DRAMA!

The official results of the Indiana Purdue Student Government Association (IPSGA) elections became official last week.  Therefore, the question as to who will be next year's executive officers is set in stone, right?  Not so much.  Although all of the Sanction Points filed by Students for Effective Government against Reflecting You were withdrawn, there are still some issues that haven't been settled as of yet. Issues that could result in the Vice President of Programming-elect  Wesley Haffenden being removed.

In the heat of the elections week, there was a complaint against Matthew Bohkart, calling him "anti-GLBT" by Wesley Haffenden.  Bohkart claims that these accusations are false and since his reputation is now been tarished he is calling fowl on Haffenden. Bohkart made a defimation of character complaint to the Dean of Students.

Bohkart gets his way, Haffenden might face both removal and suspencion.

Here's the deal.  The elections are over, Bohkart lost and he has no one to blame but himself. Everybody needs to grow up and let these petty disputes go. The people being hurt here aren't the candidates, but the student body-  the people whom they all claimed to want to help. 

Student Government Elections

It turns out that the "Students For Effective Governments" empty rhetoric paid off.  Three out of the four candidates were named as the "unofficial" winners... apparently it was announced today that these unofficial winner are now the official winners, according to the Student Election Board.

Here are the results:

Student Body President

*Terel Lynn - 616

Joe Menze - 552

Matthew Bokhart - 248

Student Body Vice President of Legislation

*Joe Magistri - 726

David Dressler – 384

DeAngelo LaVette - 288

Student Body Vice President of Finance

*Kody Tinnel – 872

Eric Smith - 545

Student Body Vice President of Student Programming

*Wes Haffenden – 620

Niki Mathews – 410

Marci Sullivan – 376

As it turns out your vote does matter!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Really Slow Newsday!

Loch Ness At Pokagon? is the name of a news broadcast that INC Now posted on their website Friday.  They are begging the question of whether or not there might be some kind of cryptozoological creature living in Pokagon State Park because a UFO (unidentified floating object) that showed up on their camera at the Ramada Inn in Angola.  It seems that our friends at INC Now must be suffering from a slow news day if they are running programming on blurry black splotches that show up on cameras over lakes.  The only thing you'll find at Lake James is a cluster of drunk people on the sandbar, if you go monster hunting this summer. 

Is this news? Not in the slightest.  A bad joke at best.

BigHearts Bohkart?

This is my last post of student elections I promise. 

But I have to say something about one candidate's manipulation via the media.  Meet Pre-Med student Matthew Bokhart.  A few semesters ago he started this student org called The BigHearts Club which actually is a GOOD and amiable pursuit.  It holds a lot of fundraisers for charity. 

Here is where it gets ugly....

This semester Bohkart decided to run for student body president, which normally wouldn't be a bad thing.  But he has taken to some pretty shady marketing practices.  Has successfully turned his BigHearts club into a front group for "MATTHEW BOKHART for Student Body President".  The BigHearts Club is in the midst of a charity that is running alongside the Student Government Elections. Instead of keeping the usual BigHearts logo, he has fitted a picture of himself and his name to ALL THINGS BigHearts!  So now when student see the org's event fliers they see plugs for Bohkart.  That is manipulation and it is the UGLIEST thing I have seen all campaign season! 

NCMR 2011

Today in Boston the 2 day long National Conference for Media Reform 2011began.  According to it's website, the conference is designed for "activists, media makers, educators, journalists, artists and policymakers in sessions about journalism and public media; technology and innovation; policy and politics; arts and culture; social justice and movement building; plus how-to workshops and hands-on trainings."  There are over 300 presenters including professors, lawyers, journalists and others.

Couldn't make it?  Neither could I, fortunately the website has streaming videos of the events in progress.  

Check it out!

Watch live streaming video from freespeechtv at livestream.com

Joe Knows!

This flier just came out today and I caught it via Facebook.  I am in no way endorsing the use of pathological appeals (this one being humor) to win elections.  But I actually like this flier.  Sure it doesn't say anything about what policies he stands for and it might be a copyright infringement, but at least it doesn't make my eyes hurt.  This is good-humored, entertaining and eerily reminiscent of one of those "humorous"/"sexy" birthday cards you find at Walgreens or CVS.  It is also consistent with his "parties" over all design theme (always a plus in the PR/marketing world).

I'm going to go ahead and declare this campaign ad as "Good".... mostly because it isn't pixelated to hell or seizure inducing.

Reflecting You! Reflecting Who?

Courtesy of Facebook.com

Here we have another "political party" running for office.  "Reflecting You!" consists of the current Student Body President,  Terel Lynn; Vice-President of Legislation, David Dressler; and Vice President of Finance, Eric Smith, with new comer Marci Sullivan running for Vice President of Programming.

This campaign flier, made to resemble a voting ballot,  has a basic, but intense color scheme: red, light blue, navy blue and white.  These colors might have worked well together - as they do in say the American Flag- but not in this combination.  The shades of red and blues clash horribly and the text is hardly legible.

Courtesy of Ray Cunningham via Flickr.com

What's with the star burst pattern behind each of the candidates photos? These guys(and gal) are running for the IPFW student government NOT Communist China or the former USSR.  Sure this poster is propaganda but if I were running for public office in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I wouldn't take notes from Mao Zedong --->


The photos they chose aren't exactly the most flattering either.  Especially since they were pasted onto an alternating blue striped pattern.  Good thing I don't have epilepsy, looking at this flier for to long might cause a seizure.  So whose image is this "party" trying to reflect exactly?  I know I don't want to look like this when I look in the mirror.

If you haven't guessed it yet, this campaign flier is U-G-L-Y.  Seriously if I look at it any longer my eyes might start to bleed.