Dean Kenney to Resign (Almost Certainly)
*Update* No comment on Monday, but OSL informed me that someone can talk to me tomorrow, when I’ll have final word on this…
Word is that Dean Kenney will be leaving us as Dean of Students in 30 days to take another position somewhere else. I’m about 95% certain of this based on what I have heard, but I will have final word on Monday when she gets back into the office. (Unless Kenney happens to read this over the weekend, and is nice enough to send me an e-mail letting me know what’s up.)
I’ll have more informed speculation about what this might mean soon, because at the moment the only way I think abut Dean Kenney is in relation to Greek life and I’m not sure what else she handles or what her reputation in other areas is. Anyone with informed comments on her and her tenure, please do leave them.
Glad to hear that bitch is done screwing up UC Berkeley. Now I guess she’s gone on to terrorize another institution. God I hope it’s not UCLA….
Let us know when you get the final word so that I can finally send my donation to the school.
Comment by Pissed Off Young Alumnus — August 27, 2005 @ 4:03 pm
that you ethan?
:-)
Comment by Andy R. — August 27, 2005 @ 4:54 pm
Andy, have you ever heard of me to miss up an opportunity to bitch about dean kenny?
Comment by Chair of the Secret Alumni Council — August 27, 2005 @ 5:00 pm
1) Dean Kenney
2) The entire resume building corrupt ASUC
Comment by Anonymous — August 27, 2005 @ 7:15 pm
And you’re basing your speculation on what?
Comment by Yung Alum — August 27, 2005 @ 9:00 pm
She was overheard in 102 Sproul discussing her plans to begin working at another school…
Comment by Andy R. — August 27, 2005 @ 9:25 pm
She’s not leaving for another school, but to work in a nonprofit in Alameda. She’s talked about leaving Berkeley pretty openly over the last year. There’s a lot of craziness right now about who will take over for her in the interim. Word is that Tina Barnett, the old director of greek life, is going to be acting dean even though the other directors of OSL departments think she’s an airhead.
Comment by Know it all — August 27, 2005 @ 10:00 pm
good ting daT dis biTch is leavin. hopefully da chancellor gets a clue and stops appointing annoying feminists to positions of power. mebbe dey will appiont some1 chillax instead of some1 wit dis authoritarian tendancy daT’s become prevalent.
“first dean kenney smashT. nexT da ASUC will be smashT”
Comment by smashT — August 27, 2005 @ 10:22 pm
Right on, smashT. The ASUC won’t be hard to abolish once we get the referendum underway. On an up/down vote, people will vote to abolish the ASUC. The ASUC will fight you tooth and nail to not have a referendum on the ballot.
The referendum process should start now. We want to get signatures before the deadline in the spring to get a referendum on the ballot.
“ASUC smashT”
Comment by RepBast1984 — August 27, 2005 @ 10:50 pm
Wow, this is sad to read.
Wait until you graduate and live in the real world, not this self-absorbed Berkeley blogosphere.
Comment by #56 — August 28, 2005 @ 12:12 am
i love how people use blogs to say stuff they would never say face-to-face. and, what’s wrong with being a feminist? nothing, except that is threatens your position of male privilege. Any problem with Dean Kenney should be based on her personality/actions, not her believing that women are equal to men and should be treated as such (feminism).
Comment by Anonymous — August 28, 2005 @ 12:50 am
I don’t think the problem is that she’s a feminist so much as she’s just a plain passive aggressive bitch.
Comment by Chair of the Secret Alumni Council — August 28, 2005 @ 1:25 am
feminists have gone bezerk anon. is not juss dean kenney is da entire movement. look at dis supreme court ting. bush nominates a fairly middle of da road guy and dey all go nuts and say he is like hitler. look at dat TV ad dey ran and den had to pull. dey is drunk on power m@n.
dean kenney is part of dis crazy as movememnt daT needs to be smashT. lets hope da chancellor appoints someone with more balance, we dun need anoter power hungry authoritarian. smashT
“anon crushT”
Comment by smashT — August 28, 2005 @ 8:11 am
“look at dis supreme court ting. bush nominates a fairly middle of da road guy and dey all go nuts and say he is like hitler. look at dat TV ad dey ran and den had to pull.”
