it’s sunday and i assumed that i would be sober enough to write an analysis on the council’s decision. but i’m reading it right now and i’ve realized that i’m probably a little tooo drunk to analyize anything so i’ll post it tomorrow. until then, go to beetle, tilted fish or to calstuff to read some analysis.
i have always believed in and respected all forms of government. whether it be federal or "little people" i’ve always stood behind the belief that they are representative of an honorable process, one that can be trusted and believed in. i always believed in the asuc and the judicial council to, despite all of their very human flaws, carry out their duties to the best of their abilities.
i can honestly say that as of this moment, i no longer have faith in the judicial council or in the abilities of the ASUC. the decision that the judicial council has made is both bothersome and flawed and is reflective of a much larger issue at hand. this issue is having people in powerful positions who either won’t or can not stand up to the honor, distinction and pressure of the jobs that they have been charged with.
simply put, this whole situation has gotten way out of hand and until now, there has been no one in a position to truly challenge each branch of the government to perform honestly and efficiently. it is a sad time when that day finally comes and it becomes obvious that these unchallenged branches can’t stand up to the pressure.
here is some advice for future members of the judicial council/senators/ and asuc execs: if you are going to accept the job with which you have been charged, you take an oath for a reason. if you find that from the moment of appointment or election (certified OR not), that you are not strong enough, with enough character, or trustworthy enough to uphold it, then please, do everyone you will be serving a favor and decline to accept the office you have been offered.
to be clear, this is not a rant about everyone screwing up bc sa won. i not pro any specific person or party. i am, however, for branches of the government executing their jobs to the best of their ability and not giving in to weakness or to taking the easy route, and unfortunately, that is what has occurred in this instance.
when i sober up, i’ll post analysis specific to the judicial council’s decision. until then, be disgusted with the way in which your respresentitives in every branch of student government both past, but mostly present, have conducted themselves in the face of pressure and truth.
this week there are two people who receive my coveted distinction of fbwaw.
The first goes to Karasek for her well prepared speech that was given during the city council meeting. her responses to the questions that woz asks were the equivalent of a good ole smack in the face and boy did he ask for it.
the second goes to poor old woz himself. after looking like such a needy jackass in public in front of not only his collegues, but also the citizens of berkeley, the students of cal and anyone else who reads local papers or watched the webcast a drink, or in his case maybe ten, are i’m sure, a much needed distraction.
here’s the link to the city council page where you can find the video of the council meeting regarding the whole SA/ASUC drama. pay attention 20-30 minutes in and then at the very end. everything else is just annoying blubbering.
if you have been drinking and feel like a good laugh, pay attention to what all the environmentalists say during public commentary. if drunk enough, you won’t catch the parts that don’t matter, but you’ll catch the parts that make you go what the fuck, she’s more fucked up right now than i am.
courtesy of the daily cal
Woz gives HIS version of events, a "rundown" if you will
he then butchers karasek’s name
in his "rundown" he fails to mention that SA refused to remove their chalk after warned
Woz thinks this is important bc "this council recognizes and discusses events from around the world, and since this is in their own backyard, it should be considered."
he says at the least a letter should be written to the j-council, but not the chancelor, bc that would imply that the ASUC is not autonomous
eventually this gets seconded to be moved to discussion
sign holding occurs in the audience, but they are computer paper sized signs so i can’t see what they say- i won’t lie, this kinda bums me
councilmember worthingotn calls this the most laughable council item of the entire year, but not as much as the teletubbies. don’t know what they’re talking about, but all i know is that the ASUC just got put in the sentece with the word teletubbies- i’m speechless
says if superior court won’t hear SA, why should we interfere?
compares this to issues of peace and justice that the city of berkeley stands on and this is demeaning to everyone, including the students and ruling in favor would be unfathomable to do to the students
sa left out a lot of info, so this is proposterous, it’s not the city council’s role to be judge. they must respect the integrity of the student and court’s processes
another councilmember brings up the pawns sign karasek was holding and he says "king’s maipulate pawns, and if one finds himself manipulated, one should know…" i didn’t get the rest. he’s one of the guys who abstains from voting
next councilmember says college kids learn by making mistakes, and that this is a learning process and people must learn to live with their mistakes.
next guy says this is just stupid, he votes A BIG NO. says this is premature, let the whole thing run its course first
woz at this point is completely defeated and looks like the biggest idiot ever and he tells the council that he’s dissapointed with them. he hopes the j-council will make the right decision.
voting occurs: 3 abstain, 1 yes, all others no.
