|
day 3 wrap-up
|
Mar 13th, 2008 at 12:46am |
Things are heating up out there. Candidates are out and about, in classes, in residences, trying to get their name out there. Another big day tomorrow: the Gazette elections issue comes out. There is also a debate on Sexton campus tomorrow. As always, I thrive on your news tips and input. Here's the kind of day it's been.- Council met tonight; I always find it interesting to see who was in attendance. My tip line tells me that Debogortsetung was not able to attend, nor was Hillman. The other presidential, VP internal, and VP SL candidates were all there. Snow was the only senator who stuck it out to the bitter end.
- I count over 60 comments today on MikeSmit.com, some quite entertaining. I recommend reading all of them. The "highlights": academic elitism, mock sexism, the days of yore; Maggie weighs in; shots at Kings, Mexicans, French people, trust-funds, and hippies; people giving away some of my favourite manglings of candidate names; Kris clarifies his position; Where In The World is Hillman's Bordello?
- Jen Bond gave in and talked about the elections on her blog. In DSU Elections - as in all other areas of life - Jen and I don't always agree, but I place high value on her opinion. Of note is our shared distate for VAJ's "VAJ: THE INTERNAL CHOICE" slogan. She was pretty hard on Eric Snow last year, but this year she went as far as to say she'd like to see him as VP Ed. - no small compliment from a former holder of the position. You kids out there, pay attention - all you have to do is work in basic servitude for a few years to gain some credibility.
- Whoa, two candidates are actually talking about the same issue and disagreeing: society use of the Grawood. Krista posted her position, and Kris clarified his.
- At the Council meeting tonight, Gault and VAJ had words. As she'll remind you, VAJ was involved in the Spread The Net campaign. A Spread-the-Net related event was held in the Grawood. The Grawood lost money. Gault offered an explanation that seemed to blame the Dal Spread The Net group. VAJ was ready to strike down upon her with great vengeance and fuuuuuuurious anger.
- Word on the street is the elections committee handed out a few fines. Kris Osmond got a fine for illegal use of Union facilities, or something like that. His first fine was a week ago for pre-campaigning; he's not in fine trouble yet, but he needs to show some caution, those things add up fast. Courtney Larkin was fined due to an illegal endorsement email from a society.
- There was another debate about the Gazette. Not strictly elections related, but I expect you'll hear a lot more about it in the weeks ahead.
- Amusingly, Council never officially elected the Elections Committee. *Oops*. It's a rubber-stamp, but still not something you want to forget.
- A number of candidates post updates to their site. Krista, Kris, Eric, Dan, Larkin's facebook and John are all daily reads for me.
- MikeSmit.com served 7,000 pages to 1,000 unique visitors.
Comments:
Jen Bond says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:07am]
You say "basic servitude", I say "commitment to students". Po-tay-toe, po-tat-oh ;)
John Hillman says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:20am]
I was actually at the forum today - and the first presidential candidate to show up. Was quite glad I made it too, as we all had a chance to weigh in on the Gazette debate.
Unfortunately tomorrow I have an academic conflict, so baring the sudden illness of my professor, I'll likely be absent from the Sexton debate.
effdemocracy says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:39am]
John
It was the DSU COUNCIL MEETING that MS is referring to.
That thing that as Prez you go to every 2 weeks and meet the shareholders etc....A good thing to check out me son.
Not that the current prez made it tonight....
mike says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:40am]
To be clear, my attendance comments were about the Council meeting tonight, not the forum.
Odds are pretty good no one even told you it was happening.
mike says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:41am]
In fairness, if I were Mike Tipping, I would have stayed the hell away from that bitchfest, too. :P
effdemocracy says:
[Mar 13th @ 01:44am]
2 pts:
1)Candidates should maybe sometime figure out when council is.
2)But the bitchfest and the flipping idiots make it fun!!
AEB says:
[Mar 13th @ 02:15am]
PROTIP: Council meetings where anything having to do with "Grawood" and "revenue" is discussed are best enjoyed with a bottle of vodka, some orange juice and grenadine.
AEB: Applicable Experience, Believe me.
(See! I can do the initials-nickname and three key word statement too! Quick, Jen Bond, what's your middle name?)
JP says:
[Mar 13th @ 08:36am]
Elisabeth? Emily?
Anything with an 'E' would be fanfuckingtastic, thankyouverymuch.
Jen Bond says:
[Mar 13th @ 10:38am]
Sorry to dissapoint JP, my middle name is Sarah.
JSB: I'm up to witty suggestions...
Justin LoRusso says:
[Mar 13th @ 02:49pm]
Justice Served Best?
Judicial Service Beast?
running with the whole law student thing.. meh
Justin LoRusso says:
[Mar 13th @ 02:51pm]
one more... Judicative Statute Blogger
Gregory Debogorski says:
[Mar 13th @ 04:29pm]
I have time conflicts with my Public Administration course and the Council meetings this semester.
