All's fair in war, I suppose
At the risk of being compared to Ann Coulter (
again), today I learned that she does make some true statements. The left, upon faced with opposition from a woman, will resort to childish name-calling.
Earlier today, the Anti-War Coalition gathered outside of the Elliott University Center to urge that the "war pimps" (that's "military recruiters" for those of you who don't speak Hippie) leave campus. Now, the College Republicans had planned to bring officer recruiters as part of Morals Week today, but those plans fell through. So along with fellow CRs Daryn Iwicki and Ryan Radford, I pinned a yellow ribbon to my shirt and went out to see what the big deal was.
As I discovered last September, the Anti-War Coalition is little more than an offshoot of the International Socialist Organization: same members, same events, same purpose. And as we all know, socialists know how to protest. Sure enough, several of the were dancing in a circle banging drums, basically just making as much noise as possible. It was classic. Daryn, Ryan, and I approached the group, yellow ribbons in hand.
Now, I stood back a moment take it all in, because it truly was a work of art, right out of PCU. And Ryan tells me that when he first entered the group and started trying to give out yellow ribbons, he was met with the usual, "We support the troops, we just don't support the war." Apparently, it wasn't until they saw me that they freaked out.
About the time I caught up to Ryan and Daryn, and nicely informed the AWC that we had not brought any recruiters, I was told by many in the group that it was time for me to leave. And as I laughed and started to walk back toward the EUC, a white male from the group (not that that tells you anything, since they're all white males) grabbed a bullhorn and began that universal chant of protest:
Hey hey! Ho ho! This racist whore has got to go!The first time he said it, I think I just assumed he said "war". By the second and third time, it became more apparent. And tonight, the two people who were there with me confirmed what I thought I heard.
That's right, you silly leftists, you. Go ahead and pick on the girl in the group. I know it makes you feel like real men.
Discrimination?
The Reginald Jones speech was a HUGE success!
I only have one problem...
WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE CAROLINIAN?
No seriously, if they were there, I hope someone will please tell me.
Attack of the bored college students?
Hahaha... jeez. I just want to thank whomever was involved in actually causing me to laugh at 8:30 in the morning.
Not to get ahead of myself, but this is good stuff. Take a look. THESE are the College Republican fliers we've been putting up to advertise Reginald Jones' speech:
(the bottom reads "3/28/06... College Republicans and Young America's Foundation")
But this morning, I'm greeted by some new posters:
The poster with Reggie's picture on it is ours, I just wanted to show how this person overlapped the fliers, to make a point, I suppose.
The stupidest thing ever, though, is on the bottom of their flier, where it reads "Jennifer Incorporated, we play with words too." THAT is what made it so hilarious. I was angry when I thought it was the College Democrats mooching off our ideas once again, but once I realized it was some poor soul with nothing better to do with her time, I found it amusing once again.
Seriously, if our posters make such an impression on you that you spend your own time and money making these things, haven't we accomplished our goal?
MORALS WEEK 2006 IS UPON US!
Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far along, but we STILL need everyone's help and support in the coming week!
Morals Week will kick off
Monday, March 27 with Red State Day. We will be hosting several local politicians in the Elliott University Center Auditorium at 3:30pm. Here is the line-up of speakers as discussed at the last meeting:
Opening by Melissa Westmoreland (CR President) and Daryn Iwicki (Vice President)
Guilford County GOP Chairman Marcus Kindley
NC House Representative Candidate Michael Moore (District 65, and NO not THAT Michael Moore....)
NC Attorney General Candidate Bob Crumley
NC State Representative Jim Rumley (NC-59)
***Intermission***
NC State Representative Dale Folwell (NC-74)
NC State Representative Laura Wiley (NC-61)
NC State Representative John Blust (NC-32)
US Representative Candidate Vernan Robinson (US House NC-13)
There will be refreshments served, and we will allow time before and after the event (as well as during intermission) for everyone to talk to the candidates and Representatives. This is going to be a great event, so I urge everyone to come out! It will begin at 3:30, but I am asking as many people as possible to arrive at 3:00 or 3:15, just to make sure everything is set up and the guests have students to greet them. The event will run until 6:00pm. Please come out and show your support!