“Progressives” think that anyone who disagrees with them is Hitler. Take someone on the far left of the Republican party, Arnold. The first thing they say is that he’s soem sort of Nazi.
Comment by DTI — August 28, 2005 @ 8:45 am
Maybe now she can put her BA in PE and her MA in Sports History to good use. How the hell this woman ever became a Dean at a major university is beyond me.
Comment by anon — August 28, 2005 @ 9:22 am
i’ve had nothing but great interactions with her, especially relating to a few major events the past 3 years.
Comment by CG — August 28, 2005 @ 9:48 am
I’ve talked to Dean Kenney and she’s very nice. She complimented my singing when I sang the national anthem at the last ASUC senate meeting.
The real problem is the ASUC. Dean Kenney justifiably has a hard time dealing with the ASUC because they’re a bunch of stupid snobs who contol lots of money and think too highly of themselves. There exists a dangerous power triangle between Greeks, the ASUC and ethnic minority lobbyist groups that seems to dominate everything the ASUC does. If we destroy the ASUC, we can topple the power triangle because the ASUC is the fulcrum.
ASUC
- -
Greeks - Minority lobbyists
Comment by RepBast1984 — August 28, 2005 @ 11:34 am
Leave the ASUC alone. It’s like communism, it’ll collapse on its own from its inefficiency and corruption.
Comment by DTI — August 28, 2005 @ 7:06 pm
I don’t understand how we started talking about ASUC, weren’t we talking about how much we all hated Dean Kenny? You’re distracting from the good nature of my previous comments.
Comment by Chair of the Dean Kenny Resignation Celebration Committee — August 28, 2005 @ 7:17 pm
Dean Kenney relates to the ASUc does she not?
Comment by DTI — August 28, 2005 @ 7:19 pm
Yes, among other things. If her sole task was to fuck up the ASUC, we would be arrested for just typing the letters. However, her power of darkness stretches across the entire OSL. Lets just say she’s fucked up more than just the ASUC. Perhaps we should consider:
1) OSL aer SmashT
2) UCBerkeley aLso oT bE SmashT!
…did I do that right?
Comment by Chair of the Dean Kenny Resignation Celebration Committee — August 28, 2005 @ 7:36 pm
ABOLISH THE ASUC! All kidding aside… can this be done merely via referendum? I’m very curious to know more about this. I really feel that we could making crying beggars out of the ASUC. It is all a scam anyway. I’m sure some simple approval ratings on the ASUC as a whole could really propel such a referendum for someone (or group) looking to steal the show on campus.
Comment by Anonymous — August 28, 2005 @ 10:35 pm
I would support the ASUC if…
1) They were held accountable to the students (a majority of senators serve one year terms, so they could give a rat’s ass about the students)
2) They actually cared about all of the students
3) They actually represented anyone other than their own selfish interests
CalSERVE fails badly on #2 and Student Action fails badly on #3
A “trusted” insider in the office of the EVP gave me a heads up on how to abolish the ASUC: it’s in the bylaws. Every constitution has some sort of exit strategy, as Jefferson said, a good system needs revolutions here and then.
If anyone wants to work on it with me (as much as I can) please give me a head’s up in a comment. smashT, I know you’re on board, so is RepBast1984, Anonymous, and I’m sure some of the lefties will want to help. jonp, mano, Tommasso… anyone is invited.
The hard truth ios that the ASUC doesn’t represent teh views of the left or the right. They represent the views of 20 self-interested senators and 4 executives who rake in cash and build resumes. DOES THIS SEEM MESSED UP TO ANYONE?
