Maybe. Ok, probably. His campaign has sure been working their asses off to establish a student chapter at Idaho State University. Today I decided to step in and help, so those of you in Pocatello who love them some Obama, drop me an email and let me know if you want to be involved.

I can only do so much from New Hampshire, but I am hoping to still provide some assistance. And for those of you who are confused as to why I am helping Obama, let me remind you that I love all of the Democrats running, so anytime one of their campaigns comes calling, I pick up and answer. Hillary has the only other campaign showing interest in ISU, and they are just wanting ISU students to come to Vegas during their winter break to help, which would be cool, but it isn't as cool as working right in Pocatello to help a Democrat win, especially the rock star himself.

So, Bengals for Barack? Students for Obama (boring), Bengals for Obama, ISU for Obama? Which one do you like or do you have another suggestion?

In one week I hope to be back in Idaho for a few days seeing my friends and getting some things out of storage. It is bittersweet because it is the first time in 7 years, with the exception of one year, that I will not be starting school somewhere and being back in Pocatello, a place I lived in for 4 years will be a constant reminder of that fact. Even thinking about not going to Idaho State University and not taking any classes and not seeing familiar faces this year hurts...

The campaign, well the summer portion of it, ends in a few days and we have been busy phone banking to help crowd build for our ginormous (gigantic and enormous combined!) town hall on August 28th. Emails are going out to people from John Kerry, Harry Reid, MoveOn.org, TrueMajority.com, Working Assets, USAction, and more. I am excited for the event and so excited to be done and have a few days off before I start my new campaign job...

Speaking of my new job, I am very excited. The next campaign I am working on is very structured and I know that will be a nice change from this campaign. I still have a lot to learn and I know this next campaign will teach me the science of campaign work as well as lots of other skills that will help me perfect my skill. I feel like this next job is a very smart move on my part and the candidate is a remarkable person that will make a fantastic President of the United States and I will get free medical and dental insurance, which is huge not just because we live in the richest country in the world with almost 50 million uninsured folks, but I have been one of them for the last year and a half and it will be wonderful to go to the Dr. when I am sick and not rely on someone else's antibiotics. :)

Have lots to say about Howard Dean in Pocatello, the College Dems at ISU and how they are used and abused.

I will blog when I get a spare minute. Take a look at the video I will be posting soon from youtube. I birddogged Congressman Porter here in Nevada!

I have no internet at home and while I spend a great deal of time at work in my office with internet, it isn't enough to allow me to blog as much as I would like. However, I am waiting for my date and wanted to rest my feet and whoop there it is, I have internet.

Last night was First Friday, a popular event here in Las Vegas. We used it to have an anti-war protest and it went great, as you can tell from the pictures! After the protest, a friend and I walked around and got into a discussion with some Bible thumpers. The kind who say that gay people are going to hell. The kind who have to talk around in circles because when you question their logic, and they realize they aren't fooling you, try to confuse you. I wasn't fooled and I still support gay marriage. Equal rights is very important to me and that will never change.

I received a call from the Hillary Clinton campaign asking me about Idaho State University. Yes, I am telling the truth. They want ISU students to come intern down here in Vegas during the winter break. It was neat to receive a call like that and I hope some ISU students take advantage of that opportunity.

Tomorrow I am going to try to attend my first Unitarian Universalist Church service (don't worry, I am not leaving the Mormon Church). It should be interesting. My only non-Mormon religious experience is limited to midnight Mass and maybe that is pathetic, but that's the honest to goodness truth. Haven't been to a Mormon Church meeting in a month because of work and I haven't heard a peep from anyone in my ward. Guess I'm not missed and/or maybe they are scared of my liberalism and/or maybe they are overwhelmed with other things...

Well, I better sign off for now. I am sweating it up sitting in my hot car in a hot garage and am ready to head back into Planet Hollywood, which is amazing inside and amazingly cool (literally).

I just created a demand for John Edwards to come to Pocatello. John Edwards coming to Pocatello would be a dream come true.

