiches.

Catherine West, a freshman psychology and criminal law major from St. George, works at the campus store and said small items that students can fit in pockets and more expensive items, such as jackets, are the most commonly stolen.

The campus police are typically notified after criminal activity occurs within both of these facilities.

“Sometimes charges are pressed, but sometimes they aren’t,” Miller said. “But when it is very obvious, charges are pressed and then consequences happen and if you are a student, if you are on a sports team, you get kicked off your team.”

West said she helped catch a student who regularly stole jackets from the Campus Store just about a month ago.

“It was this same kid probably [stealing] quite a few times, but we haven’t had problems with [theft] since,” West said.

Rasmusse said while he thinks these measures may curve thefts to some measure there are still holes with the security. He said small items are easy to slip into pockets inconspicuously. West said he agrees.

“I think there is less [people stealing],” Rasmusse said. “But I do think it is still happening.”

The Dixie State University Alumni Association is hosting Traditions Week from March 4-8 to promote the “Dixie State Traditions” app, which strengthens the connection between students and alumni.

Traditions Week is full of events to raise awareness for the traditions app, said Jyl Hall, director of public relations. The traditions app is free and available on iPhone and Android. It includes DSU swag, DSU deals and the list of traditions.

Students and alumni use the app to keep track of DSU traditions and which ones they have participated in, Hall said. The purpose of this app is also for students to have fun completing DSU traditions with their friends, to remember these times and to pass it on to their kids, Alumni Association Director John Bowler said. 

The importance of having these traditions is the connection not only between alumni and students but also between the past and present, Bowler said.

“Traditions are about learning why we’re called [DSU],” Bowler said. “We want there to be a feeling of connection, family, and to have that familiar feel to it.”

Alumna and library assistant Ellen Bonadurer said the traditions give students an opportunity to build memories and relationships that make the university experience last a lifetime.

The week will consist of alumni sharing stories of the great times at DSU and will provide opportunities to use the traditions app, Bowler said. He said the goal is for alumni to get more students involved in school activities and to have fun. These activities will lead to more students knowing about the app and how to use it.

There will be a campfire with s’mores on Monday, and the alumni will tell fun stories of DSU in the past, Bowler said.

The “alumnight” spike ball tournament will be on Tuesday. This night is meant to bring alumni and students together to have fun, Bowler said. There will be an entrance fee of $5, which the alumni association will use to buy the prizes for the winners.

Wednesday will be the weekly Wednesday event hosted by the DSU Student Association. There is a possibility that the activity will be something to promote the app, Bowler said.

There will be a scavenger hunt on Thursday using the app to get students familiar with how it works, Bowler said.

“Foodie Friday” will be a day of special offers at places where students and alumni would consider their traditional food or hang out places, Bowler said. Vendors include Swig, Chick-Fil-A, Jimmy Johns, Pizza Factory, Larsen’s Frostop and Iceberg. Students can get a special offer at each place by using the app.

Bowler said there are less than a couple hundred people using the app that the alumni pays $3,000 per year to have, which they have had for three or four years.

If Traditions Week has a good turn-out and the Alumni Association notices a significantly higher number of users on the app, they may continue to do something similar every year to promote the app, Bowler said.

“If students get involved, all the traditions that I enjoyed as a student and still enjoy today will grow and last,” Bonadurer said.

Celebrate DSU and upload photos to the traditions app to become a Traditions Keeper. Once students complete their first tradition, they are considered a traditions keeper. As they complete more traditions, they advance to different levels of a traditions keeper.

If students complete all 52 traditions, they get a tradition medal at graduation, Bowler said. The purpose of the DSU traditions is to get students ready to become alumni.

“[These traditions] allow us to get together and celebrate who we are, who we were and who we hope to become,” Bowler said.

By Jonn Holland and Noelle Spencer

According to policy 4.1.1. of section 541 student government, guidelines for eligibility to run for student office may be requested. However, the guidelines are not readily available. 

Candidates running for student government are campaigning for student votes at Dixie State University and to do it correctly, the DSU Student Association must follow the student election policy. This policy is separate from the student election policy and is part of DSU’s policy library. The policy library is found on DSU’s website. The Student Election Information Packet, as well as DSUSA’s constitution, are the guidelines policy 4.1.1 refers to and those are available upon request by either the student body president, vice president of student services or the director of student services.

To the knowledge of the Dixie Sun News, section 541 student government was last updated April 26, 1996. If the policy has been updated since then, there should be physical evidence pointing to when it was last updated or what the updated version entails, but none of this information is provided anywhere.

 These policies need to be up to date and readily available for anyone who may be interested in this information.

“The student association contract [policy], as far as the constitution, it doesn’t show it correctly,” said Brett Coleman, a junior communication major from Midway and DSUSA’s vice president of public relations. “That’s something we’ve asked to have changed and it just hasn’t happened yet from our understanding. That’s what I understand. I don’t know if it’s just not been pushed again. I think it’s just one of those things that it’s an IT thing, making sure that it’s uploaded.”

Student Body President Cajun Syrett provided a copy of the Student Election Information Packet, which contains the guidelines candidates must follow while campaigning. He also provided access to DSUSA’s constitution.

Syrett was helpful in obtaining the documents; however, faculty and administration who were approached as sources for an article concerning how the Student Election Information Packet is created, how often it is updated and statistics from previous elections were less willing to cooperate.

After unsuccessful attempts to interview Luke Kerouac, director of student involvement and leadership, his response to an email said, “Unfortunately I am booked this afternoon and tomorrow. I have a consultant coming and will be with him and in meetings all day and will be unavailable for an interview.”

Another attempt to receive information concerning student election statistics from past years was unsuccessful with an email from Kerouac which said he was too busy and would not be able to reply to messages within a timely manner.

Scott Mathie, assistant director for student involvement and leadership, was the only DSUSA adviser that responded to questions concerning why it was important for students to vote, but would not reply to emails concerning where to find previous school years’ statistics of student government elections. 

An email was sent to Del Beatty, assistant vice president and dean of students, which included questions about the student election policy. In his response, he said, “I’m the wrong person for these questions.  I do not advise student elections.  You’ll need to speak with one of the DSUSA advisers (Luke Kerouac or Scott Mathie).”

Beatty said he agrees with university policy that guidelines for student elections are available upon request, but further communication with DSUSA advisers was left unanswered.

The Dixie Sun News staff wanted to supply DSU students with information about policies and guidelines candidates running for student government should follow during their campaign. Due to efforts to gather substantial information from real sources were met with unhelpful responses, the Dixie Sun News cannot report on those guidelines and how they guide candidates effectively.