In order to accomplish this we’re going to have to work together. We may not all be the best of friends with the same ideas but let’s just get this common goal down.
If someone from the ASUC doesn’t start talking right now on this blog RIGHT NOW I’m going to start releasing some of the deepest, darkest dirtiest secrets of both political parties (no one needs dirt on Bears United), because I had a lot of contacts in both, mostly Student Action, but both parties have a LOT of dirty laundry to air.
Comment by DTI — August 28, 2005 @ 10:58 pm
OMGod homeboy is going to release the deepest, darkest secrets of the ASUC. L@@K BRAHHHH!
Let me save you some time:
-Billy Wang secretly likes to watch Seventh Heaven… while snorting mad yay before going out to fight a cop.
-Dena Takruri once killed a hobo… with her INTENTIONS.
-Ben Narodick once stole a quarter… ounce of H from a blind prostee named Slater who fucked a dude so hard he broke his dick.
-Yvette Falarca is a man… yeaaaah.
Prolly.
**
So what up DTI? Your dirt could never be as good as mine. Plus, there’s the fact that, based on your comments, you’re about as cool as a piece of cat shit, kinda the texture of baked oatmeal, laying straight out in the hot hot sun. There’s that. There is that.
SWEET BRAH!
-m
Comment by Matt Loker — August 29, 2005 @ 12:28 am
Hmm well I suppose you’re obviously not taking this seriously. I wonder if the party leaders feel the same way. Should we start with Student Action’s favorite son and and daughter?
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 4:31 am
I’m debating on saving the juicy stuff for the real recall, though.
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 4:31 am
DTI, how serious are you about this?
Comment by anon — August 29, 2005 @ 6:19 am
As a student, I’d support abolishing the ASUC (but not really, because that’s way too much effort). As a local complainer, though, I don’t want to lose my material.
Comment by Beetle — August 29, 2005 @ 7:49 am
Actually, on second thought, I won’t be here forever. Since it’d take a few years, anyway, the “ha ha” involved in the politics surrounding such an effort may be far greater than the “ha ha” involved in routine ASUC activity. So put me in the “support as long as it’s effortless” column.
Comment by Beetle — August 29, 2005 @ 9:03 am
count me behind the ASUC abolishment effort!
Comment by tmac — August 29, 2005 @ 11:23 am
DTI ima get in contact wiT u soon threw e-mail. we gona put dis shiT together and smashT da ASUC. dis is gonna be foreal.
i tink da first step should be analysing da constitution to c what specifically should be done. da next step has to be to write up da proposition + get it approved. den we can launch our campaign via website/word of mouth. lets get da ball rolling.
in da meantime release all dis dirty laundry u have on dose ASUC dumbT kids. it cant be much worse dan all da public shiT dat is out but i still want a good laugh at dey expense.
“get rdy to be smashT ASUC”
Comment by smashT — August 29, 2005 @ 11:48 am
I support this too.
Why don’t you guys start a blog to document your progress and spread gossip?
Comment by patr — August 29, 2005 @ 12:00 pm
To answer your question, anon, I am way serious about this effort. I have been trying to undermine the ASUC ever since those idiots Primm, Gomez, Joshi and Mata got into office. They literally made the students an embarrassment to the University. They sold out our only space in MLK, they really made the student body look like a bunch of idiots. So naturally, I was more attached and became closer to the Student Action camp. Big mistake.
SO next year, STudent Action gets in power and does NOTHING PRODUCTIVE. They establish a multicultural center (and we can also make the argument that they hijacked it and it benefits no one), and they let their own self-interested student groups who fund their campaigns have a say in how our student government is run. Do you know who runs it? The chair of CalSERVE and the chair of Student Action. Yes, a government who cares so much about YOU is being run by two politicians (or political oligarchs) who could give a rat’s ass about you and me. They care about where this is going to bring them later on in life.
So here we are stuck with a bunch of self-interested, crafty salespeople who sell out to their own special interests (hmm.. unlike the US government?) in order to further their own political careers.