Here is the link,

Please visit the link and sign up to demand that John Edwards come to Idaho State University!

I traveled up to Idaho Falls friday afternoon to meet a friend, we'll call her "S" because I don't feel right having her name all over my blog without her permission, though I know she wouldn't care and I have written about her before. We were going to shop a little, eat dinner, then meet her sister and her sister's boyfriend for Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I hadn't seen any of the Pirates movies, so I was a little lost, but it was pretty enjoyable and Johnny Depp is hilarious.

Saturday was spent going to garage sales, then I came home to watch some Felicity, took a nap, then met S (same one from yesterday) to help her pack as she needs to move out of her current house. We packed as we watched episodes from season 2 of The Office and played with two baby hamsters she bought for her brother. During this time, we had a little debate about Affirmative Action. The problem with those opposed to Affirmative Action is they point to little more than anecdotal evidence as proof that Affirmative Action is reverse discrimination.

I really hate debating Affirmative Action because it is not only controversial, but it reveals settle, though important, differences in people's core beliefs related to society, race, racism, discrimination, equality, and on and on and on. And really, is it not humorous that the biggest whiners about Affirmative Action are white men. White men who reside at the top of our stratified society in America and so many other countries. Ok, maybe I just find it humorous.

The fight led me to dream about a professor at ISU who has had a profound impact upon my life and my beliefs. When I walked across the stage to receive my diploma and hood for my Master's degree, then down the ramp to get my picture taken, this professor met me (just like she did when I got my Bachelor's) and handed me a card. The card read, "Rarely does a student like you come a long! You are truly exceptional. I love you and congrats!" It might sound weird that a professor said "I love you" to me, but not in this case. This professor has played a big role in my life since 2002. A confidant, a friend, a mother figure, and someone who has helped guide me to where I am today.

She is the one who has helped shape some of my beliefs about Affirmative Action and why I feel so strongly about it and though not perfect, and while I am adamantly opposed to quotas, I support Affirmative Action because it has benefitted not just people of color, but white women. It has led to a greater equality in the workplace and that cannot be denied. The means may not be perfect, and the ends aren't bearing a perfect fruit, but the goals of Affirmative Action (equality in the workplace) is perfect and one day, maybe, hopefully, and God willing, we won't need to force people to be fair.

This leads me to a conundrum I find myself in related to my blog, something you might have gathered from my words above...

My blog is more than politics, it is my blog, therefore it is about my life, the things in my life, and the people. I don't know how comfortable I feel naming people when I write about things. I've done it before, and I know most of the people I write about wouldn't mind it, especially if I kept it to their first name, but I think I should have respect for these people and not name them. If you know me well, you will know who I am speaking about when I write. I'm not going to edit any past posts, but from now on, I will try to be more careful when I refer to my friends and family.

Me in my hood and other regalia.
My dad, me, and my mom.
My friend Manasseh and I.
My step-dad, me, and my mom.
My mom and I.

In around an hour, I take my last test at Idaho State University. It is my final in Management Communication. I didn't take the class because it fulfilled a particular requirement. Basically, I needed an extra 3 credits/1 class and I wanted to take something that would benefit me in a career. This class, while geared towards the private sector, did benefit me and I learned a great deal.

Yesterday I went and picked up my tassel (peacock color), cap, gown, and hood. My cap is WAY too small. I will look like a fool if I can't get a bigger size or if cutting the back (which will look stupid but less stupid than wearing it as is) won't help make it fit better. When I go to the graduation practice today, I am hoping they have an extra cap that will fit my large head. Cross your fingers!

My parents all get into town tomorrow. They could've been here today but every room in every hotel/motel in Pocatello is booked and has been booked for the last few weeks. There is a baseball tournament and nothing was available. So, my mom and step-dad are flying into Salt Lake City in a few hours and will stay in Ogden tonight then head up here tomorrow morning.
My dad and grandma are driving from Auburn, Washington (suburb of Seattle) and will stay in Boise tonight and head up here tomorrow morning.

