UM Politics

The Associated Students of the University of Montana are the group of students elected every year by just over 10% of the student population. They charge a $33 fee to every student and then divvy it up as they see fit. They also recommend fee increases to the Montana Board of Regents. That is about all they can do.

Earlier this year there was a huge Pickle Barrel incident that I won't go into right now but thought I'd mention for the people that know about it as an illustration of what ASUM does. It's an illustration of ASUM's incompetence and ability to make people hate them.

There's a much bigger issue at hand.

ASUM is so liberal it's sad. It wouldn't really bother me that they are liberal if they were really working for the students' best interests. What makes ASUM so liberal is their strong belief in higher taxes and fees, and a bigger student government in general.

This week was the ASUM election and there were fee increases on the ballot. ASUM has already recommended and voted for large fee increases for every student, but they also sent more fee increases to be voted on by the students.

There was a $10 fee for expanding the university's public transportation. There was a $3 ASUM Activity Fee for student groups. There was a $1 fee increase for a "contingency fund for equipment" for KGBA, the university radio station. And finally there was a $1 fee increase to expand circulation of the Montana Kaimin, our school newspaper.

This doesn't include the fee increase for the stadium, a fee increase for the Curry Health Center, or the parking pass increase.

Now look, these liberals on ASUM just love to raise fees and tax students because they think they can spend our money better. I'll take it fee by fee and then explain what the consequences are.

ASUM and the university in general are doing everything in their power to stop people like me from driving a gas powered vehicle to school everyday. There is constantly "bus/walk/bike" drives and all such nonsense. The fact of the matter is that many students literally don't have any option but to drive. This could explain why traffic in general seems to have actually gotten worse during "bus/walk/bike" week. To charge every single student $10 more next semester to try to expand public transportation that very few people use rather than trying to save student's money or perhaps work towards building a parking garage is absolutely unfair and illogical. The lack of parking on campus is the real problem, not that the buses don't have enough money. The bus system seems to be working fine right now, meanwhile commuters can't find any parking on campus. The fee passed.

The ASUM Activity Fee is supposedly responsible for a number of things, but most of the money goes to ASUM salaries or student groups. ASUM voted themselves an extravagant pay raise earlier this year but had to cut it slightly after they realized it would cause a massive budget crisis. The other thing the fee goes to is student groups. ASUM recongized student groups can apply for money. The College Republicans applied for some printing money and other things, but when we went in to talk to ASUM, we were treated with total disrespect and indignity. All of the decent ASUM senators personally apologized to us afterwards. ASUM thinks they can spend the students' money better than the students can. I personally think that student groups should be financially independent. How fair is it for ASUM to tax the students and then arbitrarily distribute it? I'd rather take my $33 and spend it as I see fit, not as ASUM does. The fee passed.

The KBGA fee increase is absolutely unnecessary. It is a contingency fee for when something comes up. It is total fiscal irresponsibility. If KBGA were going to go under next year and have to stop broadcasting, then there might be a reasonable explanation for taking an additional $14,000 from the students. But to raise fees just on principle and without any skepticism is completely insane. The fee passed.

The Kaimin fee increase is just as unnecessary as the KBGA increase. The Kaimin supposedly wants to "increase circulation." What the? The Kaimin is literally everywhere on campus. Every classroom is literally strewn with them by the end of the day. The Kaimin does not need to increase circulation, it makes no sense. Personally I think the Kaimin should be able to support itself through advertisements, but of course they are subsidized by the university. This fee was the only one not to pass.

The ironic part is that the same liberals on ASUM that support every fee increase are the same liberals that are demanding a freeze on tuition and more state support. They can raise fees on every student and then turn around and complain that tuition is too high. They think it's OK if they increase fees, but not if the Board of Regents increases tuition!

This totally destroys any credibility students at UM had. What is the state legislature going to think when our ASUM lobbyist starts demanding more state tuition help? They will sit back and say, "Why should we give students more money? They seem to have plenty, so much that they raise fees themselves. If students really can't afford tuition, maybe they shouldn't increase their own fees." I can't imagine why the state or federal government should give any more assistance to students who continually raise their own fees.

Kody

Because Kody is the only commenter, he has much sway.

I must admit that Kody has a decent point in his comment. I shouldn't have worded what I said the way I did.

I was trying to say that the people I mentioned would achieve a victory and be closer to their goals if Barack or Hillary won. I didn't mean to say that Barack or Hillary support terrorists. I was trying to make a point and it came out wrong. I honestly believe both Barack and Hillary love America and only want the best. I think they are good people and really truly want to work for the American people, and I think the same of people who want to vote for either.

NYT

The New York Times reports:

But many diplomats and analysts say that the Sunni Arab governments are so anxious about Iran’s nuclear progress that they would even, grudgingly, support a United States military strike against Iran.

Interesting little tid-bit, eh?

recently

Recently the Iraq Parliament building, which exists within the Green Zone, was bombed. One Member of Parliament died, and many more were injured. The Islamic State of Iraq, which is an umbrella group that includes Al-Queda in Iraq, claimed responsibility.

