MSAMikeForster

Viewpoint

2005-11-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-09-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

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.

4-5 Update

2005-04-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Executive officers were appointed yesterday, and I thought Jesse and Alicia did a pretty good job picking them. Here's my two cents on each of them(you'll need thefacebook to look at the links):
Devesh Senapati- I think he was a great choice, his experience as BPC Vice-Chair, and time managing SAAN's budget are great experiences, and he, like myself does not tolerate bullshit
Russ Garber- This is a little more controversial, while he has been on the Assembly longer than pretty much everyone else currently on it, he also has done some very shady things, including trying to get Ryan Bates out of P & J for a very insignificant offense, and in my opinion he sometimes manipulates the rules for his own advantage to push his own agenda. So I abstained, because I don't really want to put my name in support of him, but since I didnt know of anyone better, I couldnt vote no.
Justin Paul-Justin was appointed for Chief of Staff, which to be honest, disappointed me because I applied for it, and thought I would have done a great job, so I was ready to oppose him. But, after hearing a bunch of things he's involved in that I was not even aware he did, I thought he was probably the best choice. So I voted yes.
In another note, I have been very disgruntled about the way the meetings have been going. We have been stuck in a lot of bureaucratic nonsense and personal politics that I was warned MSA was all about. Prior to the new assembly, I think we all did our best to avoid this, and actually try to use our time wisely but some of the new Reps (a Rackham one, in particular) have no respect for keeping the meetings running smoothly, and it has been very rough. I think Jesse needs to do a better job of running meetings, to keep people on task and maintain order. I have really taken for granted how well Jason ran meetings, because they have been so difficult to take the past two weeks (not to personally attack Jesse, he's still new, but there is a need for improvement).
Committee and Commission chairs will be elected next week, so I encourage everyone who is interested to come out. I'm running for External Relations Chair again, we'll see how that goes. Hopefully the s4m candidates will not vote strictly based on party lines, we shall see.

MSA Recommendations

2005-03-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the semester again. For the entire campus community to descend on Angell Hall, in Town Hall format, to voice their opinions in unison, and choose the next fearless leaders of our campus community. OK, so it's really nothing like that, more like a few freshman or activists or Greeks clicking on THIS for a couple of seconds in between facebook updates to select their friends. Excuse me if I'm a bit cynical, but that's how it's done with a lot people. So in that vein, I offer my recommendations, in order to hopefully better educate anyone who reads this, since I happen to know most of the candidates for this Shakespearean farce we call the Michigan Student Assembly. Click on the names for more info (when possible)
PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT
Jesse Levine/Alicia Benavides

LSA
Justin Paul
Eddie Lee
Perry Teicher
Nicole Stallings
Bart Kumor
Alex Moffett
Ally Jacobs? I put a question mark b/c she is chair of the College Republicans, and an admitted Conservative. The reason I'm still endorsing her is she has shown a lot of passion, and barring a miraculous Maize Rage sweep of the elections, there will again be a very liberal assembly that has no worries of Conservatives taking over.

Kinesiology
Ari Liner

Rackham
Nicole Campbell
Mat Brener

Law
Cliff Davidson

Architecture
Jim Diego

Ballot Question
YES, YES, ohmigod YES!!! it's only 1 dollar people, help us fund more student groups, and just order a water instead of a Coke next time you're at Wendy's. You'll save that dollar, and help out student groups.
Remember, on March 23rd and 24th, VOTE
Peace out

