The Girl in the Mismatched Suit

Bush is an asshole.

2007-05-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

I've avoided this topic so far, but seeing as how this blog is no longer going to get checked on a regular basis, I feel the need to state that I wish the Government would treat gays with the dignity and respect we deserve. Barring that, at least don't pull this move and attempt, please, to make it a bit safer for us to walk the streets at night

While I have never been the victim of a hate crime (far more typical is "Can I join in?" "NO!"), the same cannot be said of everyone in my community. I'd like to state that there's bullshit afoot when our government claims that "The administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion or national origin..." but can't be bothered to lift a finger for the GLBTQ citizens of this nation. That confounds me; it makes no sense. I look for the other side of the argument, but can't seem to find it with a damn magnifying glass. The only reasoning I can relate to is paragraph that quotes:

Moreover, the bill’s proposed section 249(a)(1) of title 18 of the U.S. Code raises constitutional concerns. Federalization of criminal law concerning the violence prohibited by the bill would be constitutional only if done in the implementation of a power granted to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel, to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of the laws. Section 249(a)(1) is not by its terms limited to the exercise of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision of H.R. 1592.

This at least makes a smidgen of Constitutional sense. The other argument the Statement covers is the same one the government has been using for years: if we protect homosexuals as a minorities, we have to protect all minorities, like
"the elderly, members of the military, police officers, and victims of prior crimes)"

Well, what's stopping us? Why the hell not do something about protecting these groups? We have to start somewhere.

I know there's a solution that is legally feasible under all the muck and political gestures, if our public officials would just look for it. Until then, gays are left looking out for ourselves.

Our Maintenance People Rock My Socks.

2007-04-30T23:27:00.000-05:00

If you're not sure what you're looking at, I'll enlighten you. It's one of the many problems Guinan has been having lately. Limping around the dorm, (because that's how my joints roll, yo.) I counted something along the lines of seven busted lights, two (or three, depending on the day and mood) doors that don't work, a courtyard fountain that spouted like a three story gyser yesterday (wish I was kidding; I have it on film!) and a water heater that just turned back on this evening.

First of all: our maintance crew kicks it old school. You people rock! Way to stay on the ball!
Secondly: before you all go commenting, "But Megan, aren't you a ResCouncil officer?", yeah yeah yeah I KNOW. I'm on it, people. I've already scheduled Father Pilsner to come in tomorrow to exercise the demon, or whatever.

Snails, amongt other things...

2007-04-30T22:55:00.000-05:00

As I went on my nightly walk to the museum district, I stepped on several snails, which always makes me sad to think about because we as large, lubering creatures, often step on other living things as we go about our merry way through life, often times without even a clue that we've just snuffed out an irreplacable life.

But that's not what this post is about. Because unlike those snails I accidentally smushed under my Chuck Taylors, snail mail is a very live and thriving thing, which is good for small independent news publications.

Sorta.

Because your government (yes, yours!) wants to give breaks on postage to large media corporations, but leave smaller, independent news sources out in the cold. This could be a good thing if all you ever read is the Wall Street Journal, but for those of you who enjoy, you know, variety, this could be a problem. Tax breaks for larger media companies means an easier time distributing information, but only for LARGER MEDIA COMPANIES. You should look into it a bit more, and take action. Journalism works for us, dammit.

Now, a moment of silence for the snails...

I need to share this with you.

2007-04-21T18:35:00.000-05:00

For it is much less depressing than the anti-war lyrics I posted earlier today...

2007-04-21T13:29:00.000-05:00

"...Because the keys to the kingdom got locked inside the kingdom
And the angels fly around in there, but we can't see them
And I gotta girl in the war, Paul I know that they can hear me yell
If they can't find a way to help, they can go to Hell
If they can't find a way to help her, they can go to Hell..."

Legislation that doesn't look cute in a onesie

2007-04-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

So, as you all probably know, the Supreme Court chose to ban partial-birth abortion today in a close and disappointing vote of 5-4. Ruth is crying, Sandra is kicking herself, and I'm cringing at Bush's praise of the majority as he speaks of "...protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life." I suppose no one informed him that an unnecessary war is a bit of a snub to the sanctity of life, and that we as a nation seem to be in more danger from disgruntled college students than terrorists from afar.

Oh well. As long as Bush pays attention to abortion, maybe he'll stay away from the gay community...and I'll refrain from tacky comments about unborn gay fetuses.

On another note, China, having successfully learned to control the Internet, is moving onto bigger better things...China Attempts to Control the Weather. That's hot....

