Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

Let me just say ...

2006-09-09T00:04:00.000-04:00

This Fall election will be remembered for years to come. Of course I have known that for a while, but read this summary of the 2000 Election from sloppygators. It's a long article, but a great one. Oh, and don't forget to vote as to whether John is more feminine or douche-like, LOL.

Think about the story-lines for this election ...

Virgil accurately reports on NAGAS' blog that Lydia Washington will resign because of grades. He is harassed at first, but ultimately proven correct.

SBP John Boyles says he will announce a temporary VP ASAP and holds a Veep forum, to which all students are invited to apply. Senate President Mike Patrone (who has only been in office for 8 Senate meetings because SWAMP Senate President Lauren Mierley resigns just two weeks after taking the job) decides to CANCEL the last senate meeting of the summer, forcing John to wait until the beginning of the Fall to name a VP (although we all know Patrone isn't smart enough to take this action on his own, we wonder if it was Weiss or Boyles who pushed harder for the delay). Boyles then announced a VP-- 6 weeks after Lydia's resignation-- who was a personal friend and supporter during the Access campaign in '04. So much for a Veep forum.

A coalition of independents known as "Florida Blue Lightning" begins writing letters to the editor and make their presence known by gathering signatures for a referendum over summer B. Florida Blue Lightning becomes the Action Party (history discussed in the above-linked Sloppygators article) and announces that they will run Chris Chase, former Chief of Staff to Gator VP Joyce Medinah, who fired Chase because he was better at the job than she was.

A former, disgruntled Cabinet Director and long-time SG pundit Bruce Haupt decides to form the "Slumber Party" to mock SG and the election. Slumber Party becomes the "Pants Party" per a facebook suggestion from former Impact Party Treasurial Candidate's Campaign Manager Adam Reith. Pants has gotten positive press coverage just as often as Action since their inception.

Former Access and Impact Party leaders Adelle Fontanet and Kevin Bacon decide to run the "Feminist Party", but miss a deadline to register a party name, and run Kappa Kappa Gamma President Nina Dejong as an Independent.

Swamp candidate Arturo Armande is actually the LAST VP candidate to be officially named and receive the requisite 300 signatures. This blogger wonders how the members of the Black Caucas feel that Lydia is being replaced with Arturo and not Vanessa Goodwin (rumor says she doesn't want it, but who wouldn't want VP, really?). Why else does Swamp wait until Tuesday afternoon to name the candidate? And what do they get in return? 9 candidates? Sam Green as Senate Pro Tem? My sources say they didn't even get that, but instead Sam will be promoted to Budget Chair as Tanaz moves up to Pro Tem. Then after Weiss runs for President, Tanaz will get the shaft as Senate President (see Mike Patrone) for most likely Kevin Reilly.

Wow... Here we are just 18 days away from the end of the election, and we have 4 VP candidates, Swamp running 46 senate candidates, Action running 42, and Pants running 9.

It is obvious to all that with 4 parties there will be a run-off. Christian Duque believes that it is possible for either Pants or Nina to make it to a run-off against either Swamp or Action. He breaks it down as either Pants or Action versus Swamp or Nina. While I respect his idealism, I am sure we all can agree that it will be Swamp and Action come October 3rd. The question is, what will Bruce and Nina do?

I find it ironic that Christian Duque tells Nina and Bruce to not support Action's senate candidates or Action in a run-off, since he is so anti-Progress for not supporting the Independents in Impact in Spring 04. Maybe I mis-understood the Radikal, because this seems unlike him.

While I think the VP election results will be close, Swamp will have 5X the supporters and campaigners that Action does, and should easily pick up 30 senate seats. If Action can break double digits, they would be very fortunate. This campaign does seem to be much more organized than Impact did last fall, but there is only so much that one can do for the senate race, and Pants running candidates in D, RYMAC, and Murphree does not help.

In Action's favor, they will be first on the ballot in most races (except VP and Hume). They also have the Keg effect, in that a large portion of Greek voters who don't care either way will likely vote for Pants. It is interesting to note that Bruce, Nina, and Arturo all have some Greek letters in front of them. What influence can Nina have with PC? Bruce with IFC? Arturo with MGC?

While it's still early to say exactly what will happen, it will certainly be interesting and will have major effects on the Spring race (except for Arturo ... how coincidental). Should Chris win, or even pull a large portion of the vote ...

Ok, now I must go to bed, because the sooner I do, the sooner it is GAMEDAY. Have a fun and a SAFE one,

NAGAS

Action Party Analysis

2006-09-07T12:07:00.000-04:00

Forgive me, but this originated as a part of a comment post last night. I spent too much time working on it, went to bed, and decided to publish the response- which turned into the Action analysis- as a post.

Anon 11:21

I'm not an Action Party blogger. I'm not a Pants Party blogger. And I'm not a Nina Dejong blogger. I certainly am no Swamp Party blogger.

I did the Action party analysis last night and well, it's not exciting-- at all. It's a 70% white ticket, with 5-6 IFC/PC Greeks. That puts their Greek ratio at between 12.2 and 14.3 %, which sounds to me pretty much exactly like the UF ratio. However, Action doesn't appear to be diverse in other aspects. I did notice a lot more involvement in both College Republicans and College Democrats (see Tommy Jardon, Ben Grove, Joshua Simmons, Matt Dean, Sean Cubillos, Elizabeth Stinson/Stephanie Ruby, Rosemarie Clouston, Danielle Dennis, Robert Lucas) and that's just from facebook profiles.

It appears that there are no athletes this time, and not much Greek influence as in the past. One interesting note is Action's Broward candidate. He's a TEP. So I got to thinking ... Phi Sig I understand ... Chi Phi surprised me slightly b/c of Pants, but Swamp has a Chi Phi too ... PiKapp? I guess ... Teak yeah yeah ... but TEP?

What's going on with TEP? Is this some Nina Dejong-esque I don't need the Greek system kinda thing from this kid? Or is TEP not supporting Swamp since there are no TEP's on the Swamp slate? Very interesting. I'd have to imagine that this young man if flying solo on this one without the support of his house-- good luck sir, you will need it!

Action has two Area Gov't Presidents, as does Swamp. Swamp also has two IRHA Exec Board members. I seem to remember after Jennifer Puckett left, both Mike Reynolds and EJ Walicki saying they didn't want IRHA being political again ... good job boys.

The only other real thing of note is that it seems both parties filled a lot of their slates with their exec members. For Swamp-- Josh Weiss, Kevin Reilly, Keith Hardwick. For Action- Tommy Jardon, Ryan Nelson, Kim Cruts, Rosemarie Clouston, David Meyrowitz, Caitlin Clause, Josh Simmons-- all self-reported from facebook. Maybe that was their plan all along, but it makes you wonder if some of these aren't just filling holes? The Alligator reported that Action qualified 58 candidates, and chose 42 to run for office. While I don't remember the exact number, and my brain hurts from all this research/stalking already tonight, I feel as if though Impact qualified about the same last Fall as Action did now. So perhaps that it natural for a fall campaign. Swamp on the other hand had some ridiculous number-- think 300-- but the Alligator hasn't updated their archives this Fall, so I can't be too sure. I wish I had the time to do a full analysis of everyone who slated with Swamp to determine a Greek percentage, but I must study.

For anyone interested though (*cough Virgil *cough), you can obtain the complete list of candidates and which party they qualified with by putting in a Public Information Request with Sandy Vernon in the SG Offices in Reitz 300.

Coming later today ... a Pants analysis

Until then,
(and specifically for you Anon 11:28)
Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

It’s been a while … (in the voice of Chad Kroeger)

2006-09-06T17:59:00.000-04:00

As you all know, slating is now over, and there are 4 Veep candidates running, as well as 42 senate races (5 seats automatically being won by Swamp). I figured I would do a little facebook stalking, which was markedly easier thanks to the new facebook. I can see when people joined the respective groups, added members of the party leadership as friends, and when they removed the phrase “Alpha Epsilon Phi” from their interests. Oh, thank you blessed facebook. So, I spent about 45 minutes doing this “research” and here are the interesting things of note:

• Swamp really didn’t prep their new senators like they used to. For instance, someone forgot to tell their district E candidate Curtis Garrison to take AGR Room 13 off his facebook profile since he just told the SOE that he lives in Williston full time. And here’s the proof, if you look closely at the 4th line of text.

• My best count has 22 of Swamp’s 46 senators being IFC/PC Greek

• My best count has 7 of Swamp’s remaining 24 senators being MGC/NPC

• They also have one Kappa Upsilon Chi

• 5 of the remaining 17 have their profiles restricted so people like me can’t stalk them

• In case you cared, 9 of Swamp’s 46 senators are black, but 6 of those 9 are in district D, the only really competitive district

• In fact, 11 of Swamp’s 13 District D are Black, Hispanic, or Asian, and the other 2 are IFC/PC. Apparently there are no non-Greek white students in all of 32608 (ahem, Richard Slaughter?)

• 3 of Swamp’s 46 either are in, or are a member of, I love Lambda Theta Alpha, the sorority of former Unite Treasurer candidate Lola Bovel (while non appear on the Action list)

• Of the non-minority, non IFC/PC Greeks among Swamp’s slate, 4 of the remaining 5 are some form of an officer within IRHA (Lindsey Johns VP, Keith Hardwick Business Manager, Ashley Suggs RYMAC President, Thomas Cockriel)

• The only non-minority, non-Greek, non-IRHA kid on the Swamp slate appears to be Joshua James Monroe, their Tolbert candidate.

• The only seat Swamp didn’t slate was Family Housing

I’ll break down the Action slate either later tonight, or tomorrow morning. Pants should follow shortly there-after. Please forgive me if the analysis seems crass, but it’s all information that was publicly available on facebook.

Until tomorrow,
Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

Speaking of new threads ...

2006-08-11T10:19:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered, why aren't people nicer to each other? In general, we as a society are not very nice to each other. More specifically .... we as UF SG insiders are not very nice to each other. Now, some people have really done things to give others reason to not be nice, but for the most part, people just do it anyway. I am pretty sure that all of these anonymous commenters who are so hateful towards each other really don't have good reason, and in many instances, don't even know each other in person. Look at the last thread and all the hatred there-in, it makes me sad.

The purpose of this blog, and most of these SG blogs (back in the day) was not to simply hate on each other, but was to create healthy discussion, and expose rumor and news of course. So I will ask nicely, please make sure that your comments are in same way productive to a conversation, and not simply "XXXX You suck". Because, if this continues, I will require that you post comments under a user name, and no longer allow anonymous comments. Then at least we'll be able to track the anons.

Moral of the story-- be nicer to each other =)

2006-08-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

Ok folks, it's time for a new thread...Lets assume that the person JB appoints decides not to run, who do you think should run? Pick a fabulous blue team person, and a red team person too!

Fill in the blanks:
I think ____________ should run for V.P. this Fall because....

EDIT: God forbid we answer the question people... lets be nice...

Darts and Laurels

2006-07-27T14:58:00.000-04:00

Bridget, if you are still reading this, I just wanted to congratulate you for the funniest edition of Darts and Laurels I have ever read (and I don't just mean the SG part). Now I know you don't control the opinion section directly, but I still feel like giving you the credit. If you haven't read them yet, do so now.

The only saddening part is how pessimistic we have come towards our own SG. While I agree 100% completely with the comments, I hate giving the incoming freshmen a negative outlook before they have gotten the chance to be screwed over themselves.

Isn't is sad when we have to assume that everything is only for appearance sake, and not sincere? Isn't it sad that things usually are fake, and those in power are generally not interested in getting all students involved at all?

Makes you wonder ...

I for one am glad that John is trying to maintain a transparent government. But I, as many of you reading, knows it's not that clear-cut. I am pleasantly surprised that he received 15 responses in 2 hours though, until I find out that all 15 were from AEPi (hypothetically speaking of course-- just look at the qualifying forms from John's campaign in the Spring).

John, I salute you for making an attempt, for it is more than your predecessors have done.

On a separate note, do you suppose than John might not have been a candidate for SBP if Lindsay Cosimi didn't let her grades slip? I mean, for a long while there it looked as though LC would be the candidate, and then she suddenly withdrew her name from contention. It doesn't do much to play the "whatif" game now, but, it's fun, so let's play.

What if ... Jared Hernandez won the support of Swamp before it was Swamp. Would there have been a race?

What if ... Kyle Jones didn't choose Jamal Sowell as his SBT? Would the likes of Becca Guerra, Lola Bovell, Dennis Ngin, MacKenzie Moritz, and even John Boyles gotten into SG when Jamal started Access?

What if ... no AEPi wanted to be Accent chair? What would we do?!?

What if ... a certain Alpha Chi house leader never started a blog about SG in the first place (be nice now)?

Ok, enough for now. I was simply feeling nostalgic ... ahhh.

May your final few weeks of summer be fun,

NAGAS

Fool me once shame on me, Fool me twice ...

2006-07-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

Soooooo I know what Lydia said in Senate on Tuesday, but if John does take "a few weeks" as he said, what is to stop her from fixing the situation just as Cosimi did? I'm not too familiar with the facts, but I don't see what keeps Lydia from at least running in the Fall election (if she can get her summer GPA up to maintain a 2.0 in the previous semester and satisfy that rule).

While on the topic, why not Lauren Mierley? Her internship should probably be over in the next couple of weeks, and could easily fly down for one or two senate meetings until then. Sure, she did resign, but at least she kept her grades/qualifications up. And sure she doesn't know Cabinet, but who knows SG better? Who has a stronger passion?

There are a few old school candidates who jump to my mind, but John will likely want to appoint someone close to him with potential SBP hopes and current leadership experience. Might he want to reward one of his key supporters? Possibly someone close to Lydia? A cabinet chair possibly? Vanessa Goodwin reminds me most of Lydia in that regard, and would be a good choice to groom for a Fall election. However, going back to rewarding his key supporters and friends, what about EJ Walicki? He's already been IRHA President (and I know he reads my blog), so he has the experience and might not mind passing the torch to his VP (who was his age when he became President). I can't say I could name a better choice than EJ.

Thoughts? Comments?

NAGAS

Vice President Lydia Washington Resigns...

2006-07-18T19:52:00.000-04:00

It's official. Her Spring semester GPA was too low, and an appeal to DSO was rejected.

Discuss, but keep it civil. The poor girl has been through a lot. If comments get out of hand, the thread will be promptly closed; no warnings will be given. Thank you.

2006-06-25T13:23:00.000-04:00

OK,
So it's time for some productive policy discussion, and less gossipy trash...

What do you think SG needs to get done over Summer B?

How do you think Senate should be reapportioned?

Do you think committee sizes should be changed?

All my love from Paris,
ADC

Breaking...

2006-06-15T18:16:00.000-04:00

Reliable sources have passed word that Student Body Vice President Lydia Washington will be resigning her position in the near future, due to reportedly academic reasons.

Source continues by stating that this is likely a permanent resignation, and not a Lindsay Cosimi-esque temporary diversion.

--

Further, apparently Cabinet assistant directorship appointments were scheduled to be released Sunday, however have not, as of yet, been posted. It's altogether likely, we posit, this is connected to this impending - dare we say it - "scandal."

Appointmentation.

2006-06-05T10:17:00.000-04:00

I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments. - Nathaniel Emmons

Cabinet chairs, Cabinet secretaries, and the rest of the agency head appointments are on the glass wall, too numerous to list, and likely to be approved, as a bloc, by acclamation, tomorrow night. Stop by and take a gander at our dear SBP's decisions.

Good for her

2006-06-01T12:04:00.000-04:00

It's not too often that we get to say this, so I'll throw a laurel to Lauren Mierley for realizing that the real world might just be more important than being the SG's Senate President. In case you have been under a rock, you probably know that Lauren resigned from senate Tuesday before last to accept an internship with General Electric. Kudos Lauren. One must wonder though how it is possible that Lauren didn't know she had been made such an offer. Or, did she say no and then change her mind? Or finally, has she been contemplating it all along? If so, then wouldn't she owe the senate (and as a corollary the student body) the decency to let them know this before they elect her? Certainly makes you wonder ...

Resigning the Senate Presidency also ends her SBP hopes for two main reasons:

1) The Alligator and opposing parties would tear her to shreds.
2) If she is willing to give up one SG position for an internship, and one assumes an internship will hopefully lead to a job, then she can't be expected to turn down the job for a different SG position. Especially when she gives us one of the more memorable SG quotes "You don't need a title to be a leader on this campus. "You don't need a title to accomplish goals and do things for the student body."

The article also says that Mierley will "return to Gainesville as a senator this Fall", but wait, aren't we being a bit presumptions here? I don't know whether to blame Alligator or Lauren, but it doesn't surprise me at all to see her "assuming" her senate seat when she comes back (and yes ... the deadline to announce a summer C replacement has long passed, so Weiss (how ironic) would have to allow her a special exemption based on her office to allow a summer replacement after the deadline).

And one last quote from the article that I just adored ... "she will remain active in Senate by keeping in touch with other top lawmakers and committee leaders". Since when did we become lawmakers? I mean, yes, technically that's what the body does, but it's not a title that I expect to see. I actually thought to myself ... why is she staying in touch with REAL lawmakers? Then after a second pass, I realized she was talking about the FRESHMAN summer B replacements and calling them lawmakers. Pshhh ... I think the framers of the constitution just collectively rolled over in their graves. Sorry freshman, and sorry summer A/B replacements, but you are not lawmakers. With that out of the way ...

Two main questions arise from Lauren's departure from the spotlight ...

1) Who will replace her as Senate President, and
2) Does a 3rd party throw their name in the ring for FBK's nomination?

As much as it hurts me to say, it all revolves around (sigh ...) Josh Weiss. His intent with the bill last senate (note: not this past senate) is obvious-- he wants to be Senate President at the right time. But, how can the senate not realize that he is now the best choice to be Senate President, and elect him to that office? The only person who could claim to be more qualified would be Patrone, but I hate to tell you buddy, if they screwed you out of it once ...

So that leaves us with my other most favorite senator ... Kevin Reilly. But hey, anytime you can be chosen to a committee concurrently as being chosen as a senator, congrats! Come on, if it's not Weiss, we know it will be you Reilly. So, if Reilly is Senate President, then doesn't that create a problem for Weiss in the end of the Fall. While this blogger would LOVE nothing more than to see Theta Chi and AEPi battle to the death, I doubt it would ever get that far. So, if I am the powers that be, why arm Reilly with the experience needed to run for President? Which takes me back to question #1 ...

Who will be elected Senate President?

I predict, in a complete shocker ....

Lauren Mierley.

This whole General Electric internship thing sounds like a scam to me. I bet she really just got an E in one of her Spring classes due to non-attendance from working to be Senate President in the first place. She, being a lot smarter than certain predecessors, took a proactive action in resigning. Right now she is probably cramming to finish a paper or study for a test so that she may pass the class, just in time for the senate to ... that's right ... re-elect her as Senate President.

Mierley-gate 06 here we come!!!

But seriously ... this Senate President, whomever it may be, will be in a tough spot. Much like Diane Kassim before them, they will have a lame duck semester in which their political influences will dwindle. And none of the potential candidates mentioned pulls any community other than their own- white Greeks. At least in Diane's case she had some, albeit wavering as it was, black support. It does me no good to further speculate who will get the nod this Tuesday, so I will agree with much of the earlier sentiment ...

Fei Long for Senate President!

NAGAS

PS. I was bored & figured a little commentary would keep me interested ... eh ...

Breaking the silence ...

2006-05-25T19:48:00.000-04:00

It's been a while my friends, and I don't plan on saying much right now, but I just wanted to set the record straight and make sure everyone knows that Virgil, GDI, and NAGAS are very separate entities. The only thing that connects us is our quest for others to see the truth (and vote accordingly). Please note the ID of the blogger who makes the post, as I haven't posted or commented since roughly election week. Long story short, too many people were asking questions, and I needed to go underground for a while. If you ask me, the other bloggers lost their effect as soon as their identities were known, and I would rather go silent for 6 months (March-September) than have my identity "unmasked".

However, don't think that I'm not listening and still fighting-- just in different forms. I am still following the '07 Presidential Election very closely-- on both sides. I still read Gatorman's playboy contest and laugh to myself, but I am saddened by the lack of SG news in general (not you Gatorman, blogging in general). All I will say is that I hope that my return will be worth the wait.

The one, the only ... NAGAS

Spotted on the glass wall...

2006-05-19T12:32:00.000-04:00

Agency Head Appointments

Accent: Andrew Brown
Aarest: Carly Orshan
Lobby Coordinator: Jason Lutin
Museum Nights: Julianne Mica
SGP: Robert Moreno

Cabinet Chairs

Ricardo Cortez
Frantz Duchatellier
Vanessa Goodwin
Alexander Hug
Jordan See

Congratulations all. We report, you decide.