Has anyone ever voted for a candidate who offered you off campus swipes with residence hall cards? How about CalTV? Oh boy. When’s that coming around? Has the student government kept its promises on anything?? To be fair former EVP Christine Lee kept her promise of creating a group for students to get contacts for clubs and such, live.berkeley.edu.
Did you know that the ASUC owns that God-forsaken book store that rips students off? They have a contract with the store to overprice books. You’re putting a few dozen morons in charge of running a business that screws students over. And don’t forget, that same student government spend 5 figures on such prominent speakers like Dane Cook who used our student money to entertain an audience that was 2/3 NON STUDENT. And when we ask them questions, superb yells louder and the senators shake in their boots. What student group should get $160,000 may I ask?
A student group, BAMN was awarded money that they didn’t even ask for. They asked for nothing and got $4,000. Tell me this system isn’t just a little corrupt? And on top of their $4,000, they get paid off $15,000 just ebcause they sued the ASUC on a groundless case. When we asked senators about selling us out, they said they paid off BAMN for our own good.
So there you have the ASUC. I really hope that if our referendum doesn’t pass that my good friends in office will do a good job. If they’re too stuck int heir institutionalized ways of corruption like they have been in years before, BRING IT ON.
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 12:13 pm
Now hold on there ya’ll. Ya can’t just go ’round abolishing governments, students or otherwise. Without govm’nt there’d be anarchy. And we can’t have that. It is the white man’s burden to reform, not abolish these third world govm’nts to our liking. They cannot be guilty of acts that are un-Christian, when they don’t know what Christian is! We must correct their ways through forced servitude and by taking their land. It is the white man’s burden, and the only way. We may not like it, but we must, for the name of all that is white and Christian.
Comment by Chair of the Abolishing the "Abolishment of the ASUC" Council — August 29, 2005 @ 12:25 pm
Wow DTI - if this is the kind of dirt youve got, Im unimpressed. Everything there is either completely obvious, untrue, or uninformed. There are problems with the student government, there is dirt on everyone, but thats not it.
But let’s talk about the untrue stuff. How and when did the ASUC “sell out our only space in MLK”? Since when do they have a contract overcharging students for books? Do you have proof of this? Why would they even want something like this if theyre competing with the likes of Ned’s and such?
“SO next year, STudent Action gets in power and does NOTHING PRODUCTIVE. They establish a multicultural center (and we can also make the argument that they hijacked it and it benefits no one), and they let their own self-interested student groups who fund their campaigns have a say in how our student government is run. Do you know who runs it? The chair of CalSERVE and the chair of Student Action.”
What the hell does this even mean? The chair position of Student Action is famous for doing nothing every year but running SA.
And Christine didnt start live.berkeley.edu. Get your facts straight.
Most of the true stuff can be filed under “no, duh”. And believe me, there isnt a whole lot in the constitution than can fix this kind of stuff. Wanting to reform the ASUC is an honorable goal - it needs it. But its more difficult than you could imagine.
Comment by Andy J — August 29, 2005 @ 1:43 pm
I think we need more infinite loops in the ASUC constitution.
Comment by Beetle — August 29, 2005 @ 1:59 pm
Oh, wait, my bad, that was the by-laws. Then we need some infinite loops in the constitution.
Comment by Beetle — August 29, 2005 @ 1:59 pm
This isn’t dirt, this is just my large scale reasons for not liking the ASUC. Like I said, I’m saving the dirt. What does the chair of each party run… the political aprties. And what do the political parties run? The ASUC! Gee that was hard to rationalize.
“How and when did the ASUC “sell out our only space in MLK”?”
Did you forget when Kris Prim and Taina Gomez handed over MLK to the University to build the “multicultural center”? Which isn’t even a multicultural center, it’s just Heller Lounge with less furniture.