2007-04-19T00:06:00.000-05:00

I am, for the most part, going to ignore the comments to my latest post, because they were, for the most part, harmless and ill worded (it's your, not you're, and "grammar" is spelled with an "a", not an "e"), but I would like to provide this helpful bit of advice:That being said, I'd like to speak on something that is very important to me: House, M.D. Specifically, House, M.D., and its lack of appearance on youtube. Look, I can only take so many House/Wilson slash videos before my head just spins in circles.

I don't quite understand the copyright issue with taking House off youtube. No, I don't want anyone making money off posting the latest episode the minute it's done airing; (dammit, if I can't make money that way, no one will!) but is it really all that different if I tape it on VHS and hold it to my bosom in a decidedly-greedy fashion? Or what if I was really rich (and geeky) and TiVo'd it, and then took that TiVo and copied the hard drive? Either way, I would still have my very own copy of Gregory House being snarky, and I wouldn't have to pay a cent...kinda like I don't now when I watch it on my six-inch TV screen.

I think that Clear Channel needs to get with the time. Fox, Time Warner, every dinosaur company is fighting tooth and nail to keep their footage in the reels, and that's not how people are watching TV anymore. Very rarely do I make time to watch an entire TV show; I catch it on the run in five minute increments like everyone else. That's why independent stations like CurrentTV are such a blessing. (Thank you, Lord Al Gore. I will spread your Good Message...)

Wired Magazine (the know-all-be-all, in my book) had this to say:

Until about five minutes ago, remember, almost all video-entertainment content was produced and distributed by Hollywood. Period. That time is over. There was a time when advertisers could count on mass audiences for what Hollywood thought we should be watching on TV. That time is all but over. There was a time when broadband penetration was too slight and bandwidth costs too prohibitive for video to be watched online. That time is sooooo over. "The era of the creepy blue light leaking out of every living room window on the block is now officially at an end," says my pal and occasional colleague Steve Rosenbaum, founder of video-sharing startup Magnify.net and one of the inventors a decade ago of citizen video. "The simple, wonderful, delirious fact is that people like you and me can now make and share content."

Without being overly simplistic or melodramatic, the state of the Old Commercial Broadcasting Model can be summarized like this: a spiraling vortex of ruin. Fragmentation has decimated audiences, viewers who do watch are skipping commercials, advertisers are therefore fleeing, the revenue for underwriting new content is therefore flatlining, program quality is therefore suffering (Dancing With the Stars. QED), which will lead to ever more viewer defection, which will lead to ever more advertiser defection, and so on.

Well, that settles it.

Also, a question. Was an actual order put out to fly flags at half-mast? I'm getting mixed signals from my people...

Break the Silence

2007-04-17T14:51:00.000-05:00

I've heard a lot of people talk today about "prevention". How do we prevent something like this? How do we go about protecting our institutions of learning from harm with the jealously of a lover?

Silence is perhaps, the most insidious murderer, for it kills with none of us the more aware. Silence leads to ignorance, and ignorance leads to hatred, which can often times lead to disasters like what we as a nation have witnessed.

The boy who did this did a bad thing. It was an unforgivable thing, with consequences he hoped would be long lasting, and will...but can we truly be surprised?

If we aren't careful with our freshmen, we can easily push them off the edge. We can literally break them, and once we do, we will have no way of knowing that they even need to be fixed. In my opinion, classes like Odyssey are, in the long run, beneficial, because while I found them to be a source of nuisance and a waste of time, I sat in them and met fellow freshmen and laughed and joked and mocked the teachers and because of that, I became involved in the rest of the student body. From there, over the years, my affection for the UST student body grew as a whole.

This student, Cho Seung-Hui, was not connected in any way, good or bad, with the rest of his student body. Had he been, I believe that he would never have had the ability to do what he did. He wouldn't have been able to look fellow students in the eye before shooting them down. Yet he never made an effort to reach out to his peers and and now he's dead, and so are some of them.

UST--care for your own! Talk to the one you would usually avoid! Find some common ground, even if it's not necessarily something that interests you. Talk to the freshmen! I've had so many conversations with friends about how much freshman year sucked. We made it through, though, barely, so let's guarantee that we insure other freshmen do the same.

Also, this is sick: GodHatesAmerica

These people can seriously go fuck themselves.

Revolving-door appointments

2007-04-11T14:18:00.000-05:00

While it's true that those with parlimentary experiance are better equipped to handle internal relations withing the SGA, everyone can agree that fresh blood isn't a bad thing.

SGA doesn't seem to agree. Oh well, guess we'll see how CoC appointments

Ad Nauseam

2007-04-05T19:04:00.000-05:00

Once again on UST Elections--Contentions! Contentions! Contentions! And drama more than ever.