Tuesday, March 28 will be the keynote Morals Week event everyone has been waiting for:
Equality Day! Entertainer/Entreprenuer Reginald Jones will be speaking on affirmative action and many other issues in his speech
Betrayal: Sold Out by the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Jones is a very intelligent and powerful speaker, and he is also very entertaining and engaging. You don't want to miss this controversial event being held at 7:00pm in the Science Building Auditorium!
Wednesday, March 29 will be Support Our Troops Day! We will be handing out yellow ribbons around campus that day and will hopefully have some recruiters with us. That evening, we will feature a speaker from the Marine Corps discussing the importance of supporting our troops at 7:00pm in the Claxton Room of the EUC.
Thursday, March 30 will be Pro-Life Day! The College Republicans will be holding an information table in the EUC Commons Area (in front of the food court), and that evening, we will be featuring a speaker from NC Right to Life in Graham 204. You don't want to miss these events!
I'm very excited about these events, and I'm sure you all are as well! See you next week!
Melissa Westmoreland: Too Hot for Publication!
Some of you may have noticed that my weekly column did not appear in the school paper this this week. The column I penned for this week was deemed a "conflict of interest", as it dealt with issues within Student Government, of which I am a Senator.
However, a news article entitled
SGA Meeting Erupts with Racial Tensions was published, laying out the basic issues in a very well-written and unbiased way. Since the issues are now out in the open, I would still like to publish the column I had intended to run this week here on my blog. I would ask that you all help me spread the word about what is REALLY going on in Student Government. Our rights are being threatened, and the students deserve to know that truth. If you agree with me on this issue and you have a blog, please post and link this column! Thank you!!
The Hanging Chads of UNCG
The rights to vote and speak your mind may be endangered freedoms in our own Student GovernmentI’ve spent the better part of my four years here trying to get more students involved in on-campus activities and student organizations. Chalk it up to my Type A personality, but I have never been able to understand why a student wouldn’t want to make the most out of their time here. However, after the last few weeks at Student Government Association meetings, I am beginning to understand.
For those of you who don’t know, the validity of the SGA elections had been contested due to the fact that no graduate students were able to vote. Based on this information, a motion was made at last week’s meeting to hold new elections. Of course, there was a great deal of debate over the issue, mostly concerning the specifics of the election. Eventually, it was decided that the election would be re-opened for all students, since the issue was the election process and not the results.
I can’t say the amount of debate surprised me, as pretty much all SGA issues are carefully considered and discussed before their decision. What surprised and bothered me was the nature of some of the arguments. Rather than showing concern that a few thousand students had been left out of elections, several SGA members accused those students of “not caring” enough about SGA to event warrant receiving a vote. Opponents of new elections actually argued that “if those students wanted to vote, why aren’t they [coming to SGA meetings]?”
According to this argument, I suppose the US Congress should take away the vote from everyone who’s not willing to watch C-Span every day. Clearly, there were graduate students who DID care to a point, since we know that some tried to vote and discovered they could not. To me, the fact that they aren’t willing/able to actively participate in a Student Government meeting does not negate the fact that they should have the right to vote.
Among the people who were against new elections was our very own SGA Vice-President Donald Hughes, who argued that, according to SGA Election Guidelines, anyone who was unable to vote should have given written notice to the Elections and Publicity Chair within 48 hours of the election. This completely ignores the fact that most students in this school who do not participate in SGA (and even some who do) would not know the specifics of the Election Guidelines. How would those disenfranchised students know the exact procedure they were supposed to go about to regain their voting rights? Of course, to be fair, Hughes’ track record on fair voting rights isn’t so great: at the last meeting before Spring Break, he completely rejected a motion to extend elections for 36 hours, so that the first-year students who had been unable to vote for the first 36 hours of the election could have a fair amount of time to do so.
Luckily for all of you, the majority of the Student Government IS concerned about the rights and voices of students, and the motion to hold new elections was passed with a safe majority. Soon after this motion was passed, however, another basic right was touched upon by SGA. Senator Larry Watson stood and addressed the fact that some SGA members had been writing negative things about the group in their blogs, and that these people were, basically, calling all African-American members of SGA “ignorant”. He then used this opportunity to use the N-word several times, saying that is what the blogs are essentially saying. Hughes then took that opportunity to read from some of the blogs, and to say that he was going to take the negative blogs to Student Conduct and let them handle the situation.