“Since when do they have a contract overcharging students for books? Do you have proof of this? Why would they even want something like this if theyre competing with the likes of Ned’s and such?”
You ignoramus. What’s the Store Operations Board? They oversee the contract with efollet! If the ASUC even cared about stduents it wouldn’t have done business with efollot. The merging of business and the student government does nothing but sell us students out.
The reason why the senators like it? They get a 20% discount on all books from the ASUC bookstore.
Come on ASUC, if you’ve sent this dumbass to try and defend yourselves, then you guys are as good as being abolished. Good work trying to win hearts and minds by sending someone who insults people who are upset witht he ASUC.
And yes, Christine Lee was a big part of starting live.berkeley.edu. It was also one of her campaign promises. And dirt udually refers to individuals. Not everyone is informed about the major reasons why the ASUC sucks. They just think, big signs, friends tell me to vote for people, hot girls. YAY ASUC!
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 2:13 pm
two different threads, over a 100 replies attking da ASUC and all dey can come up wit in defense is “Wanting to reform the ASUC is an honorable goal - it needs it. But its more difficult than you could imagine.” hahaT what a jokeT
dis is why it needs to be smashT. dis institution is beyond all hope.
” If they’re too stuck int heir institutionalized ways of corruption like they have been in years before, BRING IT ON.”
daT’s right. spread da word dis gonna be da story of da year. “students smashT da ASUC and take dey moneys back”
bring dis shiT on. we already won da forum war cuz none of u ASUC nuthuggers can defend ur institution. now we gonna win da balloT war.
“-smashT”
Comment by smashT — August 29, 2005 @ 2:43 pm
The ASUC has been a tradition at Cal for several decades, maybe even 100 years. Perhaps one could have said the same thing “Wanting to reform the ASUC is an honorable goal - it needs it. But its more difficult than you could imagine.”
But you know what? Every time a party says this, they succeed in taking over and they end up screwing the whole system over. Both sides are good campaigners, but it takes more than winning campaigns to win the hearts and minds of the students.
Mao was an excellent guerilla fighter and he commanded the Chinese masses during the revolution. When he came to power, he because one of the most corrupt dictators who oversaw the deaths of more people than any other dictator in history. Winning battles is one thing, and I commend whoever won office. However, carrying out your plans is a different thing.
Throughout history, corrupt governments have fallen. The people are angry and they want justice. We demand the right to peaceably assemble and topple the student government that has never delivered upon the demands of its constitutents.
Comment by RepBast1984 — August 29, 2005 @ 2:49 pm
abolish that shiT
Comment by yodi — August 29, 2005 @ 2:52 pm
The senators like the bookstore because of a discount? That’s extremely simple, unfounded, cause and effect thinking. I doubt that any senator is in love with the bookstore — which actually has lower prices than NEd’s. You make it seem as though the contract was created with the bookstore in order to save the senators 20% — which is completely untrue … when the contract was signed, most of the senators didn’t even attend berkeley. And with the Multicultural Center … Primm and Gomez didn’t sell out ASUC space, they decided that a MCC was needed on the campus, and they made a deal with the university to forgive a huge debt in return for the establishment of a MCC. The reason it is still Heller Lounge is because Student Action killed the intent of the MCC in senate last year, and the university refuses to sign the MOU because the bill that passed through senate is not the same bill that went into senate. I was eagerly awaiting your dirt, but based on your reasons for disliking the ASUC, I doubt I can trust anything you say. AND … please letit be known, that I am not a huge ASUC supporter …. just calling out stupidity when I see it.
Comment by Anonymous — August 29, 2005 @ 5:44 pm
First off, im not defending the ASUC, Im trying to help you get your facts straight. You seem to be defending Christine Lee more than Im defending the ASUC.
a)the student store would have collapsed without the efollett agreement. Thats a lot of wasted space, and a lot of revenue that wouldnt exist. its hardly selling out students or artificially raising textbook prices.
b)True the ASUC did the universities dirty work by providing space for the Multicultural center, but it wouldnt have happened otherwise. I believe the space still belongs to the ASUC.
c)fair enough that the party chairs run the ASUC (the senate really), but you made it sound like there’s an official advisory group or something.
d)Christine Lee jumped the live.berkeley.edu bandwagon. She had about as much to do with starting it as you will with bring down the ASUC if you dont get your facts straight and stop calling people trying to correct you names.
