12 March 2008

BYUSA Election Follow-Up, Michael Steele, &c.

Today at lunch we spoke with a friend of ours, one of the 5 BYUSA Executive Directors who serve under the BYUSA President and Executive Vice President. Our conversation with him confirmed what we concluded in our last post: it's unfair to expect BYUSA to be something it is not. It is not a student representative organization, it's a student service organization. And in that, they are extremely successful.

He agreed with us (and pointed out that Adam Ruri and Chance Basinger had Provo parking as part of their platform) that there is an opportunity for BYUSA President Adam Ruri to lead the way in parking negotiations with Provo City Council on behalf of BYU students.

We'll follow their progress, if any, again, so you don't have to.

***

On Fox news, Michael Steele, former candidate for the Senate from the state of Maryland, weighed in on the Geraldine Ferraro kerffufle (which we first wrote about here).

He pointed out that in advance of his run for the Senate, his campaign polled Marylanders about race and politics. They asked two questions: first, "would you vote for an African-American for senate?" and second, "would your neighbor vote for an African-American?"

These polls were anonymous, so people had no apparent reason to lie. 78% said yes to the first question. 40% said yes to the second question. Steele and the Crash-crowd draw the wrong conclusion from polls like these--that racism is a big problem in America.

Sure, there's racism, but what this poll shows is that the problem is hugely overblown. What it shows is that a vast majority--78%, in this instance--are not racist, but that an almost equally large majority--60%--think their neighbors are racist.

The only disconnect is between public perception of racism and the reality.

***

At FreedomsWatch.org, guest blogger Mark Mix writes about union's attempts to move away from unionization by secret ballot to unionization by peer pressure and intimidation. Unions have steadily lost membership for the last 30 years as their usefulness declined. This latest legislation is a last ditch attempt to maintain political clout.

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Our friends at the RNC are running a Blog Madness competition to name their official blog. Cue rabid netroots.

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The BYU Student Alumni Association is sponsoring a personal finance course on 22 March @ 10:00am in the Hinkcley Center. With subprime loans, inflation, the falling dollar and stock market all the rage, this is a valuable opportunity to learn how to navigate the financial storm.

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Steve Sweet, associate of recruiting and marketing, asked me to pass along information about the Koch Associate Program. After limited research into this program, it seems worth passing along:

"The Koch Associate Program is a year-long, paid program designed to develop promising leaders and entrepreneurs interested in liberty and the non-profit arena. During the program Associates work in non-profit roles four days a week, then spend one day a week at the Foundation learning Market-Based Management® in a classroom setting. You can learn more about the Associate Program, as well as the Koch Internship Program and the Koch Foundation at www.cgkfoundation.org. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2008."

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If you're looking for a cheap, stimulating intellectual experience this summer, we recommend applying for one of the free summer seminars sponsored by The Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. They take place at universities all over the US with different topics at each. Housing, food, books, and lecture costs are all covered by IHS, you just have to figure out how to get there.


If you have tips, questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for subscription only articles, email us at lybberty@gmail.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just got all the news I needed for the day! Keep up the great work...

Morgan said...

watch season 2 of The Wire for a great perspective from one man's point of view (the creator David Simon)on the stevedores union and the city of Baltimore.

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