The Story Spreads

11 Mar
2010

Now Huffington Post is reporting on the UF “hazing for votes” scandal. Their coverage isn’t anything more than a recap of what we already know, but it does give the story a national platform - more eyes will see it now, hopefully.

GOP in a Nutshell

6 Mar
2010

GOP

I think that’s exactly right. Now, you can believe they actually have ideas for what to do (despite their repeated refusals to offer anything serious in the last 18 months), or you can believe the Democrats are actually doing everything the wrong way. But surely we can all agree that the GOP is essentially trying to make Washington as bad as can possible get in the hopes that they’ll get sent back to Washington as the majority, right?

It’s kind of like a bank robber hoping to become Bank President by arguing that security is lax.

Don’t Haze Me, Bro!

3 Mar
2010

In a tape revealed at a UF Senate meeting, an anonymous Unite Party supporter recorded a mid-election party session that revealed the inner workings of the FBK machine - from over-the-top attacks on the character and motives of their opposition to berating house reps to even encouraging hazing and voter coersion to maximize Greek turnout.

Seriously, outside of accusations of a dry campus, I think the tape was a recycling of virtually every SG cliche in the book. They called freshmen living in dorms as god-damned-independents. They said their opponents had no friends, were up to dirty tricks, probably double voted and stole I Voted stickers. They told their houses that giving away alcohol or denying meals to pledges were good voting incentives to use. They accused the opposition of a level of hostility toward the Greek system that I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard from anyone in the independent movement in the last decade and a half. (The independents are more upset with voter coersion and the existence of a psuedo-secret society like FBK than with anything about Greek houses, priveleges or their social calendar.)

Well, the story has been picked up by The Fine Print and The Gainesville Sun. And just a few hours ago, NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd tweeted on the subject.

It’s no telling how long the legs are on this story. “Green Means Go”, “Don’t Taze Me Bro”, and the “Grapski defamation” scandals all started like this. And given this is happening at the same time as UF officials plan to impose a fee students rejects in this same election, I don’t think Spring Break will save UF from embarassment like it had hoped.

UPDATE: And now UCF has picked up the story, in a way much better done than the Alligator’s reporting.

Sorry for the long hiatus

28 Feb
2010

Between the monumental blizzards, catching a cold, losing and replacing my home computer, and being occupied by a rare opportunity at work, I’ve not had much time for blogging. In fact, I’ve not had much time for writing of any kind lately. Sigh.

The work opportunity, I should note to self, was a chance to attend a meeting of my employer’s Board of Trustees. Few people outside of the upper departmental management are invited, and I think is just about the first time ever non-management staff were invited. A coworker and I both got to attend, and I believe part of it was a thank you for helping out while a manager was out on leave.

Speaking of which, I continue to help as a temporary supervisor for a processing team. Because of the temporary and uncertain nature of my tenure (and the volume of my regular work), it’s hard to try to do much other than put out proverbial fires. But it’s a good experience.

Let’s see, not much else is going on. My sister and I have really gotten into the television show Heroes on DVD. And I gave up chocolate and ice cream for Lent.

What’s going on in your neck of the world?

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