Posts
Blog Readers,
Over the past few days I have had a lot to think about. The direction my life is going, some stupid things I have written on my blog, recent rejections from jobs I have applied to and the aftermath of the violence in Gaza, that has me torn both because of my heritage and because of my firm belief in the peace process. I have come to the conclusion that I need to let go of the past. I had three wonderful years at The George Washington University and had the privilege of being part of the Student Association during the entirety of my time. Having been a part of student government from 1998-2008 it was tough for me to simply walk away, which is part of the reason that I launched my blog, so that even though I had graduated I would still be able to add my voice, as well as my perspective, since I had "been there" and "done that" sort of speak.
After consulting with two of my closest friends at GW as well as my two best friends, whom I have known for close to 9 years now I have decided that it is time to end my blogging about the Student Association as well as my involvement in the organization. I have said some very hurtful things to people who did not deserve it and I believe that I may have done serious damage to my own character, to say nothing of the damage that I may have done to my friendship with someone in the SA, for whom I have the utmost respect in Senator Julie Bindelglass. All of this, combined with the fact that I do need to focus entirely on finding a job, and getting on with my life has made realize that I should not be devoting the amount of time that I am to this blog. I may only spend a few minutes a day either writing a post or responding to a comment made on my blog or Logan's blog, but that isn't my life anymore. I am not longer a member of the SA, no longer a student at GW and taking time out of my day to publish my thoughts about a piece of legislation that I had no hand in drafting or reminiscing about days gone is a clear sign that I need to "cut the cord," something one of my friends who I consulted about this recomended that I do and ending this blog is a good step to doing that.
My days as a member of the SA ended on May 2, 2008 and I should have allowed the next generation of SA members like Vishal, Kyle, Logan, Nick, Shawn, Julie to go about the business of running the student government without commenting on what was going on or advising them on what to do or keeping as close an eye on things as I have these past six months. As I watched Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th President of the United States only a few thousand feet from the steps of the Capitol it re-affirmed what I want to do with my life. I want to have a career in politics and one day be elected to a real public office here in Massachusetts so I can really make a difference. But, I cannot forge ahead with my plans until I leave my career in student government, and I call it a career because it lasted almost 10 years without interruption, in the past, where it belongs.
My greatest hero John F Kennedy said once that "Time is precious, once you lose it, it's gone and there is nothing you can do to get it back." I need to use my time wisely. I will always think on my days in the SA with fond memories and I have photos on facebook, letters from former members and yes, my little name badge to remind me of those days. I have all of that as well as other items from GW in a plastic container so I can pass it on to my children or my grandchildren one day. It's time I sealed this blog in there as well, metaphorically of course.
I'd like to thank Logan for inspiring me to start this blog and everyone who has been reading it. I will keep this blog up, but will not be making any more posts to it, nor will I be commenting on Senator Dobson's blog any longer. May G-d in his almighty wisdom bless the Commonwealth of Massachusetts one more time.
Very Sincerely Yours,
Elliot "EBK" Bell-Krasner
Member, GW Student Association
09/06/2005 - 05/02/2008
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My Recent Attacks On EVP Boyer & Senator Dobson
Blog Readers,
When I first launched my blog I intended to use it to provide an alumni's opinion of the SA. Having been part of the organization for three years I thought I could provide some good insight. I have also, however written several posts that contain attacks on Executive-Vice President Kyle Boyer and Senator Logan Dobson. While I may not think of them in the same way as I think of Vishal or Nicole for example, I do have to admit that my attacks have been unfair and in some cases unwarranted.
Often times I will write things, whether it is a blog post or a facebook note as a reaction to something that is going on in my own life or at GW and at the same time out of my control. My recent job rejections have been weighing heavily on me although I do not pretend to be the only one in my situation so I have used my blog more often the I intended to. I have called Logan a seat filler when in actuality he has sponsored several pieces of legislation. I have attacked Kyle for not being neutral when in actuality he has never done anything partial on the floor and like former EVP Brand Kroeger has worked behind the scenes in an attempt to achieve something. I may not think that he is the most qualified person to be the next SA President but I did not have to talk about him being "anointed" as Vishal's successor over on Logan's blog. I may not agree with the idea of a mandatory library fund or think that a metro discount is attainable with the economy in the shape that it is in but I didn't have to say the things that I did about Kyle or Logan.
This afternoon I sent a letter of apology to both Kyle and Logan for my recent attacks upon their character and asked humbly for their forgiveness. I promised that I would use better judgment in the future, the same way I did to all those who read my blog last night. This post is meant to re-affirm my original intent when I formed this blog. From now on I will only use it to comment on what is going on in the SA but without attacking anyone unless they have, in my opinion betrayed the trust the student body has placed in them.