2006-05-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

I don't judge people based on their speech, but on their silence.

SG pillow talk

2006-05-04T19:08:00.000-04:00

Senators tend to get a little rowdy in chambers, but the real Senate insanity tends to happen after hours. The great unspoken scandal is the incestuous Senate pillow talk after long nights in the senate chamber and at swamp…

So one of our esteemed colleagues and I were giggling about Senate, and all the trash people talk about GDI. It was all downhill from there…

GDI: people probably think I talk about elections in bed too
Fellow SG Nerd: Do you call your man for violations?
GDI: I bring him before the commission

And, being that I kinda do love elections, this is the result of that conversation…

The top five list of “campaign” violations after 8pm.

5. Campaign materials smaller than acceptable by the 700 codes.
4. Campaign materials almost placed in restricted areas.
3. “you mean the campaign is over ALREADY?”
2. Blue Shirts: “Only Greeks should do it” Red shirts: “EVERYONE should do it” Green Shirts: “Can’t we just do it online?”
1. “But baby, you promised me those positions!”

Thank you Chairwoman Gonzalez

2006-04-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to formally thank Chairwoman Gonzalez. I had been planning to resign from Senate last Tuesday. I had lost all passion for the body. I was just sitting in the back, voting, and attending committee meetings without the same spirit or passion that I once had….

Then came Laura’s committee report.

You brought it all back, and reminded me why I wanted to be a senator Laura!

So, I’ll be sticking around.
Sorry kids… blame Laura.

GDI

4/18/2006: Live

2006-04-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

This post kind of ended abruptly. Take it from me, though, nothing particularly interesting happened. GDI will certainly blog it if it did (hint. hint.) Night, all.

9:30 PM: HOA thing. Virgil is completely ignoring it.

9:26 PM: And people wonder why SG is so maligned by the student body at-large. In the past 60 seconds, we had a Senator wrangling with R&E on the floor over an absence, a total mangling of any respectable standard of parliamentary procedure, and the customary handing out of birthday cards (fortunately, singing was foregone this week). Sigh.

9:23 PM: Virgil is still taking a break. You've missed nothing.

9:02 PM: Virgil is taking a break.

8:56 PM: Let me state for the record that it is hot as holy hell in this room. What ever happened to Stone's committee to turn on the air in chambers? Sheesh.

8:52 PM: Don't get me wrong. Joe's a good guy, and he's done a reasonably good job as Student Body President. We're gonna miss him.

But we are a cynical and opinionated media outlet. He is taking credit for a bunch of things he had little to nothing to do with, and some things that weren't even really positive progress. Not impressive.

8:50 PM: More things - alcohol awareness, FSA, campus lighting, Gator Growl subsidy, Sunday bus service, grad student travel grant funding, added bus shelters on campus, and "lowered required amount to add money to declining balance account from $25 to $15."

Not impressive, honestly. Many of these the administration had nothing to do with.

8:47 PM: Some other things the administration has done. New web site, CPA ticket subsidy, Museum Nights funding, Gainesville Sun readership program, New logo, slogan, and mission statement.

Not gonna lie - that list is pretty hit or miss. The web site was not worth $15 grand, the Gainesville Sun readership program is a complete failure, a new logo, slogan, etc is nice, but really not a significant accomplishment.

8:33 PM: b) Going through Fall 2005 campaign promises. Glorious.

Renovating Rion Ballroom and 3rd Floor.
Alcohol awareness
Additional bike racks. Good call on this one - instead of building new ones, they're just removing old bikes.
Closing portions of University Avenue for football games. He is admitting it is a bad idea. Good man. He'll be missed, I think.
Campaign against 21-and-up admission to clubs. This was an issue?
-zoned out-
Movement against International Student fee. Definite check.
Bi-weekly lunches with SG officials. Technically, I guess, but I haven't talked to a single normal student who goes to these. It's just another way for SG to feign transparency and buy themselves food at the same time.

8:14 PM: Joe Goldberg with the end-of-term report.

a) Going through the Spring 2005 campaign promises. Good man.

Stopping block tuition. Check.
Lobbying for a longer Drop/Add period. Surprising check.
Free online music downloads. Unfeasible.
Decrease towing rates and Tow-n-Go. Check.
Preserve IBC/La Casita and build Asian-American center. Check, sort of.
Graduate insurance plans. Check.
Wireless in all residence halls. Definitely not. *grumble*
SG computer labs. Check.
Improve USA Today and NYT services.

If by "improve," you mean reauthorized the expense from reserves, then yes.
If by "improve," you mean worked it into the budget as a permanent program, then hell no.

Campus safety, i.e. sexual assault education (its efficacy notwithstanding), and extra lighting. Check.
Free workout towels. Heh. Heh heh.
Extend bar-closing times. A resounding no. To their credit, it is not their fault.
Extend Later Gator services. Um, not really.
"Promoting campus diversity." Terribly hard to quantify success on this one, and as it is more or less one of the stated purposes of SG, it's not something you put on a freakin' platform. I mean, unless you're
"Saying NO to a dry campus." Not an issue; thanks for playing.

8:05 PM: The resolution honoring Gareth. It's really hard to live-blog this sort of thing, so we're not going to try.

8:04 PM: How horrifically anticlimactic. CLASSC business and such.

8:03 PM: Senator Cullin steps up and the room draws its collective breath.

8:00 PM: Various.

7:54 PM: I'm making the executive decision to not pay attention to any of the discussion of the Health Outreach Assembly controversy, 1) because it's boring and 1a) because I honestly don't give a shit.

7:48 PM: Former Senator Morales schools the Senate on procedure, speaking of Robert's Rules' definition of ex officio members and purportedly "killing" a bill by tabling. Oh, that all Senators could be so skilled in the ways of parly pro.

7:47 PM: Senator Cullin is gathering her five minutes. Oh gawd.

7:46 PM: Public debate.

7:43 PM: Mobile Campus doing its damnedest to turn Senate into more of a circus than it already is.

7:41 PM: Mobile Campus here to waste more of my time.

7:40 PM: Already we fall into disorganization. A first reading of a bill a copy of which no one has was just added.

7:38 PM: Naptime.

Because we can. Expect nothing. We're not trying very hard tonight. We haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately.

I believe a nap is in order at this time

2006-04-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

Yawn.

SG is boring. What happened? Where’s the sass? The drama?

Dare I say,
Where is the scandal?

Now, the only amusement I get is commenting on Patrone’s ugly jackets.

The new Senators are.. new.

Ohhh… good story… the night Sen. Pres. Mierly bought everyone drinks, I was standing next to some guy, trying to get a drink.
Here’s a little excerpt of our conversation: The parentheses are my sarcastic thoughts.

New Senator:

You’re a Senator.

GDI:

(wondering if that’s a question or a statement) Yea. I’m ******

NS:

I know.

GDI:

(this guy is kinda creepy…) I don’t know how I feel about that…

NS:

They told me about you.

GDI:

(Who is they?) oh. Goody.

Thanks guys.
I can just imagine this meeting….
Cut to: GDI’s overactive imagination…

Shady SG type:

THIS (holds up picture of GDI) is UFGDI. Her code name is “Annoying” or alternately “Trouble”

Random New Senator:

“ But.. She’s 5’5”…. She can’t be that dangerous..”

Shady SG type:

“Not dangerous… just loud. Hate her. Don’t ask questions, don’t be friendly… just hate her. Don’t bother listening to what she says… she’s just being crazy.

Sigh.

C'est la guerre.

3/21/2006: Live

2006-03-21T19:20:00.000-05:00

If you're just getting here, do not read this all at once. You'll have an aneurysm.

~3:15 AM: Almost eight hours later, adjourned. Good night.

3:05 AM: Fighting through various committee reports. You'll forgive me if I'm not exactly paying attention.

3:01 AM: It's 3 AM. Just in case you didn't know that.

2:58 AM: Annique Deslandes is our other R&A MAL. We have spent altogether far too much time in this room for one evening. It's catching up with this blogger.

2:56 AM: Voting time. Yet again.

2:53 AM: I have seen quite a parroting of an idyllic nonpartisan vision for chambers in candidates' speeches tonight, continuing into Senator Deslandes'.

As much as I'd love to myself, does anyone really believe this tripe?

2:52 AM: Greatest strength and weakness. Where have I heard that before?

2:50 AM: A curveball question. Asking for something innovative the candidate would do for the student body.

Justin Bell talks about coordinating between cultural organizations budget-wise. Or, he should've phrased it that way.

2:49 AM:

(02:49:07) [Amanda Kane]: no, I need FEWER distractions

Now who's the English major?

2:48 AM: Justin Bell is taking another shot at MAL, this time with a significant amount of experience, and with any luck, a much larger base of support.

Talks up said experience, and how different one becomes after spending time in the Senate.

2:47 AM:

(02:46:15) [Amanda Kane]: you need more commentary with your play by play

No, no. I need less distractions.

2:45 AM: Jesse Kirsch is a new R&A MAL. Best of luck to him.

2:40 AM: Sorry. Zoned out. Jesse Kirsch vs. Roberto Hernandez for MAL slot #1.

2:26 AM: Josh Weiss is our new Senate President Pro Temp. Congrats to him. He'll do a fine job.

2:21 AM: Voting time.

2:19 AM: Josh Weiss speaks of uniting the Senate to make a greater impact for the common good. I tried to work "progress" into that Senate, but couldn't do it. *shrug*

2:15 AM: Ryan Nelson gives, without a doubt, the most heartfelt speech I've ever seen in a Senate meeting; even moreso than Reilly's farewell speech earlier tonight. He deserves this. He really does.

2:03 AM: Lauren Mierley is our new Senate President by acclimation. Congrats to her.

2:01 AM: Joel Witter is a Senator for another year. Congratulations to him. Keep up the good work, Joel.

1:59 AM: "Senators, wake up please." - Sam Green

1:53 AM: Joel Witter staying quite composed for how clearly nervous he is.

1:51 AM: Elizabeth Perez is doing terrifically well for this being her first time in front of the Senate.

1:47 AM: This seems so awfully familiar.

1:45 AM: Swearing in of new Senators. By John Boyles. Hardcore.

1:44 AM: Public debate ends, clocking in at a miniscule 40 minutes. Nicely done.

1:37 AM: Still public debate. Anyone who has ever been to a second meeting before knows what's going on now. Anyone who hasn't isn't missing anything.

Merely the customary parade of Senators, past and present, parroting their chosen candidates for Senate leadership.

I have yet to hear anyone announced for MAL other than Kirsch and Deslandes. Hmmm...

1:29 AM: The room is much cooler now.

1:24 AM ex post facto: Apparently I've been "caught" by several members of Senate. What is this "caught" business? I will have none of this.

1:20 AM: More ho-hummery. Where is that cup of coffee? :D

1:16 AM: Jesse Kirsch for R&A MAL. Interesting.

1:15 AM: Annique Deslandes for R&A MAL. Interesting.

1:10 AM: Some general ho-hummery in public debate thus far. Yes, we know Mierley for Pres., Weiss for Pro Temp. already, thanks.

1:04 AM: Quorum is established. Again.

12:59 AM: I have to wonder at the necessity of putting Elizabeth Perez's and Joel Witter's partisan affiliations on the agenda. Not like it's at all a big deal, but it's completely unnecessary.

12:57 AM: There seems to be an epidemic of Senate meetings these days. We're on at least our second for the night.

12:26 AM: Meeting 1 adjourned. I'm starving. The Food Court is closed. Dammit.

12:14 AM: No way in hell I'm typing up all of these. I do appreciate Devin Renner getting the Carl the Baptist Award though. I do appreciate that one.

12:12 AM: You anonymous commenters, you. As requested, the paper plate awards.

12:05 AM: Yes, some of us are supposed to be studying. Just to catch up those of you at home, we've had John Boyles speaking, Mike Patrone speaking, a serious tear-jerker from Kevin Reilly.

Also, most shockingly, the resignation of Becca Guerra. Interesting happenings indeed.

11:32 PM: No more until meeting 2. You just have to be here.

11:10 PM: Weaponry and alcohol for Glenda. Oh dear.

11:00 PM: No way we get out of here before Swamp closes.

10:57 PM: The handing out of the gavels. Always a good time for all involved.

10:55 PM: Mad props to John Boyles. He's run a good Senate this term; no doubt about that.

10:53 PM: Election results are validated. At last, the saga ends.

10:48 PM: Sadly, we're not yet out of the President's Report.

10:47 PM: Paper records turn up a vote of 31-45. Mwa ha ha ha ha.

10:46 PM: By voice, the final tally is 31-46. We'll see if the paper records back this up. :D

10:42 PM: If there are party lines here, I can't find them.

10:38 PM: Let the great experiment begin! Let us vote on this matter of such crucial import.

10:35 PM: Even the idealist in me can't oppose the widespread objection to extending debate. This is circular and pointless.

10:34 PM: As a closet anarcho-capitalist, I have a good solution to all of this: abolish Cabinet, let the free market take care of it.

10:28 PM: This is actually pretty boring, so it's not just me.

10:20 PM: Accountability. It's all about accountability.

Or the lack thereof.

10:17 PM:

(22:17:15) [Amanda Kane]: BLOG THE CORRUPTION

Corruption? Where?

10:12 PM: Nelson makes a good point about that. The bill as structured does allow for the Vice President to have a great deal of authority over the Cabinet as the departments are much more ambiguous.

10:10 PM: I have to admit - I'm freakin' astounded. Devin Renner actually came up with a decent idea.

Let each new Vice President determine their own Cabinet (with regards to structure as well as appointees). The Senate, and thus the statutes, should have no authority over the Vice President's job other than to confirm or deny her picks for Cabinet.

10:10 PM: This is a good debate.

9:58 PM: The live-blog will take a 15-minute recess. Talk amongst yourselves.

9:53 PM: There will be debate on the Cabinet bill. Good call.

Voting is going to be slightly unorthodox tonight. Senators will turn in paper records of their vote when their name is called. I'm guessing this is improvised.

9:52 PM: Public debate ends, clocking in at 2 hours, 58 minutes. For meeting 1.

9:49 PM: Oh dear. Senator Cullin.

9:46 PM: Senator Holcombe is definitely going to be missed as well.

9:42 PM: Climbing the stairs is like a freakin' maze.

9:34 PM: Gordon closes with a heartfelt poem. Definitely a good one.

9:33 PM:

(21:31:28) [Amanda Kane]: I did not fawn! change that right now
(21:31:35) [Virgil]: I will do nothing of the sort!
(21:31:56) [Amanda Kane]: I DO NOT FAWN, I speak the truth
(21:32:00) [Virgil]: As do I.
(21:32:07) [Virgil]: It's kind of my job.
(21:32:43) [Amanda Kane]: I used to be cool in the blogs, I used to be cool

9;28 PM: Working on moving towards hour 3 of public debate. Good times.

9:25 PM: Gordon Owen with a good farewell speech.

9:21 PM: That was a positive quote, by the way, Prokes. I have to keep reminding myself not everyone has seen Fear and Loathing. A travesty, too, that.

9:15 PM: Amanda Kane fawns over Jared. Nikki Fried should look out.

9:08 PM: In honor of the tradition of using quotes:

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

8:58 PM: If we ever, ever needed to be reminded that we are all college students first, SG nerds second, it is quite clear such advice is needed no longer.

8:54 PM: This is possibly the most fun I've ever had in Senate. I'm gonna miss Prokes, too. Here's hoping replacement seats for the both of them.

8:52 PM: God save us.

8:47 PM: No, scratch that. If only all the other farewell speeches could be this amusing.

8:44 PM: Stone with a tear-jerker. What can I say - I'm gonna miss the guy.

8:40 PM: It's such a self-esteem boost to look over people's shoulders and see them reading my terrifically well-crafted screeds.

8:32 PM: Fei Long speaks in support of our outgoing, oft-forgotten SG Exec. Joe, Joyce, and Lindsay, all partisanship aside, did indeed do a terrific job this year, and they deserve our applause.

8:30 PM: Devin Renner gives the pro-Chihuahua speech we definitely needed to hear.

8:26 PM: It took 39 minutes for Glenda to be mentioned. Unacceptable.

8:21 PM: Pedro with the Lord of the Rings quote. That's impossible to top. Just adjourn now.

8:17 PM: Suarez-Isaza with a terrific piece of information: "you don't have to be in Senate to be involved in Student Government." Truth indeed.

8:15 PM: Blogger is temporarily unavailable due to planned maintenance. Bah.

8:13 PM: Jared. Announcements, and a pro argument for the Cabinet restructuring bill.

8:08 PM: Oh shit. Amanda Kane is going to speak.

8:07 PM: Melvin Thomas with a convincing argument in opposition to the Cabinet restructuring bill.

Rumor has it there will be no new debate on the bill, though, merely a re-vote. That, I think, would be a mistake, regardless of how much longer Senate would go on.

8:04 PM: So many minutes being bought and sold - it's like a freakin' cell phone store.

7:57 PM: Semmel makes his final farewell speech.

7:55 PM: Theme music for public debate! What a terrific idea.

7:54 PM: Quorum is established. It damn well better be.

7:49 PM: Called to order with far more people than seats. And several someones have been plugging into my power strip without permission. Grrr.

7:32 PM: "We're kind of up in the air as to how voting records will be done from now on."

7:27 PM: Pre-meeting buzz yields few surprises. Mierley appears to have a clear path to the Senate Presidency, and Weiss and Nelson have both announced their candidacies for Pro Temp. MAL elections should be interesting, to say the least.

7:21 PM: We're a bit out of practice. If history is any indication, though, we'll get plenty of it tonight.

John Boyles is wearing his same orange and blue tie. Saddening, really.

Treasurer debate

2006-03-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

This is a rough version. I'll clean it up later... just thought you might like to see it.

2:17-Susan not endorsing. Make up your own damn mind!
2:18. format blah blah
2:19 LOLA!!! Its been her goal to make UF inclusive. Involved. Not a slacker! Fmr. Member of the budget committee. Fighting injustice, saving budgets everywhere. Put a qualified person in office.
2:21 Moseley. Hot, but…. Blah. He’s got a deficit he wants to tackle. He’s proud to tackle that deficit… what? He’ll have no learning curve(yea, how about that budget?). Really simple goals (for really simple people). He’s worked with a crappy treasurer to make a crappy budget. Is that something you want to brag about mose?

2:24 Why the 50% honorarium cap- we did it to make sure people bought food and advertising.

2:25- Banquet funding.. what do you think?
Why does SG have a different standard for awards, etc? We should hold ourselves to the same standard.

2:26 Biggest change in 800s- Lola- Changing how small orgs come out of umbrella orgs
Moseley- food percentages. How much food orgs can buy
2:27 How do you get orgs involved in budget process/monetary equality
Make members of the budget committee have constituent orgs.
Utilize assistant treasurers-

Assistant treasurers- lola- have 3-4 GOOD assistant treasurers, give each org a representative
Moseley- Cut down the number of assistant treasurers

Should subsidiary orgs be allowed to split off?
Mosley- case by case basis
Lola- Case by case, if you can get more funding outside of umbrella, and it makes sense, then she will allow it

Lola’s plan- cut out the waste. Hold SG to the same standard that student orgs are held to. Cut everything, including food, awards, pick FSA or the lobbyists, lets not have both. SG exec doesn’t need blackberries. “I don’t need a blackberry to do my job” Lydia and John look worried…
Moseley says Free Printing is impossible. Nay Nay my friend. GDI has the email that says IS possible, and we DO have the money to do it.

Strengths and weaknesses-
Ryan: Lola’s strengths- she’s a great lady with lots of experience
Lola: He has no organizational experience.

Closing statements
Ryan- impt decision to make, take the time to meet both of the individuals, make your decision based on the qualifications
2:41-Lola- Thanks for coming out. She’s worked out a plan, she wants to cut SG’s wastefulness. She’ll work after hours, and fight for students. This girl is a populist.

Interesting. All the questions are treasurer nerd questions. Do students really care? Is it just another opportunity to rally with party loyalists.

Treasurer rumblings ...

2006-03-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

So I saw Moseley and Co. sitting on tables in Turlington during the 11:30- 11:45 AM class change. They didn't hand out a single flier, or even approach one student. So while yes they were there, they didn't do much. I have heard that Unite is holding a BBQ to garner support for Lola in the run-off, so it at least appears as if they are doing something. Those elections numbers do look a little off ... but is there any way to prove anything?? If not, then those members of Unite exec who I have heard have forsaken Lola should really reconsinder their priorities. A candidate like Jared Hernandez doesn't come around every year, and there don't seem to be many independents preparing for a bid next year. Unite and the independent movement need Lola to become SBT. Unite will need every single card to fall in place to overtake Moseley's 4400 votes, but it is not impossible. I can't see the SHO kids working hard (or even voting for) Moseley. I also can't see pledges coming out for Swamp again, at least in such force. 85 hours and we will know ...