Call me crazy, but I always assumed that freedom of speech was protected by the Constitution. Those students have just as much right to write about SGA in their blogs as all of you have to write about me. In fact, if we’re suddenly going to start taking all negative blogs to Student Conduct, then quite a lot of my readers are going to be in trouble. One blogger in particular has called me a “stupid pirate hooker.” Now, I suppose the “stupid” part could just be an opinion that I’ll let slide, but last time I checked, I am neither a pirate nor a hooker. I can’t wait to bring THAT one to Student Conduct.
The point I’m trying to make here is that the Internet, right now, is probably the most popular venue of free speech. Issues that would normally be written in a letter to the editor are now “blogged”. Because people know that their views will be published through this method regardless of what they write, they are likely to make opinions seem like facts. Also, blogs are usually open to public comments, and anyone who had a problem with what was written could have commented and defended their point-of-view.
Ironically, for the past couple months, VP Hughes has been trying to get more non-SGA members to come to meetings. Senior Christopher Biggers attended his first SGA meeting that very night, and he was completely turned off by what he witnessed. “This is the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he told me while Hughes complained about the blogs. “Why are we bringing up [personal] issues in SGA?”
The goal of SGA is to conduct business that will benefit the students of UNCG. Both VP Hughes and Senator Watson were correct in saying that people who have issues with them should address them in person, but they did not follow their own advice by bringing up these issues during a meeting. I know that SGA is full of people who truly care about the university, the students, and the organization itself, and UNCG is lucky to have these people. Hopefully, with their help, SGA will be able to get back on track, and continue to work for the good of UNCG.
Happy St. Patty's Day
Yeah, I'm Irish. A Kennedy, to be exact (and no, I'm not joking... it's one of the horrible ironies of my life). But St. Patrick's Day has never really been that exciting for me. Don't get me wrong, I love the beer and all, but I never have anything green to wear. That's more of a summer color for me.
Also, it's full of disappointments. Many of you may remember that the Caf served fried chicken and watermelon on Martin Luther King Day. Imagine my disappointment when I went there today and they weren't serving whiskey.
I'm just saying, if they're going to celebrate one stereotype, they need to celebrate them all.
Looking like a "celebrity"
Is anyone here keeping up with American Idol? I've never been impressed by the show, especially after the first season, when I realized it was completely fixed.
I like to watch the auditions, because you always get a few characters, but aside from that, all American Idol does is annoy me. As do most Idol viewers and their obsessive "I'm-going-to-drop-out-of-life-to-watch-this-ridiculous-show-every-night" attitude.
Unfortunately for me, Idol is news, and it's one of the first stories covered every morning when I wake up. Okay, so maybe America's still at war. Maybe there are people dying of famine and disease all over the globe. Apparently, I HAVE to know who got voted off.
So when I was approached in the hall yesterday by a fellow Pi Sigma Alpha-er and asked if I had been watching Idol, I had to say now, but I knew what was going on. She replied, "I was thinking about you the whole time I was watching it, because one of those girls really looks like you. In fact, her name's Melissa, and the whole time I'm just like, "That looks JUST like Melissa Westmoreland!"
Melissa McGhee. Of all the people in the world, I look like Melissa McGhee.
I miss the days when people used to compare me to Sarah Michelle Gellar. I am now stuck with ugly Idol loser Melissa McGhee.
Exercising my right to freedom of speech. I hear it's protected by the Constitution.
Last night was by far the angriest I've ever been at a student Government meeting. Of course, I say that every week, and every week, it is true. Let's recap:
1. Senator Mike Madren made a motion to hold new elections, because it has been proven that the last elections were flawed. To be more specific, not only were first year students (freshmen, transfers, international) not allowed to vote on the first day and a half of voting, graduate students were not allowed to vote at all throughout the entire voting process.
Now, last SGA meeting (two weeks ago, before Spring Break) we decided to not hold new elections, but that was before we learned that graduate students were not able to vote. Upon hearing this news, and hearing that the candidates agreed to hold new ones in light of the news (which I now know may or may not be true), I naturally assumed that a new election would pass in SGA with little problem. After all, we are a democratic organization, and why wouldn't we be concerned that there were a few thousand people whose votes were not included?
I have never been more wrong in my life. Donald stood up and read from the Election Guidelines that in order to be contested, the problem must be brought to the attention of the Elections and Publicity Chairperson within 48 hours. He claimed he just wanted us to know that information, and then sat back down.
