I don’t know too much about politics but I am always interested in what’s going down in Washington because there are important decisions being made for me that affect my life. I also have an incredibly short attention spandex is so strange… Now, where was I — Ah yes, all that being said, I feel like the blog at USDemocrazy.net is written just for me.

The motto on their about page describes the blog perfectly:

“Veni, Risi, Percepi.
Translated: I came, I laughed, I learned.”

The USDemocrazy.net Blog puts a focus on current events involving US politics. This, of course, includes a lot of international stories, as well. I can honestly say that the more I read their blog, the better informed I feel. This comes in great handy when I’m talking to crotchety (spell-check suggested crotchless, but I don’t think that’s right) old people who think kids don’t know anything about anything. In their writing, they highlight events that are important to be aware of and they leave out the boring bureaucratic crap that plagues many political publications.

Kevin “Kal” Kallaugher is the man responsible for the innovative art style throughout the website.  He has worked as a political cartoonist for the past 30 years for magazines such as the Baltimore Sun and The Economist, receiving three Thomas Nast Awards for his work. Kal has been working with the school for the past two years in collaboration with the Imaging Resource Center.  Their first creation was the USDemocrazy map, which provides information about each state and its politics in a very funny fashion.

We recently sat down to chat with Kal and the USDemocrazy Blog team (which comprises UMBC students Dinah Douglas, Wayne Heavener, Kavan Peterson, Abbey Salvo, and Marc Zerfas) to learn more about their work, and the blog they launched just a few months ago. When asked what the main goal of the site was, Kal responded: “We’re trying to demystify this lunatic system we have in a pleasing, quirky, fun way.”

The articles are written by students at UMBC and as a writer for a student run publication, I am astounded at how engaging their posts are. Aside from reading Dave Barry’s column, I am rarely laughing while reading about politics but this blog definitely hits that nail on the head. I still can’t figure out how they find the time to post twice a day (I’m betting they either have access to a time machine or they’ve paid their teachers to not assign them any work… or the less popular theory: they’re better students than I am).

They are in the process of redesigning the blog, and have many exciting ideas for the future of USDemocrazy as well.  “We want to be surprising,” Kal told us, “It will always be worth the visit”.

I think I’ve linked to the blog enough so go to their site, check it out, and leave them some comments. I’m sure you will enjoy it.

I was reading an article in the Washington Post when I came across this line.

Aides said O’Malley is still reviewing the bill but has proposed a broader set of initiatives designed to combat underage drinking. Those include legislation calling for a six-month driver’s license suspension for someone under 21 who is convicted of possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages.

I’m older than 21 but this proposed legislation seems to be way too overarching.  Don’t get me wrong, I support legislation that causes drunk drivers to lose their licenses for extended periods of time.  However, if one is not behind the wheel of a car (no matter if they are of age or not) when they are drinking or drunk why should they lose the right to drive?

This seems like the type of legislation that could lead to other problems for this such as a larger percentage of uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

I sat in on the SGA senate meeting on Monday evening. I was able to watch and listen as Steve Gilmore resigned from office as SGA President and Gabe Rettaliata was sworn in.

The meeting started at 5:34 pm and Steve graciously stepped down from his position. He told us he had intended to challenge the removal, but in the interest of keeping peace in the SGA he decided against it. Steve also apologized for what appeared to be intentional deception on his part. He explained that his delay in informing people of his ineligibility was due to taking time to talk to his professors, confirm his grades from last semester, and see if there was anything he could do to raise his grades. He said “I do not want anyone, especially SGA, thinking I tried to pull a fast one or go behind people’s backs” by not immediately taking action regarding his ineligibility. He apologized for hurting anyone’s feelings with his actions and expressed his gratitude at being able to be part of the SGA since his freshman year. He finished by saying he intends to do everything in his power to make sure ongoing SGA plans are followed through.

I spoke with Steve via email after the meeting and he wanted to communicate to you all…well, I’ll let him speak for himself.

I want to thank all of you for the honor of serving as your SGA President this year.  As much as I want to keep doing what I’ve been doing, I have decided to step down for the good of the SGA.  I will be working closely with Gabe and the other SGA members to make a smooth transition and to help complete our on going projects.

After Steve excused himself from the rest of the meeting, Gabe asked for any comments on the situation from the rest of those present. Fouad Kanaan asked David Hoffman (and/or any others who had been around that long) what transpired the last time there was an administration change mid-semester. David briefly described the hostility, backlash, and feelings of betrayal that occurred when the new administration took office. In response to this, Paula McCusker encouraged everyone to be civil and grown up, and to not repeat the bitterness/drama. She encouraged everyone to refrain from bitter talk, and support Gabe in his new role as well as letting Steve continue to support SGA.

