Viewpoint

I know I said in my previous post it was the last one, but I wrote a Viewpoint that I thought is relevant to my time in student government.

Now is the time for action, and it does not take much to make a difference. It could be as easy as changing your registration from your hometown to Ann Arbor, or as involved as forming a new student group to focus on city issues. It is about time we stop complaining about the state, city or even our own student government and start doing something about it. We control our own destiny, but if we do not stand up right now and be heard we will not only be compromising ourselves, but the fate of future University students.

Final Post

Hello, this will be my last post on this site, as my time in MSA is now officially expired. I was not sure exactly what to do with this last post, but I think I will do a personal review of myself, and the Assembly as a whole.
My accomplishments as a Representative and ERC chair:
-Unanimously passed a resolution supporting the mayor's lease-signing ordinance, along with inviting him to our meeting to discuss it.
-Helped create the MSA liaison position to the City Council, and elected Laura Van Hyfte
-Worked with the New West Side Alliance to put on a City Council Debate
-Attended AMU conferences, Campus Neighbors group meetings, AA City Council meetings, and Mortarboard
-Passed a resolution to maintain divestment from the Darfur region
-Passed a resolution condemning Fred Phelps and his hate speech
-Organized a call-in day on the Diag to urge Congress to vote against the "Raid on Student Aid"
Weaknesses
-Voted against a resolution to condemn the MCRI. At the time, I thought it was pointless and unnecessary, but if given the chance again, I would vote "yes"
-Did not do enough with higher education funding
-Did not do enough to develop new leadership for the External Relations Committee for when I'm no longer the chair
-Did not recruit students for city council committees. I think this is a great idea that I did not have time to explore as chair, and I will encourage future chairs to do so.

Strengths of the Assembly
-Many speakers have been brought to campus, and we have done much that benefits the whole campus, not just a select few
-Students of color have been given a proper voice on the assembly
-Many freshmen have been added to commissions, and are being more involved in the assembly

Weaknesses
-Too many reps do not do their job properly
-There is only one viable party, limiting the options of voters
-Our accomplishments are not publicized well enough, and our failures are overblown (The Daily has a lot to do with this one)
-People get hang up on bureaucratic procedures, and too often let personal politics get in the way of helping out the students.
-People do not work with each other on projects, limiting our potential (Ludacris was an exception

So there you have it, one man's review of the Assembly. I want to thank everyone who reads this (I know there are at least two of you!), everyone who has helped out the ERC, everyone who keeps themselves informed, registered, and VOTES!

What's next for me? You may see me running for city council of Ann Arbor, if all goes well. You may see me "teaching for America." But then again, you may see me working at Shaman Drum and applying to law school. I hope y'all have had as much fun reading this as I have had writing it. I would like to end this with one anecdote that demonstrates why I have been so committed to the Assembly. When I was out on the Diag recruiting students to use their cell phones to call their Congressional representatives, I stopped a fellow student on a bike. When I asked him to call, he did not hesitate to call. After calling, he asked who I was with, an d I told him MSA. A look of shock fell over his face, and he responsded "Wow, I didn't think you guys actually did anything important. Keep it up." It is times look those that I know it has all been worth it.
Good night and good luck

Liasion Elected!

First, I would like to congratulate Laura Van Hyfte on being elected MSA Liasion to City Council! Her answers and already proven dedication leave little doubt in my mind that she is perfect for the job. Here is the Daily article
Also, the AMU conference was last weekend, and I wish I had something substantial to report, but I don't really think the organization at this point has any tangible benefit to U of M Ann Arbor or any of its students.

One more note: we will most likely be sending a delegate to the Midwest Student Leadership Conference. It is going to be a great training, Oct. 14-16. Click here for more information, and if you have any interest in attending, please send me an email (mcfo@umich.edu).

City Council

Quite the MSAmeeting last night. The Michigan Daily had 5 people in attendance, which I think is the largest coverage they've ever given us, and here is their take on what happened at the meeting.
I think overall it was a good characterization of what happened, but here it is from my point of view. It is part of the External Relations Committee's jurisdiction to "monitor local, state, and national government actions concerning MSA and the University." We as a commmittee have always tried to make it a priority to keep an eye on what is going on in City Council, and I mentioned both in my campaign as a Representative, and when I was trying to get elected to be chair of this committee, just how important this role was. As such, we had talked about it during our last meeting (we meet Thursdays at 7pm in the 3rd floor of the Union, and all are welcome), and about how we were going to send a rep to every meeting. I even went so far as to send an email to the City Council, asking them how we could get more involved. I have already received prompt responses from the Mayor, Jean Carlberg, and Leigh Greden, and we will follow up on them soon. I am also in contact with Dale Winling of the New West Side Association and the Ann Arbor Alliance about putting on a panel to discuss City Council issues and how they affect students.

It is in this backdrop that the resolution was proposed. I believe the entire MSA agreed with Jesse that City Council deserves our full attention, but here is the kicker: his resolution, which called for codifying a role for a "city council liasion," while well-intentioned, was rushed through the Assembly without going through the proper channels. He made no attempt to talk to Tim or myself about what we were doing as a Committee, did not seek input into this resolution, and was not present at Steering to explain his motives for proposing it. So when it was moved from New to Old Business there was no way that Tim and I could possibly support it. There are certain checks and balances, and areas of jursdiction and we both felt like he stepped over ours. We are in the process of a lot of different projects with City Council, and to just stop halfway and hand that responsibility to another person is not fair. That is why I am glad that an overwhelmingly large number of the Assembly agreed with us in rejecting the resolution in its current form, in order for us to approach this the proper way. There needs to be more commmunication between members and the leadership before we rush ahead and create more committees and positions.