Comment by Andy J — August 29, 2005 @ 5:52 pm
“The senators like the bookstore because of a discount?”
Damn straight they do. Ask one of them if they like their 20% discount.
“which actually has lower prices than NEd’s”
Really? That’s why I go to both stores, recording the prices of the books and the bookstore is higher. The senators had this huge campaign where they were telling people not to shop at Ned’s because Ned’s was an “evil” corporation (even though its books are cheaper than efollet, also an “evil” corporation)
“And with the Multicultural Center … Primm and Gomez didn’t sell out ASUC space, they decided that a MCC was needed on the campus, and they made a deal with the university to forgive a huge debt in return for the establishment of a MCC.”
And of course, the only space to have it in was… TA DA!
“The reason it is still Heller Lounge is because Student Action killed the intent of the MCC in senate last year, and the university refuses to sign the MOU because the bill that passed through senate is not the same bill that went into senate.”
Bullshit, it’s both parties’ faults. Both sides refused to negotiate with each other which ended up fucking students over. CalSERVE wouldn’t have done a better job either.
“I was eagerly awaiting your dirt, but based on your reasons for disliking the ASUC, I doubt I can trust anything you say. AND … please letit be known, that I am not a huge ASUC supporter …. just calling out stupidity when I see it.”
My dirt shall come when it’s needed. It’s actually pretty messed up, considering it attacks individuals. I don’t want to release dirt until these individuals refuse to listen, which I don’t have 100% proof that they aren’t.
Just wondering… would you be an ASUC supporter if CalSERVE was in power? Or is the party irrelevant?
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 5:54 pm
“a)the student store would have collapsed without the efollett agreement. Thats a lot of wasted space, and a lot of revenue that wouldnt exist. its hardly selling out students or artificially raising textbook prices.”
So now that it hasn’t collapsed, why are we still doing business with those robbers?
“b)True the ASUC did the universities dirty work by providing space for the Multicultural center, but it wouldnt have happened otherwise. I believe the space still belongs to the ASUC.”
That’s like fascist economic theory of ownership. The people might “own” their property but it’s controlled by the government. Similarly, the ASUC “owns” Heller Lounge but it’s controlled by the University.
“c)fair enough that the party chairs run the ASUC (the senate really), but you made it sound like there’s an official advisory group or something.”
Not an advisory group, I’d say more synonymous to what the heads of the Democratic and Republican party wield in terms of power. The difference is our real elected oficials are (sort of) held responsible to our constituents. If an ASUC senator does a bad job, what recourse is there to punish them? Sorry if I called you names.
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 6:02 pm
a)Because theres a good chance the store would collapse still. If you want to go through the economics of running the store yourself and the monetary risks involved versus taking a rent check from efollett be my guest.
Im not gonna get into the “Ned’s is cheaper than ASUC”, but efollett gives a percentage of the profits (once they pass a certain point) go to the ASUC, while Ned’s goes 100% into someone conglomerates coffers.
b) Ill agree with you there. The ASUC got the short end of the stick here, but the MCC wouldnt have happened otherwise in any form.
c)I tried to redefine the party system myself, and I failed (but I will say its through less efforts of my own than the senators who aligned themselves with me). You need to get elected, you go to a party, and those in charge who helped oyu get elected collect their tithing. Its cold, practical, crappy reality.
Comment by Andy J — August 29, 2005 @ 8:39 pm
“a)Because theres a good chance the store would collapse still. If you want to go through the economics of running the store yourself and the monetary risks involved versus taking a rent check from efollett be my guest.”