Gabe then shared his feelings on the matter. He seemed to be a bit shell shocked still, and said that he had never expected this when he took the position as speaker of the senate. He vowed to still hold the Senate and Executives of SGA to a high standard, and continue moving forward with the SGA’s plans and goals for the semester. “We’re not going to just coast through and have nothing to show for ourselves in the end”. Yasmin Karimian and Amber Spry then offered some well put advice about not getting caught up in the drama. Yasmin encouraged everyone to take care of themselves, think positive, and keep communication open versus drawing away if issues come up. Amber reminded us that the SGA transitions leadership every year, and this one should be viewed similarly. David Hoffman also spoke to the issue of staying positive, saying it’s easy to trash people, but that we should be supportive of the new leadership. He predicted that this change will be good for SGA, not because of the lost leadership, but because of the new opportunities it provides.

By 5:50, Toks Elegbe had not arrived, and discussion arose as to whether we should wait for him to arrive and formally resign, or go ahead as if he had been removed. No real consensus was reached, but Fou asked what happened to legislation signed by Steve in the past few weeks, if Gabe had technically been president by the constitution. Gabe offered to simply re-sign things, saying that votes shouldn’t change. David Hoffman encouraged people to not view the constitution so strictly, pointing out that Steve had signed the legislation acting in good faith that he was president. Aditi Srivastav encouraged us not to get hung up on logistics, but to move forward and let Gabe take over without worrying about what happened before. Paula agreed with the sentiment, but made the point that the constitution does need to be clarified so in the future it’s clear when someone is actually out of office.

It was now 6:15, and Toks still hadn’t arrived. Nobody had any idea if or when he was coming, so we recessed until 7:00 in an attempt to find out when Toks got out of class, and to call Harsh Bambawale so he could administer the presidential oath to Gabe.

When we returned at 7:00, we were informed that Toks declined to give any official statement of resignation until he finished his classes for the day at 10:00pm. In the interest of simplicity, the decision was made to proceed as though Toks had been removed from office and continue down the line of succession. We moved into formal session, and with all in agreement that Gabe was acting president, Harsh swore him in at 7:07pm. Nominations were then taken for a new speaker of the senate.

As current assistant speaker, Jen Kent was the first in line to take the position, but she declined saying she did not feel she could commit the time and balance her other responsibilities. Rahilla Tarfa and Brian Frazee were nominated, and after much discussion and a secret ballot vote, Rahilla is the new Speaker of the Senate. The next order of business was to swear in the new vice presidents. Gabe chose David Indek for Executive Vice President, and James McCauley as Vice President for Student Organizations. After David and James were sworn in, the three vacant senator positions had to be filled. As there were three First Year Ambassadors, there was little discussion needed as to who would fill the position. Everyone was very excited when the Ambassadors Simmi Singh, Toby Le, and Matthew McNey became the new senators by unanimous vote.

In other news, the University System of Maryland Student Council agrees with our SGA’s question of the $8 transcript fee. They’re willing to support our fight out of fear that their schools might be next. When Yvette Moize-Ross, the woman in charge of this fee, met with other higher ups from USM schools, they were surprised at the fee and apparently questioned the need, much like our very own SGA. Furthermore, at the last transcript fee meeting this past Friday (Feb 6), someone brought up the policy that all fees that would be burdensome to the students must be approved by the Chancellor of the USM Student Council. From what they could tell, this fee was never approved by the Chancellor, so that is something to be resolved in the future. I will be finishing the article reviewing that original transcript fee meeting last Monday (Feb 3) shortly, as previously promised. For more information on the USM Student Council’s reaction, contact Brian Frazee at bfrazee1@umbc.edu.

Congratulations and best of luck to all the new leaders! Also, to those who left office, I wish you success in your future endeavours. Thank you for all your hard work and commitment.

I have just received information that current SGA president Steve Gilmore and his Vice President Toks Elegbe may be removed from office due to academic ineligibility.

According to Article 5.2 of the UMBC SGA Constitution,

In order to be eligible to seek and hold SGA offices, an individual must be a UMBC undergraduate, have at least a cumulative 2.25 GPA, maintain at least a 2.25 semester GPA while in office, and not be on academic or disciplinary probation. For the offices of President and Vice President, an individual must have at least a cumulative 2.5 GPA, 24 total credits, and 12 credits at UMBC to seek or hold office, and maintain at least a 2.5 semester GPA while in office.