2006-03-04T02:18:00.000-05:00

in•de•pen•dent (ĭn'dĭ-pĕn'dənt)
adj.
1. Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
2. Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.
3. Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.
4. often Independent Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
5. Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity: an independent food store; an independent film.
6.
a. Not relying on others for support, care, or funds; self-supporting.
b. Providing or being sufficient income to enable one to live without working: a person of independent means.
7. Mathematics.
a. Not dependent on other variables.
b. Of or relating to a system of equations no one of which can be derived from another equation in the system.
8. Independent Of or relating to the 17th-century English Independents.

n.
1. often Independent One that is independent, especially a voter, officeholder, or political candidate who is not committed to a political party.
2. Independent A member of a movement in England in the 17th century advocating the political and religious independence of individual congregations.
3. Independent Chiefly British. A Congregationalist.
in'de•pen'dent•ly adv.

I am an independent to the Greek community by virtue of my lack of affiliation with a Greek letter organization. To the independent community I am a non-greek, because I made a choice this Spring to stand behind a man I hold in the highest esteem.

It makes me sad that the “independent community” that so many people cling to can’t look beyond letters (or lack thereof). Greeks can be good people too. Sometimes, greeks can be better than GDIs. Some have accused me of “selling out independents”

Please reference adj. 3:

Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.

I made my choice. I stand by it.
I started to lead, You chose to follow.

GDI

Prove me wrong

2006-03-02T20:32:00.000-05:00

Heartbroken.

Utterly Heartbroken.

A year ago about this time, I was upset over a loss. Today, I’m devastated.

A year ago I would have been overjoyed if you told me the results of this election. But now I’m just disheartened.

I’ve never been more disgusted than I was when I saw a newly elected executive officer standing on a table or being held up, and screaming “f*** you” to her opponent. We’re adults, and this is democracy. When you win, you smile, you cheer, you thank your supporters, and shake the hands of your opponents, and thank them for a good race, if you can’t say something nice, then you say nothing at all. When you lose, you congratulate your opponent. If you can’t, you go home.

I hope that the individual who was unable to win with class will publicly apologize to the people who were able to lose with grace.

If you can’t take 5 minutes to bring some dignity back into SG then I’m disappointed. Stand up, and admit to being wrong.

Prove me wrong.

A non-Greek SBP

2006-03-02T01:44:00.000-05:00

If you'd have read this last year, you'd be ecstatic, but somehow, I feel queasy (The other headlines I considered were "politics as usual" and "all is lost"). Erica announced that the vote total was 10,176, whereas I heard reports earlier that it was 10,240. Either way, that puts this blogger within 40 votes or 0.4% of correctly guessing the vote totals. The results, in case the Alligator does not update them, are John and Lydia ~5600, Jared and Brandon ~4400. As predicted everywhere, there will be a run-off for Treasurer between Swamp's Moseley and Unite's Lola. Susan pulled an astounding 22% of the vote (400 more than last year with Progress), but it wasn't enough. The Susan and Unite sponsored initiative passed with an amazing 85%. According to my counts, Unite took 13 senate seats including 4 LS, 4 Grad, 2 Engineering, Building Construction, NRE, Vet Med, and possibly a 14th but I can't remember what. I was incorrect in predicting that Unite would steal 1 Sophomore, Freshman, Journalism, and Ag, as well as them not sweeping LS or winning Law or Pharmacy, totaling in the 20 seats that I predicted them winning. I tried checking the elections web site but was told "Sorry, Election results can not be displayed until the election has been closed and confimed." Apparently they are still re-counting hand ballots, and Unite could add another Graduate senator.

I won't begin to analyze what went wrong where for Unite, I'll just think of the what-ifs. What if Toph and Jeremiah stuck with Unite instead of losing with Swamp. What if one of the Unite Business candidates had stolen the Senate Presidency from Mierley or the Budget Chair from Kirsch. A few things are certain: Senate is without an Allocations or Budget Chair. Other than that, this blogger needs a little time to absorb and analyze info.

For the record, I see a dark year ahead for SG. I only hope that the Unite kids can keep their heads up and put together a run for the Fall. Right now they control about 24 of the 93 seats, and they could land themselves a Treasurer.

Susan, I endorsed you for Treasurer, and even contributed to the campaign. Can the other bloggers say that? Please, please, do not remain impartial. I know in my heart of hearts that you want to support Lola and Unite, and I hope that you do.

As for now, I am off to help Jeanna Mastrodicasa campaign in her election for City Commission next Tuesday. If you want to help, please visit www.votejeanna.com. For all of the talk Unite did about helping the Gainesville community, you think they would have mentioned something about lobbying against Tony Domenech seeking the "strictest zoning laws possible" against student renters. Sheesh. Anyways ...

Until next time ...

NAGAS

With 90 minutes left of voting ...

2006-03-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

I have seen much less voter presence today than I did yesterday. I canvassed Turlington and Reitz during the busy period, and saw far fewer people voting at any given time than I did yesterday. Also, I didn't see much a presence, Blue or Red, at Norman, Springs, and Beatty from 4-6. Based on today's results thus far, I no longer believe we will break 10,000. My original estimate was 10,216, but I now believe it will probably be just under 10K (and will cost Unite a sophomore senator). But we will find out in just 5 hours. I hope to make a detailed analysis post tomorrow, but we will see.

NAGAS

My overall predictions for tomorrow night ...

2006-02-28T23:29:00.000-05:00

If you add up all of my vote totals (which includes 3 of the 5 independents running), I predict a total voter turnout of 10,216 (+/- 100 based on other independents and absentee ballots). I predict that Unite will take 21 senate seats, and Swamp the other 26. Most notably, I think Unite will split Grad by taking 3, break into and split journalism, split Ag and break into freshman and sophomore taking 1 and 2 respectively. I think Unite will sweep LS and Engineering, and Swamp will sweep Business, take 4 each from freshman and sophomore, and sweep the majority of the smaller seats. I also think that Indy Paul Anderson will win his HP seat. The biggest shocks will be Unite breaking into the two underclassmen seats. Late last night, PIKE decided to switch and support Unite. I expect there to be another switch tonight, but I'm not sure who. I believe that a lot of chapters are concerned that John will lose, and want to jump off of a sinking ship. However, I could be very wrong.

I think that after the Fall senators re-allign, Unite/Impact will have 31 senators in office, and Swamp/Gator the remaining 62. It still looks bad, but that would be the best off they have been ... ever. I wanted to say "the non-Greek backed party" instead of they, but you know ... I can't make that distinction anymore. I'm not saying that they are bad because of it, just that they appear to have significant Greek support now (~ 1/3). I think it will be interesting to see who Unite selects as party leader based on the group who was elected.

But please, let me know how close/far off you think my predictions are. I suppose we will see in just over 24 hours how accurate they really are. Until then ...

NAGAS

Comprehensive Senate Predictions cont

2006-02-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

Law

Swamp- Luis Delgado- 147
Unite- Jet Theriac- 340
Indy- Ilan Kaufer- 139

Jared knows a lot of Law students, which will drive up voter turnout. Last year’s Indy (and this years unopposed Honor Court Chancellor) Alex Hadjilogiou gave Jared a tough fight showing that an indy in Law who knows people can make a good run. Ilan is the only independent senate candidate to get a lot of coverage, but how many law students really read the alligator anyway? Look for Jet to win big riding solely on Jared’s name. If Jared doesn’t take Law, than it will not be a good rest of the election for Unite.

Liberal Arts & Sciences

Swamp- Kevin Reilly- 534
Swamp- Joel Witter- 509
Swamp- Carlton Talbot- 498
Swamp- John Printy- 497
Swamp- William Russel- 487
Unite- Gavin Baker- 604
Unite- Sarah Badawi- 599
Unite- Ivana Black- 591
Unite- Anna Ho- 582
Unite- Elizabeth Perez- 567

Wow, a lot to dissect here, but the main point is that I think Unite will sweep LS. Reilly (Allocations Chair, Theta Chi) and Joel Witter (R&A replacement) are the only incumbents running, but I think that bodes well for Unite. Printy is former Access (I believe), but no other names on either side that I recognize have any prior SG experience. I think it will be fairly close, but that Swamp won’t be able to get enough LS support. I actually think their LS slate is rather weak in terms of LS experience (ie knowing LS majors). This puts to rest those concerns about Reilly fighting Weiss in ’07. I think that Gavin (Florida Free Culture Prez) will make an amazing senator. The others with Unite I don’t really know anything about, and I’m pretty tired of facebooking right now.

Medicine

Swamp- Ryan Wagoner- 21

Swamp unopposed … again.

Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

Unite- Melanie Leitman- 13
All these one person races makes my job easy =)

Nursing

Swamp- Elizabeth Geier- 39
Unite- Suja John – 17

Geier was appointed by R&A after her AOPi sister and Gator senator Ashley Gomberg resigned earlier this semester. Although Unite has considerable Greek support, most of it seems to be Fraternal, whereas most nursing majors seem to be Sorority sisters.

Pharmacy

Swamp- Alex Cosimano- 19
Unite- Adam Luce- 43

Cosimano is former MGC President and has held many other positions within MGC, but none of them are Pharmacy related. Luce is President of multiple Pharmacy related organizations, and should win easily.

Vet Med

Unite- Meriam Molstad- 50

Running unopposed … another easy victory. I’d expect at least a few write-ins though.

Freshman

Swamp- Steven Hofstetter- 564
Swamp- Jodi Schneider- 542
Swamp- Jennifer Gurland- 531
Swamp- Megan Duda- 528
Swamp- Ryland Rogers- 503
Unite- Tyler Briggs- 514
Unite- Caitlin Clause- 508
Unite- David Nelson- 497
Unite- Dana Vollmer- 459
Unite- Francis Meija- 443

Megan Duda is a KD. Steven Hofstetter is a Kappa Upsilon Chi (Christian Fraternity). Jodi Schneider is a DPhiE. Ryland Rogers is a Phi Delt. Jennifer Gurland is an AEPhi. All are Swamp candidates. Tyler Briggs is a Sigma Pi. David Nelson is a red-shirted freshman WR. Dana Vollmer is an Olympic gold medalist (I had to do some major googling to find that one … not really lol). Caitlin Clause is the sole Impact candidate in this list of underclassmen. Francis Meija I couldn’t find much about. Swamp owns the Greek support here, and should probably sweep. However … I think Unite will pull some big upsets. Any Unite freshman or sophomore victory will be a big upset. There is no rhyme or reason with which candidates win and which lose outside of an individual knowing more people. Not knowing any of these freshmen, I can only speak from facebook knowledge and published affiliations (so in other words what good am I here?)

Sophomore

Swamp- Melissa Karr- 1114
Swamp- Taylor Russell- 1253
Swamp- Sam Solomon- 1074
Swamp- Samuel Green- 1103
Swamp- Sharon Fieldman- 1135
Swamp- Elan Miller- 1201
Unite- Andrea Alarcon- 1062
Unite- Anais Escobar- 1030
Unite- Arthur Katz- 1173
Unite- Al Horford- 979
Unite- Brian Prokes- 1231
Unite- Elizabeth Stinson- 1003

For Swamp, Melissa Karr is a Zeta Tau Alpha. Taylor Russell is a Chi Omega. Sam Solomon is a Tau Epsilon Phi. Sam Green is a Phi Beta Sigma (NPC). Sharon Fieldman is a Delta Zeta. Lastly for Swamp, Elan Miller is an Alpha Epsilon Pi. For Unite, Arthur Katz is a Lambda Chi Alpha. Brian Prokes is an Alpha Tau Omega. And that’s it for Greek Unite underclassmen. 3 out of 11 compared to Swamp’s 11 of 11 (including all kinds of Greek, but 8 of 11 IFC/PC). But then again, Unite does have Al Horford … lol (sorry, but at what point is it laughable?). I can see Alarcon and Escobar reaching out to Hispanic and LGBTQ communities respectively, so I suppose than Stinson must be reaching out to the Indy community. I think that Unite pulls 2 of the 6 sophomores, which must still be considered a big upset for all those involved.

Whew ... now for some analysis of the numbers next ...

NAGAS

Comprehensive senate predictions part 1

2006-02-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

Warning: The following post is only my best guesses, and is probably way off base. It is also 4 pages long, and only half complete. Look for the other half tomorrow.

Senate predictions

Accounting

Swamp- Steven Kelly- 63
Unite- Josh Apfel- 49

Steven is the current BOCC and FSOA Treasurers, and will soon be BOCC President. He has the full support of Kappa Sigma. Although Josh is VP of Pi Kappa Phi, he does not have the Greek support needed to overcome Steven’s popularity in the college and win accounting.

Agriculture

Swamp- James Modica- 149
Swamp- Barbara Cineas- 137
Unite- Stephanie Mack- 158
Unite- Eric Spotts- 142

James Modica is AGR and they still own Agriculture. Stephanie Mack will use her lifelong relations to Ag, piggy-back off brother Robert’s support within the college (not counting AGRs), and use whatever Alpha Chi connections she has to be the largest vote getter in Ag. Eric Spotts is an ATO and very poplular in Ag, but not quite enough to overcome Mack or Modica. Barbara Cineas should have stuck to LS, because she doesn’t stand much of a chance of re-claiming her R&A seat from Ag. I wish it didn’t all go back to voting blocs and race relations, but how many minorities do you know in Ag? Unfortunately it is not a good seat for black students to run for (see Jamaal Powell with Impact last year).

Architecture

Swamp- Jacob Sum- 56

No Unite competition, but I feel that the incumbent Sum would win anyway. Sum wasn’t elected with Gator, but instead was filled by R&A when the sole winning Progress candidate Kevin Chupp resigned after lasting less than a month last Spring.

Building Construction

Unite- Billy Latsko- 39

I could have sworn that Swamp slated a building construction candidate (specifically the incumbent, Eric Penkert), but they don’t mention it on their website or facebook group.
Billy wins by default. Athletes in senate- 1.

Business Administration

Swamp- Lauren Mierley- 312
Swamp- Jesse Kirsch- 299
Swamp- Dipesh Patel- 287
Unite- David Meyrowitz- 283
Unite- Vijay Nandwani- 257
Unite- Billy Gilchrist- 245
Indy- Tung Ho- 43

Another Swamp sweep in Business, but this one was rather close. With a win, Mierley (Delta Gamma) becomes the senator with the most seniority (Ignite Sophomore, Gator Business) and most likely Senate President as Swamp grooms Josh Weiss for a SBP run next year. Kirsch (Delta Tau Delta) relies on the base Greek support that Swamp usually gets, and will most likely become Budget Chair with Moseley out and Lauren gone on to bigger and better things. Dipesh (the lone non-Greek for Swamp) just slips by on the others Greek recognition, winning with 16.61% of the vote, compared to the top Unite vote getter Meyrowitz with 16.38%. Meyrowitz, former college council President for business and their lone Business non-Greek, comes close, but Unite will always be handicapped when it comes to Business (and sophomore and freshman and journalism) as they face a 100 vote lead automatically to Swamp with 2/3 of Greek support. Nandwani and Gilchrist, Chi Phi and Sigma Nu respectively, just can’t bring enough to get it done. Running as an independent for the 3rd time, Tung Ho manages only 43 votes as he hasn’t spent a dime on his campaign nor has he been out talking to students or presumably student groups either.

Dentistry

Swamp- Chris Latham- 51

Running unopposed yet again (how could Unite not fill 4 Senate seats?), Swamp takes an easy seat. To my knowledge, Dentistry has remained vacant since Sundeep Rawal resigned back in October (Ally Cullin’s letter yesterday anyone??). Nothing too exciting here.

Education

Swamp- Melissa Anderson- 73
Unite- Juary Lopez- 47

Melissa is a Zeta Beta Phi (NPC), but Juary is Lambda Theta Phi President (MGC). However, Education majors are sorority girls—sorry. Swamp wins with little-to-no campaigning here.

Engineering

Swamp- Kenneth Copeland- 182
Swamp- Jaustin Ohueri- 209
Unite- Roberto Hernandez- 613
Unite- Priscila Silva- 595

A Jared and Brandon victory depends on how well they can drive out the Engineering vote. Last year 625 engineering students voted, but this year I predict that that 790 will vote. It represents a big Unite victory, but not as many new voters as they must be counting on. While Roberto is the new BEC President-elect, he is also the E-Week director. While most people know who he is, he does not have the time to campaign. Neither does SWE President Pree, but something tells me that they will have many volunteers out there for them (see former Engineering candidates Michelle Lightbourne and Gareth Kerr). Unite will win engineering big, but I don’t know if by big enough.
The Alligator endorsed Unite’s senate candidates yesterday, and I think that is directly because of their two amazing engineering candidates.

Fine Arts

Swamp- Michael Nelson- 67

Again, a Swamp candidate running unopposed.

Forestry

Swamp- Jeremy Tankerseley- 20

See above. Tankersley is the incumbent, because similar to Progress’ 1 elected candidate being removed from office, Voice’s 1 elected candidate Kathryn Hutchins was removed from office for non-attendance. Having personally talked to Tankerseley, I have no doubts about the good job that he will do in senate (ie actually know what is going on).

Graduate

Swamp- Billy Holcombe- 304
Swamp- Chris Ecklund- 297
Swamp- Jeremiah Blanchard- 279
Swamp- Michael Zhao- 273
Swamp- James Stowers- 239
Swamp- Ashlee Dozier- 233
Swamp- Susan Zhou- 220
Unite- Cecilia Amador- 271
Unite- Amit Sardesi- 269
Unite- Kyle Morgan- 260
Unite- Jianlin Li- 254

Unite- Yuna Park- 254
Unite- Alexis Chalfant- 236
Unite- Heshan Illangkoon- 229

My prediction for graduate-- Swamp 4, Unite 3. It’s much harder for me, especially being an undergrad, to predict graduate seats. I think that it is pretty accurate, but the vote totals aren’t really based on much. There was a lot of variability last year, mainly due to Ping Ping He, who had a strong showing of support from her Chinese base. But Impact apparently didn’t tell them that they could vote for anyone other than Ping Ping, as she beat her nearest competitor by 100. I think that the two members of Grads Et Al with Swamp will win as will Billy Holcombe, Black History Month director. Unite has the third founding member of Grads Et Al, campaigning for them, Pedro Morales, which is why I think they will take 3. However, I expect Morgan to be removed for absences before the Spring term is up (also see Latsko, and most other Unite athletes).

Health and Human Performance

Swamp- Latia Wade- 103
Unite- Matt LaPorta- 134

Matt LaPorta is an athlete, as are many HHP students. However, I think this might work against him as many won’t want to see him serve as a student senator. After all, he will have a lot of Gator baseball games on Tuesdays.

Health Related Professions

Swamp- Jennifer Demarco- 62
Independent- Paul Anderson- 66

Yes, a true independent winning a seat! Anderson is actually the incumbent, and Swamp has paid and will pay no attention since Unite is not running a candidate. Impact almost took the seat last year, so anything is possible.

Journalism

Swamp- Lynsey Ellis- 257
Swamp- Christine Bainer- 249
Unite- Sasha Muradelli- 283
Unite- Galey Gravenstein- 240

Swamp has a Theta and a Tri-Delt. Unite has a Phi Mu and an ADPi. Swamp swept last year, but that was with several non-Impact and non-Gator candidates in the mix. Unite also has ultra-independent Stephanie Ruby showcasing Sasha and Galey’s picture as her own facebook picture. Swamp swept Business, but this Journalism split provides more hope for Unite.

Expect the 2nd half tomorrow night,

NAGAS

She's back ...

2006-02-27T18:36:00.000-05:00

GDI returns! both in blog form and the angry letter to the editor type, and we welcome her by adding her back to the links. Now that means that I know every single blogger on my links list except for the new "third floor whore", but I have my suspicions. While on that note, what makes so many of you think that I am male? Have I given that away in some previous post? Are you sure?

Later tonight I will post my expansive breakdown of how I think each senate seat will fall, kinda like with GDI's game.

Remember back in January when I wrote about the three headed monster of Moseley, Reilly, and Weiss that Swamp must deal with next year? Well, expect that to get a little bigger. I've overheard from a few others that the lovely Lauren Mierley might be throwing her hat into the ring, depending on how this election goes for her. I mentioned her name as for possible budget chairs, along with Jesse Kirsch, way back when, but both were wrongfully snubbed so that Moseley would be qualified to run for Treasurer (and we all see how great of a job he did with that).

