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NEWS

Friday, January 31, 2014

The New Hampshire

Deadline extended for Student Body Election applications

By Catie Hall
staff writer

Thanks to a changed deadline,

students scrambling to get petition
signatures and applications in for
Student Body Elections will get a
second chance.
Originally, those who wanted
to run for Student Body President,
Student Body Vice President, and
University System Student Board
Representative (USSBR) had to
apply by the first day of classes,
Jan. 21. However, Al Pace, student
senate speaker and election committee chair, changed the deadline.

The application process isnt

really something that I like or dislike, it is simply part of the overall
election process, Pace said.Although, the change in deadline that
was made this year has put some
stress on the process as a whole.
Student Body Elections are on
Feb. 17 and Feb. 18, and they are
likely to look different from last
year.
I would expect this election
season to be more timid than last
year, Pace said. We had an unprecedented number of candidates
last year that made for a more exciting election season.
Last year there were five pairs

The election is valid as long as at least one

person runs for each position, but of course
it would be great to have many candidates.

Al Pace

Student Senate Speaker and

Election Committee Chair
Petitions are due by January 31, Pace said in an email to
the student population on Jan. 23.
Previously, this deadline was set
at January 21, but it has been extended due to low response.
According to old reports from
The New Hampshire, past application deadlines have been closer
to March. Though Pace did not
receive complaints from anyone
about the Jan. 21 deadline, the process affects even him.

that ran for student body president

and vice president, leading to many
conversations around campus
about who should win and why.
Merrill and McKernan eventually
won in a very diverse race.
So what are Bryan Merrill and
William McKernan, the Student
Body President and Vice President,
doing this election?
Not what youd expect.
Merrill wants to be on the
University System of New Hamp-

shire Board of Trustees, taking a

seat next to the people that decide
UNHs future: the governor, appointed members and New Hampshires four college and university
presidents, among others.
Next years my senior year,
Merrill said, explaining why he
wont run for president a second
time. Im in the Honors program
I have two capstones or something like that. I have a lot on my
plate senior year, a lot of important
things. And I would not be able to
give the presidency 100 percent.
And in my mind, thats totally unfair.
Merrill said that the trustee
position he is applying for is arguably more impactful, but its not
as much of a time commitment as
the presidency, though he did consider running for president again.
Since Merrill has connections now,
he can continue on with projects
he has already started and allow
someone new to step up.
Most people dont realize
the importance of it, they dont
realize what it does, Merrill said
about the trustee position. President sounds sexier than trustee, but
they dont realize the actual impact
it has. It is considered the most
reputable, respectable, impactful
and important board in the state.
Its the upper-level leadership positions in all of New Hampshire.
Without Merrill in the presidential seat, McKernan has made
plans of his own.
McKernan has a summer internship at accounting firm Caron

Susan Doucet/staff

Al Pace, student senate speaker and election committee chair, has

officially changed the deadline for Student Body Election signature
petitions and applications, citing a low response from the student
population. Petitions and applications, originally due Jan. 21, are
now due Jan. 31. Student Body Elections will be held Feb. 17 and 18.
& Bletzer, PLLC. According to
student senate bylaws, he cannot
run for a presidential-related seat
because he will be unavailable to
work over the summer.
Instead, McKernan is running
for one of the Student Activity Fee
Organization positions, but did not
wish to convey the specific position, Merrill said.
With Merrill and McKernan
removed from the presidential side
of the election, those empty posi-

tions beg the question: Who will

run in the Student Body Elections?
The election is valid as long
as at least one person runs for each
position, but of course it would be
great to have many candidates,
Pace said. I would hope that they
already know, but these applications are open to all undergraduate
students [with some restrictions
regarding the number of semesters
spent at UNH] and I encourage
anyone who is interested to apply.

NH report identifies ways to improve mental health care

By AP STAFF
Associated Press

CONCORD New Hampshire needs to increase and improve

community-based treatment for
people with mental illness, according to a review conducted after a
series of violent incidents involving people with acute mental illness
who were waiting in emergency
rooms for care or transfer to a mental health facility.
The review recommends the

state seek public and private help to

increase the number of non-emergency room beds for mental health
patients and expand the number of
community-based services.
The report calls for expanded
access to acute care beds, creating designated receiving facilities
for mental health patients, more
community residence beds and
subsidies for housing and support
services. It also recommends 10
new Assertive Community Treatment Teams and asks hospitals to

develop a telephone or web-based

system to share information about
availability of beds when none are
available at a Designated Receiving
Facility.
The review team was made
up of former Supreme Court Justice Joseph Nadeau, who currently
chairs the states Board of Mental
Health Practice, Dr. Alexander de
Nesnera from the Geisel School of
Medicine and the Associate Medical Director of the New Hampshire
Hospital, and Senior Assistant At-

torney General Michael Brown.

They also found additional investment is needed to address housing,
substance abuse in patients with
acute mental illness, more training
for hospital personnel and expanded access to health insurance.
Gov. Maggie Hassan had requested the review in November after a number of troubling incidents
that automatically trigger a review
of practices. In one, a man who had
been waiting for three days in the
Elliot Hospital emergency department to be involuntarily admitted
to the New Hampshire hospital,
attacked two hospital employees,
critically injuring both.
The report repeats findings released in December as part of the
states settlement of a lawsuit that
claimed New Hampshires lack of
services violated the Americans
with Disabilities Act. That suit also
called for an expansion of crisis in-

tervention programs.
Some of the other recommendations in the review:
Ask for a new interpretation
of, or waiver from, Medicaid rules
that prohibit or restrict care provided by psychiatric advanced practice
registered nurses. That will allow
APRNs to get treatment plans in
place independently without waiting for a psychiatrist.
Explore ways to have Medicaid reimburse providers for psychiatric care on the same basis as
Medicare.
Increase education of emergency department physicians regarding treatment for psychiatric
patients.
Some of the recommendations
can be paid for out of the state budget and through legislation required
by the lawsuit settlement. Some,
like the additional hospital training,
will require private funding.

In Brief
Ticket sales up for annual ice fishing derby
MEREDITH Ticket sales
are up 7 percent over last year for
the annual ice fishing derby in Meredith, N.H.
The Citizen reports Meredith
Bay, which is the location of the
derbys headquarters, is full of bob-

houses and the number has been

growing.
The 35th Meredith Rotary Ice
Fishing Derby is scheduled for Feb.
8 and 9.
There will be $50,000 in cash
prizes throughout the weekend.

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