My dad, who is one of those parents who loves the college bookstores, is so excited to take me to ISU's tomorrow morning. When I received my Bachelor's degree, he purchased a frame at the bookstore that is especially made for ISU. So, tomorrow he is letting me pick out one for my Master's.

Well, I suppose I should get back to studying and to the two msn messenger conversations I have going.

In three days I will graduate!!! I still have a ton of school stuff to do as well as some internship hours to complete, but I know I will get everything done. My computer/laptop has a corrupted hard drive, of this I am almost 100% positive. The AC adapter is also not working to my liking and even though it is plugged it, you have to fidget with it to get it to work. I am told this is a common problem with Fujitsu's.

So when my mom and step-dad leave to fly back to Seattle on sunday, I will be sending my beloved laptop with them. I purchased the laptop at Fry's in Renton, Washington, and in order to use the extended warranty, I need to bring the laptop back to a Fry's. Not surprisingly, there isn't a Fry's anywhere near Pocatello. I have restored the laptop 4 times and am pretty sure it needs work beyond my capabilities. So, here's hoping the warranty covers any work needing to be done (the warranty does not cover the battery-LAME!).

This has all led me to deeply consider getting a Mac when I get a new laptop, not that I expect that to happen anytime too soon, but I have grown so annoyed with Windows, and the only PC's I like are Sony's and Fujitsu's. Sony's are overpriced, and I am pissed I paid $1500 for this laptop only to have the battery act lame, the AC adapter poop out, and the hard drive crash, less than 2 years after I purchased the laptop.

I have turned in two out of my five papers due and one of them was about the book, Fiasco, which everyone should read! I have some interesting things to blog about and when I have time, expect daily posts again. I promise it will all be worth the wait. For now, I have laundry to do and papers to write.

In 6 days, I will have graduated and will have my Master's degree in Public Administration. It's strange to think about and pretty difficult to comprehend. The 5 papers and two semester long journals I need to complete make it hard to see past the next few days!

My blogging has been light because I have been trying to get some of these papers done and my computer has required not two, but THREE system restores since thursday night. The last restore, which was completed friday night, necessitated the complete C: drive erase (285 minutes is how long it took). I believe the C: drive erase is what those who store child porn on their computer do right before they think they will be caught! Never in my life did I think I would do something that could be compared to a child porn possessor.

Which reminds me of what Tara at The Political Game has been tracking. She has been following the new building of Bright Tomorrows-an organization that helps child abuse victims. They are getting a new building here in town and the community has come together to assist and to ensure the quick completion of the new building. Check out The Political Game and look through some of the posts and watch for future posts on the progress!

Well, I am enjoying a conversation with my friend right now on MSN Messenger, so I will end for now.

Two weeks from today, I won't be in school anymore. I graduate May 12th and while I am excited to have another degree, another accomplishment, and some freedom to be able to sit at home and watch some movies without feeling guilty about the fact that I should be reading or writing, I will miss school. If school were free, I would go for the rest of my life. But it isn't and I can't.

Last year, about this time, when I was elected as Vice-President of the ISU College Democrats, I was excited to work with a Presidency I thought would take the club in a different and better direction. My excitement all went to hell when, in September, the President resigned and according to our club constitution, I was the new President. I felt inadequate and overwhelmed and I was sad to lose the President who I know would've done a fantastic job. So, reluctantly, I took the reigns. I think I did a good job-I know we got at least 3 votes from student Senators as "Club of the Year"-two of which are Republicans!

We brought the Democratic candidate for Governor to campus, Jerry Brady, and had over 100 people attend. It was perhaps our greatest event as a club (greatest event that was sponsored by our club only and not the county party and us) and I am still proud of that event (especially since I did 98% of the work). We brought Jana Jones, the Democratic candidate for Idaho public schools. We had a few events on campus featuring local Democratic legislators and Democratic legislators from all over the state. We also got the nicest looking shirts we have ever had. See the logo on the right? That was designed with my help and now the club has an actual logo.