The Judicial Council's ruling has come down, and alongside disregarding* many informed students' concerns about the legitimacy of the elections, our dear Court decided to offer this advice:

"...this body takes issue with Mr. Mendonca’s hyperbolic descriptions of the events that took place; in no way would any member of this body characterize the placement of polls in this election as anything approximating to “an abomination which mocks the very spirit of democracy.” Such theatrics are unprofessional and have no place in a court of law or in front of this Judicial Council, and accordingly they will not be considered." (emphasis mine)

Oh! Oh, whew! *wiped brow*. Thanks, there, fellas! Thanks for clearing that up. I'll, uh, keep your philosophical wisdom close at heart when I'm trying to put together a political piece strongly worded in the hopes of promoting change. I'll, uh, try to not be so...how did they put it? Oh, right, "theatrical", when I submit several complaints against you all in the following weeks for buggering up our elections and disenfranchising our students and OH MY GOD THIS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE IS RUN BY COMPLETE IDIOTS I'M GETTING THE HELL OUTTA HEA--oh wait, God, that was, uh...a bit theatrical. But really, just disregard that if it makes your life easier.

You know, boys, disregarding testimonies and complaints in order to make your job easier is really convenient for you but a bit of a drag for us. If Doctors start ruling out symptoms to make their jobs easier, hypoglycemic attacks become drug overdoses.

So let's try to not overdose on self-righteousness, mmkay?

*As far as the rest of the ruling went, the Council promised to consider some stuffs, finagle some stuffs, keep some stuffs in mind...

"That order notwithstanding, the Judicial Council affirms both complaintants’ contentions that many aspects of the Election Committee need to be examined at length and adjusted to create an easier, more rational election process than has been seen at the University of St. Thomas for the past several years."

Excuse my cynicism, but I've sat in on an Election Code examination meeting, attempting to revise the code for the better, (this meeting consisted of me and...three? Four? Other students, on a cold picnic bench) and every suggestion we had was reasoned away with undeniable logic and promises to send it "upstairs", proving once again that several SGA members are more concerned about getting into law school then handling things on their own. We seem unable to deal with anything without the strong but clairvoyant (I hope?) guidance of Dr. Sutton, whom I have no qualms with, but whom should not have to handle every problem we have. SGA, COC, and most other politically active students on campus, are, for the most part, a coalition of PoliSci, Pre-Law, and Theology (gag!) students, who should be able to argue, legalise, or even pray their way out of problems like this...but it seems we keep going over the same issues ad nauseam ad nauseam ad nauseam.

UST's Elections Once Again Fail Students, as Cauldron Remains Oblivious

2007-04-04T01:13:00.001-05:00

The University of St. Thomas has a paper. It's certainly not the best paper...not very informative, not very informed, and really, not really very BRIGHT, as another Campus election has passed us by and our student-run paper, our facultas incurro, is (Let's vote on it!)
A. Taking a Break,
B. Trying to not hurt anyone's feelings,
C. Being "politically correct", as a friend of mine put it as he wrinkled his nose, or
D. Just plain stupid. Because, honestly, I think one would have to be stupid to notice that semester after semester, our student elections fail us in some way on every level. Scandal. contentions, under the table deals and disqualifications plague the SGA with every election they hold.

What does this mean? In most universities, there are minor hitches with student elections, but for the most part, they run smoothly like well-oiled machines. Of course, in most universities, SGA has actual power to change things, and control over more than a large, lump sum of money, but really, that's for another post. But when we as a school fail, repeatedly, to put on more than a three-ringed circus for an election, it seems to say several things about us (I'll let you vote on your favorite!!!!)
1. We're incompetent.
2. We're children wearing Big-People Clothes, trying our hand at something we're not ready for,
3. The BigWigs in charge think that we're children wearing Big-People Clothes, trying our hand at something we're not ready for,
4. We're simply not very good at being a real university, or 5. That we really are Rice U.'s dumber uglier cousins.

Furthermore, as long as the Cauldron doesn't stand up and get royally pissed about the fact that we keep SUCKING at this election thing, things aren't going to improve. The students who are most concerned will continue pleading with the backs of more ignorant masses (i e, the majority of the student population), the students who could take concern for this issue (the informed adult commuters) will remained uninformed, and the rest of them--well, I doubt there's hope. But honestly, people...something's got to give. And I have a feeling it's not going to be the Donors...

Following is the most biased piece of crap survey I've ever come across. Basically, people, your school newspaper thinks you either loved the elections or was too dumb or uninformed to notice them. WAY TO GO, JOURNALISM STUDENTS! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!

clipped from www.ustcauldron.org

So, how about those elections?
They're great! I'm looking forward to our new student leaders.

I voted, but just for my friends mostly.
I don't like getting involved in school politics.

What elections?

Who cares?
Submit Vote
View Results

How about some other choices?
O I didn't like or approve of the way these elections were handled.
O I voted, but my candidate didn't win.
O I voted, and you screwed it up.
There ya go, a little less bias your way, a little more bias my way.