I will continue my series on "Giving Credit Where Credit is Due" tomorrow and will then turn my attention to the upcoming SA elections and just what I think people should look for in an SA EVP
-EBK
When I first launched my blog I intended to use it to provide an alumni's opinion of the SA. Having been part of the organization for three years I thought I could provide some good insight. I have also, however written several posts that contain attacks on Executive-Vice President Kyle Boyer and Senator Logan Dobson. While I may not think of them in the same way as I think of Vishal or Nicole for example, I do have to admit that my attacks have been unfair and in some cases unwarranted.
Often times I will write things, whether it is a blog post or a facebook note as a reaction to something that is going on in my own life or at GW and at the same time out of my control. My recent job rejections have been weighing heavily on me although I do not pretend to be the only one in my situation so I have used my blog more often the I intended to. I have called Logan a seat filler when in actuality he has sponsored several pieces of legislation. I have attacked Kyle for not being neutral when in actuality he has never done anything partial on the floor and like former EVP Brand Kroeger has worked behind the scenes in an attempt to achieve something. I may not think that he is the most qualified person to be the next SA President but I did not have to talk about him being "anointed" as Vishal's successor over on Logan's blog. I may not agree with the idea of a mandatory library fund or think that a metro discount is attainable with the economy in the shape that it is in but I didn't have to say the things that I did about Kyle or Logan.
This afternoon I sent a letter of apology to both Kyle and Logan for my recent attacks upon their character and asked humbly for their forgiveness. I promised that I would use better judgment in the future, the same way I did to all those who read my blog last night. This post is meant to re-affirm my original intent when I formed this blog. From now on I will only use it to comment on what is going on in the SA but without attacking anyone unless they have, in my opinion betrayed the trust the student body has placed in them.
I will continue my series on "Giving Credit Where Credit is Due" tomorrow and will then turn my attention to the upcoming SA elections and just what I think people should look for in an SA EVP
-EBK
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Part III: Erik Ashidia
Throughout American history there have been many men and women who have fought great battles with the pen instead of the sword. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott just take your pick. Whether it was King George III's army and the British Empire in the case of Adams, Jefferson and Madision, or sexism in the case of Anthony and Mott these men and women won the battles they fought and with the notable exception of the American Revolution, (Jefferson's Declaration of Independence required that in order to be solidified) neither the Constitution nor the 19th amendment to that constitution required any bloodshed
While no physical battles may take place on the floor of the Student Association Senate, there are battles nonetheless, battles that are often won by members of the Senate who, instead of engaging in a war of words, use their pen, and write legislation that makes a positive impact on both the SA and the student body. These aren't great documents that compare to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the 19th amendment, but they are important to those whom they impact.
People such as Brandon Sherr, Nicole Capp, Vishal Aswani, Marc Abanto, Kirk Halderman, Daniel Balke all of whom I had the pleasure of serving with authored real, tangible legislation that actually did something and some of them like Nicole and Vishal were able to stand on their records, run for higher office and accomplish even more. Whether it was reforming the bylaws and the JEC charter (Sherr) or improving the advising system (Capp and Abanto) or helping to establish a LGBT resource center (Aswani) or just making certain the Senate was helping to put on good programs (Balke and Halderman) these guys made a difference and rarely got credit until they either got elected to a higher office (Capp and Aswani) or had left GW.
Last year, I had a chance to be a part of a special bylaws committee that was proposed by Chris Bruno (Law). The idea was that the bylaws were going to be reformed. The committee, which I only managed to make a few meetings of cleaned up the document considerably, they even re-named a bylaw after me. While the new set of bylaws never made it up onto the website, something that should really be done considering it passed at the end of last year it was still one of the most successful ventures undertook by last years Senate. Chris Bruno didn't speak very much during Senate meetings. With the notable exception of one meeting where we were debating a special resolution recognizing the relationship that exits between the SA and SBA he spent of his time in the Senate drafting legislation, which is one of the primary roles of a member of the Senate. He didn't do it to get his name in the paper, he didn't do it in order to get people to like him, or to set himself up to run for a higher office. He did it because he wanted to do his job and instead of getting credit he got a lot of ridicule for being associated with last year's SBA President who all but demanded that we pass a non-binding piece of legislation formally acknowledging a relationship that we knew existed, or he would ensure the failure of the student fee increase, but didn't have the dignity to show up to the meeting where we were debating it to speak on its behalf or send anyone to do so other then the law school senators.
This year, there have been several senators that remind me of the good aspects of Senator Bruno. One of them is a freshman senator named Erik Ashidia. When I first met Erik I honestly thought he was an office assistant. He was sitting in the conference room of the SA office reading over something and eating a sandwich. There was nobody else around so naturally I assumed that was who he was. He introduced himself and I did the same at which point he said to me "You're EBK?" I laughed and replied "Believe me, not everything they say about me is true." I'd never met this person before and yet, he knew who I was and thought of me in a positive light, something I found very interesting. While I have not been in attendance at any Senate meetings I do read the minutes and I know what goes on behind the scenes. I have noticed that Erik has been active in helping to drafting legislation, working on projects such as the Inaugural Float and most of all, he has assisted other members of the Senate including EVP Kyle Boyer, with their initiatives.