I am disappointed that we didn't get a new banner to hang in the Canoe Room on campus-our current one isn't cool, doesn't have our new logo, and is way too small. I am sad we couldn't recruit more members (though we got a handful of new ones, which is a big accomplishment). I am wishing I didn't think of the idea of having a "Democrat of the Year" event until it was too late to do anything this year. But I am happy with how things went overall.

What are my plans on May 13th and beyond? I don't quite know. I will probably stick around for another year or so and just keep looking for a job in the Boise and Salt Lake City areas. So for now, I must find a job that can pay the bills for the summer and beyond. I would like to stick around because there is no sense in moving until I find a job to move for. Also, I have a plan, along with some friends, to do something on campus the next coming school year that will kick ass. I don't want to state publicly, because I want some people to be surprised, but it involves the creation of a club that will become one of the greatest clubs on campus. I also want to stay somewhat involved with the College Democrats. And let's face it, I have made some incredible friendships that keep me motivated in sticking around a little bit longer.

All good things must come to an end, but my time in Pocatello isn't, at least not yet.

(part 4 of 4 of my article that appeared in the school newspaper).

Thursday night, the State Board of Education approved a 5.01% percent fee increase for ISU. The U of I received a 5% increase and BSU a 6.16%. It was interesting to read some of the articles written about it and how proud President Sargent was and is about ISU asking for the lowest increase and then receiving one of the lowest increases (though not the lowest).

He is also celebrating the fact that ISU is now the cheapest state university in Idaho, which is true; we are $10 a semester cheaper than BSU and U of I. Big whoop. And the current student leaders who are trying to take credit for a lower fee increase? Talk about irony and dishonesty. This is a group that has backed Reed Gym Options 3 and 2, both of which would have increased student fees enormously. If anyone should celebrate the victory it should be students because WE voted down Option 3, WE voted down Option 2. The fee increase was lower because of the students, not because of President Sargent.

It will undoubtedly be said that because I was behind the anti-Orange Party campaign and because I chose to write this article, this provides proof that I am motivated by a hatred for Orange Party members. First of all, I don't hate Orange Party members. I hate the actions of many Orange Party members, I hate the broken promises they made, I hate that only former Orange Party members have offered an apology for their actions (at least 4 former Orange Party members, 3 current Senators and 1 former Senator, have since renounced the Orange Party and all it stood for this year), and I hate what the Orange Party has done to student representation and to student government.

Lest you think that the corruption, lies, distortions, and cronyism ends with the semester, remember that students voted to elect Jennifer Brown as President for the next school year. Also remember that many Orange Party candidates won their respective races and a majority of the Senate next year will be comprised of Orange Party members. Know also that at least one Orange Party member has admitted to accessing their opponent's email account to find out their campaign strategies. Shameful.

Next month I will graduate, but many of you will remain to complete your college careers. I beg of you to watch what your elected and non-elected leaders are doing, because while they claim to be acting in the best interests of students, they are doing anything but. Make your leaders accountable, resurrect student representation, and take back ASISU. The arrogance, acts of cronyism, and dishonesty which has governed ASISU student government cannot be allowed to continue.

Lastly, don't forget the words of Lord Acton, who stated, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

(part 3 of 4 of my article that appeared in the school newspaper and will appear in the Idaho State Journal soon)

President Sargent, and numerous other Senators, in defending the actions of Joelle Brown and Hansen, claimed that our Supreme Court Justices didn't know any better and were too na've and uneducated to know what the by-laws require of them. Uh, excuse me? The Supreme Court Justices and Senators swear to uphold the by-laws, yet don't know what the by-laws actually are? That provides yet another reason to impeach Brown and Hansen.President Sargent then claimed that 8-10 weeks had passed since the elections (8-10 weeks is a blatant lie) and that any moves to impeach should have occurred sooner (some Senators began a move to impeach a few weeks ago but were stopped by current Vice-President, Jennifer Brown). I don't believe fighting for ethics, fairness, and neutrality has an expiration date, but that's just me.