Begin endless debate. The pro-new election Senators argued the point I just made, that as a democratic body, we should care about everyone's vote. The anti-new election Senators argued that SGA will never be taken seriously if it doesn't abide by its own rules, which was a valid argument. However, they soon crossed the line. One Senator stood up and mentioned that, if any graduate students had tried to vote and, upon finding out that they couldn't, didn't bother to contact anyone in SGA, then they must just not care. The argument being, of course, if you don't care that much, you lose your right to vote. Another anti-new elections Senator (we'll call them Anti-Democracy-ers) added that, if the students who were left out didn't care enough to come to meetings, they clearly don't care about SGA.
Now forgive me if I'm wrong here, but I missed that point in America's history where voter eligibility was based on level of concern. I consider myself more concerned than the average citizen, so does that make me the model, or does my vote just get to count twice? Of course, these arguments sparked some very passionate debate, which went on for quite some time. At one point, an unfriendly amendment was proposed for the original motion, stating that, instead of redoing all elections, we should just redo elections for graduate students. When it finally came time to vote on adding this amendment, Donald commented that he didn't even know if there was such a thing as an "unfriendly" amendment. What was his point in saying this? I have no idea.
The amendment was voted out, and Donald left the room. We had a role call vote on the motion for new elections, which passed with a pretty safe majority.
2. During Special Orders, Donald stood up and started reprimanding certain people in the room for writing about him on their blogs. He then pulled out PRINTED COPIES and proceeded to read sections of them to us. Among these was a fellow LJ-er who wrote: "All I have to say is Fuck Donald, and Fuck this damn election. FUCK SGA[.]" Donald reported to everyone that he would be taking these blogs to Student Conduct, which is hilarious. I doubt my blog was in there, because I haven't yet said anything on here that I haven't said to everyone else in the world, but I wish it was. I could use a good first amendment rights battle.
I would also like to add here that when I stood up and said I wasn't sure whose blogs he was reading from, I MEANT IT. I only recently learned where the "Fuck SGA" comment came from, and I didn't know if my blog was involved. I didn't want to stand and pretend like I knew everything, so I said I wasn't sure which blogs he was referring to. I did NOT appreciate being called a liar, and being laughed and talked about while I was trying to finish my statement. I am NOT a liar, and I take great offense at being called that.
I AM TAKING YOU ALL TO STUDENT CONDUCT HEARINGS. HOW DARE YOU VOICE YOUR OPINION ABOUT ME IN PUBLIC?!?!?!LOL... sorry... couldn't help that one.
But honestly, if Donald's going to go apeshit over people writing about him in public, he needs to get out of the public eye. Do you have any IDEA how much stuff I found written about me DAILY by people I don't even know? He should be glad he knows the people making these claims. I get all kinds of personal attacks, ranging from attacks on my physical appearance (fat, ugly) to attacks on my beliefs, to blatant lies about me. Contrary to popular belief, I am not dirty, nor a pirate, nor a hooker. Nor any combination of those three. Almost every week, there's some kind of "attack" on me in the paper, usually on my views (aka, my "pale, pale politics"), and more often than not, a misguided assumption of my views (hating Angela Davis does not make me a racist).
3. Senator Larry Watson stood up following Donald's comment and addressed where Sam had made these comments on his blog, and he somehow got out of the blog post that all African-Americans in SGA were ignorant. He then used this opportunity to yell the N-word several times and complain about slavery (which I really thought we had gotten rid of a while ago). Relevance to the topic at hand? Not a lot. But SGA is always better with a little bit of theatre.
Senator Joshua Henson then stood to speak. Now, I'm not sure what point he was going for, because Larry spent most of his time trying to argue with him. It started when Henson announced that he considered himself black, because his grandmother is black. I agree, I consider myself Native American, even though I don't look like it, but it's safe to say I haven't had any of the same discrimination as them. However, Josh has a disability, for which he HAS faced discrimination, and he brought that up. Larry didn't care, as he just kept up his "You don't know what it's like" argument.
4. The sad irony of this all, is for a month now, we've been urged to bring new students into SGA. I did so last night, as I brought in Chris Biggers, a senior in the International Studies department. Chris has never read one of my articles, nor was he entirely sure what we were arguing about (I had to keep updating him on the election situation, and the blog controversy). He is also a strong Democrat, and I'm not sure why that might be of relevance here, but I just wanted to throw that out. However, Chris was appalled at what he saw at that meeting. He couldn't believe Donald felt it necessary to bring up personal issues in the middle of a meeting which would have been handled in private, and he (correctly) noted that all it served to do was increase hostility between SGA members for the remainder of the meeting. At the end of the meeting (he was only there for the last half), Chris remarked to several of us, "I am so glad I'm not in SGA." Thank you, everyone who helped drive more students away.