I hope you are all keeping up with Ken Kerns and Christian Duques' blogs, as though they may be alums, that just means that they have more time than the rest of us with which to blog. I truly thank them both for their differing, yet equally important analysis.

And I owe an apology to Gatorman. As I looked around Turlington, Reitz, and Matherly today, I must say that it was complete Swamp domination. However, if you reference my past article, you'll see that I think it doesn't mean much at all.

As far as the endorsements go, I'm not surprised at all. Unite had EVERY chance to win the endorsement and just couldn't do it. Swamp had zero chance, so I think this is a BIG BIG win for them. I think that ultimately they will endorse Lola in a run-off, but we will see. The last time that the editorial board didn't endorse anyone was Bush/Kerry ... and we all know what color shirts ended up winning that one.

Expect my comprehensive senate breakdown later tonight ...

NAGAS

Does it really matter?

2006-02-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

I have been keeping track of the number of volunteers for each party since this election began. Unite was unopposed at Reitz and Turlington for the first two days. Since then, it has fluctuated rather frequently. Half of the time I pass through Turlington I see Swamp ahead, and the other half Unite is ahead. The same goes for Reitz. I haven't seen either party at Weil or NEB (quite possibly just the infrequent times I passed by though), only one girl from Unite at Weimer, and usually a Swamp majority at Matherly. In the end, I don't think volunteers and campaigning really matters. Of course it looks good to see more blue or red out there at noon on Monday, but the majority of students don't care. I would estimate that about 1% of all students that you see you can convince to vote for you. Either they are already a member of a group who is voting one way, or they aren't going to vote anyway.

Elections are won and lost in the voting blocs. Last year, Gator had a united Greek front (minus Lambda Chi and a very few AGRs and ZBTs), and a strong black presence. Impact had a strong Asian-American support base and a moderately strong Hispanic base. The College Councils were split, and I don't remember seeing any on-campus housing voting bloc. And then I truly believe that Progress turned out a good 500 voters who wouldn't have otherwise voted-- we'll call them the average white male. But why am I telling you this when you already know? In the run-off, Gator won 53-47. With all of the previously mentioned support, Gator could only capture 53% of the vote (ok, maybe closer to 54%, but still). This year, Swamp has dramatically less Greek support. By my count, the following chapters now fully support Unite: Lambda Chi, Pi Kapp, ATO, Sigma Pi, Phi Sig, Chi Phi, Phi Mu, Sigma Nu. Additionally, I believe the following houses will be torn when it comes to vote because they have members on both sides of the battle: Sig Ep (Yes, I said it), ADPi, Alpha Chi Omega, Sigma Kappa. To my knowledge there are currently 36 IFC/PC chapters, and 8 of them are Unite, and another 3-4 are split. Roughly ~1/3 of the Greek community is not fully behing Swamp.

Also, although they run Lydia Washington, I do not believe that the black caucas members will come out in full force for Swamp either. Lydia is not a member of the Divine Nine. While she may be their choice for office, she is not one of their own. Add to that the "Brandon Siler factor", and I think that the "black vote" can no longer be calculated. I am by no means an expert on this voting bloc, but I think that with Brandon out there, we will see more of a split in voting. Truthfully, I think we will see a decline in voting for that reason.

The Hispanic community seems to be behind Lola 100%, as do the Asians behind the several Unite candidates who are Asian. Outside of the Graduate seats, I don't see a single Asian name on the Swamp ballot. I don't see a single Hispanic name anywhere on the ballot (but please correct me if I am wrong). Extending to other cultural groups, the only non white, non-black candidate on Swamp's undergrad ticket is Dipesh Patel, the VISA President. Unite exec (the A squad as they were referred to by an anonymous commenter of mine) must be kicking themselves for letting him slip away.

Whereas Unite on the other hand seems to represent the Hispanic, Asian (including Indian and Middle-Eastern), LGBTQ, Greek (10 of 46 IFC/PC), and Athletic communites on their slate. They even have two with senate experience (Prokes and Mack). The only college council member I can see on either slate this time is Steven Kelly, BOCC President-to-be and Swamp Accounting incumbent (through R&A, not election). What appears to be missing from Unite's slate though ...

is the GDI. Three Impact candidates from the year past (Clause, Mack, Meyrowitz). Zero former Progress candidates. Zero?? Does that mean there was an anulment we haven't heard about yet? 3 out of 46 of the parties own followers. Some may see that as a fresh start and new energy to SG, but you can't forget your roots and who got you there. As far as GDI go, Gavin Baker (President Florida Free Culture) seems to be the only recognizable name. I don't quite know what to make of this. I know what Duque makes of it, and I wouldn't go that far. Swamp Pundette has a beauifully written post about the subject, but I think she too might be a bit over dramatic.

I know I said a lot, so here's a quick wrap-up. Campaigning doesn't matter, it's all about the groups who support you. Swamp is not as strong as Gator who took 53% of the vote last year. Unite is a lot stronger than Impact who took 47%, but seem to have sold out at least a little bit in doing so. I officially call myself a "skeptical supporter", pretty much because I think that John will not do as good of a job in office as Jared would. If Unite is elected though, and the things I am skeptical about take place, you will soon see that skeptic change to a cynic rather quickly.

On a last note, it seems that both parties are drinking a lot more than they did last year. Unite has paid for alcohol at XS, Swamp, and the White House now (possibly others as well). I've been critical of Gator senators for publicly drinking underage at Swamp earlier, so I'd be a hypocrite for not pointing out what I saw Unite candidates doing on Friday afternoon. Swamp is also having a social at White House, and has had several at ... you guessed it ... Swamp (oh the irony).

PS. Gatorman just celebrated his 100th post this week. Congrats buddy. This is my 50th. He hasn't been around much longer than I have, but seems to post a tad more frequently. I'll see what I can do about that.

NAGAS

No Swamp meetings?

2006-02-23T10:07:00.000-05:00

I kinda missed the boat on this one earlier today, but I just found out that there was no Swamp meeting at Phi Sig last night. One of my friends (his fraternity to remain nameless) tells me that the meeting was cancelled without notice as Phi Sig wouldn't allow. Apparently, Phi Sig leader Ryan Nelson decided to support Unite, and cancelled the meeting at his house. With only 3 more school days until the election, I doubt Swamp will be able to regroup and hold another volunteer meeting in time (but please correct me if you know otherwise). I can't tell you how surprised I will be to see Nelson wearing a red shirt. In the past year, he has epitomized what it means to be a "Progressive in the System", working with opposition senators to draft good legislation, and always taking the time to tactfully reply to any doubts about his party. Not only was he a senator, he was John's right hand man. To me, guys like Ryan Nelson are a rare breed and reflect how all Swamp party senators should be, and for someone of his stature to change sides (sorry Brian Prokes, but you don't quite compare) is monumental. It truly shows that SG will not be the same anymore.

NAGAS

I don't like this one bit ...

2006-02-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Swamp of course holds their meeting last night at the Phi Sig house, to no one's surprise. But, shocking to me, Unite decides to hold their meeting at the ATO house tonight.

Now ... suppose I am an undecided freshman student. What am I to think? I rememeber thinking when Swamp held their announcing meeting at AOPi ... they've given themselves away and are showing their true identity. Now ... it makes me wonder.

I know that ATO is supporting Unite, and Unite (as opposed to Impact) is not anti-Greek, but that does not mean that you need to have your meetings in a frat house. To give credit where it is due, Duque was right when he said that the Reitz is the traditional base for independent parties. To my knowledge, Unite has held 0 meetings there since the election cycle began. Which precisely leads me to my next point ...

Unite is not an independent party, nor a "3rd party", such as Impact or Progress were last year. They also are not the "system", as Christian calls them. Well then, what are they? They are a viable opposition party. One with a big enough of a support base to say "we can and will hold our meetings at ATO" and "we will campaign door to door, and will gain 10 times as many votes as we lose". There is no independent party running this year.

If you're with Unite, then this is a good thing. You will really have the chance to end politics as usual. However, if you weren't chosen for Unite (see letters to the editor from Chris Chase and Will Foster), then you are left wondering ... did I not get chosen because I lack Greek letters or an NCAA scholarship?

While I commend Unite for getting to where it is today, I also must warn: You toe the line of becoming something that I know you do not want to be. Many have already lumped you in with Swamp. I still see the good, but, it is definitely fading.

Now, in a tangent not related to SG, the election for city commission at-large seat in Tuesday, March 7th. Hopefully you have already registered to vote in Alachua County, because Jeanna Mastrodicasa needs your help. One of her three opponents, Tony Domenech, has done a complete 180 since he was supported by a large base of students last year and has become "Anti-Student". He repeatedly states that he will seek the toughest zoning laws possible against students in residential areas. He constantly demeans the student body in the manner in which he discusses them (see bar closing times, zoning laws, city annexation). If you'd like information on how to help Jeanna, visit www.votejeanna.com today.

That is all for now ...

NAGAS

What have I missed?

2006-02-18T22:55:00.000-05:00

I check my e-mail for comments daily. Granted, I didn't check the other blogs, but I thought I'd be ok. So I ask, what have I missed??

Apparently, Ken Kerns has started blogging and Christian Duque is blogging again. I spent my Saturday evening reading both, how about you? They both make good points. And Virgil has stopped blogging until after the election ... interesting.

The Alligator has published editorials and letters from a former Impact Party leader, independent candidate's campaign manager, current Unite Party candidate, Swamp Party Spokesperson, and many former SGers. I feel bad for the uninvolved student who tries to keep up with it all.

I don't know how much news actually goes in during the campaign ...

Slating days are hectic as we all say, as are the days of the elections. But what has really happened, news-wise, in the last week? Swamp met at Hillel, Unite at La Casita. The Budget Committee "f*cked up royally". Siler has started making public speaking appearences. Susan seems to be top of everything, much more so than her competitors. So, a little analysis then....

Susan is really impressing me in her treasurial bid. Not only was she the first to have a website and platform launched, she is out meeting the students and discussing ideas. I must ask though, how much of that is her, and how much is it her amazing campaign managers? The Blog/Website does look great, but when your campaign manager has nothing better to do all day, it should look good. Based on the past week's performance, she clearly is more on top of the budget process than the current budget chair.

This blogger notices that no election violation complaints have been filed (yet!) and wonder what is wrong with Susan's other campaign manager. Her hand is evident as the finance statement lists the fees paid to paypal as an expense!! And they even provide the receipt to show such a transaction, which I suppose you must if you list it as an expense. I'd have to argue that Susan herself did not expense the fees, but rather it was subtracted before ever reaching her account from her contributors (I could argue that, but I would never want to get into such an argument over 700 codes with Susan's lovely 700 codes expert). While I firmly believe that the Alligator will endorse Susan, I just don't think that that will be enough to get her to the run-off. Susan with the full support of Progress (and an alligator endorsement) got 1525 votes, and I don't know how she can possibly do better without all of Progress this time. Personally, I see the strengths in each of the three candidates. I think Lola would make a great Treasurer and truly work towards change for the betterment of SG. And Ryan ... Ryan is ... well he's a hot Sig Ep. Plant him in front of SW Rec (shirtless of course), and I'm sure that will bring out ~500 voters at least. Gator did it with Cosimi (shirted of course) and look at the results from SW Rec, which you actually can do since Susan posted the public information request form on her web site. Susan (or should I say MacKenzie), please don't take down the website after the elections. It could really be useful to a lot of us SG dorks.

I saw Brandon Siler speak at an org meeting this week and let me say, I was impressed. I have been reading Duque's blog and apparently some of Unite's exec must have listened and sat down with the boy. While I'm still not 100% sold, I don't think he could do a worse job than has been done in the last 2 years. If for nothing else at all, he will drive the number of students who want to be in cabinet up through the roof, just because they want to work with a future NFL linebacker. Is it a bad idea to run him as VP? Is it bad policy? It's nothing worse than putting "Advocate to temporarily suspend open container laws on campus for Football Game Days" on Swamp's platform. Hey Josh, can you advocate to supsend the drinking age on football days too? After all, you are still under 21.

A question to Jared: Was using the F- word in the Alligator intentional? I mean, don't you know that Lyndsey from the Alligator follows you around whenever you are in public? Of course she is gonna jump on such an opportunity, which makes me wonder, did ya do it on purpose??

I can't say I attended either of the parties meetings this week, nor am I thoroughly impressed with either parties performances thus far. I put out this question to all of you readers: who is more system this election? Jared or John? I know my answer, and will vote accordingly. And while I might officially support one party, I definitely will be voting for candidates from both parties in 11 days. And unless Lola starts impressing more, quite possibly for Susan as well. The only apprehension I have in voting for Susan is the same reason that I didn't vote for Nader ...

Why vote for someone you don't think can win? Wouldn't the dems tell you to vote for the lesser of two evils? As perfectly as I think she has played her cards to this point, I just can not see how she can capture enough votes to knock out either Lola or Moseley. But Susan, you have impressed me so much, that I am going to donate $20 to your campaign. Be expecting a paypal donation on Monday afternoon at 11:59 AM, just to see if you are good enough to get it onto the finance report for that day.

I come back from nine days of absence, and I wonder what I would do if I were running the campaigns. I look at the people I always see behind John and Swamp in public-- Laura Gonzalez, Josh Weiss, Lauren Mierley, Ryan Nelson-- and think about how much good I could do for this campus if I were in their positions. I look at those running the Unite exec-- Adam Roberts, Allison Cullin, Amanda Kane, Andrea Guttag-- and think about the potential change they could bring if they can just pull off a small miracle next week.

I come back from nine days of relaxing, taking time for myself, and dealing with personal issues, and I wonder, what have I missed?

If there was ever any doubt ...

2006-02-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

Of the 11 underclassmen seats on Swamp's senate slate, all 11 are Greek (IFC, PC, MGC, NPC). 11 for 11. Doing the best comparison I could with Unite, I found that 4 of 11 are Greek (IFC, PC, MGC, NPC). Does that mean that they are the Greek backed party? We'll let the banners speak for themselves next week.

Even if they are? I think Swamp has a very well balanced slate. I was surprised to see their exec keep so many Spring '05 Gator senators from returning on the slate. Instead, it has a wide array of organizations interests represented. Still though, 11 of 11 Greek underclassmen. Isn't that sending a message that if you want to be in SG in your first two years, you'd better rush?

NAGAS

In case you were curious ...

2006-02-05T00:32:00.000-05:00

I recently extended invitations to several of the bloggers, current and former, to post from my blog. In the next few days, I'd like to come up with a new blog name so that we can all maintain our distinct identity under a new blog. Instead of checking several pages and finding nothing (and I admit I am as guilty as the next), I hope that you can check one central blog to find more news and updates from a diverse crowd. I'd like to see some Swamp bloggers too, but the main one whom I invited to return shot me down. Sigh.

The idea is to keep real identities a secret, but a lot of the bloggers have already been identified. We won't be working together in person, but could possibly collaborate on stories and confer on rumors to see what is most accurate. The end idea is to provide a more reliable source of information for all of you. I hope you enjoy.

NAGAS

PS. I must thank the lovely GDI for this was really her idea back in May.

PPS. If you would like to be added as a contributor, please e-mail me at notantigreekantisystem@yahoo.com

Call for R&A elections

2006-02-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

In a somewhat predictable move, the replacements and agenda’s committee which has the responsibility to place individuals on committees recommended Senator John Clayton Brett to take the open seat on the Judiciary Committee. Several other senators also interviewed for the position, including two senators who received the recommendation of the committee chairwoman, Senator Rebecca Guerra. Both of the senators recommended by the chairwoman had near perfect attendance at the committee meetings throughout their senate terms. The attendance of Senator Brett is in question, and this blogger would love any sort of information that would qualify this man above the gentleman that Chairwoman Guerra recommended.

This is probably just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the other wrongs R&A has committed. But this is the straw that broke this blogger’s back.
Lauren, you ARE the best for the job of Budget Chair. You’d be a fantastic treasurer, and it breaks my heart that that might not happen. I can’t think of a better budget committee member. You ask all the right questions, and you make sure that the rest of the committee remembers all of the history of the committee that ONLY you were there for.
Lola, you should have gotten your budget seat back. It was a sham. The political bullshit got in the way of making sure the committee had some memory. Now we’ve got a bunch of kids on the committee. Great kids, but kid the same.
Rene, You were the best for the Business replacement seat. No question. You have done, and continue to do great things. But the statutes said it couldn’t be. I’m glad they’ve changed now, and I hope to see you in chambers in a little less than a month.
Ben, You’ll be an I&C rock star. I have faith. Your passion for that committee is intense. Remember that decisions are made by those who show up. Don’t wait for a vote, just go, and make a difference. Forget being an official member, just be a good member.
I wish I remembered more of you that R&A gave the shaft to. I’m sure there were tens of other decisions that were just awful. From replacement seats to committee assignments, I have little faith left. I just wish I could apologize to each of the individuals that got the short end of the stick.
Will the senate confirm this recommendation? Or will R&A be questioned for the first time?

Lets hope we do the right thing.

I'm sorry if I've been a part of something that's been wrong,
GDI

What a crazy, F-ed up 24 hours

2006-02-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

*NOTE* This post was published at 8:57 PM Friday night, but due to blogger.com technical difficulties, it did not appear, so I had to re-publish it- NAGAS

If I made a movie (or perhaps a real time 24 hour TV show) about today, you would never believe it! I can't get into all the specifics of it right now because quite frankly they are still being decided. Here is a brief recap.

A large portion of houses (15-20, not sure the exact number) met last night to re-consider supporting John Boyles for SBP. In the wee hours of the morning, a switch was made. I encountered this first-hand while wandering around the third floor and the qualifying room, and then proceeded to check out the Swamp and Unite slating rooms. Who did I see in the Unite room other than Joe himself and Thomas Philpot. And no they weren't just exchanging pleasantries. The switch in support had been made.

Then shortly after slating ended this afternoon, a splinter cell of these 15-20 chapters met and decided to switch back. At one point today, Unite had the backing of the majority of the system that I reference in my name-- the system in which it fought against. And John and Swamp were reduced to tears, or so it appeared. But then, there was the switchback. If I had to quantify the number of chapters who support Jared and Unite now, I'd put it at around 10, which is more than Impact's 1 last year, but not what they once had. And the crazy part is that it's only 9 PM. There are still 3 more hours to the day, and 48 more this weekend.

I won't name all of the houses who moved (or moved back), but let's just say that you would never expect it (although by naming Joe and Thomas I guess I gave it away ... oh well).

On to more of what I do know for sure ...

The only two parties registered to slate candidates this semester are Swamp and Unite. MVP dropped out and is supporting Unite (for today at least). Grads Et Al did not register in time, and have since supported Unite, switched to supporting Swamp, and are now split in half as to who they support. The Progress, Impact, and Access names died quietly in the night.

As of about 2 PM, two independents had slated for Exec positions according to the official list. Susan Henriques for Treasurer and Allison Cullin for President. I didn't see if there was a VP in that mix, but I am sure that if they ran as a coalition that they would need to find one soon. I must say that if it is true than I am very disappointed that Susan would betray her word of running alone as an independent. While I don't know her personally (any more than talking to her when she worked at SG Finance or in Senate occasionally this past semester and summer), she seemed to be the last one embodying any Progress idealism that I so adored last Spring. I don't know what to make of the Allison Cullin for President thing, but I hope that there is some GDI out there who can explain it better than I can.

I must warn you to take what I say with a grain of salt for it shall surely all change before Tuesday at 5 PM. Both parties must be scared about losing their VP candidates and both will act accordingly. Kudos to Unite for not announcing one (or a platform) yet, because as we all saw with Impact last year, it sucks to lose one of your already announced Exec candidates.

We shall see, we shall see. One thing is certain ... things will change by the hour this weekend ... so don't believe what you hear until Midnight on Tuesday when parties turn in their slate.

Wishing all of you involved in this chaos good luck, and the rest of us, enjoy the Kentucky game and your weekends as usual.

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

The make-up of the parties ...

2006-01-30T14:06:00.000-05:00

To answer a point brought up by the lovely Swamp Pundette I thought I would do a little breakdown of who is supporting who so far. Gatorman has his strategy top 10 for the parties, so I won't go there (just yet).

MVP

"We're going to win. We're the athletes. People are going to vote for us,". Kinda cocky, don't you think? Given the recent darts from the Alligator though, I wouldn't count out the relatively unknown third party. I don't think that Ryan Sherry quite knows what he is getting into though, but only time will tell. Basically they have athletes support. While there are quite a few NCAA athletes at UF, and while a lot of people will vote for someone solely based on name (see Kevin Bacon), when exactly are these atheletes going to have the time to campaign? Do they realize that it's an 8 to 8 thing two for two days (but in reality is a 6 AM to 2 AM thing for 3 days). Will the UAA let them skip practice to campaign? While it sounds good, I'm not convinced.