Since Jennifer Brown was elected as President for the next school year, this means that Joelle will have to recuse herself from every case involving Jennifer Brown, the Executive Branch and any Orange Party member. The same is true for Kyrsten. This means that in many possible cases next year, a full Supreme Court can't be employed and either the Supreme Court can't hear a case, or they can only let the most biased Justice recuse herself/himself. Justices are paid to hear cases, yet Joelle will be expected to recuse herself from a majority of them, if not all of them. She had to recuse herself this year from every single case (this didn't prevent her from listening in on one complaint and offering her opinion about it to other Justices). But before you assume the Supreme Court truly earned their monthly stipend by hearing cases this year, know that they only heard one case and refused to hear the numerous others that all dealt with important issues that will affect ASISU for many years to come.

Current Vice-President, Jennifer Brown, as part of the Sargent/Brown ticket that ran last year, made a promise to keep student fees low. However, Jennifer Brown did anything but keep that promise this year. Jennifer Brown campaigned for the highest student fee increase in recent history. Not only did she spend hours painting a window in the Student Union Building encouraging students to vote yes on Reed Gym Option 3, but she also went around with a laptop on voting days asking students to vote yes for Option 3. Essentially, she took the trust we gave her and threw it back in our faces. Then, when she was campaigning to be President, she took credit for at least two ideas, both related to Reed Gym, even though she actively fought both ideas. We have all seen candidates take credit for things they had nothing to do with. Have we ever seen a candidate take credit for ideas they fought tooth and nail against?

(part 2 of 4 of my article I wrote for the school newspaper)

Noah House, Vice President for ASISU Idaho Falls, stated, "If it wasn't so ridiculous, it would be absolutely hilarious that we have student senators questioning what some of the primary pieces of the project (Reed Gym Options) are. I thought the Senate would have sent this to referendum. I am surprised that they didn't" (Bengal 1/31/07).

In what could very well be the best decision President Sargent made all year, he exercised his right to veto any Senate decision and told the student Senate that because they sent Option 3 to a student referendum, they should do the same for Option 2. It is quite sad and pathetic that President Sargent actually needed to exercise his veto power. This veto, and the negative publicity some Senators received for being so asinine, caused the student Senate to finally send it to a student referendum, where, again, students voted down a fee increase.

We can all agree that a Supreme Court should remain unbiased, fair, and neutral. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case for the ASISU Supreme Court this year. Two Supreme Court Justices, Joelle Brown and Kyrsten Hansen, actively campaigned for the Brown/Wheat ticket. One of the Justices, Joelle Brown, Jennifer Brown's sister (yes, Jennifer Brown did help appoint her own sister to the Supreme Court), campaigned for Brown/Wheat and the Orange Party. All of this despite the by-law which states that "Supreme Court Justices must act in a manner that is professional and impartial in matters pertaining to ASISU" (Section 11 Clause 3 C) and "ASISU Supreme Court Justices must be impartial and unbiased in any matter being discussed by the Senate or being brought before the court" (Section 11 Clause 1).

Anyone familiar with ASISU would tell you that a significant majority of cases that come before the Supreme Court involve either the elections and/or the Executive Branch. Joelle Brown and Kyrsten Hansen, by blatantly breaking at least two by-laws, placed themselves in a position where they should have been impeached (the Senate voted not to impeach either of them, votes were 9-6).

(part 1 of 4 of my article I wrote for the school newspaper)

The school year of 2006-2007 will go down in history as the year that student representation died at Idaho State University. As a student who holds no position within ASISU student government, I have watched with both interest and disgust as the student Senate, Executive Branch, and Supreme Court-all three branches of government, have ignored the will of students in favor of what they themselves want. Never before have I witnessed such selfish and elitist behavior as that exhibited by all three branches of ASISU government.

Student representation has only been offered by a minority of student senators and far too often, their dissenting votes and voices have been ignored, maligned, and laughed at. This is unacceptable.

The first obvious example can be traced back to the Reed Gym Option 3 ($22.2 million option-the most expensive of the three) vote that took place on October 30, 2006, wherein the student Senate voted (12-8) to approve Option 3, but thankfully sending it to a student referendum as well. The students, who have grown tired of increasing fees, overwhelmingly (69.4%) voted down Option 3.