BREAKING NEWS Tonight's Meeting

2005-02-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, the most controversial and contentious meeting of MSA since I've been here and most likely the most visible in years has just ended. In attendance were the usual Reps, the Michigan Daily, a channel 4 cameraman, at least 5 Coca-Cola Representatives, former MSA President Matt Nolan, and at least 40 other constituents. There was clearly a lot at stake, and I must say, I am proud of everything we did tonight (with a couple of exceptions). I will now summarize the Coke situation voted on tonight, and this is a little long, so I will not be offended if you do not read this whole entry.
The first resolution was the Coke resolution which I outlined in my last entry, scroll down to find out what it said. Before it could be voted on, President Mironov proposed we "bifurcate" the resolution, meaning we'd vote on what we thought of the allegations, and then vote separately on the actions to take. I supported this, because I believed it would give people who were a little uneasy about such a strong indictment of Coke some other options. This proposal to bifurcate passed. After that, Law Rep Davidson advised we amend the first section to weaken the language a little bit, and basically not hold Coke as accountable, instead seeking their response to the allegations and not any direct action. I voted against this, and so did the majority of the assembly. We then voted on the first part, which said the following:
Therefore be it resolved, the External Relations Committee and Peace and Justice Commission shall draft and send a letter to the Coca-Cola Company demanding that the Coca-Cola Company:
- Denounce the violence that is occurring in the name of the Coca-Cola Company in Colombia.
- Respect the fundamental rights to free association and to organize trade unions, as reflected in Colombian law, Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, as well as Conventions 87 & 88 of the International Labor Organization.
- Announce publicly in Colombia its intention to participate in an investigation of the violence at its bottling plants.
- Reinforce Coca-Cola’s public stance against violence by directing all bottling plants in Colombia to stop dealing with any armed groups that are participating in violence against trade unionists.
- Establish a complaint and reporting process which will allow union members to report violations occurring in Coca-Cola bottling plants to an official of the company who will then investigate and take swift remedial action against these violations.
- Provide compensation to the known victims of violence at Coca-Cola bottling plants.
- Withdraw entirely from Coca-Cola plants in Kersala, India, based on worker’s and citizen’s demands in the region.
- Provide basic healthcare to workers and their dependents of Coca-Cola’s bottlers and distributors infected with HIV/AIDS.
After the first section was passed, the second section came up to vote, but before that could happen, Mironov again proposed a change. He proposed the final clause be changed from saying: ERC (my committee) will send letters to the Ethical Purchasing Committee, the head of Purchasing, and President Coleman to demand the U not renew its contract if Coke has not fully complied and addressed the grievances above, to a more moderate resolution stating the MSA supports the efforts of the Coke Coalition and urges the cutting of the contract if the Review Board finds Coke responsible to the charges. That is merely a paraphrase of the new resolution, and may be slightly inaccurate, I apologize, I will update it more specifically when I obtain a copy of his amendment (I lost it in the craziness of the meeting, sorry). The Assembly(and myself) agreed that the changes to the resolution should be made, on the basis of maintaining a good relationship with the University and respecting the process that is underway. By no means do I pledge my 100 percent support for the University in everything they do by voting for the amendment; I merely believe that we would have been overstepping our bounds as a governing body by completely indicting Coke on these charges and then demanding the U cut its contract. We are one of the few (or only) Universities to have a Vendor's Code of Conduct, and I believe as such we are a leader amongst universities in our dealings with vendors. As such, I believe we should respect these institutions, in order to ensure that they will be as strong as possible in the future. This was a hard decision for me, since I saw so much support for the original amendment, and my emotions were screaming at me to vote for the resolution as proposed. However, I decided that as a Representative, I should not let my emotions be involved too much, and making prudent decisions with the big picture in mind. I believe we made a strong statement of our disproval of certain actions of Coke, while maintaining our integrity, and hopefully, our respect. I apologize for any in the campaign who felt they suffered a loss tonight, but I believe they should view it as a victory. Coca-cola will have to take notice, and the publicity of the campaign is already resulting in progress, in my opinion. Please feel free to contact me at mcfo@umich.edu or comment on this blog if you require further explanation or have any questions about tonight's vote. I will update on the rest of the meeting at a later time, this huge entry has worn me out.

Killer Coke?