Erik will probably never be mentioned in the Hatchet beyond the mention he already received when he got elected as a freshman senator. But, he should get credit for his hard work this year. Freshman senators do not get the vote, something I find really undemocratic and ironic at the same time considering the SA meets in the only place in the continental United States that doesn't have a voting representative in Congress; Washington DC. Yet, Erik is one of the most active members of the Senate and he does not let the fact that he doesn't have a vote, silence him. Usually of the three freshman senators there is one that stands one, one that really makes a difference. Three years ago it was Nicole Capp, two years ago it was Jessica Jacobson and last year it was a tie between Nick Polk and Sean Dejbakhsh and this year it is Erik. I sincerely hope he decides to run for re-election to the Senate and continue the tradition of freshman senators running for voting seats a tradition that has seen people such as Nicole, Sean and Nick ascend to even higher positions in the Senate and the SA as a whole.
From Snowy Massachusetts,
-EBK
PS: The bylaw that was re-named was the suspension of the rules Bylaw #211 it is now the "Elliot EBK Bell-Krasner suspension of the rules" bylaw
While no physical battles may take place on the floor of the Student Association Senate, there are battles nonetheless, battles that are often won by members of the Senate who, instead of engaging in a war of words, use their pen, and write legislation that makes a positive impact on both the SA and the student body. These aren't great documents that compare to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the 19th amendment, but they are important to those whom they impact.
People such as Brandon Sherr, Nicole Capp, Vishal Aswani, Marc Abanto, Kirk Halderman, Daniel Balke all of whom I had the pleasure of serving with authored real, tangible legislation that actually did something and some of them like Nicole and Vishal were able to stand on their records, run for higher office and accomplish even more. Whether it was reforming the bylaws and the JEC charter (Sherr) or improving the advising system (Capp and Abanto) or helping to establish a LGBT resource center (Aswani) or just making certain the Senate was helping to put on good programs (Balke and Halderman) these guys made a difference and rarely got credit until they either got elected to a higher office (Capp and Aswani) or had left GW.
Last year, I had a chance to be a part of a special bylaws committee that was proposed by Chris Bruno (Law). The idea was that the bylaws were going to be reformed. The committee, which I only managed to make a few meetings of cleaned up the document considerably, they even re-named a bylaw after me. While the new set of bylaws never made it up onto the website, something that should really be done considering it passed at the end of last year it was still one of the most successful ventures undertook by last years Senate. Chris Bruno didn't speak very much during Senate meetings. With the notable exception of one meeting where we were debating a special resolution recognizing the relationship that exits between the SA and SBA he spent of his time in the Senate drafting legislation, which is one of the primary roles of a member of the Senate. He didn't do it to get his name in the paper, he didn't do it in order to get people to like him, or to set himself up to run for a higher office. He did it because he wanted to do his job and instead of getting credit he got a lot of ridicule for being associated with last year's SBA President who all but demanded that we pass a non-binding piece of legislation formally acknowledging a relationship that we knew existed, or he would ensure the failure of the student fee increase, but didn't have the dignity to show up to the meeting where we were debating it to speak on its behalf or send anyone to do so other then the law school senators.
This year, there have been several senators that remind me of the good aspects of Senator Bruno. One of them is a freshman senator named Erik Ashidia. When I first met Erik I honestly thought he was an office assistant. He was sitting in the conference room of the SA office reading over something and eating a sandwich. There was nobody else around so naturally I assumed that was who he was. He introduced himself and I did the same at which point he said to me "You're EBK?" I laughed and replied "Believe me, not everything they say about me is true." I'd never met this person before and yet, he knew who I was and thought of me in a positive light, something I found very interesting. While I have not been in attendance at any Senate meetings I do read the minutes and I know what goes on behind the scenes. I have noticed that Erik has been active in helping to drafting legislation, working on projects such as the Inaugural Float and most of all, he has assisted other members of the Senate including EVP Kyle Boyer, with their initiatives.
Erik will probably never be mentioned in the Hatchet beyond the mention he already received when he got elected as a freshman senator. But, he should get credit for his hard work this year. Freshman senators do not get the vote, something I find really undemocratic and ironic at the same time considering the SA meets in the only place in the continental United States that doesn't have a voting representative in Congress; Washington DC. Yet, Erik is one of the most active members of the Senate and he does not let the fact that he doesn't have a vote, silence him. Usually of the three freshman senators there is one that stands one, one that really makes a difference. Three years ago it was Nicole Capp, two years ago it was Jessica Jacobson and last year it was a tie between Nick Polk and Sean Dejbakhsh and this year it is Erik. I sincerely hope he decides to run for re-election to the Senate and continue the tradition of freshman senators running for voting seats a tradition that has seen people such as Nicole, Sean and Nick ascend to even higher positions in the Senate and the SA as a whole.