MOTION FAILS
then a councilmember tries to get the other members to apologize to the university’s 30,000 students for the council entertaining this.
he’s basically told to shut up
so to sum up SA denied, AGAIN. not a huge surprise. woz just looks pathetic and everyone on the council at this point must be wondering wtf is wrong with him.
i’m at the point in the night where i either need more alcohol to energize myself or i’m going to pass out, i choose the passing out.
just so there’s no confusion, yes, i know the typing is crappy, but i’ve been drinking, so do i care, nonot really
So, I turned the live webcast of the city council meeting about SA’s desperate whining into a family affair. Let me tell you, there’s truly nothing like sitting in front of a flat screen on a Tuesday night with your parents, siblings, some intense surround sound and a shitload of alcohol to make things interesting. However, nothing interesting has happened yet, so here’s a rundown of the events so far.
crazy bald guy with long nasty hair with what looked like a communism shirt on tells the city council "you people will look like fools"
too bad they already do!
Christian Picok, the kid who’s running for mayor, tries to make fun of the actual mayor and just looks like a douchy idiot instead.
Andy Morris gives his time to Wasserman, who to my surprise gave a professional speech about ASUC autonomy, not all ASUC internal avenues being exhausted as of yet, and the city council’s interference is something like a condescending parent-child relationship.
More cards get called and the people are asked by a council member (i think) in a "you’re wasting my time, get your asses up here, NOW" voice to hurry it up.
Van Nguyen: there is more than just elections at stake, you’re risking the autonomy of the ASUC
-city council can’t forget the struggle that led to ASUC’s autonomy in the first place.
-claims that he represents teh opinions of 3 political groups: BCR, and 2 others (my dad and I got bored here so we started taking shots and i lost track of the parties)
Lauren Karasek, who is strategically positioned right behind the podium, holds up a sign that says "Students are not pawns"
Christopher Canton: mentions something about the Woz, uses an analogy to the elections in mexico and the bush debacle to show the stupidity that is action item 42
Igor begins to hold up a "hands off student government sign"
Taylor Albright: talks about how she expected so much more from college (yawn) and how she doesn’t like having to potentially say that the ASUC is run by the berkeley city council and finishes it off with a "stay out of my business, thank you" to the city council. appropriate, maybe a little too whiney though
Karasek goes up gives a nearly flawless speech, makes woz look like a dick when he asks her if she was a candidate after that was the first thing that she stated when she began and then asks is she came in second to which she remarks "no one has come in second as the elections have yet to be certified." says something about getting a real job if she loses, thank god someone in this operation has some sense. i was starting to think this was going become a brain surgery gone terribly wrong.
then she whips around before he can ask anything else. major slap in the face to woz, but shit he was asking for it
I must say, just to make it CLEAR, that i have absolutely nothing against igor. however, with a surround sound that is too powerful and booze induced hearing problems, going from lauren’s voice straight to igor’s, created some wtf moments for my family and the dog deciding to bark at the tv didn’t help the situation.
anyways, igor brilliantly related all the other concerns voiced by everyone else plus he mentioned some other points as well.