Gilmore has apparently failed to meet these requirements in his fall 2008 semester. The same is true for Executive Vice President Toks Elegbe. Vice President of Student Organizations, Christine Paul, has resigned her position, whether for Academic or other reasons I do not currently know.

Article 5.4.1 of the SGA Constitution states the following:

5.4.1. –Ineligibility
Any officer who ceases to meet the eligibility requirement set forth above shall be automatically and immediately removed from office.

By this, Gilmore and Elegbe are technically no longer serving in their positions. As Christine Paul has also resigned, the office falls to current Speaker of the Senate, Gabe Rettaliata.

5.5. Presidential Succession
In the event of the President’s removal by any method outlined in this Constitution, the holder of the lowest-numbered non-vacant office on the following list shall become President: 1. Vice President; 2. Speaker of the Senate; 3. Speaker of the House of Organizations. In the event that all of the listed offices are vacant, an interim President shall be elected by a majority vote of the House of Organizations, and a special election shall be held within 30 days (excluding summer and winter semesters) to elect a new President. Any officer who becomes President pursuant to this section shall be considered to have resigned from the office he or she held before becoming President.

While some have contested that it would take an official complaint to investigate Gilmore’s eligibility for office, the above quoted section of the constitution makes it clear that at this time, Gilmore and Elegbe are barred from holding office, and Rettaliata is the current acting President of the SGA.

To those who have left office, I wish you good luck in your Spring semester.

Updates to come as I know more.

I find this intriguing and I know a lot of students here might be interested in deafness, learning sign language (ASL), or attending graduate school immersed in a signing environment. Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Hearing students are all welcome in Gallaudet’s Graduate School.

Attend their “Open Hands, Open Eyes, Open Minds … Open House” on Feb. 13, 2009. More information can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=43195274386 as well as http://aaweb.gallaudet.edu/GSPP/Graduate_School_Enrollment_Office/Admissions_Graduate/Open_House.html.

It’s already been two weeks since the last final was given, but grades have not been posted.

To veteran students at UMBC, this does not come as a surprise, as  last year fall grades to appeared on January 4th.   Of course, finals ended somewhat later last year.   However, the consistently long periods of time which this process takes seems odd.  Every other college, including ones whose exams ended after ours, already has the grades posted.

When searching through the page on the Office of the Registrar, I was unable to find the procedure for how this takes place.  However, the following indicated to me that professors probably turn in their grades to the registrar, where a centralized system proceeds to upload them to the page where students can see them.  In the undergraduate catalog, it says, “An instructor may change a grade already submitted to the registrar on written certification and approval by the department chairperson and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education.”  Their office did not pick up when I called them and no answering machine service was available.  If anyone knows definitively, please let me know!

If this is the case, it is not surprising that grades take such a ludicrously long time.  My mom teaches at another college, and they use a much more efficient system, where the professor posts their own calculated grades on the Student Information System, the school’s database that only professors have access to.  They then print out the grades and give them to the Dean for records, but no centralized service ever touches them.   They are required to have the grades posted within 48 hours of the final.   This is a far cry from the 2 weeks it has already taken.

Timely grades are necessary not only for convenience but to make good decisions about the coming semesters.  For instance, if a student were to have been borderline on failing, the late date for grade posting would make it almost impossible for them to make the necessary arrangements to enroll in a winter term class or to see an adviser.

While it could be argued that it is the student’s responsibility to find out his/her own grade in this case, in large lecture classes, the late posting date means that the professors will be receiving large volumes of emails from worried students.  An efficient timeline could also ease this burden on professors who wish to enjoy their own breaks.

What do you guys think?  Is two weeks too long or should we just be patient/try to contact the professor on our own?  Is this system of greater benefit or detriment to professors and students? Why is there such a large time discrepancy between our school and even larger ones like College Park where it would seem the volume would be more of an issue?

An update from the UN conference on climate change:

Much of the developed world seems to think so. Over 1 trillion dollars are being invested to prevent a global financial crisis…yet only $172 million is being invested (combined amongst countries) in the GEF (Global Environmental Facility, the financing mechanism of the UNFCCC) to assist Least Developed Countries in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

I wish I could send a happier greeting from Poland, but our shortsightedness on this financing issue is tragic. Even the moderate projections of the effects of global warming would bring our economies to shambles in a far greater way than this financial crisis, never mind jeopardize our general welfare.

