Unity ‘09, One Voice ‘09 betray tickets for political gain

Student Government elections are all about empty promises and bogus campaign tactics.

Most of the empty promises I can live with. I didn’t actually expect SG President Colorado Robertson to follow through on his promise of a live, public feeding of Mike the Tiger.

But this election season saw a little bit of everything.

From a vice presidential candidate missing a live debate on TigerTV because of a sorority chapter meeting — that would be you, Laura Boggs — to the owner of a used car dealership with shady ties to a frat he left without the slightest bit of honor — hello, Ari Krupkin — I saw the best of the worst personalities on campus.

Friday saw the ugliest side of campaigning and the benefits of shunning an entire ticket for an endorsement with the potential for a staff position.

Both the Unity ’09 and One Voice ’09 tickets — headed by Krupkin and Melanie Oubre and Greg Upton and Boggs, respectively — endorsed Andy Palermo and Phoebe Hathorn’s
The Next Level ‘09 ticket for today’s run-off election.

In doing so, the four contradicted themselves in citing reasons as to why Stuart Watkins and Martina Scheuermann’s More ‘09 campaign didn’t merit endorsement.

“We have argued that this campaign is not about who has the most experience, but who is the most capable to bring about the change that SG needs,” Krupkin said, right before his running mate, Oubre, said she believed Palermo’s ticket has the most experience.

This happened right after Upton cited both Watkins’ and Scheuermann’s lack of experience in SG — despite his support for the novice Vice President Shannon Bates in their 2008 Foundation campaign.

This was after Boggs cited Palermo as the most experienced candidate.

Upton and Boggs have every reason to be bitter. After all, the pair almost contributed as much to their campaigns — $1,889.26 each — as the More campaign spent, $3,933.80, according to SG expense reports.

In supporting The Next Level, the former heads of Unity and One Voice decided to pretend their own candidates aren’t still in run-off elections today.

I would now like to pay homage to these candidates in today’s runoff, betrayed by the tops of their tickets.

From the Unity campaign:
Brandon Burke, Business vice president; Annie Jacobson, Education Senate; Adam Lagneaux, UCAC Senate; and Michael Jones, UCFY Senate.

From the One Voice campaign:
Ashley Johnson, Agriculture Senate; Brittany Bourg, Agriculture Treasurer; Sarah Bertrand, Agriculture President; Chaylon Brignac, Arts and Sciences Senate; Steven Belflower, Arts and Design Treasurer; Matt Babineaux and Beau Bebeau, Business Senate; Kelly Springet, Business Secretary; Katie Peaslee, Education Secretary; Beth Higginbotham, Education Vice President; Will Delaney and Steven Menard, Engineering Senate; Gabriella Arroyo, Engineering Executive Secretary; Blaine Fuselier, Engineering Vice President; Robert Ingram, Engineering President; Kyle Mancuso, UCAC Vice President; Brooke Story and Cody Wells, UCFY Senate; and Hannah Chambers, University Court.

A total of 5,467 votes were cast for the One Voice run-off candidates, while the four Unity run-off candidates received a total of 906 votes.

The Unity and One Voice campaigns officially sacrificed a total of 6,373, presumably in the name of their collective future.

By throwing these candidates off their already derailed buses, Unity and One Voice have proven to be anything but united or speaking in unison. They traded their tickets for whatever political gain Palermo and Hathorn can give — that is, if Palermo and Hathorn win today.

Congratulations, SG. You wreaked havoc on Free Speech Alley for the past two months in the name of your individual resumes.

No wonder more than 2/3 of this campus didn’t vote at all last week.

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Michelle Obama has right idea about healthy eating

I have a huge crush on first lady Michelle Obama.

And no, it has nothing to do with her beautifully sculpted biceps.

She has arguably the keenest intellect of any first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Instead of engaging in the mainstream media’s desire to turn her into a fashion model,

Obama is using her talents and platform to preach a new message about healthy eating and lifestyle choices.

Did she rebel against 24-hour fast food eateries or criticize the makers of mass consumption foods?

No. She planted a vegetable garden.

Armed with shovels, rakes, pitchforks and fifth graders, the first lady broke ground Friday on a 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped patch of grass on the South Lawn of the White House.

The garden will include spinach, broccoli, at least four different kinds of lettuce and berries, and various other fruits and vegetables, including a beehive.

The 26 fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, D.C., assisted in shoveling up dirt, raking leaves and wheelbarrowing dirt into a central location. After finishing their work, the children were treated to apples, apple cider and cookies in the shape of a shovel.