In other ERC news, myself, Tom Church and Dan Taylor will be attending the AMU Conference this weekend at Oakland University in Rochester Hills. I will follow up with an update when I return. Also there will be a Midwest Student Leadership and Action Conference taking place this October 14, 15 and 16 in Madison,WI to figure out ways to stop the raid on Student Aid, and we will be sending representatives. Let me know if you are interested.

The Ides of May

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone! I know it is the middle of summer and there probably won't be many readers at this time, but as I'm finishing up my internship with Carl Levin (D-MI), I thought I'd enumerate some of my plans for the fall. As always, I am extremely open to suggestions/criticisms/hate mail, so any feedback anyone has is more than welcome.
1). Intern program- I think the MSA should have a more explicit, publicized program for freshman or other people new to the Assembly to be able to get a better understanding of the governing body and how they can get involved. I plan on talking this plan over with the President (Jesse) to see how it could be implanted. I'm thinking right now about internships with the committees/commissions, or the front office staff. But we'll see how it turns out. If anyone wants to be my intern, let me know. ;)
2) Work more with student groups. Student groups are the lifeblood of MSA, and I want to make sure I can touch base with as many of them as possible, so MSA's potential is better reached.
3) As I've mentioned earlier, I want to utilize my position as the External Relations Chair to get this campus more active and engaged on the higher education/tuition freeze front. Plans include, but are not limited to: a large lobby day in the fall, bringing together multiple campuses; work with the alumni association; calls and letters to state legislators; and media hits. I haven't talked much with Tim (the vice-chair) yet, but I'm sure he has some great ideas as well.
So that's about it. It should keep me very busy this fall, but if anyone has any kernel of an idea for a way to improve campus life, either in or outside of Ann Arbor, I'd love to lend an ear. But please, no Israel-related issues. We have more important things to do.

Goin' Nuclear

Hey, I've been quiet for a while, since I'm interning for Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), but if you're in Ann Arbor I recommend checking this out, I don't think it's a good idea to destroy the tradition and history of the Senate to get through some extreme, right-wing judges (and possibly Supreme Court Judges in the future)

FILIBUSTER FOR DEMOCRACY ************
STOP FRIST’S NUCLEAR OPTION
JOIN US ************
+ Thursday, May 19
+ 9 AM to 9 PM
+ Steps of the Union

Save the Senate’s voice in judicial nominations
Bring signs, reading material, and your voice!

Please email Kristin at purdykri@umich.edu or call 517-980-6374 for further questions. Also check out the Princeton Filibuster at: www.FilibusterFrist.com

Committee/Commission Chair Elections

Hey guys, sorry I'm a little slow on the update, it's exam/paper time so the blog has been a little neglected lately. We had a very important meeting that lasted 6 hours(!) last Tuesday, and here's the rundown. Here's a description of all the Comms.
Budget Priorities Committee- This is undoubtedly the most powerful committee on MSA, and almost always is the most contentious. However, this term only Perry and Nicole ran for it, and they were elected Chair and Vic-Chair, respectively. No problems from me for either choice, they both have extensive experience allocating money.
Rules and Elections Committee-In a very close vote, Cliff Davidson edged out Rese Fox to become the chair. I think after being lectured by a grad student on how we were not giving grad students enough power it gave Cliff some additional votes, but although I voted for Rese, I have no problem with this selection. Rese was later elected vice-chair.
Communications- Ally Jacobs won uncontested, and I think she'll do a good job because she seems to be very excited to flyer, and I know she never sleeps, which is perfect for this Committee.
External Relations-Ah, my favorite. If you remember my previous posts I got very frustrated at one of my first MSA meetings as a Rep over the party control of the elections. This time, however, there was no such party influence over the votes, which makes me very happy. Stu informed me S4M did not even have a meeting prior to this one to get their candidates elected. It makes me happy enough that I won't have to form my own party next semester, the re-incarnation of The Whig Party to combat Students 4 Michigan. So, I ran for ERC Chair again, thinking I would be unopposed. But at the last second someone nominated Bart Kumor, a Rep. I have a lot of respect for. After passing out my flyer with all my plans, we each gave a 2 minute spiel and were grilled with about 5 questions. I won, and Jesse graciously decided not to read the results, because of the lopsided nature (I won 31-4-1), but Mat Brener insisted he read them, based on Robert's Rules of Order. Tim Wiggins won vice-chair later on, which is great, because I know he will do a tremendous job, and we will have a lot of continuity. So here is an abbreviated version of my plan for the following semester as ERC Chair.
1. Large Lobby Day to Lansing, including other Michigan schools.
2. Usual trips to AMU and ABTS.
3. City Council Monitoring
4. Continued presence at Campus Neighbors meetings.
If anyone has any other ideas, please contact me at mcfo@umich.edu, and I will gladly entertain ideas. Our meetings are probably going to be at 7 pm on Thursdays in MSA.
Other commission of note:
Voice Your Vote-unfortunately, my nomination of Ben Rattner and Rachel Chapin failed, I think some shadiness went on, but I will not go into further detail.
And finally, I thought Jesse ran the meeting very well, despite its incredibly long nature. My only hope is that we get the meetings to move along quicker, especially b/c of all the homework I need to catch up on. Peace.