A good trade of though; academic versus gong show!
AEB says:
[Mar 13th @ 07:36pm]
Debomitian:
You do realise that there are a minimum number of office hours you have to meet as a DSU executive and that you cannot schedule Council meetings for times that don't interfere with your course schedule, right? Council meets every-other Wednesday (except during the summer months), in Council Chambers (except when visiting other campuses). There are also other meetings and conferences you will be expected to attend/contribute to/etc.
People are busy, we all are, but I was always pretty annoyed at Council when an update was requested and senators/BoG Reps/others would say that they did not attend some meeting because they had school work. Don't procrastinate, do your homework in advance, and go to the meetings you should be attending. Plan your course load accordingly and if it is a one time thing, explain the issue to your professor and see if alternate arrangements can be made. Public service isn't about cushy jobs in ivory towers; it is about accommodation and compromise and often sacrifice. You knew when you decided to run for office what the time constraints would be. No one cares about your course schedule, homework load, etc. It doesn't make you seem like the average student, it makes you seem self-important and whiny. The exact traits *everyone* wants in a leader. I hope you understand that very few constituents would be pleased that you are trying to seem more populist by taking a full course load when you should be doing what you are paid for - serving the needs of students.
Say what you want about Mike Tipping (I certainly do) but he has gone out of his way to make himself available to students, attend relevant meetings, contribute to new initiatives and does all of this while maintaining a healthy relationship with his girlfriend, staying involved in the events and politics of his home state/country and keeping his relative sanity. It is something that all Executives must do and so far your posturing has shown that in a million years you would never be up to the task.
Anyway, since I am not nearly as witty as my boyfriend (as evidenced by my fitting but obscure choice of a political figure to bastardize your name with) I will shut up now. But seriously, from one former candidate for office to another, cut the complaining and get to some actual campaigning.
PROTIP: I went to all my classes/labs/etc during campaign week and look how that turned out. (NB: I lost.)
Sincerely,
AEB
Gregory Debogorski says:
[Mar 14th @ 02:28am]
Whoa little lady! Why so angry? I don't whine; I state the facts.
I realise that the my grades and class attendance will be hurt in such an unlikely event that I win the election this year.
Hell, I even slept through the President's Debate tonight at the Grawood.
And little lady, you do not know a darn thing about me. I eat cabbage bigger than your man.
I agree with you, I am not a politician. As a matter of fact my social and lying skills SUCK! The reality of it is, my mother always told me to stand up for what I believed in. So here I am stating what I believe.
First, Pelle would have made a better president.
Second, I really do not see one major thing that the DSU has done better for the student population as an aggregate. Sure there is all this hogwash about new policies and constitutional amendments, but that doesn't mean a darn thing when the McInnes Room has be closed in half in order not to embarras the executives who held it.
They say false promises and fake pretenses are "the way of politics". My mother would whoop my a** if I kissed somebody elses just for votes or held my tongue about what I believe.
Maybe you should think about that when you and your boyfriend discuss the state of america. Look at the primaries, Obama- the left wing golden child- was recently caught telling fibs of renogotiating NAFTA to his constituents.
What's America's problem?
Similar to the DSU's. Political patronage, inequality in opportunity, arguably apathy, and one corrupted media system.
Its funny when you look at it really. Mike needs to go back home and analyse what he did wrong here and maybe use that to do right back home. The poor are starting to get infuriated with the system down there. Or atleast thats's what my father tells me.
mike says:
[Mar 14th @ 04:12am]
... luckily, the debate doesn't happen until Friday night. So you can sleep through it then. :)
AEB says:
[Mar 14th @ 12:42pm]
Uhh... Mike needs to go back home to where? Nova Scotia, since that's where he's from? Seriously though, I'm flattered to be called "little lady" AND be compared (unfavourably, I think?) to cabbage. In the future I won't give you the benefit of the doubt of being a real candidate by offering any constructive criticism and will just insult you/ignore you since anything else is not worth the time. Thanks for giving us yet another excuse for something, by the way, in your response post. I love it when idiots make my points for me.
AEB says:
[Mar 14th @ 12:44pm]
Oh, you meant that Mike Tipping needs to go home.
(Which was clear to me because NO ONE ELSE is named Mike. No one. Not even the owner/author of this blog.)
anonymous says:
[Mar 14th @ 01:59pm]
Greg,
Standing up for what you believe in is a great thing to teach your children, and I commend your mother for teaching you that. I don't think anybody can criticize you for not doing so.
However, did your mother neglect to teach you that it's disrespectful to refer to a grown woman as "little lady"? It comes off as patronizing and sexist. I also noticed this at the SUB debate when when agreeing with one of your fellow candidates you referred to her as "this young lady." Comments like this are one of the reasons the Women's Community still needs a seat at the Council table.
PROTIP: Learn the other candidates names. They're your potential co-executives.
|