I mean, we’re missing the real point. Why don’t we just end the contract with efollet, say adios and either take up another company or invite more businesses in to compete with Ned’s. Won’t this lower prices?
“c)I tried to redefine the party system myself, and I failed (but I will say its through less efforts of my own than the senators who aligned themselves with me). You need to get elected, you go to a party, and those in charge who helped oyu get elected collect their tithing. Its cold, practical, crappy reality.”
What did you do, make a third party? My first priority is to abolish the ASUC and I would really like to do this to help the students. Part of it is because I’m really upset at some people who i know are making it bad for everyone else. My other plan was to create a new party, am independent bloack that will block vote against both CalSERVE and Student Action until they shut up and stop trying to hurt each other and the students.
“b) Ill agree with you there. The ASUC got the short end of the stick here, but the MCC wouldnt have happened otherwise in any form.”
In all honestly, is it really such a good thing?
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 9:20 pm
So all of you are unhappy with the ASUC. Let’s run down the complaints:
1) They don’t represent my interests.
2) They are bogged down with bureaucracy.
3) There’s too much political correctness.
4) There aren’t enough independents, and the major parties run everything (and poorly)
5) The bookstore contract is stupid and costing us money.
6) All the elected officials are corrupt and are trying to pad their resumes.
7) The ASUC isn’t worth the money I pay it.
Some responses for you all to play with:
1) Did you vote? If the answer is no, then you really have no legitimate excuse to complain.
2) Have you asked any senators for anything? If the answer is no, you aren’t trying hard enough. No one who ran last year was telepathic, and we can’t read your damn minds. If you have something to say, email me at narodick@asuc.org, or any of the other senators. I don’t care if you have something nice to say or not. Try being politically active instead of trolling on a blog.
3) What else are you going to do with the ~$50? For the price of two handles of vodka, you get the funding for hundreds of student groups and publications that you can choose to take advantage of at any time, not to mention the work done behind the scenes with administrators.
4) Yes, the ASUC is somewhat corrupt and bureaucratic. But that is how any democratic government is supposed to be by design. Try looking at some of the good with the bad.
5) The bookstore contract stinks, but we’re still making more money with it now than in the 90s, when students pretended to be businesspeople and politicians simultaneously. Why mess with a good thing that works better than before?
These responses aren’t in any particular order, but they more or less address all your concerns. If they don’t, email me at the above address, and we’ll have a constructive dialogue.
Comment by Ben N. — August 29, 2005 @ 10:47 pm
Thank you Ben! The first ASUC person to defend the ASUC. I admire you for standing up for it as an independent.
For the first two questions, the answer is yes, and I even consulted several senators about pertinent issues. I usually got some “we agree with the spirit of what you’re saying. Everyone has a right to your opinion and we respect that,” over and over and over again.
“3) What else are you going to do with the ~$50? For the price of two handles of vodka, you get the funding for hundreds of student groups and publications that you can choose to take advantage of at any time, not to mention the work done behind the scenes with administrators.”
With $55, I can get a group of students together and form a club, each person contributing $55 to the club. But instead, we have to see over $40,000 given to the BRRC to have the President of the BRRC tell black kids not to come to Cal. Is this really a fair allocation of money?
With $55 dollars each, triple A, CalDems, BCR, avery group will have fair funding. If your group doesn’t get more funding from students well, it probabky isn’t something students are interested. Sorry.
Thanks for all the lobbying. I can see how much our student fees have decreased, our dead days wiped out and the drop deadline is a convenient third week of school. What the hell was that student voice initiative… to RAISE OUR FEES so we can “lobby”? Sounds like major irony here.
“5) The bookstore contract stinks, but we’re still making more money with it now than in the 90s, when students pretended to be businesspeople and politicians simultaneously. Why mess with a good thing that works better than before?”
So I punch you 10 times in the face and that sucks. Now I’m only punchign you 5 times in the face. Is that a good thing?