This garden is the first kitchen garden planted on the White House lawn in 60 years.
The last first lady to plant a garden?

Eleanor — with her Victory Garden planted during World War II.

The first lady’s decision to plant a vegetable garden on the White House lawn — complete with a wish list from the White House kitchen in terms of fresh produce — comes at the same time as a disturbing report from the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study concluded African-Americans suffer heart failure at a rate 20 times higher than their white counterparts. It found heart failure rates for African-Americans in their 30s and 40s are the same as white patients in their 50s and 60s.

It also found one in 100 black men and women could develop heart failure before age 50, according to CNN.

This study frames the importance of the White House vegetable garden in a whole new light. It’s a symbol of sustainability — clearer than anyone testifying to Congress on C-SPAN and visible from E Street on the South Side of the White House.

And the garden idea has others jumping on the freshness bandwagon.
California first lady Maria Shriver announced on last Tuesday plans for an edible garden on the grounds of the state Capitol.

Both gardens have been championed by noted California chef Alice Waters, who has lobbied for a White House garden for the last decade.

“Fresh, wholesome food is the right of every American,” Waters told The Associated Press. “This garden symbolizes the Obamas’ commitment to that belief.”

In an age where we can order tacos, cheese sticks, bacon, egg and cheese biscuits and double decker burgers all at the same place at any time of the day, this new garden will send a powerful message about the benefits of local, homegrown produce — both in terms of physical and financial prosperity.

Locally grown fruits and vegetables are not only healthier than their canned and processed alternatives packaged in bulk at most supermarkets, they taste infinitely better and cost much less. The conveniences of the 21st century have allowed this nation — and this state in particular — to get increasingly fat, myself included.

But we can cut back. We can show the world we aren’t a nation of lazy slobs addicted to high fructose corn syrup as if it were crack.

With one day of hard work, Michelle Obama proclaimed it from the loudest megaphone in the world.

I love her.


Originally published in The Daily Reveille...

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New tax creates Catch-22 triangle of death

All smokers, huddle up.

What in the world are we going to do April 1?

Do we give up for ourselves, or do we give up on ourselves?

These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before April Fool’s Day when — like some sick joke — a new tobacco tax goes into effect to finance the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP.

In signing the Children’s Health Insurance Recovery Act into law Feb. 4, President Obama expanded SCHIP — already covering 7 million children — to provide coverage for another 4 million children who have working parents and don’t qualify for Medicaid but can’t make enough for private health insurance.

However, to pay for this nearly $33 billion expansion of coverage, the tax on a pack of cigarettes will increase 62 cents, single cigars go up 40 cents and — for those of you saving money by rolling your own Joes — loose tobacco receives a $23.53 a pound hike.

The resulting dilemma apparently eluded the president when he said, in his remarks before signing the bill, “In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiations, and health care for our children is one of those obligations.”

By forgetting how we come closer to a decent society, Obama neglected to address how this bill would be funded, but he did promise to “tackle smoking and obesity and helping people live longer, healthier lives.”

Since the bill was signed, however, a backlash has been felt in many different ways.

First of all, most smokers live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. This means the tax will adversely affect low-income families who statistically smoke and drink more often but still can’t afford medical coverage, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Secondly, although unintentionally, many states are impeding the flow of money to children’s health insurance by not allowing smoking in many public places. Under former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Louisiana passed such a law in June 2006, preventing smoking in restaurants and bars whose primary income is food sales.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, manufacturers are preparing for a drop off in smoking because of people quitting to save money. Anyone purchasing a pack of smokes at any Baton Rouge Circle K knows this, as its cash registers currently feature a sign titled “DON’T BLAME US!!!” in explaining to consumers the changes in prices.

Companies including Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris, as well as RJ Reynolds are increasing their prices in response to the tax.

“Cigarette sales have been declining in recent years. We don’t think it makes a lot sense to fund an important government program with a revenue source that continues to deliver less money than the year before,” Bill Phelps, spokesman for Altria, said to Bloomberg on Monday.

So smokers, I leave you to your best judgments. You really only have three options:
Stock up on as many cigarettes as you can before the federal tax goes up, which — coupled with manufacturer increases — will make cigarettes worth their weight in gold.

Quit smoking altogether and ruin the futures for millions of low-income children.

Or make a difference in some special person’s life and keep infesting yourselves with cancer.

After all, the garbage we’re spoon fed about how the children are the future — especially since real news is relegated to back page news whenever one of them goes missing — maybe we should act on it.

As California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might say, “It’s not a tumah.”

It’s health coverage for millions.


Originally published in The Daily Reveille...

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