2005-02-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

After tabling the resolution to recommend to the U that we cut our contract with Coca-Cola if they do not reform their practices, the vote will come up this Tuesday. If you are unclear on what Coke has done to warrant a contract being cut, I suggest going here, here, or read the Michigan Daily's take on it.
This is a huge deal, and is, in my opinion, the biggest decision this assembly has had to make so far. Not only did Coke send four(four!!) representatives to our last meeting, and with more to come to our next meeting, but it is a huge decision because so far only five U.S. colleges have joined the global boycott, and they are all small liberal arts colleges (Oberlin-types). If a University with the prominence and size of U of M cuts its contract, it would send a strong message to the dozens of other universities who are considering it, and would represent the largest contract so far that would be cut from Coke (over $1 Million). Also, I know there are thousands of University students and faculty who enjoy drinking Coke on a daily basis (I'm a sucker for Cherry Coke, myself) and would be aversely affected if they suddenly no longer had that option. So it is not a decision I'm taking lightly. In fact, I have met numerous times with members of the "Killer Coke" campaign to discuss the resolution and the issues. So I feel sufficiently informed about it to make a vote. I am not going to say which way I'm leaning at this point, but if you have any thoughts, by all means comment, I would like to get as much input as possible before voting.

MSA Update

2005-02-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, quite a meeting yesterday. We approved the Budget Priorities Committee's funding requests unanimously, had about 10 constituents speak during constituent's time, and passed about 5 resolutions. The controversial "Resolution opposed to the MCRI" was up for vote, so 6 people spoke in favor, including 2 very inspiring speeches from Cass Tech seniors, and one person spoke against. The 2 high schoolers were definitely the highlight of the night for me; they really spoke from the heart and made a strong case. I was also amazed by the radical nature of the speeches from MSA members, including such phrases as "if we left it up to the people to decide, we'd be back to segregation." Such ridiculous hyperbole was coming out fast and furious, and it really showed that for someone who considers himself an open-minded liberal, I'm really a moderate/borderline conservative on this Assembly. Also in constituent's time, I made a brief speech on my problems with the adversarial tone some MSA members took last week when Donica Varner came in (a much better solution than just bitching in this blog).
Now, to the resolutions. One gave 5,000 dollars to help bring the Roots to campus, which I supported (although if they didn't pick the Roots they would bring the Shins, which would rock so much harder), 2 made a stand for LGBT rights, and then the MCRI one. Now, I must say, this is the first time I did not vote with the activists on the Assembly, as I voted no on this resolution. My reasoning is this: I didn't vote it down b/c I'm against affirmative action (I'm for it), I didn't vote it down b/c I don't think MSA should take on controversial issues (I think we should), I voted it down because what we are saying is that we do not want the people to be able to even have a choice on the issue. We are saying that we want to deny the most democratic process out there (the ballot initiative) merely for our own personal opinions on the issue. Now, some are saying that the MCRI is deceitful and confusing, but if this is the case then the courts will throw out their petitions (as they've done in the past). It is not the job of the Assembly to judge the legality of a ballot proposal. I hope that after this we will not focus so much on affirmative action and move on to more substantive changes that everyone will benefit from.

Newest Developments

2005-01-19T21:23:00.000-08:00

First off, I'd like to give a shout out to Rese for some amazing work. Definitely check out her blog for more detailed info about the happenings of ERC and PIRGIM.
Second of all, I'd like to weigh in on the whole Ryan Bates controversy. Basically, an MSA member (originally 2 MSA members) wants an investigative committee formed b/c he feels that Bates acted improperly in publicizing the non-partisan buses to D.C. It is mostly based on the phrase "mean old man" being used to characterize the President, and the target of the e-mail (which no one knows-it was blind carbon-copied). I think this is ridiculous. Yes, the terms of the email were a little shady, but he has the right to phrase the personal email in any way he wants, and I don't think we need a committe to properly investigate this manner. It is also worth noting that the person pushing for the committee is also the lone member to vote against funding the buses.
In other, less controversial news, we passed the Frieze Resolution. Strong step towards forcing more responsibility of student housing on the administration. They have been negligent for too long.
Also, Rese and I will be meeting with VP Wilbanks soon. So I"m excited about that. We're trying to kick as much ass as possible, and get the most stuff done. Yeah, that wasn't very eloquent, but I'm a politician, and eloquence loses elections. We'll be having our next ERC meeting at 2 pm this Friday at the MSA chambers, so please come!!!
And finally, I met with a couple of SOLE members today to talk about their "KillerCoke" Campaign. At first I was very hesitant to sign on, but after some research, it appears that the actions of Coca-Cola (and its subsidiaries) demand action, and the University can set the tone for other large public universities to follow. The contract with Coke is not even that large, and I think it would be a small step in the right direction if the U does not renew their contract with Coke. So keep on an eye on this, I have a feeling it is going to be a contentious issue soon.