Grads Et Al
Party leaders have maintained that they intend on running no undergrads or exec, so their base of support is the grad and professional students. Again, fairly clear to see.

Unite vs Swamp
Now this is where it gets tricky. SP claims that Swamp has all IFC/PC support, but I think those chapters who publicly support Unite would disagree with that claim. We'll cut her some slack though since she's out of the loop back in DC. It is obvious however that Swamp has the clear majority of Greek support. While no houses have hung banners yet, it is only a matter of time. In the next week or so, both candidates (and possibly Ryan Sherry) will start announcing to all the houses at UF. Now, by my name you infer that I am not Greek. I have never eaten at a Greek house and had anything announced to me. But if I was ... and I saw John and Jared both announce to me ... I'd have to think about who I wanted to vote for. Nothing against John, but he doesn't have the charisma that makes Jared a true politician. While I still expect John to maintain the great majority of Greek support, I don't think it will be overwhelming.

Clearly from past events the Hispanic community is behind Unite (especially if Lola is added to the ticket as most suspect). And although AASU President said that her organization will not publicly support any candidate, their ties to Dennis and Impact are still strong.

Now the Black community ... is a bit trickier to read. From what I hear, both parties announcements featured strong black support. I mentioned in an earlier post that nothing is certain until 12:01 AM next Wednesday morning, and I stand by that assertion. If I were to gauge the support now though, I'd have to say that it is in John's favor by a close 60-40 range.

Again stealing from Gatorman's idea ...

Major props to disgruntled former Assistant Treasurer Tung Ho who registered the facebook group Gators for the Swamp Party. This is exactly why you don't piss off those people who you have held down in the past. Tung ran for senate as an independent twice, never coming close to winning. This is his vengeance against the system. While I don't normally support stealing others names, I think he is justified this time. I'd recommend to leaders of MVP, Grads Et Al, and Unite that they create their groups soon before they too are stolen. I did a quick check and none had been registered yet.

Until next time,

NAGAS

Swamp v Unite

2006-01-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

So I couldn't make the meeting myself, but I hear its official ... we have Swamp vs. Unite. Two new party names. This is a short update, just to beat the Alligator in getting to it.

John vs. Jared

Swamp vs. Unite

It begins ...

SG from around the country...

2006-01-29T16:06:00.000-05:00

I'll get to some local news and analysis soon, but until then ...

Impact Party is only choice in SG election. No, not Impact UF, but Impact UT Austin. Makes you wonder what would happen if parties from across campuses worked together, like CR or College Dems, but then you realize that nowhere else is it as crazy as it is here.

I so wanna transfer to Carnegie Mellon. Look ... Online Voting with platforms linked to candidates and each senator has his or her own blog!.

Kudos to NC State for posting a listing of all of the committee meetings so that students may actually know about them and attend. If you weren't in senate already, how would you know about the Campus Improvement Committee's meeting times and locations? Also, I know that people have busy schedules, but is it so hard to pick a day and time and stick with it? SG Conference room, every week at X day and time, posted on the SG web site. I mean, I&C meets at Swamp. Seriously?

As much crap as I may give any of them, I don't know if I would go as far as they did at The Ohio State University in initiative 1, which passed with 62% support-- eliminating all benefits to the SG Execs.

And lastly, aren't UF's names a little more interesting then they are at Penn St-- The Conservative Coalition.

Ok, so the Swamp Party announced Senate President John Boyles as their presidential candidate on Friday afternoon. Other than Susan Henriques, this gives them a little bit of first mover advantage. Although not invited myself, I've heard murmurings of an Impact announcement at some point tonight that I might just sneak into and see myself. Things have been awfully quiet from both parties given that slating begins in just five days. While most will probably think that both are just holding their big cards to be released at the right time, I think that neither knows 100% who will be on their ticket. As far as I have heard, Diane is officially out. While there was a large representation of the Divine Nine at Swamp's announcing, there were several members not present. Coincidence? Don't forget that Elda Auxilaire was on the Impact ticket on the first day of slating last Spring, only to "step down" that weekend. You better believe there will be a lot of midnight meetings this coming weekend as each party tries to solidify their support before the end of slating. It happened last year, and you would be naive to think that it wouldn't happen again. Lydia and Ryan might be standing by John now, but there is still a lot to be said before next Tuesday's end of slating. And if none of that makes you wonder what is going on, Christian Duque is back in town. Enough Said.

It is a great time to be blogging. Until next time,

NAGAS

Poor planning ...

2006-01-22T17:40:00.000-05:00

This is something I've wanted to write about for a while, but haven't had the time. After Tuesday's confirmations however, it seems fitting.

John Boyles is an anomaly. The Greeks shouldn't be supporting him, no matter how much a part of the system he may seem to be. However, they have no choice.

Somehow after Jamal won and Kennelly lost, things got thrown out of whack and a problem was created in the system. This, coupled with Bryson deciding not to run and a showdown between Joe and Jared, led to the breakdown we have now. Someone in FBK wasn't doing there job, or at least wasn't looking far enough into the future. Enter John Boyles.

Boyles would have never been slated had it not been for Access in Spring 04. He would have never been moved up to Judiciary Chair had it not been for Jamal. Thanks to his help in the Gator victory last spring, he was promoted to Pro Tem. And you know the rest.

After Jared lost the caucas vote to Joe last year, it seemed obvious that he would get the bid in Spring '06. But as we all know now, that it is not the case. Jared inherits about ten Impact senators and is set to do battle with the roughly 70 senators that John has with Gator (probably more if they changed their status from independents). With Lindsay out of the picture, John was the only choice remaining. And he won the primary.

Somewhere along the line there was a breakdown. They didn't train and prepare the younger members as they should. It almost makes you wonder what would have happened if Andrew Jean secured five more votes ... but I digress.

As a result of the poor planning, preparatory efforts have been increased. More time and energy has been spent training young Greek males to prepare them to take over for the next election. However, too much energy has been exerted and another catastrophic problem begins to appear. In an attempt to cover their bases, they have trained too many. I see it as a disaster waiting to happen and have only one word to describe it (pardon my french)-- clusterfuck.

Let me begin ...

The AEPi

Josh Weiss. Chair of the Campus Improvement Committee. Sophomore.
Josh is on the right, apparently getting down with IRHA President EJ Walicki. No, I don't think Josh has had any alcohol that night ... lol. Sorry to bring you into this EJ, but my illegaly downloaded version of Photoshop has mysteriously stopped working, and I can not edit you out. I tried using Paint, but it just didn't look right.

The Theta Chi

Kevin Reilly. Allocations Chair. Also a sophomore. Also on the right. Drunkenly posing with Theta Chi brother and Cabinet Staffer Kyle Epting.

The Sig Ep

Ryan Moseley. Budget Chair. A junior, but I'm sure unnoposed to sticking around. Again on the right. I couldn't find any embarassing pictures on his facebook photos (Kudos to the Sig Ep for being the only one to take them off) but I made sure that all 3 pictures had some form of underage drinking.

I joke, I joke.

ALl three have unlimited potential and have been put in the right place at the right time. Ideally, one would become Pro Tem after the Spring election, and Senate President after next Fall's election, which puts them in prime position to run for SBP in Spring '07. Unfortunately, all three are on the same path and are headed for a collision course.

In November, I'd have said Moseley was the front runner. Then in late December/early January, Weiss clearly looked ahead. Now, Reilly is confirmed as Allocations chair, and seems to have the momentum. I do suppose though that I would rather have too many qualified candidates than not enough. Unless of course they defect and play rebel Greek again.

Sorry, I don't mean to make it so black and white, Greek and non-Greek, but it just happens so easily.

Weiss seems to be the most popular of the three in and outside senate, but its still very early for all of them. Weiss and Moseley are safe for now, but Reilly will have to run for re-election this semester. He had no problem winning the Sophomore seat last year, but now must win a CLAS seat, which is a traditional non-Greek stronghold. Impact and Progress split the votes last year, which is what Reilly would need again to win. There are always those pesky replacement seats that keep opening though, so either way, I'm sure he'll find a way.

Sig Ep must be torn. Jared on one side, running for SBP now. Moseley on the other, with great potential for next year. Now if AEPi was savvy, they'd strategically support Jared and Impact in order to keep Reilly (Theta Chi) out of senate and Weiss' path, simulatenously forcing Sig Ep to act one way or the other, but being considered the late mover in both instances.

Too much strategy for you this early? Me too.

On a lighter note, I came accross a very sad facebook profile while doing my research for this post. And in honor of Gatorman's posting frat-astic Facebook Groups, I give you the former Lobby Coordinator and ATO Toby Philpot's love affair with himself . Sorry Toby, but better luck in Tallahassee.

Until next time,

NAGAS

"Selected, not Elected"

2006-01-22T12:52:00.000-05:00

"...the Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to have student members selected by Student Government instead of elected"."

Hmmmmmm ....

This really bugs me.

"What the Faculty Senate really wants is people who are committed and to grant Student Government the flexibility to find those people".

Does the faculty senate not know how things really work around here?

Did they not read all about Cosimigate 06??

You might say I am a pessimist. I prefer realist. And I do not like what is to come for the next year. I was just at a loss for words when I read this on Friday. "Selected, not Elected".

Tuesday's events

2006-01-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not giving my follow up post before Senate on Tuesday, but things caught up to me. Now you don't have to believe me, but I could have told you over the weekend that Lindsay would nominate herself and win. I won't begin to address the audacity of such a move, but as it was done it was completely legal. Nothing in statutes prohibit a member of SG Exec nominating themselves after they have resigned. It would have been the same as if she declined to make recommendations and Joe nominated her. BUT .....

And you knew there was gonna be a but lol ...

Lindsay was declared academically ineligible to hold office. She was notified during the Fall semester that she received an Incomplete in the Spring, and did nothing to rectify it at that time. As soon as the deadline to appeal the decision passed, she should have immediately been removed from office according to the Student Activities Center Handbook which governs all student organizations: "...Have a minimum 2.0 cumulative academic average, a minimum 2.0 academic average for the previous semester, and be free of academic warning or probation". The only question then is, does SG fall under the authority of the Student Acvities Center, for which Chris Cupoli oversees. Also, according to the requirements to hold SG office put forth by the supervisor of elections: "Minimum 2.0 grade point average for the semester enrolled previous to the election". So the latter doesn't translate as well, but a reasonable person can extrapolate that to semesters in office too.

So what does this mean? Both Cupoli and Zdiarski have refused comment on the issue because they know they are at fault. Lindsay should have never been able to resign. She should have been removed from office immediately by the Dean of Students office, which is responsible for insuring that SG officers maintain eligibility. They both turned their backs on this one. Shame on them. Exceptions were made because of the position that otherwise would not have been granted. I won't go suggest that there was any collusion, because I know that neither would ever allow it, but this reeks of filth in every imaginable way.

Granted, I believe Lindsay did a decent job as Treasurer. She didn't manage the Assistant Treasurers at all, but that's not her biggest responsibility. She didn't screw up big, but she also wasn't that efficient. I have heard many complaints from student leaders who say that she would routinely take two weeks to approve an SAR, often forcing an organization to cancel an event, for no good reason (and yes I have specific instances, but I'd give myself away by naming them). If you want to really know how effective of a job she has done, e-mail BOCC President Keith McCartney. Ask him how many student organizations have complained to him about Lindsay's ineffieciencies. Again, she did a decent job, but nothing close to how she was described by Senators Gonzalez or Stone (or the too many others to name who spoke on her behalf).

And to Susan 4 Treasurer, I deleted your comment. Sorry. But for anyone who wants to read the the exact same comment , please do. It was well written, but I know who you are, and didn't need to see the same comment twice. I only hope that Susan wasn't standing there watching as you typed because she is better than that.

Regarding this week's Alligator's Letters to the Editor, this blogger is glad t osee long gone former independent icons Nicholas Capezza and Ken Kerns writing on the subject. I can't say I disagree on their points, but I do wonder what is next-- Charlie Grapski sending in a letter? Or has he already, William Foster? I know that the comment wasn't written by the one William Foster on facebook, and am left to believe that is a pseudonym, either for Grapski or one of those Impact kids. I'm sure they're not all bad, just as not all Gator/Engage kids are bad, but some times get overzealous. Speaking of overzealous Gator senators ...

It appears Sundeep Rawal is back in town and the Dentistry seat that he vacated early in the fall is still open. Come on John (Boyles), you couldn't find one Dentistry student to apply for the seat in 4 months? I put the blame on John because the Senate President ultimately has the responsibility to ensure that Senate is running smoothly, which would include looking for or properly advertising any open seats.

Alas, I must depart. I have a few more things to rant about, so I am sure you will get another rave this weekend.

As always, Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

Topic of the day ...

2006-01-15T20:12:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I could apologize like I have for absences in the past, or my absence over the break like the others, but I'll spare us both and get right into it.

As you all know, Treasurer Cosimi resigned on Tuesday. Now I have my theories why, but right now no one knows anything for sure, so I will withhold my speculations until I hear more Tuesday night. And I also assume that most of you know the replacement policy after reading it in the paper, but for those who don't, Lindsay (or more likely Joe) will recommend 3 replacements for confirmation by senate vote.

There are a lot of qualified people out there for the position, which is still in power for 7 more weeks. With the Treasurer position more than others, no SG experience is needed, but is always a positive. That being said, I will start with the Assistant Treasurers.

MacKenzie Moritz- the most notable name on the list. His qualifications are unquestionable, but his role within the Spring '06 campaign might make him too close.
If Boyles had his way, I think MacKenzie would run the whole campaign. However, there are way too many egos floating around the party to ever allow this to happen. Note I say party because I am still unsure as to which name they (the "system" in NAGAS) will use. Senate Party leader Laura Gonzalez and fellow Gator R&A member Marissa Mofsen registered Gator, but MacKenzie and Theta Chi Jonathon Fernandez registered the name Engage . Gator won a Presidential election and about 80 senate seats with the name, but also had a LOT of dirt and trash associated with it. Also, if they use a new name, they can recylce the old platform again and try to confuse the freshmen. Thank God for blogs, so that we can track this progress now. MacKenzie would make a great Treasurer, but the party doesn't need anything from him-- he's already in their service.

Michael Reynolds- Former IRHA President and knows inner workings of SG better than most. However, he lacks the ability to still greatly influence IRHA, and brings no major electorate to Gator (I'll just use Gator for now). He is definitely qualified, but there is no reason for him to be chosen.

Gabby Leon- Panhellenic Exec, Phi Mu, Pi Chi. Not a very SG political girl, and not in a very powerful house, yet still has potential. She fits the cute blonde role that Cosimi vacated, but doesn't really have the Treasurial experience to be ... ummm ... Treasurer. And no, Phi Mu VP of Finance doesn't count. First of all, I am sure ten other girls have that title too (Frats do it too), and the finance system is just way too different. I still wouldn't be surprised to see them give it to her to try and keep another small house in place. On second thought, I think she may be abroad this semester. If not, it makes for an interesting strategical move, which I'll get into more lately.

Nick Gard- Former Kappa Alpha. Absolutely no SG or Treasurer experience, or political ambition for that matter. With KA out of the picture for a few more years, I see no reason for him to be considered.

Ashlee Valdes- NORML President. Not highly political, but has more aspirations than many others. Some qualifications, but nothing overwhelming. She also doesn't attract many groups other than NORML, and you never can trust those NORML kids to remember voting days lol.

Unfortunately those are the only Assistant Treasurers that I can remember, and Glenda doesn't include senate confirmations in the minutes. So for now, I will shift to the Budget committee until I can come up with a complete list of Assistant Treasurers.

Ryan Moseley- Current Budget Chair, Sig Ep. Most qualified person by default. How ironic that he was the LEAST qualified committee member to become budget chair, but because of the power of his house right now to NOT support Jared and Impact, he might be the most likely to get the position! Sorry for the exclamation, but it is just so ridiculous. I think right now he is the favorite.

Lauren Mierley- Current Budget Vice Chair (yet her seniority was leap-frogged by Moseley), 2nd term senator, Delta Gamma. It almost makes perfect sense for her to be chosen. She is the only one with budgetting experience in budget (oh the irony), and has been in senate long enough to know how everything works. Lauren could probably replace Lindsay without missing a step. If Moseley is the favorite, she has to be the second favorite. Which of course means that she would never recommended.

Pause.

I expect Joe to make the recommendations, not Lindsay. I expect no further explanation as to her resignation, except for "family matters", and that we are all asked to respect her privacy. I expect Joe to nominate the person he wants chosen and two who he knows have no chance. Thus, unless Lauren is his choice, she won't be recommended.

Resume.

Samuel Green- Current R&E Chair, Phi Beta Sigma, BHM, Diane's Protege. Has experience in senate and I believe has treasurer experience in other organizations, but not sure. If they ever wanted to pull the black community, this is there move (sorry for the abrasiveness, but it's demographical politics).

Tanaz Vaghaiwalla- Current I&C Chair, Zeta Tau Alpha (Linsday's sorority sister). This move also makes sense, but not as much as the others. She has treasurial experience, the political aspirations necessary, and is young enough to be trained at the position now in order to run in next month's election (still 2 elections at UF ahead of her). I wouldn't be surprised at all to see her as the choice. However, I haven't heard anything about Zeta's support wavering. Then again, they could be upset that Cosimi didn't get the presidential nod. I think she'd make a good treasurer, but I don't see it happening.

Jesse Kirsch- Delta Tau Delta (brothers with Senate Pro Tem Mike Patrone), Greek Judicial board. Had the momentum of a freight train before the break. I really expected him to be chosen over Moseley as chair, even though he was barely in the committee, but it wasn't meant to be. House support is strong enough though that I don't think he'll get the nod. If it doesn't work out for bigger brother Patrone, Kirsch is still young enough to see big things in next year's election.

There are others on the committee (Paul Drayton, Rachel Sandelli, Justin Stone, Brian Prokes) but I don't believe any of them will get strong consideration, and I don't feel like typing that all out four times.

Others in Senate that I think will be considered ...

Josh Weiss- Head of Campus Improvement Committee, Judiciary, AEPi. Ummm ... Campus Improvement Committee? If I didn't know better, I'd think that was impressive, and a good move by SG ... However I don't. Nor do I think he'll get too strong of consideration. He is young though, and has unlimited potential for the next election. One of the most powerful houses there is, AEPi doesn't look to get many additional bones thrown their way. The deal is Accent Chair and always having one senator in there. I haven't heard anything about SG Exec tossed in with it.

Laura Gonzalez- Gator Party Leader in Senate. Would be a fitting place holder until the election in 6 weeks. She has the senate experience to do it. Too bad she lost her race for HSA Treasurer, otherwise she might be perfect. Her name was tossed out there last year before they decided on Cosimi, but it never materialized. I've said it earlier too, but I fully believe that Gator uses her to do their bitch work, and never plan on rewarding her. She was denied FBK again this Fall, yet has done much more for the organization than 90% of the people who were accepted. As much as she might actually be deserving of the position, I don't think she'll get it.

Kevin Reilly- Allocations, Theta Chi. Has some momentum in senate, but not much. Theta Chi has their share of positions, so I doubt they'll add another one here. He's only a sophomore though, so they could prepare to groom someone else.

Pause.

There are actually a lot of young men that they are grooming for future leadership roles. I haven't heard of any young women being similarly groomed though. Very, very disappointing.

Potty Break.

Resume.

Jason Lutin- Former Allocations Chair, some house that he didn't list on facebook and that I don't know off hand. Allocations chair speaks for itself. Resigned 6 school weeks ago. Did he know something we didn't? No, I don't give him that much credit. He is definitely qualified for the position, but I don't see the political strength in putting Lutin at Treasurer for 6 weeks.

Keith McCartney- Kappa Sigma, Board of College Councils President. Is responsible for overseeing about 1/2 million. Has working relationships already with all of Senate and SG Finance. He's in a moderately powerful house, who has been rumored to be losing confidence in Boyle's ability to win the Presidency. I'm not too sure if he is in Gator's good graces though, or if he would even want to be a part of a Gator administration again, but he might be the most qualified person on campus to do the job.

Steven Kelly- Kappa Sigma, Board of College Councils Treasurer (notice a trend?), Allocations Committee. See above. He is two years younger than Keith however, but is not as well liked in senate or SG Finance. Just completed BOCC budget hearings, which gives him more budget and spending experience than 99% of others. Given a chice between him and Keith though, I'd have to go with Keith. Granted, neither will be recommended, unless Steven is recommended just to build up his status.