The New York Times reports:

“God has rejoiced you Sunnis after seeing those monkey M.P.’s crying and shouting because of the horrible scene they witnessed,” the group said in the statement. “A heroic knight of the Islamic State of Iraq, may God bless its men, went inside the crowd of the infidels of the so-called Parliament on Thursday, April 12, 2007. God has destroyed the crowds of defectors and infidels.”

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgency group, said that more attacks were being planned.

The first thing to take note of is that the freely elected government of Iraq is now the target of these groups, not the Americans. The people of Iraq are under attack from radicals, and America is there fighting Islamic Extremism.

The other thing to note is the basic difference in values that the terrorist represent. I, and most Americans, believe in civil rights and freedom of speech and freedom of religion, not to mention women’s rights. These people have no respect for human life or freedom.

Whose side should we take? Shall we support and be allies of the democratically elected government like George Bush and Rudy Giuliani claim, by cooperating with them militarily and working to create political solutions? Shall we support the Shiite and Sunni radicals, Osama Bin Laden, Iran, and others like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and many members of the Democratic Party claim by pulling out of Iraq at a set deadline?

happens everyday

There is nothing that fries me more than when I keep looking at the clock, just wishing class or work were over. I make a conscious effort not to do it. It accomplishes nothing, and generally makes the time pass slower.

One of the things I've written about before is my fear of how fast life goes. I guess a lot of the things I do come from this feeling that life is going by too fast. I write on my blog, take pictures, take video, save fliers, and generally keep anything that has sentimental value.

But the real key to enjoying life is to get the clock out of the way. I always think to myself, "What could be better than sitting here on this beautiful UM campus, listening to my professor talk about the real-life uses of derivatives and integrals(even though I don't like math)?" Would I rather be a citizen of an African country, would I rather be doing manual labor?

My favorite part of the day is the morning. Now that it is Spring the mornings are crisp, the skies are blue, and the birds are chirping. I love nothing more than walking through the Oval at 7:55 a.m. and looking up at University Hall and seeing Mount Sentinal rise behind it and the sun rise behind the mountain, slowly burning off the morning mist.

The irony here is that when one finally finds out how to enjoy a day and never look at the clock, the day goes by too fast!

The real reason I'm writing this is just to explain how great college is and how much I enjoy it. I love walking around this campus and randomly running into people I know. The three or four minute conversations I have on the side of the sidewalk in between classes are something I cherish and look forward to, and it happens everyday.

a list of doings

I haven’t written about what I’ve been doing for a while, and the future me would probably like to know, so here it goes.

Spring Break flew by extremely fast. I did seven hours of manual labor for my dad throughout the week, and just enjoyed myself the rest of the time: Shooting guns down at the river with Josh, hanging out at his house with Aaron, Pat, and Cassi, playing folf in the park with Aaron while it was raining, going to Reign on Me, an average movie, dancing and singing karaoke down at Manhattan’s own Sports Depot with my Uncle Bob, trying to go to a lecture with my dad and Aaron about Darwin and religion and finding out it’s sold out, getting my tires rotated, recruiting for the Montana College Republicans on the Montana State campus and signing up fifteen people all from Manhattan, going to Mackenzie River Pizza with Aaron and ordering a pitcher of Pabst to myself, meeting and partying with Kiarra at Kirsten’s surprise birthday party that Dan threw, and last but not least enjoying the drive back to Missoula.

Since I’ve been back it’s been the same old 8-4 or 8-3 Monday through Friday. I haven’t jammed with Robert since I’ve been back but I have subbed in a corec softball game. It was so much fun I can’t believe how much I miss baseball. I was 3-4 at the plate and had the game winning hit! I had an error or two in the field but I think everybody did. I got to play first base too which was great. I should have signed up for it when I had the chance because now I wish I was on a team.

Pelosi again

The New York Times quotes Nancy Pelosi as saying her visit “expressed our interest in using our good offices in promoting peace between Israel and Syria.”

So after reading my last post, which you should before you read this one, you can see what I'm trying to get at. Her "good office" has nothing to do with her visit. She is being so pompous.

She has no authority to be over there.

Can somebody please tell her to read the constitution?

Pelosi and her authority

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is on a tour of the Middle East. She talked to Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then went and talked to Syria’s President Assad, and then is going to Saudi Arabia. What is she doing? This makes no sense.

President Bush has criticized her visit, other officials have criticized her visit, and the State Department has criticized it.

Who does she think she is? We elect Representatives to deal with domestic issues like taxing and spending. The House is not even involved in creating treaties, the Senate does that! The President is America’s figurehead and international policy setter. Pelosi is sending mixed signals to the region and confusing everyone.

Not to be partisan, because there have been Republican legislators that have gone to the region, and I strongly criticize them too.

We have a State Department to deal with nations diplomatically. We have a President to lead us on the international stage.

We have legislators to write laws, and for the House specifically, domestic laws. Nancy Pelosi took a message from Israel to Syria saying that they wanted peace. Good, that’s great, but why not have the appropriate person or official do it? She has no authority to say or do anything on this front; no legislator does Democrat or Republican.

I wish Nancy would get back to the job she was elected to do.

There needs to be a basic understanding of the roles our elected and appointed government officials play.