Dem/Rep Response

This post is not meant to be an attack on Bobby Jindal's speech from the other night (there has been enough of that). Rather, it is a question that I hope to have answered. When the President gives a State of the Union (or this case, Nation) address, the opposing party to that of the President's gives a response. My question is: who picks them? Is it the party Chair? Is there a vote? Or does someone just come forward and volunteer. Someone please enlighten me.

NYU Protest

I am sure you all have heard about the protest at NYU. Most people think that these are some radical students, but if you really look at their demands, they are not so wacky. I will go through all of their points that they enumerated and explain why they are not all that bad (but, remember, I am not a NYU student, so I lack some information about the story). The group, Take Back NYU!, has three points (that are not exactly the same as what the occupiers wanted) posted on their website:

1. The inclusion of an elected representative from the student body in New York University’s (NYU) Board of Trustee meetings. This representative should have rights, including voting rights, equal to that of Trustees, as well as the authorization to make public statements on the operations of the Board of Trustees without prior approval from any administration official.
2. Public release of NYU’s annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university’s funding.
3. Disclosure of NYU’s endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university’s endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university’s investments.

My Take:

1. Most colleges and universities have a member of the student body that is a member of the Board of Trustees. Someone needs to represent the intrests of the student body since they are the ones who are directly affected by the actions of the Board. Besides, what is a school without students?
2. What is so wrong with hiding financial statements? What is so secret?
3. Students should be able to see where the money for their education is going. The students are the ones who will know which projects are failing and which are not. School administrations are not the ones who are affected quickly by changes; the faculty, staff, and students are.

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The occupiers made these points and:

1. Amnesty for all parties involved.
2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.
3. Allow student workers (including T.A.’s) to collectively bargain.
4. A fair labor contract for all NYU employees at home and abroad.
5. A Socially Responsible Finance Committee that will immediately investigate war profiteers and the lifting of the Coke ban.
6. Annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students.
7. That the university donates all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
8. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
9. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.
10. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.

My take:

1. They are trying to protect themselves, duh.
2. They do not wish the innocents to be negatively affected.
3. They want to protect the financial well-being of their fellow students. We are taught that workers are hired and fired based on job performance, so if they are bad/outstanding workers, why should they get the same wages as other workers? Students do not get Social Darwinism?
4. If an employee takes a leave of absence, they may risk losing their jobs.
5. Do you want people that are supporting war to be funding your school? As for the Coke ban, I sometimes miss having some sodas.
6. This one is wacky, but outside the United States there are more pro-Palestinian movements.
7. Philanthropy?
8. This one is actually one of their better ones. Rep. Patrick Murphy (R-PA) proposed the same measure in the House of Representatives about a year and a half ago. Tuition at NYU is insanely high and getting higher every year (and this is true for almost every school). I almost went to NYU except that I was only given loans and no scholarships to pay for this inflated rate. For most families, rising tuition costs are big issues. It just is not right.
9. Do you want some non-University affiliated group using buildings you pay for?
10. A public education at one of the largest libraries in the United States is a bad thing?

I may not condone the methods by which they protested, but their means were in the right place.

Happy Birthday Mr. President!

So, today celebrates the 200^th Anniversary of the Birthday of Abraham Lincoln. In my opinion, he was our greatest President because he spoke to every person. He was a hillbilly from Kentucky (the common man), who became a lawyer (the working man) that was so successful that he was able to send his son to a elite prep school (the rich man / family values). He helped keep this nation together in its darkest moment. And because of his efforts, the idea of working for the good of the group of a whole, regardless of its policies (in this case, the personal liberty of every person), was solidified. Though every four years people swear that they will leave this great nation of ours, they never do because they see that one's respect for a single person underweighs the good of the United States as a whole. By Abraham Lincoln's example, we should unite together, not necessarily behind the President, but by the United States to ensure that it stays the greatest nation in the world.