External Relations Committee

2004-12-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

We had our first ERC meeting last night, and it went really well. There was a better turnout than expected, and 2 MSA reps even showed up and contributed (Tim Wiggins, Happy Wong). Tim had some great ideas, and I am excited that he is going to work with us this year (especially after some of my remarks earlier. Don't worry, my foot is so far back in my mouth I'm gagging).
Here is a list of what we are thinking about doing:
-A weekly Daily piece on MSA (kinda like the Crime Notes)
- Continued participation with the Campus Neighbors (I'm going to the meeting on Monday at 4 pm- let me know if any of you would like to come with)
- A campuswide lobby day to Lansing
- A lobby day to D.C. for MSA Reps
- Something with the couch ban...we're not sure yet
- Transportation/Housing Issues

So that was about it...Rese and I are planning on meeting with Cynthia Wilbanks after we get back from break, and hopefully we can get this stuff done!

Committee/Commission Chair Elections

2004-12-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

Last night was one of the most crucial MSA meetings of the semester: committe and commission chair elections.
I had a different post here earlier, that was basically me venting some anger at some perceived things that happened. Most of it was me not knowing what was really going on, and feeling frustrated at what was happening. Life as an independent isn't as great as I imagined. But, regardless of my frustrations, I said some things that were personally insulting to Stu Wagner, and for that reason I deleted it. I have not really gotten to know him well, and this caused me to misinterpret some things that he did, and for me to make some claims that were not true. So I'd like to extend a public apology to him, in addition to me talking to him on the phone. It was not fair of me to say the things I said, especially without going to him first. I am still a bit new to this political process, and am bound to make some mistakes, and I have clearly already made a large one. Luckily for me, Stu is a big enough man to not hold a grudge, and is so committed to students that he is willing to put this behind him. I am looking forward to getting to know him better, and I sincerely hope my comments have not given people a bad impression of either him or me, since it was very out of character for me to do so.

So that's what happened on Tuesday. Needless to say, I'm very excited about working with Rese on ERC, I see a lot of potential in it. If you are still reading at this point, our meeting will be at 7 pm this Thursday in the MSA chambers. All are welcome!!

So it begins...

2004-11-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have just had a very active day with MSA, so I am going to update. First of all, I passed out ribbons for the Men Against Violence Against Women's White Ribbon Campaign for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and I must say I was very encouraged by the response. For such a snowy, cold day, there were a lot of people passing out ribbons, and every person I talked to was very cordial. Following that, I had my final steering meeting as Voice Your Vote Co-chair (tear) I guess it's finally officially ending. It still seems like we should still be having meetings and registering voters and calling people, but live moves on. After that, I briefly attended the Women's Issue Commission meeting, just me and the two co-chairs (both women). I can't say that it wasnt a little awkward being the only male in the room, but I am standing by my promise to keep women's issues in mind throughout my tenure. After that was "MSA 101," a general information session about what MSA is and how it runs. I was impressed with the candidates that I got a chance to talk to, and it seems like we can get a lot done. I do not sense any resentment from Students 4 Michigan that I took one of their seats, and I definitely do not resent them. Jason, the current president, made us all write down 3 things we'll strive to accomplish this semester. My three things were: student voice in city council/state legislature, an improved housing situation, and extend the hours of the CCRB.
Tomorrow will be the first official MSA meeting, and then we're off and running! I plan on running for the External Relations Committee, basically the fifth-highest ranking committee, but more importantly, the committee in which I can accomplish the goals I set forth that fateful November evening when I decided to run and lay out a platform stressing students active in all phases of governance that affect us. Students WILL have a voice in city council and in the surrounding community, I promise you this. I feel that we were very successful with VYV, but I sense even more potential with ERC, just wait. If a group of committed students can register 10,000 voters and increase turnout by a large margin, why can't we do more? I will not accept that young people only cared this fall because they hated Bush, and will now go back into the woodwork and never be active again. We will remain active, and remain a force to be reckoned with.

