After a controversial year in the Undergraduate Student Government Senate, one name continues to appear at the forefront of news and debate.
Jason Covener — town senator, senate staff coordinator, business director and the informal leader of the Conservative Coalition — evokes a strong reaction from those who follow the 27-year-old senior's presence in USG.
"He is an intelligent person and hard-working, but his priorities don't mesh with what other student leaders want," former Town Sen. Mike Fazio said. "Even with the coalition, what they are trying to get done wouldn't be so bad if the name 'Jason Covener' wasn't attached. His name just kills them. He is a confrontational person who makes enemies."
USG President Justin Zartman also expressed concern that Covener's involvement hurts student government.
"Jason Covener means in-fighting, belligerence, aggression, hostility — and his leadership means ignoring student voices," he said.
Covener's journey to his current position in USG took a winding and sometimes controversial route.
Covener enlisted in the marines at the age of 17 and he served as a nuclear field electronics technician until his honorable discharge due to medical reasons four years later.
He then enrolled at Penn State and in 1998, with senior standing, he became USG Senate President.
However, he did not make it through his term.
After being arrested following an investigation related to computer tampering in the USG office, Covener resigned. Using a process called keystroke logging, he illegally obtained and distributed the private e-mail messages of USG members and other students.
After Covener plead guilty to multiple misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a computer, he was sentenced to two semesters of deferred suspension and four years of probation, which will end this April.
"That is one of the greatest mistakes of my life," Covener said. "Looking back I can't believe I did something so stupid just to get ahead in politics."
Covener decided to take off four extra semesters, work, and try to recover from what happened.
During this time, Covener kept up with USG by reading the online version of The Daily Collegian and by exchanging e-mails with current Senate President Sean Clark.
"I realized that the senates to follow were suffering under the injuries that I created," Covener said.
Upon his return to Penn State in the spring 2001, Covener decided to reenter student government and finish establishing the coalition he said he began while in office in 1998. It fell apart after Covener resigned from senate, he said.
However, this decision was met with some controversy, as he had to fight to have the USG Supreme Court overturn a ban the senate placed on him. The ban permanently disqualified his USG membership, forbade him from entering the USG office and censured him.
After determining that measure unconstitutional, USG appointed Covener to the position of senate staff coordinator.
Then at the August 28 senate meeting, after eight rounds of voting, senate's Town Caucus elected him back into the body.
"Jason is extremely important to senate," Town Sen. Rob Michaels said. "When he came back, he became really active again and sponsors about 90 percent of our legislation."
However, some other USG members take a more negative stance toward Covener.
"Students need to be aware of what's going on with him," said former Town Sen. Lauren Applegate. "Senate brought Covener back in and blatantly ignored his criminal past."
North Halls Sen. Jason Pliska said that although Covener is smart, he is also misdirected.
"He goes against the wishes of the general public; his goals do not line up with what people want and that creates an unfair playing field in senate," he said. "Covener is manipulative to everyone, even people within the coalition."
