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Saturday, October 22, 2005

New Paltz, New York — More than 350 U.S. students took part in a demonstration Friday outside the SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building where student leaders used a bullhorn from the rooftop to rally the gathering on the concourse below. University police dispersed student leaders from the roof which was followed by more than 100 students storming the Haggerty Administration Building (HAB).

During the 2004–2005 academic year, students lobbied for a $10 million renovation project for their Student Union Building, which has not been renovated since its construction more than 30 years ago.

HAB spokesman Eric Gullickson said that the supplemental appropriation for the project is the largest in the history of the college and that the six-member advisory committee includes three students but that; “the Student Association, which was offered the first seat on this committee, declined the opportunity,” Gullickson said.

Student leaders, including Student Body President R.J. Partington III and Student Senate ChairJustin Holmes, who played a role in organizing this demonstration, testified during the Spring 2005 semester before the New York State Assembly Committee on Higher Education, eventually winning the renovation project. Holmes says that Gullickson’s assertions are; “an out-and-out lie. The SA was never offered such a seat. We were offered 1 seat on a seven seat committee, with the administration selecting the other six members.”

The major arguments for a capital project on the Student Union Building were that it:

• did not accommodate organizations and organization office needs
• lacked crucial technology for student mobilization
• was built for a student population less than half the size of 2005, and
• was one of the longest standing Student Unions in the SUNY system which had not undergone a renovation

During the Fall 2005 semester the HAB claimed that it would oversee the renovation project, citing the need for a larger lobby and bookstore.

The Kingston Daily Freeman reported:

The crystallizing issue for the demonstration was the upcoming $10 million renovation of the Student Union building. The renovation, scheduled to begin in about two years, will be the first major change to the building since it was built 34 years ago, according to college spokesman Eric Gullickson, who said the supplemental appropriation for the project in the state budget is the largest in the college’s history.

Gullickson also said that a six-member committee had been formed to guide the design process, but student leaders, including Partington, were told that the proposed committee would be seven members, including four non-students and two students who were appointed by the HAB.

“No matter the size and makeup of the HAB’s so-called renovation committee, it has nothing to do with the actual renovation process, which will be administered by a student committee, with input from other parties of course considered,” responded Holmes.

During the Fall 2005 semester, Student Body President R.J. Partington III attempted to negotiate with Administrators, including HAB President Steven G. Poskanzer, over the project.

The HAB refused to concede to student demands.

At this point, the Student Senate passed legislation proclaiming that the project would be overseen by a committee where students constitute a majority, and Partington announced that he “did not recognize and would not sit on” any committee that did not meet the needs of students.

Vice President of Acacdemic Affairs & Governance, Stephanie Adika said, “If the HAB won’t even listen to us about our own building, how are they going to listen to us about all the other problems the students have with SUNY New Paltz.”

Monday, October 30, 2006

On November 13, Torontoians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Etobicoke Centre (Ward 3). One candidate responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Francis Ahinful, Ted Berger, Anthony Caputo, Suzan Hall (incumbent), Andre Lucas, Rosemarie Mulhall, Brian Prevost, and Sonali Verma.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Zimbabwe police broke up a prayer rally protesting government policy on Sunday, arresting over 100 people, including the leader of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai. Zimbabwe police claimed that the prayer rally violated a government ban on political protests.

Riot police reinforcements cordoned off the area where the rally was to be held, and searched cars as they entered. As political leaders approached the area, they were reportedly pulled out of their cars and detained. Witnesses reported heavily armed military police forces surrounding the area of Highfields, the suburb where the rally was to be held.

Police fatally shot one person, after being reportedly attacked by a large mob of protesters. A spokesman for one of the men arrested claimed that a lawyer was beaten and chased away from the Machipisa police station in Highfields, where the arrested people were being held.

Opponents of President Robert Mugabe have blamed him for food shortages, repression of people’s rights, and failing to control Zimbabwe’s record inflation of over 1600%.

A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said the Secretary-General condemned the reported beating of the leaders, and that he urged their release.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The United States House of Representatives has passed the controversial health care bill, as amended by the Senate. The bill passed 219 to 212.

“This bill is complicated, but it’s also very simple: Illness and infirmity are universal, and we are stronger against them together than we are alone,” Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said before the vote.

34 Democrats and all of the House Republicans voted against the bill.

“This trillion-dollar overhaul will take the America we know and love in the wrong direction,” said Representative Eric Cantor, the second most prominent House Republican.

“We have failed to listen to America and we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said. “And when we fail to reflect that will, we fail ourselves and we fail our country.”

President Barack Obama will sign an Executive Order reaffirming the ban on federally funded abortions as part of an eleventh hour deal to get the bill passed.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Wikinews interviewed US free speech lawyer Marc Randazza, on his defense of a parody website which satirizes American political commentator Glenn Beck. Florida resident Isaac Eiland-Hall created the website in September, and it asserts Beck uses questionable tactics “to spread lies and misinformation”.

The case Beck v. Eiland-Hall is currently before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Wikinews previously reported on the case, in an article earlier this month, “US free speech lawyer defends satire of Glenn Beck”.