5. During the Announcements time, I announced that Morals Week is coming up from the 27th to the 31st. Sam stood up and stated that the Democrats are ALSO holding a "Morals Week" during that same time.
GREAT ORIGINAL IDEA, GUYS! WHERE DID YOU EVER COME UP WITH THAT ONE?
I told him it must be really well-organized, since they clearly just decided to do it to piss us off at the last minute. He replied with some stupid excuse that I didn't listen to. I was already dreaming about those post-SGA Stella drafts.
Besides, everyone knows Democrats don't have morals. Discuss.
The Right Angle (3/14): It's Only College
THE RIGHT ANGLE: It's only college - Opinions"You shouldn't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive." -- Ryan Reynolds as Van WilderI have to say, I never expected to begin one of my columns with a quote from a National Lampoon movie. But sometimes you find yourself in a stupid situation that can only be explained through a quote from a mindless college movie. That's where I'm at right now.
I've always been amazed by the number of college students who take themselves too seriously. For four years now, I've heard that silly statistic about how 60 percent of women meet their husbands as undergrads, and for four years, I've been urged by my fellow coeds to hurry up and find one. Now, I'm not sure what the real statistic is, as I've heard several different numbers from several different people, but numbers like that tend to send women into a panic. As a result, I've seen many desperate female college students spend more time trying to attract a mate than actually preparing for their own futures.
I'm not saying that doesn't work for some women, but if they're going to get terrified over that statistic, they should pay attention to the others. 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. With that in mind, do you really want to spend your college years stressing out over some guy? I'm almost 22 and single, and the last thing on my mind is marriage. Don't take insignificant things too seriously this early on in your lives. Years in the future, you'll look back and realize how trivial it all is in comparison.
Recently, I've encountered another group of people who take themselves too seriously. After the last issue of the Carolinian, a certain Opinions columnist (ahem) was accused of "leaking" information about one of the SGA Vice-Presidential candidates. Because I repeatedly refused to "reveal my source", I've been constantly answering to student journalists trying to guess my source and my motives. I can't even tell you how many times I've been referred to as Judith Miller. And I really can't do anything but laugh about the situation.
We are in COLLEGE, people! I realize this is supposed to be practice for the real world, but there comes a time when you must draw a line. Everyone wants this to be such a bigger deal than it actually is. The truth of the matter is, the information I gave the Carolinian was public information which can be obtained by doing a simple Google search. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the equivalent of leaking the identity of a CIA agent. The identity of my "source" is unnecessary, and seeing as how the information was already public, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I don't even think it's possible to "leak" public information.
Among the students who want this to be so much more than it actually is was a WUAG reporter who had already decided what "really" happened. He went around the school interviewing students he thought were involved in a manner which can only be described as harassing, and attempted to prove his own story through very leading questions. I'm sure this is a good technique to use when you're involved in a real news story, like the Judith Miller case, but on a college campus you're not going to win any Pulitzers.
I try to not take myself too seriously. I'm the first one to make fun of myself, my columns, and my own beliefs, but even I found myself getting caught up in the campus drama. I let it interfere with my schoolwork, as I got stuck in a wave of non-stop interviews and meetings, trying voraciously to save my reputation. And then one night, a friend of mine told me, "You think this is bad? Wait until the New York Times is gunning for you."
In an instant, things were put into perspective for me. If I worry so much about what the college media says about me now, how am I ever going to make it in the real political world? That's when I realized how ridiculous it all is. I'm no Judith Miller, and this isn't going to ruin anyone's life. We are in college to learn about and prepare for the real world, and we can't let extracurricular drama control our lives.
So the next time you find yourself in a situation that seems to be taking over your life, try to put things in perspective. While boyfriend/girlfriend drama might seem like the most important thing in your life right now, when you're applying to grad school years in the future, you'll wish you hadn't let a stupid fight result in an F on that midterm. Chances are, these are the best years of your life, and you shouldn't waste them stressing over the little things. And so, I'll leave you with one more quote from Van Wilder: "Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."
Write that down.