VICTORY!!

2004-11-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

The official results are in, and they look like this:
*LSA Representative Stu Wagner 1032 6730 (Students 4 Michigan)
*LSA Representative Arielle Linsky 829 4883 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Robbie O''Brien 673 3979 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Rese Fox 699 3903 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Alicia Benavides 687 3762 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Tim Wiggins 668 3618 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Russ Garber 543 3064 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Andrew Scheidel 532 2709 (S4M)
*LSA Representative Mike "Mcfo" Forster 407 2586 (Independent-and Lovin' it!)
LSA Representative Bart Kumor 418 2581 (Independent)
LSA Representative Tiffani Commander 498 2476 (S4M)
*Asterisks mean that person is elected

If the results hold up, this means that I won by less points than is given to a first place vote! In other words, any one person who voted and ranked me first was the difference in the election! Who says one vote never mattered! And also, of the 9 LSA seats, I was the only non-Students 4 Michigan candidate to win!!! I am so happy that I was able to do what the other 16 Independent and 4 DAAP candidates were unable to do; stand up to the leviathan that is S4M and win. I am invigorated and excited to serve the LSA students in the winter, and even if I hadn't won, this was a great experience and I'm glad I decided to run, everyone's support was amazing. Everybody who voted, told a friend, encouraged me, put a link their profile, whatever, I cannot stress enough how much it all meant to me!!

Crunch Time

2004-11-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has been spreading the good word, and has already voted for me. If you haven't yet VOTE PLEASE
But also, in a bit of exciting news, the Michigan Daily actually contacted me and ran a few of my quotes in the paper, and while I was misquoted a bit and they mistakenly said I was running for LSA-SG (I'm running for MSA, it's completely different), I was excited to see my ideas out there.
Daily Article
Here is a quote from the article:
Forster’s website, msamikeforster.blogspot.com, lists his platform, which he says is an advantage of being an independent. If elected, Forster says he would try to get a student lobbyist in the capital of Lansing and help students get education about moving out of the dorms and dealing with landlords in off-campus housing.

Voting Time!

2004-11-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's now time to vote, and hopefully after reading my platform, etc. you can make the right decision.
VOTE NOW!!
Polls are open until Thursday night. Thanks for your support!

Endorsement

2004-11-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have received endorsements from the following groups:
College Democrats
Enact

Letter printed

2004-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

The Michigan Daily finally acknowledged my campaign by printing my letter to the editor. Here's a sample from it:
Reading the Daily lately has made me feel like Ralph Nader, in that I feel I have much to offer the students, both in my platform and in my extensive experience with MSA, but because I chose not to run with one of the two parties, the Daily has not covered my campaign at all. I suggest every voter visit vote.www.umich.edu to view the platforms of the candidates that the Daily has ignored, and make a more educated decision, rather than voting straight-party.

Review Article

2004-11-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

While the Michigan Daily chose to focus on the Students for Michigan Party, the other campus newspaper, The Michigan Review, had this to say:

Mike Forster (http://msamikeforster. blogspot.com/) an LS&A junior differs from the other candidates in that he has had experience with MSA before serving as the Voice Your Vote chair. Forster seeks to increase MSA’s pull with the local and the state governments advocating for student causes.

“My top issues are providing a student voice in Lansing, in the form of a lobbyist for student issues, working tirelessly to defend tenant’s rights for off-campus housing, and more sensible meal plans for students.”

Forster also wants to make the assembly more accessible to the student body.

“I also believe that MSA can do more to be accessible to the students (holding office hours, make meetings that students would actually want to attend).”