From Snowy Massachusetts,
-EBK
PS: The bylaw that was re-named was the suspension of the rules Bylaw #211 it is now the "Elliot EBK Bell-Krasner suspension of the rules" bylaw
Monday, January 26, 2009
Apologies For A Recent Post
Blog Readers,
In my most recent post, which is the second in a series of posts praising members of the SA who have gone above and beyond this year and haven't received much credit I made a serious error in judgment when I drew parallels between SA Finance Committee Chair Julie Bindelglass and Oskar Schindler's bookkeeper and accountant Itzhak Stern. I imagined it was similar to how people are drawing parallels between President Barack Obama and FDR or Abraham Lincoln, which I will admit is extreme given the fact that he has been in office less then a week. I did what I did because I like to talk about history in some of my posts, but I did not consider just what kind of an extreme paralell I was drawing. As a matter of clarification, I do NOT think that anything that Julie or anyone else in the SA has ever done should ever be put in the same context or even the same sentence as those who helped others during the Holocaust. I was using Stern as a historical example, nothing more, but I should have used someone else, or made my position clear from the start. I have revised my post and I want to issue a public apology to all of my readers and to Julie for putting her and someone who resisted the holocaust (as Senator Dobson correctly mentioned) in the same sentence. In the future I will use better judgment
Apologetically,
-EBK
In my most recent post, which is the second in a series of posts praising members of the SA who have gone above and beyond this year and haven't received much credit I made a serious error in judgment when I drew parallels between SA Finance Committee Chair Julie Bindelglass and Oskar Schindler's bookkeeper and accountant Itzhak Stern. I imagined it was similar to how people are drawing parallels between President Barack Obama and FDR or Abraham Lincoln, which I will admit is extreme given the fact that he has been in office less then a week. I did what I did because I like to talk about history in some of my posts, but I did not consider just what kind of an extreme paralell I was drawing. As a matter of clarification, I do NOT think that anything that Julie or anyone else in the SA has ever done should ever be put in the same context or even the same sentence as those who helped others during the Holocaust. I was using Stern as a historical example, nothing more, but I should have used someone else, or made my position clear from the start. I have revised my post and I want to issue a public apology to all of my readers and to Julie for putting her and someone who resisted the holocaust (as Senator Dobson correctly mentioned) in the same sentence. In the future I will use better judgment
Apologetically,
-EBK
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Part II: Julie Bindelglass
When student organizations at GW need money they will often turn to the Student Association Finance Committee. I had the privilege of being part of that committee last year during my time in the Senate. Former SA Senator Matthew Cohen (SOB-U) was the committee chair last year and we gave out literally thousands of dollars each week to help fund all kinds of events from mock trial competitions, to celebratory banquets. Matt, who was never one to seek praise for his hard work of keeping the books for all of those co-sponsorships and making sure that last year's VPFA Ethan Elser was kept on his toes (Ethan did a fine job as well) never received a lot of credit for his hard work until he was named the SA Senator of the year, an award that he deserved for everything he managed to accomplish.
At the Finance Committee's helm this year is a woman who I met when she was running for a Freshman Senate seat and again when she ran for a CCAS seat; Julie Bindelglass. Julie was the only unsuccessful freshman senate seat candidate who went back and ran for the Senate AGAIN when a seat. On the same night that I was defeated in my first of two attempts to get into the Senate, she became the first freshman ever to hold a voting Senate seat. She then managed to get more votes in the general election then any of the 6 candidates who won a CCAS sear and nearly broke the record for votes in an election for a Senate candidate that is held by my good friend and colleague former SA President Nicole Capp when she did the same thing that Julie did three years ago.
Like many people who "do the books" sort of speak, Julie manages to fly under the radar. She has been mentioned several times by the Hatchet and has had to take the usual flak that Finance Committee chairs often do from disgruntled student organizations that think they deserve more money then what they get. Yet, at the SA's annual allocation meeting this year the College Democrats and the College Republicans were silent, something that is stunning when you consider that there was almost a full blown floor fight four years ago when I was the Associate Parliamentarian of the Senate over the fact that the CD's wanted more money then the CR's who wanted more money then the IAS who wanted more money then anyone.