Ok ... wow this is dragging on ... so let's wrap up with looking at former senators and then I think I will continue tomorrow with a top list of non-senators who are qualified. I haven't mentioned anyone from Impact because, well, I don't think Joe or Senate would ever consider it. However, this next one comes close ...

Susan Henriques- Former Replacement Senator, SG Finance Assistant for 3 1/2 years, Impact Party Treasurer Fall 05, Progress Party President Spring 06. If you paid attention to Friday's paper, you'd notice both a letter to the editor from the legendary Christian Duque (see former Access senator, Voice 05 founder, generally scary guy) and a sign on the 34th Street wall calling for "Susan 4 Treasurer". Ok, so I have said it for Moseley and McCartney too, but Susan is without question the most qualified. However, she's been publicly critical of the current administration, and may have damaged her relationship with SG Finance. Also, she's not Greek. Sorry Susan, but I'd put money the winning recommendation comes from a house who Gator needs to sway their way in the upcoming election. Partisan party politics suck, don't they?

EJ Walicki- Current IRHA President, Summer Replacement Senator. Very qualified in terms of SG Finance experience from outside of SG. Also happens to be best friends with Senate President Boyles. Too bad it wasn't good enough to get him the replacement CLAS seat in November which went to a virtual SG Unknown Joel Witter. He does control IRHA, but, I don't know if that means as much as it did back in Jennifer Puckett's day. He'd still be a great choice and do great things for SG. Unfortunately (is that like 5 unfortunatelys?), we know it doesn't always go to the best people for the position.

Jackie Pace- Former Budget Chair, Tri-Delt, Swamp Girl. Is Treasurer worth coming back from Italy for? No way! This is a ludicrous rumor I've heard from three different sources. Jackie is a smart girl and would never do such a thing. Too bad she left when she did though, otherwise she'd be a shoe-in.

John Pughe- Another Former Budget Chair still at UF. Disappeared from the scene when they offered his seat to AKPsi David Vargas last spring (brother Jason Sherry was graduating, and Mierley was moving up from Sophomore, so he got the axe). Still works at UF and is finishing up his undergrad now. Would be a dark horse, but could be used to pull ATO back into full support. ATO is a cornerstone of the system though, so I don't think this will be necessary.

Bryson Ridgway- Yet Another Former Budget Chair in grad school at UF (for another semester), Former Senate President. Bryson, Bryson, Bryson. His qualifications speak for themselves. He'd never in a million years do it, but I've never seen such a beloved senator. Sig Ep Alumni status also helps (see Moseley above).

Ok Ok Ok ... that's enough for now. My eyes hurt too much from typing for 4 hours straight, so I am not gonna do a spell check. If you catch an error, please either let me know nicely and I will correct it, or don't let me know at all lol. Ignorance is bliss. Tomorrow (hopefully, but I make NO more promises) I will finish up the potential list with more former senators and all those non-SG people who are qualified and would do an amazing job.

The politics of it all ...

2005-12-07T01:59:00.000-05:00

Yes EJ ... it's just like a real political election (US Presidency), except without the similar calibur of reward. This game my friends is political. This should come as no surprise though-- it's been like this for years. And it's not just at UF:
NC State's own Pirate Party. However, a look at schools without political parties would show a vastly different picture. Ask your friends about their SG at schools with under 5,000 students.

SG politics are dirty. Were you not all around in the Spring? You couldn't read the Alligator without feeling dirty. It just has happened a lot earlier this year. SP started it less than 10 months ago, and while this is defnitely not its glory period, the blogs seemingly still play a role with people and their decisions.

Please know that I too consider John a friend. I would not believe that he is capable of anything that may have been suggested by others earlier. However, what kind of educated voter would I be if I simply disregarded someone's claim without even spending 5 minutes looking into it? But, I know that we won't be able to move on without another subject to jump too, so ...

A new Supervisor of Elections was confirmed. Wanna guess her sorority? What, you already knew? Well I'll be ...

Don't call me a mudslinger, as I am sure there are many qualified DPhie girls out there, but give me a break. I'll shoot this one right to Joe. Are you gonna look me in the face at a state of campus address and tell me legacy positions don't exist? This is a slap in the face of all. Sorry Joe, but Andy's got it right again(and I love the subtleties...). I'm not privy to the information of who applied, but I bet that she was the only. So it's not really Joe's fault that she got the position, what else could he have done? After all, he did put it in the Wednesday Update for all to see. Unfortunately you must have been either an Assistant Supervisor or have sat on the Elections Commission in the past year. Well, that limits it to about 15 people out of 47,000, now doesn't it? I won't even bother getting on my soapbox, but let me just say, the problem is systemic. It runs throughout SG. No one applies because they know there is a glass ceiling.

Erika Kane.

Enough said.

I did like how Joe stumbled over his words and almost said Amanda Kane, but I dare bring up her name lest we be flooded with rumors spread by people within her own party again.

Erika, if you are reading, I like how you removed every trace of DPhie from your facebook profile. It's not as if you were friends with all of the sisters. And you were listed as a DPhie on Gator Greek Pages. Still though, nice try. I hope that you learned from Dan's mistakes (Semester at Sea ... LOL). If he had 9 assistants to begin with, why didn't any of you help with the problems from the spring? But anyway ...

I wish you the best of luck! You'll need it. You will be in the limelight from day one with everyone judging your results.

Again, it brings me back to the politics. I am not surprised one bit by any of it. Gator will spend $50,000 on this campaign if you add up all real expenses related to winning a campaign (the lunches, the drinks, the old school political experts). They will report over $20,000; the first time any party has done so. They must if they are to win. Impact can not be far behind that $20,000 figure if they wish to compete. Party Politics. It makes us one of the best SG in the country (see Joe being appointed FSA President), and is also our greatest weakness. Just imagine what could get done if it wasn't for the politics.

Imagine ...

So finals suck, and unfortunately I can't devote all of the time that I wish to tracking down stories for you (this was after all handed to me), but hopefully soon.

Best of luck on all of your finals,

NAGAS

17 days ...

2005-12-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

17 days is the amount of time that researchers say it takes to break a habit ...

And to think that I came soooo close.

But I was dragged back in by the BS.

Virgil, Carl, New person whose name I don't remember ...

All the people written about ...

Stop the BS.

Bloggers, stop posting it.

People, stop committing such acts of BS.

Ok ... with that out of my system, I can get back to reporting real news.

Nothing!

It's all rumors and heresay at this point. The Alligator article today further exemplified that. If you are in the know, than you could have read between the lines. If not, it seems a horrible, messed up system.

EJ had it right-- students don't care about the politics. Its up the politicians to make people care. Wow. Me, a politician?

I'll make it a point to keep personal rumors out of it, unless they directly affect the Spring race. Or if that person pisses me off. =)

So you all know after reading today's article, if not sooner, that there are three people in the race as of today: John, Jared, and Diane. All 3 equally deserving. I won't do a breakdown of each, or the possible running mates because, well, it's been done. Let me just note though that neither Impact nor Gator had decided on a full ticket until February last year. Ten days before slating and stuff was still going down. The only party to have a ticket solidified? Progress. The no politics-political party. Ahhh how we hearted Progress. But to shoot down another rumor, they are not making a return in the Spring. Unless it is under new management ...

The question now is, will Access be making a return? Many have talked about it, and you know Diane wants it. The core of the question really falls on Diane. Is her running the best thing for the black community? Not being black, I can't answer that best. But from my personal opinion, it does not. Diane is older now, and doesn't have the energy she once did. She needs to groom one of her many proteges to take over for good. It is the circle of life.

Two things are reasonably certain. Impact is running Jared and Gator is running John. The only variable in that equation is Diane (and the thousands of black students she wants to represent). A three party system always favors the Greeks in Senate races and 9 times out of 10 in the Exec as well. Expect a decision to be made over the break. 3 parties working together, or one party having a clear edge over the other. Which will it be? Gator Exec and Impact Exec-- It is up to you.

Later in the weekend, I plan to look at possible replacements for Lutin's Allocation Chair that was just vacated. I wonder, if a chair leaves their seat and no one is around to hear it, is it really vacant? Seriously, I have never heard so little about such big news. Other than Budget, Allocations is where it is at. But I will save that for later. So remember everyone,

Sticks and Stones may break my bones ...
But Words can never hurt me.

Have a wonderful, SG-Free weekend

NAGAS

Trouble a brewing ...

2005-11-15T03:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I should have probably warned you all that I would be out of town Friday-Sunday Night for the South Carolina game. Utterly disappointing. But I digress ...

A lot happened while I was gone (and the immediate days before-hand). It is all but official that Gator will be running John Boyles for President. While it is not who I had been expecting (Linsday), I am by no means surprised. It was always their best move. I just thought they were two proud to see it and let it happen. I'm not quite sure what caused her to drop out, whether it be a valid reason or just realizing she couldn't win, but it now leaves only two viable options.

While I haven't heard anything confirmed yet (but I'll take the words and the people who have told me very seriously), it seems as if there remain one candidate and one party who both are definitely running this Spring. It's been common knowledge from other bloggers and my sources as well that the two have met. I suspect it is only a matter of time now ...

Taps are later this week and will provide a lot of info about who will be running on the gator ticket and from whom they will try to gather support.

This is a short update considering all the news that has gone down, but I need to recover from that horrible, horrible game this weekend. Until next time ...

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

Updates from others ...

2005-11-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

Gatorone has a good rant against America in general, but no SG news. Virgil wrote for another 5 pages, which could have easily been 1 and gotten the same point across. I like the passion, but the verboseness is unnecessary (I can't even do it if I wanted). I see people (all on Virgil's posts mind you) speculating about Impact's candidate as if it is a known decision. It's possible, but would be surprising. And all the talk of Impact taking power as a result of Tuesday night ... sounds like it is coming from their own people. Amanda Kane is the only one who had the courage to attach her name to her post. The others remain anonymous, yet post as if they are an insider. But hey ... it is better than no one commenting at all. No real news. Maybe tomorrow, but probably not. After this weekend, I promise ...

NAGAS

Budgets

2005-11-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

So I had wanted to do a detailed breakdown of all of the current members of the budget committee and try to predict the new chair, but they went ahead and named one without me even knowing it. Ryan Mosely. Sig Ep. Coincidence?

Lola had tenure, but I won't start that conversation again.

Lauren Mierley had experience actually sitting through budget hearings.

Jesse Kirsch had the momentum of a freight train.

Ryan Mosely was Vice Chair.

I could argue for or against any of them. I won't bash Ryan just yet-- let's see how he handles the impending crisis of fiscal irresponsbility and handing out massive budget cuts first. Then we'll talk.

Ryan, I do not envy you. I wouldn't want to be budget chair right now. Lindsay, I wouldn't want your job either. Tons of criticism and no thanks-- welcome to public finance. I sincerely want to see how the two will handle the situation. If rumors are true (and NO I am not discussing the candidates of either party until I know for sure), then how can the SG Treasurer cut the budgets of organizations across the board? She can't. She'd be crucified by the other party (as if you didn't know).

I honestly don't see how the A&S Fee committee can please everyone without lobbying the state legislature for a one-time increase in the cap of the amount they can raise A&S fees. Someone will be unhappy. My gut tells me she will fight so that it won't be the ones who can't vote her out. If she runs, that is.

No news on that front. Lots of rumors floating around and interesting people being seen together, but no real news. FBK elections are this week and we should know a lot more after that. Again, sorry for missing the boat with reporting on the budget chair position before it was filled. Tonight senate should make the first announcement about both the open seat on budget and open Business seat. I'm also afraid they might beat me to my next topic tonight, but I'm not prepared to write about it just yet.

To leave you all with an interesting thought...

"Committee Chairman Dave Kratzer said 2006-07 is going to be a "tough year, and there's nothing we (the committee) can do about it."

If I read this correctly, Dave is the A&S Committee Chair? Isn't he the former director of services for the Reitz Union? Doesn't this present a conflict--when he is in charge of determing who gets the cuts and who doesn't-- which if true, should upset many student organizations? Where oh where is the Reitz Rambler now to answer my questions?? Perhaps I know where to find him tonight ...

NAGAS

What a game ...

2005-11-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

To be quite honest, I shed a tear when we picked off the ball in the second overtime. I've never seen such an intense game, at least one end with a gator victory. And it got me thinking about SG (because practically everything does)...

Well before I get out of line, let me start with the whole thought process. I was appalled when I saw $340,000 for Gator Growl passed this summer. I was even more appalled when PTI vetoed it. These two items are neither here nor there. FBK argued it was necessary to the event's success. We were spending $40,000 on fireworks (please forgive my fuzzy math, but its been a while, and Sen. Bacon, if you are reading, then please correct me). But then when I saw them, WOW. Simply amazed. I had never stayed through a Growl for the fireworks before, but I'd be sure to never miss it again. And that night I got to thinking, what does SG really do for the students?

Bus service, free printing (the ~20% who know about it), SNAP, and gym wipes. Did I miss anything?

Shouldn't SG do more for the students? What would be something that they could do that would make students say .... WOW. The answer is quite simple: fireworks.

Hear me out on this one ...

$40,000 is absurd, but I'm sure (and am willing to do the research) that we can find some similarly amazing fireworks cheaper. 7 home games per year and hopefully 7 wins per year, maybe not including the first two warm-up games, so 5 games per year. Assume that large discounts apply, and we don't buy as many for growl, but that we spend $10,000 on fireworks per game. $50,000 a year. Wouldn't the show be amazing? Wouldn't the 25,000 students at the game say wow ... this is the first good thing I've seen SG do for me? I think so.

But then again, there are those critics out there (much like myself I must add) who would bash the current administration for agregious spending. I'd probably also question why SG did it and not the UAA. At the end of the day though, I'd be thoroughly impressed that SG did something to directly benefit the students (and 60,000 alumni too). Seriously though, what other school has fireworks after a home win? We could set the trend.

In summary, I want some brave senator (maybe one of those Impact senators who talked so much, yet haven't put forth any legislation yet?) to bring it up in public debate. I don't need credit for it, and in fact, I might blush if I hear you say that it was this blogger's idea. Talk to John about starting an ad-hoc committee for it, for which YOU could chair. Think about the possibilites. You do your research, which probably means working with the Growl staff, and then discuss it as a committee. Draft a bill to then present to Budget (since it will be a recurring event that will cost a lot of money). And you know the rest. I'll even help you author it if you want, but no, you won't get to know who I am. I just often wonder, what does SG do for me? I personally know, but you have to be in serious denial if you think SG has a positive reputation on campus. Let's do something to change that.

No real news this time, other than a huge sigh of relief and congratulations to the gators last night. I just woke up from the ummm .... celebrations. Please, tell me why I am wrong, but for the love of pete, don't be anonymous about it. Create some witty identity that you'll use over and over so that I know to whom I am speaking. And please forgive my typos. It isn't a morning for spell check. All my SG and firework love,

NAGAS

Orange Juice?

2005-11-04T05:19:00.000-05:00

Where have you gone??

For some bizarre reason I still check the blogs several times daily. Over the summer this was acceptable due to the high volume of posts and rapidly increasing number of bloggers (almost daily). But now, I still check it at least twice daily. And seeing as I represent about 50% of the posts, I wonder why?

And now, seemingly, Orange Juice has deleted her blog. And I was starting to get some good information about who she saw from her "dorm room" and at Swamp. While I must seriously debate if seeing SG insiders dancing at Swamp can really be considered newsworthy, at least it was something. And the rumors she floated out there, if true, would certainly shake things up.

I believe that there is plenty of news out there. I just don't have the time to cover, or should I say uncover, all of it. I have posts drafted and conspiracies written down, and its just a matter of time until I can share it with all of you. Until then,

Thanks for reading,

NAGAS

It's official ...

2005-11-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

I have deleted SP and GDI from my links section. For those of you SG newbies reading this blog, you don't know how much this pains me, but they simply don't have the time or desire anymore. I'm now left with Gatorman, Virgil, and Orange Juice, and the occasional commenter. Blogging skills are far more intense than basic writing skills. With every post I must make sure that I don't reveal so much information as to possibly identify myself. Some of my colleagues haven't done that. This is good for me, because it lets me know who they are, but bad overall, because it weakens the quality of their content (to me).

Now, I could be wrong. I haven't heard them admit to anything, and am just rationalizing their comments and posts to what I know to be going on out there. However, I think I'm pretty good at what I do.

My point being, there aren't many of us out there, and so I will try my best to go above and beyond and provide some things really worthy of discussion. I hope to start this before the weekend, but won't promise anything yet.

There is no real point to this post, just bidding adieu to the once-mighty Swamp Pundette and UF GDI. You will be missed ...

NAGAS

Ok Ok, I get the idea ...

2005-11-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

Overwhelmingly, people don't want to talk about the Spring elections just yet. Why, why I wonder?

Maybe because they're 5 months away?

Time flies though ...

After this next line I will not bring it up again unless I hear something concrete from either side (no more rumors) ...

I fully expect 3, if not 4, parties to run in the spring, splitting the vote many ways. I hope that both sides can consolidate, but I am not sure if the egos can subside to that which is best for the student body. Lastly on the subject, I am 99% sure that I know Gator's candidate, and about 60% sure I know Impact's. I am also confident about the other two who would run (not who you might expect), but neither has a party. OK. Done with that for now.

Too often people forget that there exists a third and equal (debate-ably?) branch of our Student Government, and don't notice when openings arise. If I remember correctly, I believe that three of the five justice positions need to be filled, but that number might really only be 2. So if you're a law student reading this, or know of one who would be good, encourage them to keep their ears open in the coming weeks.

On a side note, remember Joe's Executive Order? Of course you do, silly me. I remember the big commotion being that he said the Wednesday Update has a higher circulation than the Alligator, and thus should be used instead. Well (and I know that when tomorrow's gets published in a few hours I will probably be eating crow), why hasn't he? Alligator ads have been cut, but the open positions aren't being advertisied anywhere. I mean, if you look at it on the whole, how does any student not already involved in SG hear about these open seats?

I'm not going to sit here and discuss parking, or future Spring candidates, so that limits my topics. What really makes me wonder is ...

WHY?

I'll spare you my philosophical rant, but I generally am questioning my existence as a whole, and looking for direction. Don't worry about me, it's not a lack of opportunities that has me down. It's deciding XYZ that makes me wonder.

Oh, and a favor. Please, I'm a friendly individual. Don't post as anonymous. I'm not saying you have to attach a name (IE Amanda Kane or Pedro Morales (although I do like the idea of senators posting on blogs and being held accountable to unknown bloggers who question their acts)), but at least an identity. This way I can try and guess who you are, while you sit there and try to do the same. And yes, I really did use parentheses within parentheses. I don't want to remove the anonymous function from posting, but I ask that my regulars at least, come up with an identity. This also helps so that if I continue conversations with you, that I actually know that lol.

And on a sad note, it appears as though both the first two bloggers have left us. Farewell, dear friends. Maybe some day our paths shall cross again. In fact ... I'd be willing to bet on it.

Until next time ...

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

John, Jared, and Lindsay Oh My!

2005-10-28T08:37:00.000-04:00

Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!

John, Jared, and Lindsay OH MY!

We certainly aren't in Kansas anymore. What are the odds of the Greek Party running a non-Greek and the Non-Greeks running a Greek? Talk about alternate universes huh?

Stop building your bomb shelters for when this mess explodes, because I don't think it will be too bad. Even though we have three amazingly qualified candidates, and a few whose names weren't mentioned.

We know this much ...

November 14th, plus or minus three days.

That's about it for sure. I am over 97% confident that Lindsay Cosimi will "earn" the Gator bid. This does a few things for Gator:

1). Holds their Greek support strong, as compared to running John Boyles.
2). Doesn't appear as Greek strong as John Dicks or other IFC Presidents (obviously).
3). Maintains the Status Quo.

The Zeta seems like a happy medium, and we all know how perky she will be at 7 AM out there on her 6th day of campaigning. The big question is, what happens to the other two? One, you must assume, runs with Impact (and they would be lucky to have either). The other? Runs rebel? If so, who do they pull from Gator? These next two weeks will be more important than ANY other two week period in the history of our dear SG.

Deals will be cut, promises made. Seats will be secured, loyalty lost.

I only wish I was in the head of the Impact kids right now ... because this is the stuff SG politics is made of

Let me just say ...

2005-10-26T11:08:00.000-04:00

It is already decided whom Gator will run for President. It gets made on the 14th in a midnight meeting, but months of under-the-table campaigning has gone on to old house leaders to gain support for the decision. It gets announced to us shortly thereafter. I am about 83% sure I know (not 82, not 84), but I don't want to look foolish if wrong, so I will hold off for now.

