Steve Massara is running for Student President/Regent at UNO. On January 23, 2005, Massara sent an email to his Pike fraternity brothers to explain the organizations and activities he is involved with on campus.

This is a direct quote from his email:

Student Government- A group of individuals who represent the student body. This is a very powerful and influential resume builder. Pikes must dominate and control this organization in order to further our dominance on campus.

Is Steve Massara running for president to pad his resume? Does Massara care about students on campus that don’t belong to a Greek organization? Why must Pikes “dominate” the Student Governement at UNO? What other things is Massara saying behind closed doors that we don’t know about?

Is this the type of person we want representing the student body?

Many people can’t make it to every Monday night meeting. In the past, people have requested that the College Democrats post the meeting minutes online so those that missed the meeting won’t be out of the loop.

Well, your wish has come true. Starting today, we will begin to post meeting minutes online for everyone to see. In the future, visit the Meeting Minutes page to read the information. Thanks to Erin, I’ve already posted the minutes from last night’s meeting.

During this entire week, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is having special reports on the evolution vs. intelligent design debate.

Thanks to technological evolution, I was able to watch last night’s show this afternoon with my Cox DVR. If you missed the show last night, you can catch some of the segments online at The Daily Show website.

I’m Catholic, and I graduated from a Catholic high school. During my twelve years at a Catholic school, I was told repeatedly by priests, nuns, and teachers that the Bible is not a scientific book. Unfortunately, fringe groups are trying to hi-jack the Bible and demand that intelligent design be taught beside evolution in science textbooks. I encourage everyone to watch The Daily Show special report and get more informed on this subject.

I have breaking news. The UNO College Republicans finally have a website. That’s not the most exciting part. What’s exciting is they actually put their opinions on the website!

You guys know what I do best so let me dissect the College Republicans website for you…

Planned Parenthood have decided to help out with storm relief. Are they providing money? No. Clothing or shelter? No. Free Reproductive Health Services? Absolutely! So if you live in Omaha, and the Hurricane managed to knock you up, you know where to go.

Very funny. I love it. College Republicans are off to a flying start. Continuing on…

Question: Who is Tony Ojeda, and what threat is he to Democrats at UNO?

If you have no clue what I’m talking about (and I’m guessing you don’t) read the World Herald article. Then read the editorial below it.

Uh, oh. It looks like the Repbulicans are going to attack our president Ryan Renner. (Let me point out something very basic. That was a news article, not an editorial. There’s a difference, but I will let that slide just this once.) So, how will they attack Mr. Renner…

Before reading Monday’s World Herald, I’m guessing the only people who even knew the identity of Tony Ojeda were related to him. To be honest, when a friend called me to tell me about the story, I had never heard of the man. But by the time he got off the phone, I was pretty pissed.

I’ve done a fairly extensive internet search on Tony Ojeda, and all I can find is that he is a University of Nebraska Regent, is pro-life, and a member of the Lincoln Independent Business Association. He’s also running for State Legislature in the 30th District, Gage County.

Oh, I don’t even know where to begin. First, Tony Ojeda is NOT NOT NOT a University of Nebraska Regent. Why don’t you visit the Nebraska Regent’s website and let me know where he is. I’ve learned over the past few years that nothing good ever follows “I’ve done a fairly extensive internet search.” They are correct when they say that Mr. Ojeda is pro-life. Actually, Mr. Ojeda is a Christian Motivational/Evangelical Speaker. We have our own little Pat Robertson running for Legislature in Nebraska.

Gage County is over 90 miles away from UNO, according to mapquest. What affect is Tony Ojeda in the legislature going to have on you, or the liberals at UNO? Tony Ojeda probably has a greater affect on you know as a Regent than he ever would in the legislature.

I’m too lazy to check the mileage to Gage County. We’ll give he (or she) the benefit of the doubt. This person is bound to get something right.

Did Tony Ojeda kick you one time? Did Tony Ojeda call you a bad name? Did Tony Ojeda not pick you during kickball in gym?

Actually, Mr. Ojeda beat Mr. Renner at cross country once and Mr. Renner is a very sore loser.

I’m sure if Tony Ojeda loses by 5 votes, those 5 people probably decided not to vote for Tony Ojeda because when they went to www.tonyojeda.com, they didn’t get his website.

To this date, that is the silliest/stupidest thing I’ve heard on this domain name controversy.

The only reason I can think of doing this is the whole “Ooh, I got my name in the paper” syndrome.

Wrong again. After discussing this with Mr. Renner, I was informed that he was contacted by the Lincoln Journal Star (it wasn’t the other way around). I suspect Mr. Ojeda cried to a reporter about this and the Journal Star decided to write the story. Get your facts straight!

Finally, the “opinion” piece reached its grand finale…

This issue has proven something even more to me. While the College Democrats sit around pulling stupid crap, the College Republicans are out helping win elections, and helping their community.

I would like to know what election the College Republicans have helped win in the past year. The truth is the College Republicans have not contributed significantly to any election in the past year. I’m sure a few of them volunteered a few hours on a campaign, but I doubt any of them made a significant impact on any election in the past year. I’d love for them to prove me wrong. The College Democrats on the hand have contributed significantly to several elections over the past year. You must also remember that what Mr. Renner did was done on his own time with his own money. I’ve known Mr. Renner for several years, and I’m sure he can sit around “pulling stupid crap,” lead the College Democrats, win elections, and then pull more “stupid crap” all at the same time.

In conclusion, I’m glad the College Republicans are more active on campus this year. It’s great to have two active political groups on campus. Unfortunately, I’m very disappointed in the opinions expressed on there website up until this point. Don’t get me wrong, I love to hear differing opinions, but their opinions have been poorly researched and constructed. I challenge the College Republicans to do a better job in the future. I would love to have an open discussion between the College Democrats and College Republicans but those discussions can’t occur until the College Republicans eliminate factual errors and form more educated opinions.

I was very disturbed by some of the comments made by Student Regent/President Elizabeth Kraemer about Regent David Hergert.

Student Senate opens discussion on Hergert and appoints two members - UNO Gateway

Here are some of the highlights…

UNK, UNMC and UNO student governments have yet to hear any resolutions regarding Hergert. Kraemer advised senators to investigate the issue independently after stressing the significance of the situation.

“This is an important issue. It is necessary to be well informed because they (the board of regents) make decisions about the university.

“I encourage everyone to investigate the situation and to form an opinion,” she said.

Come on Ms. Kraemer take a stand on the issue. Put your personal relationship with Hergert aside and form your own opinion. Either you support what he did or you don’t.

“I applaud Lincoln for getting involved, but it’s not necessarily an issue for the student body,” Kraemer said.

That’s bullshit. This is exactly an issue that the student body should care about. Kraemer just said “this is an important issue” and the Board of Regents “make decisions about the university.” I think Hergert should visit every campus in the university system and explain to us why he shouldn’t resign.

However, Kraemer believes that the issues surrounding Hergert have been exaggerated.

Wrong again. If this issue had been exaggerated, then every single student at UNO would know about this situation. I don’t think enough attention has been given to this situation. Why doesn’t student government hold a town hall meeting on this issue? Student government is supposed to be representing the students. Why don’t we hold a forum and see how the students feel about Hergert? Ms. Kraemer could stand up and say that Hergert is a good guy and did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, Hergert will be a no show because he decided long ago that he doesn’t have to be accountable to the students. If Hergert cared about the opinions of the students, he would have resigned already.