In addition, Julie has been one of most transparent Finance Committee chairs I have seen. She publishes meeting notices, agendas and minutes on the SA website, something that she had vowed to do when last year's JEC chair Ben Balter questioned the SA's transparency. And, with apologizes to my good friends Senator Polk (Rules) and Senator Tanney (Life) and Senator Laverone (Academic) who I don't know personally, she is the only committee person to do all of that on a regular basis, something that is impressive considering how much she already has to do. The VPFA this year, Chas Pressner deserves a lot of credit. Like Ethan did last year, Chas is the one making sure all those co-sponsorships get through. Without their hard work student organizations wouldn't be able to get funding for their activities or projects, yet I am willing to bet that like Matt, Julie rarely receives so much as a thank you card from any of these student organizations. One could argue that she is just doing her job and doesn't need to be thanked because after all one of the things the SA is supposed to do is to give out co-sponsorships. But, Julie and the committee are under no obligation to give you the more than $750,000 thousand dollars they receive in a fair manner. Oh sure, they would be destroyed by the press and accused of misconduct by the Senate, but there is nothing in the bylaws about doing things fairly. The very fact that Julie puts in the amount of work that she does to ensure that the student organizations are happy, probably on a daily basis while trying to balance her schoolwork her sorority and anything else that is going on in her life is truly remarkable.
Julie or "Jules" (as I affectionately refer to her as) is one of the few members of the SA Senate this year that has gone above and beyond her job description. Jules has done a phenomenal job this year and I didn't want her to have wait any longer to receive credit for what she has accomplished in such a short time.
"The world may go round and round but the bookkeepers, are the ones who keep it running" -Warren Buffet
At the Finance Committee's helm this year is a woman who I met when she was running for a Freshman Senate seat and again when she ran for a CCAS seat; Julie Bindelglass. Julie was the only unsuccessful freshman senate seat candidate who went back and ran for the Senate AGAIN when a seat. On the same night that I was defeated in my first of two attempts to get into the Senate, she became the first freshman ever to hold a voting Senate seat. She then managed to get more votes in the general election then any of the 6 candidates who won a CCAS sear and nearly broke the record for votes in an election for a Senate candidate that is held by my good friend and colleague former SA President Nicole Capp when she did the same thing that Julie did three years ago.
Like many people who "do the books" sort of speak, Julie manages to fly under the radar. She has been mentioned several times by the Hatchet and has had to take the usual flak that Finance Committee chairs often do from disgruntled student organizations that think they deserve more money then what they get. Yet, at the SA's annual allocation meeting this year the College Democrats and the College Republicans were silent, something that is stunning when you consider that there was almost a full blown floor fight four years ago when I was the Associate Parliamentarian of the Senate over the fact that the CD's wanted more money then the CR's who wanted more money then the IAS who wanted more money then anyone.
In addition, Julie has been one of most transparent Finance Committee chairs I have seen. She publishes meeting notices, agendas and minutes on the SA website, something that she had vowed to do when last year's JEC chair Ben Balter questioned the SA's transparency. And, with apologizes to my good friends Senator Polk (Rules) and Senator Tanney (Life) and Senator Laverone (Academic) who I don't know personally, she is the only committee person to do all of that on a regular basis, something that is impressive considering how much she already has to do. The VPFA this year, Chas Pressner deserves a lot of credit. Like Ethan did last year, Chas is the one making sure all those co-sponsorships get through. Without their hard work student organizations wouldn't be able to get funding for their activities or projects, yet I am willing to bet that like Matt, Julie rarely receives so much as a thank you card from any of these student organizations. One could argue that she is just doing her job and doesn't need to be thanked because after all one of the things the SA is supposed to do is to give out co-sponsorships. But, Julie and the committee are under no obligation to give you the more than $750,000 thousand dollars they receive in a fair manner. Oh sure, they would be destroyed by the press and accused of misconduct by the Senate, but there is nothing in the bylaws about doing things fairly. The very fact that Julie puts in the amount of work that she does to ensure that the student organizations are happy, probably on a daily basis while trying to balance her schoolwork her sorority and anything else that is going on in her life is truly remarkable.
Julie or "Jules" (as I affectionately refer to her as) is one of the few members of the SA Senate this year that has gone above and beyond her job description. Jules has done a phenomenal job this year and I didn't want her to have wait any longer to receive credit for what she has accomplished in such a short time.
"The world may go round and round but the bookkeepers, are the ones who keep it running" -Warren Buffet
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Part I: Tim Little
On a hot July afternoon in 1776, 55 men from 13 colonies signed a little piece of paper that they knew would be as Benjamin Franklin so eloquently put it, their "passport to the gallows," had we lost the American Revolution. Some of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence have become demigods. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and of course Dr. Franklin get a lot of credit for what they did. George Washington, our school's namesake, who never got the chance to sign the Declaration of Independence is thought of by many historians as perhaps the greatest American in our short history. However, 55 men signed the Declaration of Independence and thousands fought in the American Revolution. Yet few of those men receive little more then a mention in books and documentaries.
