The 2002-03 candidates for Homecoming King and Queen were announced Tuesday at the SGA meeting. Constance Jones, SGA vice president, announced the candidates, which are juniors Derrick Ervin, Marc Elliot, Linda Mares, Emily Williamson, Randi Richards, Tiffany Flenoy and Matt Miller. The senior candidates are Alison Gilmore, Amanda Anderson, Danielle Davison, Courtney Herron, Lauren Petersen, Scott Weaver and Kristina Tristan. B.J. Allen, Mical Roy, Emily Hoyt, Marlena Cooper and Sammy the Bearkat will also compete.”Elections are around the corner,” said Jones. She said the number of candidates is about the same as last year, despite the new $25 fee students are required to pay in order to run. Jones said this is because a lot of organizations still sponsor students. SGA senators also decided which senators would be allowed to remain in office, and which would be removed due to frequent unexcused absences from the weekly meetings. According to the SGA Senator’s Handbook, an absence may be excused for the following reasons: personal illness, illness or death in the senator’s immediate family, conflicting work schedule, or a university excused absence. If the senators have more than three unexcused absences, they must go before the appropriate caucus to prove their case for why they should not be removed from office. If the caucus deems the absences inexcusable, the caucus can recommend removal of the senator. The senate then votes on motion, and a verdict is decided by a two-thirds majority vote. Senators removed from office Tuesday due to frequent unexcused absences in the College of Business Administration were Elizabeth Jamie, Sarah Guidry and sophomore Mikael Dandy. The decision to vote on the removal of senior Micheal Kaatz, co-chair of the Rules and Regulations committee and senator in the College of Business Administration Caucus, was held until next week. Senators removed from office in the College of Criminal Justice were freshman Calvin Davis and sophomore Shartarri Darrington. Sophomore Jonathan Green was removed from the College of Education and Applied Sciences.The College of Arts and Sciences Caucus did not remove any senators and nominated three new senators. Each new senator was approved by votes from the senate. The new senators include sophomores Jason Plotkin and Latasia Turner. Latesha Campbell was also appointed into the College of Arts and Sciences Caucus.Ben Bostick, speaker of the senate, addressed those that were removed from the senate. “You’re still welcome and allowed to participate in all our activities, but you will not be able to vote,” he said. Jones said she is still meeting regularly with the committee for the new parking garage at SHSU, and the proposal will be ready to view next week. “It will be a big jump for us, but it’s time for a change because enrollment is going up,” said Jones. Helena L. Banks, SGA president, said she would meet with Dr. Keri Rogers, director of the LSC, on Oct. 16 to talk about upcoming renovations to the building. Banks said Dr. Thelma Douglass, vice president of Student Services, complemented SGA for its high level of professionalism and organization. Douglass said the organization is really taking what it has learned from the Senator Retreat and putting it into action.