at this point karasek is hiding behind her sign cracking up, i’m not sure at what though
right about here i pretty much went screw it because this was just so pointless and quite frankly not as humorous as i expected. plus i was starting to get my buzz on, and well listening to the meeting was kinda killing it, despite being able to watch the amused faces of family members as they tried to make sense of the craziness. kinda priceless actually
environmental lady goes all science on everyone with talk of electrons and atoms and carbon dioxide, then she says something about trees being our friends and then says something like "will you give me a computer?" yeah, i dunno nor do i care to put in enough energy to figure out this one
luckily for all, jason overman was the last speaker before everyone was cutoff and said the same things that everyone else said. but the one thing in his speech that i did catch, thanks to the sudden choking noises and majorly bugged out eyes of my parents, was his remark that the 2000 election was a "private" election. ummm sure buddy, whatever you say… he’s running for a city council office right?? if yes, fuck we’re again screwed
all in all i think an effective effort at showing how stupid and pointless this little tuesday night event was. but whatever, it gave me a legitimate excuse to drink, so i can’t complain.
there should me more at 10, however i’ve been drinking heavily to make up for when i couldn’t bc of notetaking so coments for the second half should be entertaining to say the least.
stay tuned for the shit show part ll
Daily Cal article about the City Council needing to stay out of the ASUC drama. It’s on the right track regarding the whole ordeal. My head hurts, so I’m going to stop writing, but this article explains itself, so I think it’s ok that I leave you all to fend for yourselves on this one.
And props to the Daily Cal on updating the site today!!!
As reported by Calstuff and Beetle Beat, Student Action is attempting to win the hearts and minds of the Berkeley City Council in an unbelievable web of lies and manipulation. While I’m not shocked by this move, I’m saddened by it, as I’m finally forced to believe what I have known for all too long: that 3 people are being led by a pawn who’s parents believe it is his divine right to rule the students of Cal. This means this whole debacle won’t truly end until SA gets their way, and for no better way to put it, they really are acting like spoiled toddlers, who for the first time, have been told no and are grasping at anything to get some form of their original demand.
SA keeps contesting that the will of the student body was made known when students "overwhelmingly" voted in all four of SA’s execs and that is basically all that should matter. There is one sad reality to this statement though. The student body elected people that they believed they could trust and who would, IN ANY SITUATION, BE PUTTING THE STUDENT BODY WHO ELECTED THEM FIRST.
If things could be done over, with the student body knowing what they do now about the SA executives, I think there would be an overwhelming move to make sure SA does not get elected. SA’s recent behavior shows that they are not only grasping for any support they can get, since they have none from those associated with the school. It also shows the lengths that desperate people are willing to go to win. This is disturbing in the respect that NONE of these executives, to this day, believe that they have done anything wrong and that they are still very much so entitled to the posititions that they ran for.
Believe me, I know how hard they worked for months leading up to the election, but maybe, beyond learning that hard work pays off, there is a greater lesson to be learned. Perhaps this is a lesson about dignity, grace and true leadership. If the SA execs could just truly look at what they have been doing since elections have ended, they might realize how rediculous, pathetic and power hungry they look. They are becoming perfect examples of what elected leaders should strive to not be and at the same time, explain why so many on our campus don’t care about student politics- they see what the SA execs still don’t, that this entire time, it has been about them, not the students that they swear to represent.
True leaders do what is best for those they are leading, even if the right choice is not favorable for themselves. Perhaps that is why real leaders are so hard to find. This type of leader must possess many unselfish qualities that allow them to look out for the future well-being of the greater good, or in the least, be able to, in the present, protect the greater good from people willing to use them as a means to an end. That seems to parallel the situation that we all find ourselves currently in.
Simply stated, it comes down to one painfully obvious and over-simplified truth:
SA is willing to sacrifice both the ASUC and Cal students as a means to an end, an end that they may never actually get…
No matter who’s side you are on, it should be obvious that the above actions are not, by any definition or stretch of the imagination, the actions of someone who claims to be a leader or a responsible individual. Rather, those are the actions of a very confused person.
I think it was a Justice who announces something to the effect of "blah blah blah decorum blah blah no drinking blah blah" Now that’s a way to start off the night. However, since we are brilliant Cal students who as of late are receiving a crash course in how to disobey rules and then make up our own, the Eschelman Lobby Bar was born.
In response to a question about Andy Ratto, who was in Israel, Ben Narodick remarks that he’s currently “dodging bombs”. Only the peanut gallery laughs and in response they receive dirty looks from the Justices and Oren. This is the first appearance of Oren’s pained look. I can’t tell if he’s constipated or thinking, but either way the boy is hurting.