Oh, and I'd expect Impact to have to make a decision on the same day as well. I've seen many Impact officials talking to many people they shouldn't be seen in public talking to, but I do suppose that they are just being politically savvy as Gatorone put it.

In other news (Lola!), a replacement seat in Budget is about to open up as Business Senator and Budget Chair Jackie Pace announces her resignation. It's no semester-at-sea, and shouldn't surprise anyone as it's been common knowledge for some time now.

I personally want to wish Jackie a wonderful time and the best of luck in her grad school applications. Does this mean she isn't staying here like her fellow Gator senators?

Until next time,

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

PS. I deleted my own comment so that I could post it here instead =)

And then the woman at the bar said ...

2005-10-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

I've got nothing!

Not in terms of gossip-- oh no-- there is tons of that floating around. What I lack is time. I've heard many things these last few weeks, most of which are not surprising. People were trying to count earlier the people running...

Don't. Wait until Monday the 14th. Then count.

I think 3 will emerge then, but I won't play my cards as to who just yet. And no, it isn't who you think.

Also, Toby Philpot as VP? Sorry Toby, but you're, how shall I put this ... too white. Yeah, I went there. Running with either John or Lindsay or even Jared (the least Hispanic Hernandez ever), you're simply too white to run as Veep. Now had Gator kept Lola around for that last exec spot, I could have excused you (see John and Lindsay). However, I don't see anyone else qualified for treasurer. And as we often know, Treasurer, not VP, is the leaping ground to the Presidency, and Gator has learned their lesson from running minorities at Treasurer. Sorry for the candor, but I want to dispell that rumor asap.

Chris and Stephanie taking over the world? I don't think either is as idealistic or as adorable as MacKenzie was, so I don't see it happening ... just yet. My question is, why re-invent the wheel? You, Stephanie Ruby, why make things harder when you are surely wanted by BOTH parties?? Chris Chase, why put yourself through this? You know MacKenzie and have seen him since the fact .... is that how you want to spend your senior year??

I am done for now ... but I will be back. With all this gossip spinning around, how can I not be?

Congratulations Chairpersons Green and Guerra

2005-10-12T14:28:00.000-04:00

Congratulations are in order to the new R&E Chair Samuel Green and Judiciary Chair Becca Guerra (who all of senate insists on calling Guerrera for some reason?). Gator Senators though they may be, I can find not fault in their selections. This, my friends, is a bigger dagger to the Impact/Independent cause than running Boyles for President. Gator wanted to make a point: We don't just nominate mainstream Greeks. And that they did. Now, I could say that 16 of the 19 highest positions are still Greek, but I won't. If this truly is an olive branch, then I personally accept. Heck, Guerra was in Impact candidate in the Spring, and Green was qualified with Impact through the first day of Spring slating, so I think they are less Gator-minded than average, and thus both perfect for their positions regarding rules and judicial matters. I won't go as far as to predict that this trend will remain when future seats are vacated, but I really do believe that it would show Gator truly trying to reach out to non-Greek students. So, how about nominating someone who isn't one of your own for a chair position? Of the current 84 senators (46 fall, 43 spring, minus 5 empty seats), 72 are Gator, 12 aren't. Just a thought, not likely to happen, but a thought nonetheless. Off I must go, but once again, Congratulations

NAGAS

Homecoming, Gator politics

2005-10-08T11:55:00.000-04:00

If I had to rate Gator Growl and the brothers Carmody for their performances, I think C sums it up. Average. Not better, but not worse. Bt hey, C=Degree. Keep telling yourself that, brothers Carmody. I liked a lot of the skits, I really did. I loved seeing Joe and the first lady of Gator football. Greg Giraldo I liked as well. Wayne Brady ... not so much. I love Wayne Brady, but improv in front of all those people just doesn't work. What were you thinking, brothers Carmody? (ok ok, last time I'll say that lol). I just wish someone had told them before-hand. Those fireworks though, wow. I sure am glad SG spent so much of our money to ensure we had those quality fireworks (no, I actually loved the fireworks, but what kind of a post would it be if I didn't bash the current administration?).

On to Gator politics now ...

Just imagine you're strolling through Turlington come mid-March ...

And you hear that the Gator party candidate is NOT Greek, and the Impact party candidate is a former IFC President. What would you think? Is it possible to imagine what most voters would think? From a more politically important standpoint, who does John Boyles bring to the table? I mean, would all of the Greek houses even vote for him? Who else does he bring? The music kids? Senate President sounds great, but 90% of the voters will have no idea what that really means. Of all the people Gator can run, John Boyles makes the lease sense to me. The ironic part is he is quite possibly the best person for the job.

Since I haven't been posting much news lately, just rumor and conjecture, I feel obligated to show some Senate responsibility and advertise the following immediate openings (because God knows they won't): Architecture, Dentistry, Vet Med, District E, and District F (all other zip codes). They haven't put up the forms online (because that would just make it too easy for all students to apply), but you can get them by venturing up to the 3rd floor of the Reitz. I urge anyone reading who is eligible to apply. Keep the new R&A senators busy (all 5 are new). I've heard rumors of seats opening up in Business, Engineering, and Grad school, but there is no news to report yet. With that being said ...

GO GATORS. I'm on my way to the stadium now and am a little concerned. I know we'll win, but not by as much as my friends have been predicting. I'd say 27-10 Gators. Still looking ahead to LSU a bit. Have a great Homecoming weekend,

NAGAS

A new outlook on life ...

2005-10-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

Yes, I finally gave in and went to the pre-set templates like all of the other bloggers use. When I created my blog in July, I wanted to go in it alone, building my own template using HTML. Well it didn't work too well lol, so now I've gone with a default, and think it looks much better.

Unfortunately I wasn't there in the elections commission hearings to see Chris Carmody and Kurt Zaner defend Gator (but it's really not that fun anyway, I've been there before too many times), but it got me to wondering who else would have defended them if there had been say, 10 elections hearings. I'd put my money on Shuster for round three, but oh wouldn't it be exciting to see Marc Adler or Brent Gordon? Or even Nikki Fried (although I doubt she or her boyfriend are in Gator's best graces)? Who else? Josh Aubuchon if people are coming down anyway. I could go on all day ...

But I won't =)

Because this weekend is about one thing: Drinking! Urrr I mean UF Spirit! Homecoming Parade, Soccer Game, Volleyball Game, Gator Growl, Football Game. So let's start with the drinking! I mean ...

NAGAS

And the Gator Party candidate for President is ...

2005-10-06T16:46:00.000-04:00

If you believe GOAL, than you would say John Boyles. After all, he is probably the most influential non-Greek in a party in which the majority is Greek (and heavily ... yet I will try my hardest from calling them the Greek party with Boyles and Gonazalez at the helm).

If you believe last week's gossip, than you would say Lindsay Cosimi. I've heard that die down a lot since the election, so maybe something has gone on of which I am unaware.

If you ask me, and I've been saying it all along-- I think Gator will run Patrone. You read it here first. They screw over John Boyles, Lindsay Cosimi, Jared Hernandez, etc etc. Why? Because they can. I think the interesting part is how it all shakes down with these candidates going to another party (hmmm lol) or dropping out altogether.

Now, you don't have to tell me your ideas, but please, please tell me why I am wrong.

No, I'm not dead

2005-10-05T11:47:00.000-04:00

I've just been really, really busy as of late. Now with the unusually early Fall elections out of the way, I have a good 15 weeks before I have to start worrying about the Spring elections. And with a new slate of senators sworn in this morning (yes-- in the AM), I expect to have lots to talk about. I've been drafting a big post with lots of images and analagies (ala GOAL's Duck Pond), but as I admitted in my first post, I'm just not that creative. I'm still doing it of course, it just takes a lot longer. Unfortunately I don't have that time right now because I have to go fail a test (yay!), but in the next few days ... I promise. So on a closing note I will leave a few things to ponder...

Former Senator Fontanet nominates Laura Gonzalez for Pro-Tem, new Senator Allison Cullin seconds, but Laura declines. This makes you wonder about a couple of things:
1). Does Laura believe Gator will run her as Pro-Tem in the Spring, even though it won't really mean anything by that point in her career?
2). Does Laura not want to be in the spotlight ( LOL )?
3). Is she biding her time for a spot on exec if she postpones graduation?
4). Does she know Gator is simply using her for her good looks (and dedication to campaigning) and keeping her in check as a senator (not even a chair), but that she knows she would never be elected Pro-Tem as an Impact senator?

I wonder what is running through your mind right now, Laura Maria Gonzalez.

Blogging from class ...

2005-09-13T14:32:00.000-04:00

A new trend (if only people were still blogging): wireless blogging from class. I can pick up signal in Turlington, Florida Gym, Matherly, and many other buildings on campus. My professor is looking at me right now ... and I'm blogging. Brilliant! I don't have much to say, other than, thanks to all of you still reading. I miss the Reitz Rambler's live blogging from senate, would you mind going tonight so that I don't have to go? Senate is just ... getting boring. Maybe it's me, but there isn't enough drama anymore. I was talking to an old friend (during the same class) about who slept with who to win the SG Presidency (No, not Joe). I'll leave you on that note ...

NAGAS

A day late ...

2005-09-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

So it didn't run in Monday's edition, but it ran today for those interested. With the subtraction of Dicks from District F, the percentage of Gator party senators dips below 60%, but remains strong nonetheless. I wonder if that counts ALL of their pledges too? Are Greeks bad people? No, of course not (well most aren't at least...), but how can you say you represent all of campus when clearly you do not (Thomas Philpot ...)? I'll admit, as Greek biased as I may be, I'd probably do the same if I were in your shoes. If my org controlled all the branches of government for such a long time, I'm sure I'd use it to my benefit once in a while. But enough is enough. I'm sitting in the CSE Circa right now, after waiting a good 5 minutes to get a computer, wondering how many people will be disenfranchised from voting when they see the disaster known as "Secured" site online voting take away the computer that they need to watch class or talk on AIM (or write Blogs lol). Not just the people in line to vote themselves, but all of the people who are waiting to use computers who then become mad. Bad, Bad Senate. This isn't another online voting rant (see my second post for that), just pointing out that I want credit when the new system fails, as we all called. Happy Senate Day =)

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

#6 in the country

2005-09-11T20:13:00.000-04:00

He's done it! In the span of 9 days, Urban Meyer has taken us to being the #6 team in the country, and I suspect, into the top #3 if we can beat Tennessee next week. I'll make sure to do all my studying on Wed. and Thurs., because Friday night and all day Saturday are gonna be CRAZY. Again, I came within a touchdown of each team's total scores this week, but will hold off for a few days before I post my score of the real game (those other two, they were just scrimmages).

I'm very happy to see SP and GDI and even RR posting again, and hope that in some little way, my incessant prodding is to thank.

As much as I love reading posts of like-minds, I miss the SP and GOAL Greek-friendly posts. If only I could get the latter to return. I know who you are, so maybe I'll have to pay you a visit, my dear GOAL (purely business, not in some creepy sexual way). All of our blogs complement each other (or is it compliment? hmm, never can remember), and the blog-world has been out of sync lately. I need someone to counter my Joe-bashing with pro-Joe dialog in a friendly yet heated exchange. Ahhh but it is still early in the year/election cycle.

So I made a friend at the Alligator this weekend, which is of course, always a good thing, as I've learned that even journalists make sloppy gators occasionally. Monday's SG coverage ... not exactly news per se. Gator boasts a Greek slate. Really? I personally would have never expected that. Don't get me wrong, I love the anti-Gator rhetoric, but I feel that it was partly to blame in them winning the run-off. All you had in the news was anti-Gator bias, and as they say, negative publicity is still publicity (wow, I butchered that cliche). I didn't catch the exact #, but I wonder what percentage of their slate is Greek? I'm sure I'll find out Monday though =)

On a serious note, let us not forget the tragedy that took place four years ago today. Wow four years, doesn't seem that long ago, does it? Wednesday night at 8 PM in the O'Dome, Accent is bringing Wesley Clark as a part of their Septemer 11th speakers series. I encourage you all to attend so that we may never forget.

What a week it has been (and will be) for UF! Beating LA Tech of course, but we will have had retired-but still serving because of politics- Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Wesley Clark speak and a concert from Sister Hazel on the 16th, leading to the big game, 8 PM, on national TV CBS. I've heard college game day will be here, but haven't seen it confirmed anywhere.

Anyways, best of luck to everyone with their first round of exams this week, and a reminder to all to study for those tests next week, because you and I both know you won't pick up a book next Saturday.

Filled with Gator Pride as always,

NAGAS

Gameday ... again

2005-09-10T11:58:00.000-04:00

So we have another test this week as we prepare for the big one on National TV and College Gameday, UF/Tennessee. Last week I predicted a 34-20 Florida victory, and Florida came through winning 32-14, or off by a total of 8 points. Not bad if I do say so myself. I wasn't too impressed with the offense (Leak's 17 in a row included 2 screens and 2 shovel passes which don't count), but Wyoming was actually a good team that I expect to win the rest of their games. Louisiana Tech however ...

Let's just say it won't be pretty. I want to predict 63-3, but something tells me Urban will play softy again (and it will come back to haunt us in the BCS bid), and the final score will be 48-10. Leak will throw for four TDs and Wynn will emerge as the tailback by rushing for one and 100 yards. Ok, enough football ...

It made my morning to see posts by both SP and GDI =)

SP,

No, we never had a conversation regarding your zip code. Sorry.

GDI,

Thanks for the loving.

Monday's Alligator should be interesting with stories about the Trustees meeting (spending of CITF funds) and I'm sure a requisite posting about Gator's irresponsible spending. Sorry to Goal and those like-minded Anonymous writers, but running through 1.5 million in reserves in under one year is just ... irresponsible. What else will Monday's Alligator bring? I noticed about 75% of the Gainesville Suns are still in their boxes. Maybe that's because there's no good UF coverage? No SG coverage at all? Now I know that was part of the deal, but come on, it needs some spice. The Alligator seems to be more anti-Joe than ever, and I'd like to see another paper be pro-Joe for once. You know, competition making the other work a little harder? Both benefit in the end? No? Yeah, I didn't think it would work like that either. Maybe I'm being too critical though, as it's only been less than a month. I don't mean to bash the alligator, as I think they do a wonderful job (and have to throw you off as to my true identity in some way), and are better than 99% of other school papers, I just always want the best.

Ok it's noon now, and you know what that means ... tailgating outside of my classrooms at Turlington. Hehe Haha take that Machen ...

Be safe out there and Go Gators!

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

$50,000 one time payment, $25,000 recurring payment for towels

2005-09-09T09:21:00.000-04:00

http://www.alligator.org/pt2/images/opinion/050909bcartoon.jpg

The ridiculousness speaks for itself.

At least someone is listening ...

2005-09-05T20:24:00.000-04:00

Gatorone has posted since I called out the blogging world for being inactive just 24 hours ago, but where is everyone else? I notice it's not just the SG blogs, but all the UF blogs. I still don't have my own blog bookmarked, but instead get there from SP's site, which is also how I read all of the other blogs. I didn't even know other ones were being created until she added their link. I finally had the chance to meet the woman behind SP, but she won't remember little ole me. I don't want to call her out (even though if you're still reading me you all know who she is), but let it be said that I was disappointed to see what party she has chosen. Surprised isn't the right word, so disappointed should do it. Ok Ok, I've had enough SG blogging talk for now, and I need to do something to cheer myself up. So what do I do when I am down? Make fun of FSU, of course. I'm watching their awful QB and wonder what would be if Wyatt Sexton was back in action, but then I just can't help singing Joan Osborne and laughing.

Awwww FSU, you always make me feel better!

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

For those wondering ...

2005-09-05T03:40:00.000-04:00

Only SP<http://swamp-pundette.blogspot.com/>, Gatorman <http://gatorman-uf.blogspot.com/>, and You're All Wrong <http://youreallwrong.blogspot.com/> (once in the last 6 weeks) have posted in the last week. Simply ridiculous. I only hope you are all still reading. ( Sorry, haven't figured out all the blogger code yet ). The ironic part is, to get to MY blog, I still go through SP. You've had that much of an influence on me.

So I sit here, a little tipsy, wondering about the last day of slating. Gator has about 2/3 of the qualified candidates so far, but they've long given away their 46 seats, making any new interviewees inconsequential. In the fall, we have a lot of new freshman. By new, I mean uneducated as to the ways of how SG works. And they qualify to run with Gator. Woe is me, Woe Woe Woe. They at least have an excuse. But what, what I ask about the Fall 2004 Access senators? You know who you are, supporting Gator. Shame on you! The Access name once stood for something, and I know that FBK member Michael Shine took it in spring '05 (Yeah that's right, I did an Alligator search and named him!), but that's no reason to stop fighting.

A few people come to mind immediately who should slate with Impact, so let's only hope their leadership has where-with-all to call them on Labor Day and sway them from Gator. Let us hope.

NAGAS

The good, the bad, and ...

2005-09-04T00:10:00.000-04:00

The gators won their first of many games for head coach Urban Meyer, and although it wasn't the prettiest throughout. Heisman hopeful Chris Leak broke Steve Spurrier's 1966 record of 17 completions in a row, spanning mid-way through the 1st quarter until the 3rd quarter. Congrats Chris! And a 'Here's something for the freshman to look forward to after Leak bolts for the pros this year', replacement Josh Portis looked very good, and showed lots of speed to dazzle us for years to come. But Wyoming, didn't you know that he'd be running on every play? Come on...

On a sad note, Chief Justice Rehnquist passed away earlier tonight. Obvious condolences go out to his family, but this now presents a problem for both the Supreme Court and our "fearless" leader. Not to be insincere, but can we really say we are surprised? This of course is the bad. Again, condolences.

The ugly ...

have you seen all the beer consumed in the past 72 hours? I applaud the brewing companies for both using their resources to benefit hurricane victims (transportation of supplies, or at least so I hear) and understaning basic economics (supply goes up, demand goes down, thus price goes down), but is selling beer 1/2 off really a good idea? I counted over 200 empty bottles at a party last night. It was a miracle if 20 people were there. Seems to me it is irresponsible on their behalf ... but alas ... capitalism!

That's a story for another night, as it's time for me to celebrate win #1 under our true leader,
U-R-B-A-N

NAGAS

A new era ...

2005-09-03T12:33:00.000-04:00

I figured I've been talking too much about SG and it was time to focus on something REALLY important ...

Urban Meyer.

In just 5 short hours the new era of football dominance (Not at all jinxing us ...) begins, and we all get to be witnesses. If we are sober enough to remember that is. I predict ... Florida 34 Wyoming 20. Unfortunately this upperclassmen randomly got tickets in the VERY last row! How I miss the day where it went by credits .... awww ...

I'm going now to re-start a long weekend of drinking that began last night at midnight and ended at 4 AM, with a little tailgating from that $7 20 pack I bought before the masses wiped out all of the coupons in a 20 mile radius. But let us not forget the reason we have such cheap beer and expensive gas, and show that college students can make a difference too: http://www.redcross.org/

And because they taught me to never leave you on a sad note,

"We are the boys of old Florida ...
F-L-O-R-I-D-A ..."

And because I can't have a post without at least discussing something SG-related, I plan on revising my links and giving the blog a whole new look (or a look at all) this weekend. Some of my fellow bloggers have given up, and as such, I'll be deleting their links from my site. So, if you wanna save your name (at least in my eyes), than you'd better do something this weekend. We bloggers have a reputation to keep.

GO GATORS

Slating ...

2005-09-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so if you're reading this, I probably don't have to tell you that slating is going on all around you. I've seen some rather "interesting" people hanging out in 355 yesterday and today, yet some I knew would be there (ala Becca Guerra & Gator ). Looking at the numbers from about noon, it doesn't look too good for Impact, and as always, Gator looks fairly strong, which is to be expected with the near-record setting rush class they're experiencing.

If you remember back to the weekend during last election's slating, you'll know what to expect this weekend. That's when all the cacauses met, leading to Diane and Co. switching, which had ultimately been a long time coming. Who will be meeting this weekend? What deals will be cut? I'd be open for hearing any of the gossip, even though I probably know most of it lol, but it's always good to share. Most of mine of course is unfounded, so I won't post it until I hear anything more concrete, but a few of the people I've seen talking together ...

would make for a very interesting campaign.

I think this will be one of the most hotly contested fall elections in memory (Student Alliance? Come on ...). Won't you take part in it ?

NAGAS

Blogs ... dying?

2005-08-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

Say it ain't so! I'm just getting started and I have a long list of topics to post. More importantly, all the gossip is just now starting with qualifying this week and elections in only 3! If you feel the need to replace SP or GOAL with another blog, I hope you'll find mine very interesting. I know who both are, and I'd have to suspect that even if they stop posting, they'll keep reading.

