Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Presidential Candidates Robert Dinkelspiel and Joseph Budd appeared in front of USG Supreme Court last night to plead no contest to a campaigning violation.

However, the USG Supreme Court was unable to rule on the case because they could not find the brief, Associate Justice Greg Becker said.

Chief Justice Emily DeMers said the issue would be resolved next week.

According to USG Elections Code 11.05, campaigns can not post fliers within 10 feet of a Penn State computer lab, an area off-limits to campaigning.

A flier for Dinkelspiel and Budd was allegedly posted near the computer lab in Atherton Hall.

"The reason that this [rule] exists is mostly for election day," said Head Elections Commissioner Diana Maxham. "It is important to enforce for the fact that people cannot coerce the vote on election day, so students won't be unfairly influenced."

Maxham said this rule is imposed before election day because most of the fliers will not be taken down.

Budd said he and Dinkelspiel planned to plead no contest and accept the fine imposed by the court. "It is not really too big of a concern of ourselves," he said. "In our minds, it was a minor violation."

Maxham said while this offense may seem trivial to some, each infringement of the USG election code is a serious matter. "All violations are serious in the minds of the elections commissioners," she said. "We are taking all and every violation as a serious matter, and we'll be taking actions against it."

The elections commissioners recommend the USG Supreme Court impose a financial penalty -- dependent on the seriousness and frequency -- on the candidates for each violation of the USG elections code.

The maximum fine is $550 -- the entire executive spending limit.

The court decides the fine for the candidates after viewing a recommendation from the elections commissioners, who in this case decided to recommend a $5.50 penalty.

Maxham said the commissioners spoke about the violation at length and decided this was the fairest possible recommendation for their penalty fine.

Last night, USG Supreme Court Justices resolved the definition of "capital" in the USG Elections Code.

The candidates are required to keep accurate financial records throughout the elections, which are reviewed three times by the elections commissioners.

Elections Special Counsel Shawn Gordon said "capital" could mean either "production equipment," like printers, copiers, and T-shirt presses, which have traditionally been free for candidate use, or it could mean "all assets"-- or everything the candidate already owns.

To classify "capital" as all "all assets" could mean a potentially free campaign, Gordon said. "This could have severe financial impact," Gordon said. "The more free stuff you have, the more spendable money and the more [campaign materials] you have overall."

Gordon said this could translate into distinct advantages for some candidates and not for others.

The court ruled that "capital" meant "all assets" in accordance with the Black's Law dictionary definition.

"In the absence of any legislative intent, we went with the de facto cite for any definition and that would be the dictionary," Becker said.