I have always been a firm believer in the idea that you need to give credit where credit is due to anyone who deserves credit. When President Obama addressed us at the Obama For America Staff Ball on January 21st he spoke for longer then he did at his Inauguration, with no notes, no podium and was dressed more plainly then most of the people in the room, myself included (I was in a tux). He praised all of us for our hard work, talked about how much the campaign had forever changed history and would shape presidential campaigns to come. They were words that were almost as inspiring as the ones he spoke the day before after he was sworn in.
This year, there are several members of the Student Association who have done a terrific job in my opinion and do not always receive the credit they deserve, mostly because they are not the type to seek credit and are not in the spotlight the way President Aswani (who deserves a lot of credit) and Senator Dobson (who is nothing more then a seat filler) are. This will be the first in a series of posts about those members of the SA who deserve credit and haven't been given credit by the media outlets of GW but have nonetheless helped the SA to accomplish what it has been able to accomplish this year, and it has been able to accomplish things this year despite some of the internal disputes in the Executive Branch and serious lack of leadership on the part of Kyle Boyer in the SA Senate.
My first post will focus on a man whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for almost four years now and never ceases to amaze me with his dedication to the SA, it's mission and whatever project he is assigned; Tim Little. The first time I met Tim, he and I were running against each other for the position of Attorney General, a position that was short lived as it was eliminated when the Student Court de-certified the results of a certified election and declared the new SA Constitution, un-constitutional.
For nearly three years now, Tim has held the position of SA Vice-President of Academic Affairs. During that time, he has, among other things helped to get academic buildings open later for finals, worked on reforming the Freshman Writing program, lobbied CCAS to change its GCR requirements, worked on getting advising within CCAS and other schools improved, and most importantly been a sounding board for three SA President's. President Lamar Thorpe, President Nicole Capp and now President Aswani, have been able to rely on Tim and his advice heavily. He has always been there when they have needed him and he has been willing to do the difficult task without complaining. Like me he is a firm believer in getting the job done and getting it done right.
Last year Tim and I served together on the SRI and made certain that it wasn't taken over by people who wanted to give all of the money to GW Fair Trade or organizations like it because they were part of the E-Board of those organizations. He helped to re-write it's charter along with myself and former SA Senator Matt Cohen to ensure that the problems we had last year didn't happen again and from what I understand the SRI has been more diverse in giving its money to organizations that have socially responsible initiatives. To this day I can't honestly tell you what that means.
This year, Tim has played a key role in getting the test-bank online in some form, which is huge progress from previous years has continued to work with the GW Writing Program to reform the Freshman Writing requirement and has laid the groundwork for his successors by making the office of SA VPAA something that will be a coveted position after he leaves. He's done it all while serving as the treasurer of the IAS an organizations that I was a proud member of but does not always see eye to eye with the SA despite the amount of funding they receive on average per year, funding that is well spent but often runs out when WAMUNC comes around, which is understandably expensive far more then it has to be if the university would simply give them free space in the Marvin Center and Academic Buildings for the three days of the conference.
Unlike people such as Logan and Kyle, Tim doesn't look for attention, he doesn't try to get his name in the papers and he doesn't attack people publicly and when he criticizes something or someone he does it in private and his criticism has almost always been warranted given the situation. He has left a very positive mark on the SA and on the University and deserves credit for it, credit he does not often receive publicly. When I think of Tim, I am often reminded of one of the signers of the aforementioned Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett. Bartlett was a very Doctor from New Hampshire and served as its Governor briefly, during the 1790's. Despite his 5 years of service in the Continental Congress (1774-1780) his term as Governor (1792-1794) and his more then 45 years as a practicing physician, if you mention his name to most people they think you're talking about Martin Sheen's character on The West Wing who is supposed to be a descendant of Bartlett. Bartlett believed in doing his job, and didn't seek approval or praise for his work but is remembered by the people of New Hampshire, just as I hope that one day, people at GW will remember the name Tim Little
I have always been a firm believer in the idea that you need to give credit where credit is due to anyone who deserves credit. When President Obama addressed us at the Obama For America Staff Ball on January 21st he spoke for longer then he did at his Inauguration, with no notes, no podium and was dressed more plainly then most of the people in the room, myself included (I was in a tux). He praised all of us for our hard work, talked about how much the campaign had forever changed history and would shape presidential campaigns to come. They were words that were almost as inspiring as the ones he spoke the day before after he was sworn in.
This year, there are several members of the Student Association who have done a terrific job in my opinion and do not always receive the credit they deserve, mostly because they are not the type to seek credit and are not in the spotlight the way President Aswani (who deserves a lot of credit) and Senator Dobson (who is nothing more then a seat filler) are. This will be the first in a series of posts about those members of the SA who deserve credit and haven't been given credit by the media outlets of GW but have nonetheless helped the SA to accomplish what it has been able to accomplish this year, and it has been able to accomplish things this year despite some of the internal disputes in the Executive Branch and serious lack of leadership on the part of Kyle Boyer in the SA Senate.