In the Substanting Body for Implementation Negotiations, the U.S. delegates were busy highlighting the successes of “better communication and energy inventories”, while representatives from Nigeria, Gambia, and the rest of the G77/China were pleading that 16 years after these financing mechanisms were created “projects are being capped at $3 million and are being delayed in their implementation…this is a shame because funding is at the core of any climate commitment”. Especially a commitment that would expect developing countries to invest in clean technologies when they are operating in a global market where commodity prices and economic strategies are dictated by Western market boards and Western financial organizations (IMF, WTO).   As Tanzania put it “this is a shame because it shows a failure in the international community to invest in itself”.

Therein lies the rub of working with rich countries like the U.S., Australia, and Canada - they refuse to agree to binding emissions reductions for themselves without developing countries joining on board, yet when developing countries attempt to be proactive they balk at helping them finance.

There are two reasons that MAJOR investments to developing countries are critical and warranted: 1) these countries have the highest population growth rates and the highest urbanization rates, meaning that any failure to invest in clean technologies now will mean continued investing in the same dirty conventional energy that will have to eventually be retrofitted in the future 2) The developed world has historically emitted the vast majority of all emissions, and continue to (the US makes up 5% of the world’s population but emits 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases) meaning that we have an ecological debt to the world.  As a representative from the International Alliance of Indigenous People noted, “we must never forget that global warming and the development strategies that began it are being caused by the global North”.

How can you help?  Any international climate agreement signed by the U.S. has to be ratified by 2/3 of the senate. The next agreement will be signed in Copenhagen a year from now.  The framework is being determined now in Poland, and the State Department will only be as progressive as they perceive their constituents to be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u41CpRhoYUI (this was our delegation’s experience last year).  So write to your senators (addresses below)! Senators Mikulski and Cardin are generally friendly to climate/environmental issues - but tell them it’s time to make a legally-binding international climate agreement that will meet the recommendations of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Let them know that they’ll only keep your vote if they do!  Senator Cardin is expected to attend this Conference in Poland later next week, and I am working to set up a meeting with him. Stay tuned on how that goes!

Also, if there is a positive response to this post I’ll be sure to post more.

Waiting for a sense of urgency in Poland,

John Doyle, djohn1@umbc.edu

College students love flash games.  But they’re such a waste of time!  Or are they?

Presenting Oiligarchy, an addictive little game with a heart of [black] gold.  You start as a wide-eyed leader of an oil upstart in the early 20th century, chasing the thrill of oil prospecting in Texas.  As you begin to expand your operations, and as the world discovers oil (and becomes ‘addicted’), you’ll make money and begin to look to other fields.  Heck, you might even let those fellas in Congress know what you’re all about!  If they happen to support you, well, that’s dandy.

Oiligarchy takes a fairly complicated set of controls and simplifies them to make a point.  Build more oil rigs, earn more money, take over Washington.  Head out overseas, and into protected areas, seeking the riches of the Earth’s bounty.  I recommend you try to take your oil empire as far as you possibly can.  Who says oil isn’t sustainable?!

I assume the discussion to follow will focus on energy, but let me take a moment aside and mention that the game studio that created Oiligarchy, Molleindustria, is focused on the concept of promoting games as more than just entertainment; they want to put passion, purpose, and art into the medium of the video game.  Based on their entire collection, I’d say they’ve made a point about the efficacy of the video game in carrying ideology.

An update for the three guys playing video games in the Gameroom during all of the election results:

The people have spoken. The old guy was blown out of the water.

No matter how you voted at least you can say you are witnessing an incredible piece of history. I personally think Obama’s speech was very intelligent and wise. He said that his election alone is not the change we seek, but it is the opportunity to have that change. I couldn’t agree more.

What do you think?

In other news, the Election Night Extravaganza was a great success. Of the original 200, there was not a single box of pizza left after 2 hours and everybody was having a great time watching the updates and jousting in the Gameroom. We will have video posted here from UMBCtv as soon as it is finished being edited.

In Maryland, you do not need to file a reason for not being able to vote in a polling place, so if you have to work, go to class, or merely fear long lines, fill out the form available HERE:

http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/absentee.html

and then get it to the board of election by Tuesday 10/28 (mail or fax) to receive your postal ballot! Please share this information.

Voting in person, but not sure where? http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/where.html will help.

(Temporarily in Maryland, but need info for another state? http://maps.google.com/vote will direct you)