Platform/Ideology

2004-11-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

Student Representation
My main complaint, and my main reason for running for student government is the lack of student input into decisions that directly affect their lives. There is currently no student voice in the Ann Arbor City Council, no student voice in the Board of Regents, and no student voice in Lansing. In the 2004 election we college students proved that we care about politics deeply, so much so that we were willing to wait in long lines to vote. Why aren't we then awarded the same representation as everyone else? Well, the city of Ann Arbor is gerrymandered so no ward has a student majority(which is difficult when you consider how much of Ann Arbor is U of M students), winning a spot on the Board of Regents requires the amount of campaigning that a full-time student does not have the time for, and we do not have enough money or unity to lobby for our causes in Lansing like other large interest groups do. I would like to do something about this. I would like to work with the University and the city of Ann Arbor to commit to re-drawing the districts in Ann Arbor for the next cycle in 2010 (far in the future I know, but there really is no choice), I would like to pressure the Regents to create a spot for a student on the Board, and I would like to spend just 50 cents per student a sememster to hire a full-time lobbyist in Lansing to lobby exclusively on OUR ISSUES.

Meal Plan
Currently, students are charged approximately 10 dollars a meal. This is outrageous, compared to the 6 dollars a meal that Ohio State students are responsible for, and anyone who is eaten in the cafeteria knows, it would take a behemoth to get your money's worth out of every meal. I propose the University actively works to lower the cost of meals in the dining halls, to prevent more students from leaving the dorms, and therefore create a less-crowded off-campus housing situation.

Housing Issues
The housing situation right now is ridiculous. The average rent for student housing is extremely high, the time for signing leases is too early, and there is little accountability for bad landlords. I will work to push back lease-signing times, and to create a forum for complaints about landlords, and a rating system that will cultivate responsibility amongst them.

Ideology
As an MSA Rep, I will do my best to not let my ideology get in the way of serving students, but if anyone is curious, I am liberal on all social issues, and will promote that. I believe that civil and social rights, and the environment should be vigorously protected.

Qualifications

2004-11-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

Many of you have questioned how exaclty I am qualified to run for MSA, and I will now go into why:
I have served as the Voice Your Vote Commission Co-Chair since last spring, in which time we registered over 10,000 voters (a new record for U of M), called 15,000 students and greatly increased turnout for the presidential election.
I am an LSA Junior who has worked within and between student groups since I first stepped foot on this campus, including the likes of Students for PIRGIM, College Democrats, and Men Against Violence Against Women.
I have established relationships with many members of MSA already, including MSA President Jason Mironov, vice-president Jenny Nathan, and executive members Jesse Levine and Elliot Wells-Reid.
I have knowledge of how MSA works, since I have attended meetings, requested funding, and gone through the whole process of MSA numerous times.
And most importantly, I am in touch with the student body. I am not some ideologue who is out of touch with what everyday students want, or some pre-business hack who wants something to put on his/her resume. I truly want to continue to be a part of MSA, and represent the school of LSA to the best of my ability.

Alert the Presses: MCFO is running for MSA

2004-11-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Attention all, friends and relatives, activists, and LSA-er's alike, I, Mike Forster, aka Coop, aka MCFo, aka Silk the Shocker, am running for MSA. This blog's sole purpose will be to advance my platform, and get me elected to the great institution known as the Michigan Student Assembly. I am not currently running with any party, since I am dissatisfied with "Students for Michigan," and am too lazy to create my own party. I am content to run independent, since history has shown that political parties in student government all eventually become corrupt and lose track of their ideals. I promise this will not happen to me. If you choose to elect me on November 17th & 18th, I will serve one term as LS&A rep., and then I will depart, hopefully having made a lasting impact on the student assembly, and if possible, the student body as a whole. I will soon update my qualifications to run, my platform, and if you're lucky, my winning campaign strategy. You may not be happy with the results of the national election, but I will do my best to make sure you are happy with the results of the student election.

MSAMikeForster

Viewpoint

Final Post

Liasion Elected!

City Council

The Ides of May

Goin' Nuclear

Committee/Commission Chair Elections

4-5 Update

MSA Recommendations

**BREAKING NEWS** Tonight's Meeting

Killer Coke?

MSA Update

Newest Developments

External Relations Committee

Committee/Commission Chair Elections

So it begins...

VICTORY!!

Crunch Time

Voting Time!

Endorsement

Letter printed

Review Article

Platform/Ideology

Qualifications

Alert the Presses: MCFO is running for MSA

BREAKING NEWS Tonight's Meeting