So, it seems my sighting of the Impact and Progress members was dead on (although it had been rumored for a while now), but what was Sundeep doing with them?? Word is he registered the Gator Party, and is of course their current senate party leader. Maybe it was just drinks ...

Or maybe Impact is pulling a Gator.

And personally I'd love to see it!

I'm not necessarily one for dirty tricks, but if Gator continues to use them w/o consequence, then I think it only fair. No, two wrongs don't make a right, but it will make for a dramatic fall election.

He's not the only one I've heard about jumping over either to Impact either. And as always, many Impact supporters continue to jump ship to Gator, where they think they have a better shot at winning a fall election. Ahhh when will they all learn, it's more than just winning and losing. Some of us that fight, we believe in a cause. It gets discouraging to see others who don't.

In addition to Impact and Progress kids, I saw a Voice kid and an R&A Chair in attendance of the wedding. I don't think either will have anything to do with the new party, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless. I was standing about a blogger-safe 100 feet away as to not get noticed, but was close enough to hear the Iron Fist himself perform the ceremony. Could Dan Fitzpatrick run with Impact?

Very, very intriguing stuff, and I expect it to get better. Don't give up on the fad just yet, and I promise I won't either. I'll throw in some humor next time too! Until then, all this blogger's best...

Guess who I saw today?

2005-08-21T04:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I needed a nice vacation to a tropical paradise to get me ready for the fall and forget about the long summer of work and school. Ahhh wonderful Aruba. So nice and yet so cheap. And there were no tourists, especially college-aged ...

Ok Ok so I'll stop there haha, but boy was it nice ...

So in my first day back in Gainesville, and not being able to make up my mind about where I wanted to eat, I wandered over to Swamp with an old love interest and came across a very interesting group standing together. Now, it's still summer, so it might not mean anything at all, but there in broad evening-light were party leaders from Gator, Impact, and Progress standing together waiting for a table. Again, it could be nothing. Or it could be something HUGE (but good or bad ...) I'm not sure. Admittedly, I am a little out of the loop these last 3 or 4 weeks, but I figured I'd post something just to let you all know I am still alive.

Yours forever,

Not Anti-Greek, Anti-System

That's not all I've heard ...

2005-07-30T20:19:00.000-04:00

Goal- "If KA can go, anyone can go".

That's not all that this blogger has heard. Apparently, KA is only the first of many houses who are under investigation, and is not the only one who may get kicked off campus. More than just getting kicked off campus, very serious and likely Meredith Act violations may be brought to light in the coming days. This blogger wants NO part in any criminal investigation, so I'll leave this one up to the proper authorities.

On a lighter note, I've been hearing much about individuals changing party affiliation in the upcoming election(s). Why, I ask you, why? Senator A leaves party X for a better shot in party Y, while senator B leaves party Y for a better shot in party A. The two of you just balance out, can't you see that? Maybe I see things too much in black and white, but I see no reason for these party changes, or for multiple independent parties. Do you remember how there were 9 parties who were registered in early February? 4 emerged, 1 Greek and 3 Independent (of the system). There can only be one Greek party, and only one party can control power (and have a legit say in things), so why do non-Greek parties fight each other? Can't we all just get along?

Have a wonderful Saturday night, and don't expect a post from me before noon tomorrow,

NAGAS

The best thing that each SG Presidential candidate has given me ...

2005-07-28T20:31:00.000-04:00

MacKenzie Moritz- Gatorpedia. I use it almost as much as facebook or the alligator.org to research people and facts before I post. In fact, I used Gatorpedia to spell check your name, because I'd been spelling it McKenzie. My bad.

Dennis Ngin- The belief that there is life after SG at UF. After losing the presidency by only around 300 votes in a run off, he has said "Smell you later" to SG at UF and has taken a fellowship in Talahassee. I wish many others in SG would do the same.

Justin Lauer- Free Pens. I know he wasn't a Presidential candidate, but being the lone Voice exec, he deserves some loving. By the way, I have 8 of those pens in my apartment, and am using one right now. Thanks Justin.

Joe Goldberg- Free towels at SWRec. Oh wait ...

NAGAS

Blogging ideas

2005-07-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

With only a few weeks before the Fall semester starts and we all have real, good gossip to talk about again, I have a few ideas that I'd always wanted to see done before I joined the blogging realm, and now that I have, I can start (or at least try to start) them. In no particular order other than the way they I remembered them ...

1). A Blogger's version of Darts and Laurels, but of course with a more creative and witty name, somehow in reference to SG or someone in SG that only a select few would understand, until we tell them that is.

2). A Blogger's top 25 list. This was started by both SP and GDI, but neither really dedicated the time to it that I think they would have liked (correct me if I am wrong). But instead of us each posting 25 and having duplicated, I say each blogger report on 5 up and comers (or really anyone to be on the lookout for), and that should pretty much cover it all.

3). More live blogging. I don't know how, or for what, but I loved both RR's and Bridget Carey's versions, and want to see more. I think every senate meeting should be live blogged. Oh Glenda ...

4). Consolidated blogging (stolen from GDI). Not that every blogger isn't special in our own way, but certain, unnamed bloggers, don't update often enough to have their own link. I'm not saying they're not important, but I know that everyone would enjoy it more if they each maintained their separate identities but all posted to the same website, making it more convenient for us all to check. I have free time to check them all now, but once the regular drama of Fall elections, a full load of classes, and the new must-see TV line-up comes out, this blogger doesn't know if the average reader will keep up with the now 15 blogs up and running (and something tells me many more to come in the fall). Note: Hidden identities are vital to blogging. Once discovered, you won't be privy to the same information as before. Now this doesn't apply to a lot of you who have seemingly given away your true identities (or have they .... Evil Meniacal laugh ...), but just because we share a blog doesn't mean we have to share anything else. I know that it probably means fewer drunken hook-ups among bloggers, but I think it's better for the community that way.

5). More parodies. Greek on a Leash, I mainly refer this one to you, since you seem to be the best at it (In My Humble Opinion). I'd like to write some one day, but, well they just wouldn't be any good.

Those are my top five for now, but I will post again when I remember all those great ideas that I once had, but have since lost. Feel free to share thoughts or your own blogging ideas ...

NAGAS

My new dream position

2005-07-27T05:16:00.000-04:00

I'll try to make this post shorter, since seemingly everyone thinks I go on for too long (and I agree), and since I have to leave for work soon anyways ...

Forget senate, forget SG President, I wanna apply for Supervisor of elections next year. Apparently you get to tell Senate how it is (alligator Dart from '96 elections):

"Here's a we-bet-you-$1,000-that-you-still-can't-do-your-job-correctly DART to SG Supervisor of Elections Dick Williams for answering questions about senate election authenticity by saying the results were true because he said they were. He also bet $1,000 that the votes were accurate -- probably students' money he's putting up for grabs."

http://www.alligator.org/edit/issues/96-sprg/960419/d1eddy19.htm

Seems to me, that especially after this new legislation for secured online voting is passed, the supervisor of elections will have more freedom than ever to interpret as they see fit. Just imagine pulling a fast one on Senate and reverting back to paper ballots and how shocked they would be ... oh wait.

I'll be the first to admit when I don't know something, but who is the new supervisor? It wasn't on my list of Joe's appointed positions. I'm not gonna say Ali Blye did a bad job, because she did do everything required of her, I just don't think she was too competent either, and that most of her call-backs were only after first asking Sandy. Which makes me wonder, is there a training manual for supervisor of elections? Or is it all a system of hand-me-down information?

I think I can do it. I think I've seen enough elections to know what is and isn't allowed. I think under pressure, I can make the right decisions to guide the electoral process. I think it's funny that Ali still has UF SG Supervisor of Elections on her facebook profile ... as her only club or job. She doesn't list her sorority, or any other campus involvement, yet if she can be supervisor, why can't I? (no offense Ali, I thought you were nice, so don't take this as a personal attack, because I make it against the office, not the person =).

Oh yeah, I remember why now ...

NAGAS

This whole online voting fiasco

2005-07-26T07:52:00.000-04:00

It's been debated for as long as any of us have been on campus (well, with the exception of a slight few, who will be the feature of a later posting of mine): Online Voting. The "Greek" party has cried out against it as being not secure, and the "non-Greek" parties have always whined about getting more students involved. Neither party is perfect. The argument (in case you've been in a hole, on Mars, in a deep, deep underground cavern) goes like this:
The Greek party doesn't want online voting because then more students will vote. In normal democracy that sounds great, but the Greeks have a problem with that: they can only reliably get 3500 Greek votes every semester. More students voting means that they'd have to get more votes via campaigning and through positive public relations, which means they might have to clean up their acts.

The Non-Greek (or anti-Greek, or Independent) party wants online voting so that "more people will vote", when in reality they want more people to vote for them. They think that by expanding voting times and locations (to everywhere for 48 hours straight), the average student who has never before been interested will all of a sudden vote ... and vote for them because they have "the better platform and the best candidates".
We've all heard the argument many a times before. I'm not sold that online voting would change anything , but there is that slim, 1 in a million chance ("So you're telling me there's a chance!"), that we would see a turnout of say, 25,000 students, who would change the future of SG elections at UF.

Now that you've seen my impartial, I can play both sides part, I'll tell you that I am in favor of online voting. I've rallied for it, signed the initiative (and yes, it was an initiative), and argued others about it online (see most recent posts in GOAL and the first post from the SG Online Voting Committee). I think online voting would actually bring about a change on campus. If you look at the demographics of total number of votes cast for each candidate over the last few years (because it's summer and I have nothing better to do than work or study than do this), you can see some clearly defined trends. For instance, do you know how many Non-Greek or Independent party Freshman or Sophomores have won a Spring seat in the last 5 years? I'll give you a clue ... it's less than the number of non-AEPi candidates chosen to chair Accent since 1990 (3). I think that's remarkable. They have a near perfect, if not perfect, record of success winning those seats. And why, I might ask you? Do you think that there are more Greeks with less than 60 credits, or more? Ok, so maybe that's a bad way to put it, but they're doing this awful construction right outside my work window and I can't concentrate.

(20 minutes goes by).

Maybe it is a problem of representation, where freshmen and sophomores just don't see the benefit of voting for representatives of their class instead of their college. Or maybe they just don't care. You know they've seen enough campaigners in Turlington or the Reitz, so they KNOW the candidates and the platforms, after all they're also on the internet, the Facebook, radio, and even TV. But what's their motivation to vote? Greek houses hold competitions among themselves (inter and intra-house) to see who can collect the most I voted stickers. I've been told of the rewards for winning, or punishments for not, but I of course can't prove it to anyone that this is or isn't voter coercion. But when you smell smoke ...

Now if we had online voting, maybe they'd take the 30 seconds it would take away from facebooking and Gatorpediang (or maybe Gatorpeddling? No, doesn't sound right. Anyway props to McKenzie on it for starting something big, I'm jealous, but glad to see he's still getting involved (oh, but Assistant Treasurer, come on, you can do better =)) to go and vote. But, if they're not gonna take a shower, put on (hopefully) clean clothes, and venture into natural sunlight to cast their vote on old fashioned paper, why would they do so to vote at a "secured" internet terminal? Why, I ask you, why?

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the points for reasoning against it (it, to be from now on defined as "unsecured", or universal online voting, except of course when it is used as as something else, as was just the case in this parenthetical phrase): Voter coercion. Ignine then Innovate turned Gator Jason Sherry says it best when he says "I can tell you without hesitation there are people that will do that," that being Greek houses manipulate and coerce the voting of its members (http://www.alligator.org/pt2/050721voting.php). It always peturbs me (yes, peturbs) when people use the argument that it's all about information technology security, ie being hacked or stolen, that the Greeks use to fight online voting (yes, I'm giving credit to the system, so write it down). They know the servers are secure and that it won't be hacked so don't accuse them of using it as a defense, they stopped it a long time ago. They know that was is insecure is the students. Not human error per se (poll workers, Stephen Bourden, Glenda, or superviser of elections mishandling ballots), but rather human nature. I can guarantee that there would be Greek voter coercion if it were institutied, but just as certainly, I am sure that the non-Greeks (specifically here those that are anti-Greek) would get their roommates IDs and PWs (if they don't already know them-- I personally know at least 3 others IDs and PWs and am sure that it's a low end example) and vote for them. There would be improper voting going on all over the place. BUT (you know you saw it coming), are these fewer cases enough to throw away the 5-10,000 real votes that would be gained from people who otherwise wouldn't vote? Someone (can't remember who) posed the question which is more important: voter integrity or voter turnout. I'm not about to say turnout is more important than integrity, but, maybe I am ...

Ok, the whole point is to debate the merits of the two online voting systems: it and the other (Unsecured/Universal vs Secured, on campus voting at a computer). According to David Cohen (the new SG beat writer?) the online voting committee will recommend the institution of "secured" online voting, from computers in ten polling locations on campus, with two poll workers at each, drastically reducing the cost of a paper ballot election. Not good enough. I've said it before and I will say it again: this is a step in the wrong direction. I applaud Susan Henriqiues last minute attempt as a replacement senator to amend legislation which would not forbid it under SG statute (as the old law said "Online voting is prohibited"), but would open up a small window before they slam the door shut (www.progressuf.com/action.php). Under the recommendation as I understand it, there is no exit strategy in place to one day switch to "unsecured" online voting. Bottom line: They intend for it to remain like this forever, still voting on campus, in clothes, during normal hours (8 AM-8 PM). Once they approve "online voting" in this form, it will later be IMPOSSIBLE to go to the originally desired it. Brilliant move by them. I only wish I had seen it coming, so that I may have warned the blogging world months ago, but I didn't. I got carried away with class and work and then all of a sudden BAM! Secured online voting. Did anyone even ask for it? Was it on an initiative? Was it covered under Andrew Hoffman's initial report? Sheesh. No matter what we do, it seems we can't escape

Is Secured voting really any better than this?

My proposal, which I prefer to taking a step backwards with "secured" online voting, is going more paper-based than even our current system. Other than voter turnout, the major reason for the switch to online voting is to save money. The cost of our paper ballots and ballot counting machines is too much, so, I propose, going old school: Voting on scan-trons. If they're good enough for our tests, why not our votes?

Question 1: SG President and Vice President. Select 1.
For Gator Party candidates Joe Goldberg and Joyce Medina, select A on line 1;
For Impact Party candidates Dennis Ngin and Robert Mack, select B on line 1;
For Progress Party candidates McKenzie Moritz and Adam Roberts, select C on line 1;
For a write-in candidate, select D, and request a write-in ballot from a poll worker.

Question 3: Business Senators. Select 3.
For Gator Party candidate Lauren Mierley, select A on line 3
For Gator Party candidate Jacqueline Pace, select B on line 3
For Gator Party candidate David Vargas, select C on line 3
For Impact Party candidate Gianabel Fernandez, select A on line 4
For Impact Party candidate Hunter Williams, select B on line 4
For Impact Party candidate Cesar Villalta, select C on line 4
For Progress Party candidate Jessica Hernandez, select A on line 5
For Progress Party candidate Wesley Neuman, select B on line 5

Question 4: For SG Constitutional Amendment #123 about XYZ
For Yes, select A on line 6
For No, select B on line 6

Is that so hard? I skipped question 2 about SG Treasurers, but it's the exact same, except something about Voice and Justin Lauer choose D.

Doesn't seem so bad does it? You'd need to type up 23 different versions, all with the same executive and constitutional questions of course, only changing the lines for the 23 different senate positions that you vote on. This might, at most, take 1 hour to type up and photo copy, which I would gladly volunteer to do, free of charge, for as long as I am a student at UF. We already have hundreds of thousands of scantrons available, which are I think about 3 cents each to produce, times 10,000 students who may vote (in a good year), would total $300. We already have the scantron grading machines, which would cost no more to maintain from an additional 15,000-20,000 ish scantrons being graded per year. There you go. A whole election for under $500. Brilliant! Then they can use the rest to give my organization additional funding. That is how it works, right? No? Hmm ... well how about putting the money once spent for elections into campaign finance reform to stop the candidates from spending tons of their (parent's) own money like SP suggests in a previous post. My only addendum to this process? No. 1 Pencils.

You heard me. I'm soooo tired of only using #2 pencils my whole life, I've had it. No No. 2 Pencils. None. NONO. I always hear about UF being the flagship university in Florida, so let's prove it by making the switch to #1 pencils. Who's with me? (Yes, that's a real #1 pencil, which took me forever to find online).

So to recap, I type way too much. I'll try to make the next ones shorter, but I promise nothing. Being so new to this blogging world, I don't know how to make things pretty yet, but you'll know when I do. After not thinking I'd have much to write about, I came up with about 10 topics when I should have been sleeping last night, but was so overjoyed to see SP add me, little old me, to her links page, that I just couldn't fall asleep. SP, you made my day =). Until next time ...

NAGAS

Bienvenido

2005-07-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

And yes, that's the extent of my Spanish right there. I'm reminded of a Family Guy skit, but I'll spare you, as I'm sure you've all seen the DVD while drunk just as many times as I have. I'm not Anti-Greek, I'm Anti-System. So you know that I obviously didn't vote Gator Party ( unless I am John Boyles, and am secretly trying to infiltrate the system, to change it from within .... shhhh ), but don't jump to assume that I was an Impact or Progress supporter either. I supported Voice!

Haha ... sorry ... I couldn't resist. While I have many friends who did run with/support Voice, I can't help but laugh.

I generally support the independent movement, both in SG and National elections. You won't hear much about local or state politics here ( and probably not too much National either ), but you will see the occasional rant and rave about this or that, so I apologize now, so that this way I won't have to later, repeatedly.

I will repeat, I'm not Anti-Greek, I'm Anti-System. I don't hate or even dislike Greeks ( well some yes, but not all ), I just have a problem with the select few Greeks involved in the "System". If you're reading this blog now, I am sure that you know exactly to what I am referring. I dare say that more than half of Greeks have absolutely no desire to become involved in anything on campus in a leadership role, and joined for other reasons ( community service of course, what were you thinking ??? ). On top of that, I dare say that only 20% really get involved as a campus leader in some form or another ( ie a Chair of this or that, mostly within their own fraternity or sorority ). If I had to guess, I'd say around 5% are really involved as a President or Treasurer of something in their years at UF, but that's still a very large number. Then you get to the top 1%. That 1% gets involved in everything that they can, with their eyes on SG. They know who to talk to, what to say, and what to do to get ahead. And good for them! They should use their network to the best of their advantage, and I have no problem with that. However ( did you sense a but coming on too? ), in SG at UF there exists a "self perpetuating system", by which certain positions can only be had by being a part of certain organizations ( or houses ). It's sad, but I'd doubt I even have to name them, because you probably know most if not all of them without me even telling you. That's what I am against. UF is a large campus, with many students from many different organizations and many average students who aren't involved in anything in particular, that want to get involved in SG but can't because the door has been shut on them before they could even try to stick their foot in there. So, if through this blog I can change this process in some small way ( by enouraging others to vote, informing some on issues that they themselves aren't privy to having knowledge of ), then I consider it to be a success.

I want to thank those who motivated me to start this blog. Many of you probably know who I am (or at least I hope), but probably won't be able to tell who I am, or at least that's the plan. I've read SP since she started, more or less, but never until this summer, when everyone else jumped on the bandwagon, did I think I was enough of an insider to start my own blog. And truthfully, I am probably not. That, coupled with my busy life (President of this, Supreme Leader of that), means that I probably won't update this as often as some others might, but I'll make it a point to update whenever I have news, and if I don't, I'll just make stuff up.

Kidding! Just Kidding.

Or am I?

Yes, lol, I'm no NY Times writer, so you can generally believe what you see here (cheap shot I know, but I'd much rather read the WSJ than NY Times, and I've heard a billion times why we don't get that on campus, but come on guys, find a way).

You'll also see me post a lot about pet peeves of mine, such as when I post things in parentheses and Microsoft Word gives me the little green "We think you've made an error, but we're not going to color it red because maybe you really do know what you mean" underline for putting a ( space in the parentheses ), as opposed to (no space at all). So, you'll see me try to break that habit here, as well as many others, often in the middle of one blog posting as you read earlier.

Where was I? Ahhh ... thanking people. I've also read GDI since she started (the second blogger), and then I read the third and the fourth and so on and so forth. I don't think that I have as much pure knoweldge about UF as does the Reitz Rambler, and I know that I'm not as creative as Greek on a Leash, but I hope to meet some happy medium that will keep you coming back. And I might throw in some gratuitous nudity. It worked for the American Pie series ( volumes two and three ) and in Wedding Crashers. Ok, just kidding again. I like to kid a lot, so be prepared. Sit back and I hope you enjoy.

NAGAS