Comment by DTI — August 29, 2005 @ 11:14 pm
I like some of your comments… I’m moving to the new string here to respond.
Comment by Ben N. — August 30, 2005 @ 12:22 am
based on these comments, i think the problem here is not that the asuc doesnt do anything, its just that students dont really know everything that goes on and all of the services provided by the asuc.
that explains why some select people here assume that every intern and every senator and every executive decided to take this increasingly thankless job for a resume builder as if they cant make better money at some corporate or legal internship like all of the critics.
Comment by Anonymous — August 30, 2005 @ 12:28 am
“1) Did you vote? If the answer is no, then you really have no legitimate excuse to complain.”
yea i voted
“2) Have you asked any senators for anything? If the answer is no, you aren’t trying hard enough. No one who ran last year was telepathic, and we can’t read your damn minds.”
what would i ask for? please stop being so corrupt and reform da ASUC. yea like they gonna really respond to daT?
“3) What else are you going to do with the ~$50?”
mebbe get a lil drunk and high lolT. da point is ill fund da clubs daT i wanna fund and not da corrupt bs and sometimes illegal shiT daT da ASUC funds.
“4) Yes, the ASUC is somewhat corrupt and bureaucratic. ”
h4h4T. even members of da ASUC admit dis shiT. dis is why it needs to be smashT and replaced wit a bettar system. get wid of all da amateur hour extreme left politico’s in favor of students choosing what groups to fund. smashT
“5) The bookstore contract stinks, but we’re still making more money with it now than in the 90s, when students pretended to be businesspeople and politicians simultaneously. Why mess with a good thing that works better than before?”
so basically u saying daT because da bookstore was shiTTing on students before now its bettar because its only pissing on students? damn m@n were did all daT liberal idealism go lolT?
ben ur my favorite senator in fact ur da only one i respect. but da rest are a bunch of chumps who deserve waT’s gonna happen to dem. dey gonna watch dey organization be smashT.
“-smashT”
Comment by smashT — August 30, 2005 @ 12:59 am
“based on these comments, i think the problem here is not that the asuc doesnt do anything, its just that students dont really know everything that goes on and all of the services provided by the asuc.”
I know plenty of stuff that goes on in the ASUC. I had a lot of friends in the ASUC and trust me, half of the “work” was tryign to foil some kind of initiative that the other party was trying to pass. That was the extent of their “work”. Also, Anonymous, tell me some projects that the senators did that they promised during elections.
“that explains why some select people here assume that every intern and every senator and every executive decided to take this increasingly thankless job for a resume builder as if they cant make better money at some corporate or legal internship like all of the critics.”
The point isn’t money, obviously. The point is power. The ASUC represents power on campus. Why do politicians take the jobs they do in Washington? They can get paid more as a trial lawyer or a corporate executive. They take these jobs because it gets them fame and power. SO many senators asusme their work is “thankless” because they sit long hours at Eshleman Hall until 4 in the morning. Yes, that is a very hard thing to do and it takes a level of sacrifice. However, during those long hours in Eshleman, they do nothing for the students. Yes, it’s hard for a bum to stand on the street corner in pouring rain. But does he (or ASUC officials) give anything to society (or the students). I think not.
I’ll give an example. Senators spent hours voting on an external bill to bring back affirmative action. I’m sure it took a long time to get through all the details of the bill, passions were high on both sides, they had to craft arguments and at the end of the night, the anti-affirmative action forces prevailed. That was hard work, I agree. But what did it accomplish for students? if it passed what would it accomplish for students?
Comment by DTI — August 30, 2005 @ 2:39 pm
http://abolishtheasuc.blogspot.com/
Comment by DTI — August 31, 2005 @ 4:50 pm
Susie Castillo-Robson (the Registrar) will be serving as Acting Dean of Students.
Comment by Anonymous — September 15, 2005 @ 6:18 pm