As the Pacifica Forum resolution finally passed Rules Committee on Wednesday, so too did it bring quite the controversy with it–and this time, no Nazis were present. Towards the end of the evening a bomb was dropped on the Senate (an odd happening in the same night the new ASUO logo had been debated) as tensions over a point of order rose to such that Senate Vice President Nicholas Schultz called for Senate President Nick Gower to resign by shouting, “Step down! Step down!”
The controversy started when Gower did not follow the speakers list–an ordered list for members to abide by–and instead called on Senator Lindsay Reichardt, out of turn. Schultz accused Gower of abuse of power, and called to question Gower’s action. Sens. McCafferty and Gower told Schultz he was not allowed to question that specific action of the Chair (Gower). Schultz, along with ASUO President Emma Kallaway, left the meeting for approximately 40 minutes and came back with a book of Robert’s Rules of Order–the governing rules the ASUO abides by.
From here, the situation escalated into a term I’m trying to coin here lately (patent pending)–a McDisasterfuck. Schultz had figured out that Gower and McCafferty were wrong, and that if two or more Senators called to question the actions of the Chair (Gower) then they could indeed discuss it.
Last night’s ASUO senate meeting passed the most recent resolution to be voted on by the rules committee next week. The resolution that we have currently does not have last night’s amendments included. We have requested the revisions, and will post them up as soon as possible. The final revision that will be voted on will come out next Monday.
When it was time for the ASUO executive announcements, student body president Emma Kallaway unveiled the newest model for the upcoming ASUO logo.
When this was revealed Sen. Ben Fisher muttered under his breath that the logo looked like a mushroom cloud sending the whole room into uproar. Kallaway mentioned that the logo had been screened by fifty people and no one had noticed the resemblance. It’s kinda like that picture that can be either an old lady or pretty woman depending on your perception. ASUO is still looking to solidify a slogan, and for that we would like to start our newest contest! Best ASUO slogan suggestion in the comments section wins a new sudsy shirt! New shirts are coming next week in green, navy blue, and black.
The meeting was a pretty tame one in contrasts to more recent ASUO senate meetings, but that all changed in the last five minutes. Senate President Gower was called out by Senate Vice President Schultz for violating the speakers list. Seconds before the meeting ended Schultz called for Gower to step down from his position.
Yes loyal readers, ASUO fight club is back, and just in time for election season.
Full Disclosure: Unfortunately the OC had a problem with our printer and our issue won’t be out until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, since Cheba Hut paid for an ad for their event on Saturday, we figured we’d throw them a little plug here on the ol’ blog since we’re not well-acquainted enough with this fancy-pants Internet to figure out how to put it on the sidebar.
Cheba Hut, over on 11th and High, is having a big block party type of affair this Saturday the 30th. They’re going to have a raffle and live music, including local Ninkasi-sponsored act Cambio alongside two other bands. The music starts sometime around mid-day, and there will also be a Ranch Dressing-chugging contest to win $100 and free subs for a year.
I gave a review copy of By the Barrel: 25 Years of the Oregon Commentator to the Register-Guard when it came out a few months ago. I was mailing a package today when Ken, one of the postal clerks, told me that he’d read a blurb about the book in the paper recently. Needless to say, this was news to us here at the Commentator, where no one was contacted or interviewed for the story.
I’ll save you the “pithy” details, but writer Randi Bjornstad ends her review with a comment that, I should clarify, is right on target:
“[Scott] Camp’s pithy bottom line sort of sums it up. Depending on your personal philosophy, “By the Barrel” will put you somewhere on the continuum between outrage and hero worship.
In any case, glad you’re keeping your standards the way you like them, RG.
Last night Nick and I decided to attend a presentation by Sidney Milkis, a professor from the University of Virginia, hosted by the Poly. Sci. department entitled “Great Expectations: Obama and the Politics of Reform.” I thought this would be an even breakdown of Obama’s political moves in the past year, and for some reason I wasn’t quite expecting a worship session of the messiah, but it came fairly close. Yes indeed, a year post-election and we’re stilling talking about Hope and Change.
For a large portion of the time, and the beginning of the evening, Milkis spoke a lot on the subject of multi-culturalism (as if we aren’t beat over the head with it enough here in Eugene). According to Milkis, Obama was a multi-racial man who consciously chose to be African American, and he reaffirmed his intentions of remaining African American by marrying Michelle Obama. I wasn’t aware that one has such reign over their ethnicity; nevertheless the speaker seemed to be suggesting Obama was brave for making the choice. He then continued on his multi-cultural shpeel, talking about the ability of Obama to represent America, despite being black. Apparently Obama is the “first African American to truly embody America’s values.” (MLK only does on the third monday of January each year) Oh, I also learned that Barrack’s middle name, Hussien, is iconic of everything good and righteous in American politics.
[Due to technical difficulties, the body of this post has disappeared. The Commentator is working on repairing the problems. Look for the story in the upcoming edition of the Commentator.]
I know you’ve all been clamoring for an updated OC Archive, and lucky you it has finally been posted. The Archives from this year and the end of last year have been updated, with my end goal being to scan in all of the old issues as well.
There has been a disturbing run of PSA’s on MTV lately (not to mention South Park syndication) that I am sure will throw Nancy Grace into a hissy fit.