My first post will focus on a man whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for almost four years now and never ceases to amaze me with his dedication to the SA, it's mission and whatever project he is assigned; Tim Little. The first time I met Tim, he and I were running against each other for the position of Attorney General, a position that was short lived as it was eliminated when the Student Court de-certified the results of a certified election and declared the new SA Constitution, un-constitutional.
For nearly three years now, Tim has held the position of SA Vice-President of Academic Affairs. During that time, he has, among other things helped to get academic buildings open later for finals, worked on reforming the Freshman Writing program, lobbied CCAS to change its GCR requirements, worked on getting advising within CCAS and other schools improved, and most importantly been a sounding board for three SA President's. President Lamar Thorpe, President Nicole Capp and now President Aswani, have been able to rely on Tim and his advice heavily. He has always been there when they have needed him and he has been willing to do the difficult task without complaining. Like me he is a firm believer in getting the job done and getting it done right.
Last year Tim and I served together on the SRI and made certain that it wasn't taken over by people who wanted to give all of the money to GW Fair Trade or organizations like it because they were part of the E-Board of those organizations. He helped to re-write it's charter along with myself and former SA Senator Matt Cohen to ensure that the problems we had last year didn't happen again and from what I understand the SRI has been more diverse in giving its money to organizations that have socially responsible initiatives. To this day I can't honestly tell you what that means.
This year, Tim has played a key role in getting the test-bank online in some form, which is huge progress from previous years has continued to work with the GW Writing Program to reform the Freshman Writing requirement and has laid the groundwork for his successors by making the office of SA VPAA something that will be a coveted position after he leaves. He's done it all while serving as the treasurer of the IAS an organizations that I was a proud member of but does not always see eye to eye with the SA despite the amount of funding they receive on average per year, funding that is well spent but often runs out when WAMUNC comes around, which is understandably expensive far more then it has to be if the university would simply give them free space in the Marvin Center and Academic Buildings for the three days of the conference.
Unlike people such as Logan and Kyle, Tim doesn't look for attention, he doesn't try to get his name in the papers and he doesn't attack people publicly and when he criticizes something or someone he does it in private and his criticism has almost always been warranted given the situation. He has left a very positive mark on the SA and on the University and deserves credit for it, credit he does not often receive publicly. When I think of Tim, I am often reminded of one of the signers of the aforementioned Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett. Bartlett was a very Doctor from New Hampshire and served as its Governor briefly, during the 1790's. Despite his 5 years of service in the Continental Congress (1774-1780) his term as Governor (1792-1794) and his more then 45 years as a practicing physician, if you mention his name to most people they think you're talking about Martin Sheen's character on The West Wing who is supposed to be a descendant of Bartlett. Bartlett believed in doing his job, and didn't seek approval or praise for his work but is remembered by the people of New Hampshire, just as I hope that one day, people at GW will remember the name Tim Little
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Has Senator Dobson Gone Too Far?
When Senator Logan Dobson (CCAS-U) first launched his blog, Inside the SA he promised that he would keep his constituents, and anyone else who read his blog, informed about what was going on in the SA and offer his view. He has done that, but he has also done something else. Senator Dobson has been unrelenting in his criticism of President Vishal Aswani, his cabinet, his initiatives and now, what I consider to be one of finest accomplishments of the Aswani administration, the GW Inaugural Parade Float and its chief designer Charlie Burgoyne I think that Logan has gone to far and there is a reason why I think that.
As an SA Senator I felt it was my job to keep my constituents informed just as Senator Dobson has. I did not feel it was my job, however to bash something that I had no hand in or someone who hadn't done anything to me. That isn't the job of an SA Senator. It's the job of a FOX talk show host maybe, but not an SA Senator. In some of his more recent posts Logan has been taking shots at the Inaugural Float. Besides the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do with the planning of the float, the building of the float or the funding of the float I think his criticism isn't just unfair, it's unwarranted.
When the design for the float was first released, Logan along with the GW Hatchet were criticizing it based off of the artists rendition. If we criticized things based off of artists renditions then the Vietnam War Memorial would look very different then the one that was built because if you take a look at the rendition it looks like well...just an ordinary black wall. Regardless of what the rendition looked like or what the final product ended up looking like the float brought GW students together, it encouraged school spirit, which has been sorely lacking because of the Basketball teams recent performance and most of all it gave GW a chance to be a part of something very special, something that will NEVER be forgotten so long as this country exists; the inauguration of the first African-American President in our history.
As I write this blog post I am reminded of an episode of The West Wing, where Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff is trying to get a Senator to release a block on military promotions. The Senator tells him that he won't do it unless the White House agrees to fund a missile launcher that is designed to target and intercept missiles launched at the United States. The problem is that the launcher doesn't work. At the end of the episode the Senator tells Josh that he didn't care whether the launcher worked, that the real reason he wanted it built was because it would provide jobs to the people of his home state and serve as a deterrent. In other words, he wanted it built in the hopes that it would never be used.