That same referendum featured a proposed new constitution for ASISU. The new constitution, a document that would remove some checks and balances and allow itself to be amended far too easily did pass, but encountered several problems and as of now, we are still operating under the "old" constitution.

On January 22, 2007, the student Senate voted (11-8) to approve Option 2 without sending it to a student referendum. In fact, Senator Kelissa Borrowman, College of Education, "called for the vote on Option 2 after denying a friendly amendment to put the issue up for a referendum vote" (Bengal. 1/31/07). Former Senate member (Senate Pro-Tem) and ASISU Vice-President, Trevor Jensen, stated, "This is the most arrogant, indefensible vote that I have ever seen taken by ASISU. It's a sad day in student representation when the minority of ASISU is representing the majority of students (Bengal 1/31/07)." Indeed it was.

and I told them so last night. I spoke for about 10 minutes and told the student Senate that they have not represented students, that students are disenfranchised, and that what they have done is despicable. I read them the definition of cronyism and said that they have pissed off students so much this year that next year they will "watch every move you make." I said a lot of things, most of which won't make much sense to you, my readers, because you probably don't realize what has been done in our name here at ISU.

But I do want to say that I did thank the Senators who have represented students and I specifically named one Senator, though a former Senator as she resigned last semester. I spoke of this Senator, Senator Rowe, and said that students were sad when she resigned and that she will go down in the history of "this university" as one of the best senator's we have ever had. I ended by saying "shame on you" to the Senate and went off a little bit more and then I passed out thank you cards to the Senator's who had tried to represent students, though some of them had horrid votes...

I want to get the audio of the meeting and if I get this, I can provide more details. Also, since the cat is now out of the bag, the student newspaper, The Bengal, is publishing an article I wrote. It will be in tomorrow's Bengal and is quite long. I don't know if I want to post the whole thing all at once (over 1600 words) or if I want to break it up into a few posts. I addressed student government as a whole, then each branch of student government, so I could break it up into smaller pieces. Any suggestions would be great.

Oh yes, before I forget, I have received one response from a Senator. She is technically my Senator (Senate from Graduate Studies). She was offended that I pointed her out (though not by name) when I stated that "my Senator" hasn't represented me and therefore I have had to adopt other Senators, at which point I looked at two specific Senators, who are now also dear friends of mine.

Lest I am accused of favoring friends who are Senators, again, know that these two only became friends of mine in February, after they had my support in their bid to become the next ASISU President and Vice-President. They are amazingly wonderful and my fear for the future of student representation is eased when I realize that they will be here next year, though not involved in ASISU directly.

I am working on some things right now that I can't really write about. But trust me, I will be writing about them after I am able to. But there is one thing I can write about, I guess. I have been playing phone tag with the editor at the Idaho State Journal. I have inquired about writing an article about House Bill 125. If you are a regular reader, you will probably remember this piece. I want to expand upon that and submit it to the ISJ, and maybe some other papers. This is an issue that can't just be forgotten.

I have set up my blogger account to email me when someone leaves a comment. I am glad I did this because occasionally I get comments from posts I made in the past and without the email notification, I wouldn't just randomly check to see if new comments were made. An Eric, who I do not know, left a comment bearing his testimony about the Mormon Church. I wanted to tell him thank you. And also thank you to everyone else who leaves comments. Some of you will be pleased to know that I am skipping a political event to attend a fireside saturday night featuring Boyd K. Packer.

Aside from all of that, I wanted to address some people who have been asking me what I will be doing after I graduate. At this point in time, I don't know. My gut is telling me I will be in Pocatello for another several months, and possibly another year or more. I don't have a job lined up and haven't been searching as much as I should, mostly because I've been incredibly busy, but if anyone has any leads, let me know! My emphasis in my program is in "State, local, and non-profit administration," but I'm open to anything that will help me utilize my skills and knowledge.

Well, this morning I successfully presented and defended my case study. HOORAY! Looks like everything is all set up for me to graduate next month!