Athinline.org is the website the MTV ads are pushing lately, and I’m sure that for some people the website does some good, so I won’t write it off completely. Most confusing about the advertisements, however, is their appearance on MTV itself – a channel which produces constant surveillance of celebrities and promotes the over-sexualization of precarious individuals.
Conversely, the website’s messages of “Anti-Sexting” (sexy-texting for those of you who don’t speak LE3T) and how to counter “Constant Messaging” doesn’t seem to coincide with the basic concept of MTV’s programming.
In any case, I’m glad that MTV has decided in recent years to run seemingly obligational, horribly contrived messages to their younger viewers preaching responsibility. It fits right in.
Now, who’s up for a wet t-shirt contest in Cabo? Spring Break is right around the corner.
The recent string of Bank Robberies in Eugene finally have a suspect, and he’s a star. Joshua Tel Warner of the hit reality show “Deadliest Catch” has been named the suspect in the case. I have always wondered what crab fishermen do when they are not aboard the fishing boats and now I finally have my answer, they rob banks.
Eugene Police detectives have identified a suspect in three Eugene Bank Robberies and surprisingly the suspect has been on national television.
Joshua Tel Warner, age 23, who appeared as a crewmember aboard the “Wizard” on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” is wanted for the October 19, 2007 robbery of Washington Mutual Bank at 2840 Willamette Street, the April 3, 2009, robbery of Pacific Continental bank at 1450 High Street, and the August 28, 2009, robbery of the same Pacific Continental Bank.
Warner’s date of birth is June 29, 1986. He is a white male, 6’1″, weighing approximately 185-195 pounds. He has an unknown tattoo on his right thigh.
Warner was accompanied by a second male during the most recent robbery. Police have identified the second suspect but an arrest warrant is being sought prior to publicly naming him.
Warner, a former Oakridge resident, is aware that police are looking for him. He has likely fled the local area and may have gone to the east coast. There are also concerns he may try to flee to Canada or Mexico.
Warner came to national attention during the 2008-2009 Alaskan King Crab season featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.” He was a “green-horn” deckhand aboard the “Wizard” where his actions and confrontations with deckhands and the captain made him well known to the show’s followers.
Prior to fishing in Alaska, Warner was a Dungeness Crab fisherman on the Oregon coast and a wildland firefighter. Anyone with information about Warner’s whereabouts is asked to contact their local police department or Detective Jeff Donaca of the Eugene Oregon Police Department at (541) 682-5193. Also, anyone with additional information about the robberies or other crimes involving Warner and his accomplice is asked to contact Detective Donaca.
As this decade (the Twenty-oughts) comes to a close, the Commentator will inevitably examine the impact of several movements, from politics to pop culture, from the last ten years. In kind, much has happened over the last ten years to the Commentator itself, and I believe it to be important, dear readers, for you to learn about who we were at the turn of the century, if only to better understand who we are today.
Perfecting the Art
Just one month before the turn of the century, the Oregon Commentator was in some relative hot water over a front cover they had ran purporting then University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer to have died. Frohnmayer famously had a heart attack at a medical conference in Bethesda, Maryland but had escaped the ordeal relatively unharmed.
At the time, “Das Frohn” was rather upset about the cover, “Quite frankly, he was pissed off,” said then-OC editor Bill Beutler.
The original publisher of the Oregon Commentator, Dane Claussen, once said that the OC’s purpose was to print the news that, “the other publications are unable to tell you because of inexperience, incompetence or the narrow-mindedness of their staffs.” That was some 26 years ago and it seems the OC still has purpose. Not to continue to toot our own horn or anything but, as any regular reader of the blog knows (because we’ve been pimping it hard), the OC has recently published a 25th anniversary book edited by the current publisher Timothy Dane Carbaugh.
Call me crazy, but it seems to me students creating, printing and selling a 300-page hard bound history book completely on their own volition about a student organization that’s survived significant adversity for more than 25 years would be a newsworthy event. Which is why I am glad to finally announce that, now just about a month after the book was released, the Daily Emerald has gotten around to publishing a story.
You’d think that this would be the sort of thing that would hit the front page of any daily student newspaper, but here at the University of Oregon you’d be wrong. Instead, the story was buried deep in the “scene” insert. I would link to the article, but it is suspiciously absent from their online content. Luckily for them, we’ve published the article here.
I wonder if ol’ Mr. Claussen would chock this up to simple narrow-mindedness or gross incompetence? I can’t say, but you take a look at this editorial cartoon about Sarah Palin’s book recently published by the Emerald and you will probably agree that it is a real chicken shit outfit over there.
Do not ridicule someone’s “intellectual substance” if you are going to screw up the spelling of “rogue”.
There was an article in today’s New York Times that detailed a new video game REO Speedwagon released today titled REO Speedwagon: Find Your Own Way Home. The article has its ridiculous moments, my favorite was this:
“I remember the first time I saw a pinball machine with Kiss,” [REO Speedwagon’s manager] added. “This is a 21st-century version.”
The game wouldn’t sound so ridiculous if the screenshot given with the article didn’t look like my grandmother’s bridge club had been painted into a Thomas Kincaid print.
Personally I’m just waiting for a GG Allin-themed video game. I can see it now: Murder Junkies