My point is, that the float wasn't just supposed to be a float, it was supposed to be a symbol of school pride, unity, and most of all, it was supposed to be something that students, like those who worked so hard on it could look back on with fond memories long after they have left GW. The night before the Inauguration I attended a pep-rally to celebrate the success of the float with about 150 students, and President Knapp. It was the largest gathering I'd seen for something that had anything to do with the SA in quite some time and even though I am an alumni it filled me with pride to see students taking pictures, patting each other on the back, smiling and praising Vishal and his team of hard working individuals who committed themselves to the project including Charlie Burgoyne, who I think did a fine job.
So instead of representing students, Logan has been doing nothing more then bashing the float, Charlie, Vishal and all the while supporting an idea proposed by Executive-Vice President Kyle Boyer, which is actually the baby of former SA EVP candidate Andrew Cooper, for whom I have the utmost respect despite my opposition to his plan to lower the library fee but make it mandatory. He seems to have lost his independent minded idealism that he had from the time he lost his blog until the leadership summit held by Kyle Boyer, which was nothing more then an attempt to prop himself up for a Presidential run, one that I can only surmise will be supported by Logan, who seems to have become Kyle's only real advocate in the Senate.
In closing, I'd like to thank Vishal, Charlie and everyone who worked so hard on the float, especially Tim Miller, who took time out of running SAC, to help out as well. The float may not have been the fanciest thing in the parade, it may have had a flag instead of a globe on top and it may not get any more mentions in the Washington Post but the very fact that it existed, that Vishal and his administration had the foresight and dedication to make it happen will outlive any petty attempts by Logan to tear into it.
As an SA Senator I felt it was my job to keep my constituents informed just as Senator Dobson has. I did not feel it was my job, however to bash something that I had no hand in or someone who hadn't done anything to me. That isn't the job of an SA Senator. It's the job of a FOX talk show host maybe, but not an SA Senator. In some of his more recent posts Logan has been taking shots at the Inaugural Float. Besides the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do with the planning of the float, the building of the float or the funding of the float I think his criticism isn't just unfair, it's unwarranted.
When the design for the float was first released, Logan along with the GW Hatchet were criticizing it based off of the artists rendition. If we criticized things based off of artists renditions then the Vietnam War Memorial would look very different then the one that was built because if you take a look at the rendition it looks like well...just an ordinary black wall. Regardless of what the rendition looked like or what the final product ended up looking like the float brought GW students together, it encouraged school spirit, which has been sorely lacking because of the Basketball teams recent performance and most of all it gave GW a chance to be a part of something very special, something that will NEVER be forgotten so long as this country exists; the inauguration of the first African-American President in our history.
As I write this blog post I am reminded of an episode of The West Wing, where Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff is trying to get a Senator to release a block on military promotions. The Senator tells him that he won't do it unless the White House agrees to fund a missile launcher that is designed to target and intercept missiles launched at the United States. The problem is that the launcher doesn't work. At the end of the episode the Senator tells Josh that he didn't care whether the launcher worked, that the real reason he wanted it built was because it would provide jobs to the people of his home state and serve as a deterrent. In other words, he wanted it built in the hopes that it would never be used.
My point is, that the float wasn't just supposed to be a float, it was supposed to be a symbol of school pride, unity, and most of all, it was supposed to be something that students, like those who worked so hard on it could look back on with fond memories long after they have left GW. The night before the Inauguration I attended a pep-rally to celebrate the success of the float with about 150 students, and President Knapp. It was the largest gathering I'd seen for something that had anything to do with the SA in quite some time and even though I am an alumni it filled me with pride to see students taking pictures, patting each other on the back, smiling and praising Vishal and his team of hard working individuals who committed themselves to the project including Charlie Burgoyne, who I think did a fine job.
So instead of representing students, Logan has been doing nothing more then bashing the float, Charlie, Vishal and all the while supporting an idea proposed by Executive-Vice President Kyle Boyer, which is actually the baby of former SA EVP candidate Andrew Cooper, for whom I have the utmost respect despite my opposition to his plan to lower the library fee but make it mandatory. He seems to have lost his independent minded idealism that he had from the time he lost his blog until the leadership summit held by Kyle Boyer, which was nothing more then an attempt to prop himself up for a Presidential run, one that I can only surmise will be supported by Logan, who seems to have become Kyle's only real advocate in the Senate.
In closing, I'd like to thank Vishal, Charlie and everyone who worked so hard on the float, especially Tim Miller, who took time out of running SAC, to help out as well. The float may not have been the fanciest thing in the parade, it may have had a flag instead of a globe on top and it may not get any more mentions in the Washington Post but the very fact that it existed, that Vishal and his administration had the foresight and dedication to make it happen will outlive any petty attempts by Logan to tear into it.
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