SA tries to recuse Justice Banerjee- she is pissed and SA gets denied.
Then it comes up that Justice Kate Feng should be recused. She gets extremely offended and responds very angrily. This is quite hysterical because she could have saved herself the embarrassment and public knowledge of her “extracurricular” activities with a friend of SA if she had just recused herself on her own in the beginning. So, she really has no reason to be mad she did it to herself. She ends up getting booted for the rest of the hearing.
SA has issues with Squelch having 3 representatives vs. their 2. Whoa they really can count??!! I’m amazed because they still contest that 4 is a small minority of 7- yup they’re geniuses in the making. Anway, this argument forces SA to admit they had legal help with their briefs which is sad because Squelch’s are actually better. Translation: To get the job done, Squelch needs drunkies and SA needs environmental lawyers who figure out how to let their employers legally pollute. Hmmm….
Some talk about how Suken wasn’t the SA spokesperson when he lied. Ummm… Yeah, okay guys good thing no one believes you. This defense isn’t even worth me wasting my time explaining.
It’s becoming obvious that Oren and Vishal can’t mount a defense to save their lives. Case in point: they are told repeatedly by Justices that the defense they are making isn’t double jeopardy. Then after saying this for the last time, one of the Justices actually asks them if they know what double jeopardy is. WOW- holy crap, someone hit the nail on the head with that one… at least the Justice asked what we had all been wondering. Peanut gallery erupts with laughter and more dirty looks ensue.
Apparently, the senate chamber webcam is a spy disguised as a malfunctioning camera. Everyone gets a kick out of it but Justice Banarjee is getting very annoyed, she secretly thinks people are spying (OOO watch out) and then makes a point of letting everyone know she "has issues with it." Obviously…
SA calls a witness who was an ASUC financial officer to help in their voice recorder argument. This guy is a piece of work and embodies part of the ASUC’s current problem- too much ego, no intelligence. The guy can’t remember how much anything costs or the amount of money any group ever requested or received. If he could have, I think he would have used a “magic money” argument to explain himself. He is, however, able to recall how much he pays for his own electronic devices and then remarks after being asked about whether or not a device can sufficiently do what the J-Council would need it to do that "his would." Yup the ASUC has competent people running it already.
I’ve been drinking for at least 6 or 7 hours and even I can realize this is the most stupid pointless attempt at an argument ever. I had to remind myself what this argument had to do with more than once.
It’s now obvious that this hearing is becoming a black hole and my Saturday night is quickly being sucked into it. SA’s attorneys realize this too or maybe seeing SA in action made them realize what they actually got themselves into. Either way, they peace out and leave SA alone with Oren’s note taking while glaring at people parents. Big mistake, Babysitter’s Club 101: you never leave a baby alone.
Something about Squelch using “fake people” court and “real or big people” court and SA throwing another fit. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s time for Bear’s Lair.
Somewhere in here there is a conversation about necrophilia and commando sperm. I begin to wonder if I’m hearing things or if I’ve been spending too much time in the Eschelman Lobby Bar. It takes him a few hours of leaning back in his chair, but Beetle finally manages to fall over in it, he then somehow gracefully rights himself without many noticing- he obviously hasn’t been drinking.
Justice Banerjee brings up the whole 4 isn’t a majority thing and is so pissed. She completely grills SA about this.
SA doesn’t know what the grounds for objections are and so when they object to things they start cross debates… Justice Banerjee is tired like everyone else and let’s Lauren Karasek deal with this for a while.
Squelch told they need to stop objecting to things.
BLAH BLAH BLAH- You’re all annoying me…
Justice’s need to deliberate by 3 am, we get to leave at 3:30 am.
Just typing this makes me need a drink. And I want to find out if there’s actually anything that says you can’t drink in the senate chambers. As long as we all play nice, keep our hands to ourselves, remember to use indoor voices and to share with our schoolmates I don’t see the problem. It makes no more of a mockery of things than the ASUC manages to do on it’s own anyways!
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