Candidates Agree on Everything; Students Don't Care Anyway
On Monday the UP held a presidential candidate's debate with Jared Torres, Jeff Joyner and Tony Teixeira. While the event flowed well and there were no bumps in the road, it was terribly boring.
The candidates agreed on just about everything with minor differences sprinkled throughout. But the real question is, do students really care where these candidates stand?
I don't think so. Last year Austin Shaw got many votes, not because of his platform and where he stood on the issues, it was because he was the cute guy that flirted with the girls as they passed by.
Many of the students who are going to vote in the election already know who they're voting for, even if they won't admit it, as many top SG leaders are refusing to actually support a candidate this election cycle.
The candidates agreed on just about everything with minor differences sprinkled throughout. But the real question is, do students really care where these candidates stand?
I don't think so. Last year Austin Shaw got many votes, not because of his platform and where he stood on the issues, it was because he was the cute guy that flirted with the girls as they passed by.
Many of the students who are going to vote in the election already know who they're voting for, even if they won't admit it, as many top SG leaders are refusing to actually support a candidate this election cycle.
posted by J.P. at
5:31 AM
41 Comments:
Jason, I think you are mad because shaw didn't flirt with you. :-P
It was more fun last year when there was a clear division between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" -- the Diversity Party even wore matching suits to the debate!
I think more students would care if SG made big, public leaps instead of maintaining the status quo.
If you look at the SG page published in the UP, it was all about how this and that groups of senators went to this and that meeting. Congratulations. Your contribution to FAU was ... great attendance.
We need more. SG is in charge of a lot of money. Some of it should be used to make this a better university for everybody. The Wellness Center is a step in the right direction, but we need to take about 10 more of those steps in that direction if we want this university to meet its destiny as one of the best universities in Florida.
Anybody who doesn't believe that we can achieve that destiny has no business being in SG, in a position to induce real progress.
FAU has sat dormant for too long. Even FGCU can get 4000 people to a basketball game, and that school has been around for less than ten years.
There's a lot of work to be done.
I tend to disagree with the statemnt, "many top SG leaders are refusing to actually support a candidate this election cycle." As Campus Action Chairman I FULLY support Jared Tores, Rakibur Joarder, and the rest of the movement party, and further more, I believe other SG officials have shown and will continue to show their support for the Movement Party.
Is that the new name of Rocky's party? The movement party?
hahah I think that the movement party should move themselves to the toilet and flush it.
or "The Bowel Movement"
Holy shit thats a bad name for a party. Especially that in my opinion , SGA had not progress more than a couple inches. Hell the senate minutes are still from November. The constitution was made to make Frank happy ,and key of success was a dud. The budget process still hasn't been changed and has now been put on club leaders shoulders to fix by end of summer. New 'ICC'(i think its COSCO now but when i say that i get hungry for some cosco pizza) is not even close to finish. Currently COSCO( mmm croissants) seems to add more bureaucracy to the budge/spending system, instead of going to straight to the Senate (House of Representatives? whoa thats a big movement, 16 letters!) .Clubs will have to go through SDA and Dean during budget time.
... RANT DONE...
As the Parliamentarian of the Boca Raton House of Representatives I fully endorse Jared Torres for President, Rakibur Joarder for Vice-President, Matthew Jarrett for Boca Raton Governor, and all other individuals on the Movement ticket. I feel that they are the most qualified for these positions and have repeatedly shown their diligence and efficiency in serving the students of Florida Atlantic University.
Every year you guys say the same thing against whatever party sg is running in and every year the sg people win. Are you guys trying to jinx tony and abe or do you like making idiots out of yourselves so everyone in sg can laugh at you when they win.........AGAIN!
Here's how the SG page for the UP should read:
"Student Government recently held a town hall meeting in the Grand Palm room for all FAU students during which they asked: 'What do you, the students, want on this campus? Tell us and we'll make it happen it for you.'
Students responded to their biggest concerns were parking, dining options, and marketing.
As a result, Student Government representatives approached Mr.Tom Donaudy, FAU Architect, and voiced these concerns. As a result of this meeting, FAU will have another parking garage built in the IRT parking lot by 2008."
etc etc
Ask yourself two things:
1) Do you think this is a good idea?
2) Why hasn't this happened?
that new parking lot had been planned for awhile... they were gonna need additional parking for the new timucua dorm anyway, people.
wake up, SG had absolutely NOTHING to do with being instrumental in getting FAU a new parking garage. besides, parking garages arent the kind of thing that someone can promise you after one chance meeting.. you'd need permits, architectural plans, and a shitload of other things done first.
i'll be pissed if i see anybody putting this in their campaign: "(candidate) played a key role in getting a new FAU parking garage"
Does anyone actually know where the math tutoring labs are? You know the ones promoted during last year's campaign.
The Movement Party
I could not think of a more apropriate name for that party.
Why?
A movement towards...
NOTHING!
Check this out...
I asked (on 3/15) a handful of current SG senators (that are backing The Movement Party) to name me one thing that Jared Torres has done for FAU this year (since becomming the Boca UWC Representative last Summer). The only thing that the senator could say was " he fixed the housing parking situation".
Let us break this down for you...
Housing students make up only about 15-20% of Boca's FAU students. Does that mean that Jared Torres only cares enough about solving the problems for about 15-20% of the student body? No. That is absurd.
Do you know why that is absurd?
It is absurd because by the time Jared Torres "spearheaded" (poli-jargon that means I did alot of talking and no action) the "housing parking problem" it had already been fixed... for the time being. The exact Wednesday before infact!
Now (3/16) the Housing parking problem is worse. There was housing only parking spaces on the south-side of parking lot #23, but now they are no longer there which means that housing students have even less parking than they did a month ago. Is that the result of Jared Torres's spearheading?
Thanks for the help Jared!
I'll bet he'll drop that "I spearheaded the housing parking lot program" bullshit like a 98 degree "Movement".
So what does this mean?
I told the SG senator that means that his one example doesn't even lend itself to any truth. Even if he did spearhead the "HPP", it would eb an example that shows Jared to be incompitent.
So after all of this I asked these senators again to mention ONE thing that Jared Torres did for the students (not just took credit for).
Do you know what his answer was???
Nothing. They could do nothing but roll their eyes in embarassed silence.
Not even a senator that SUPPORTS Jared could name ONE thing that he has done.
Why in the fuck did Rocky and his puppets cheat the system to put Jared in as the UWC Rep? (a position he was inelligable to run for during last years election but was anyways placed into thanks to Rocky)
Answer:
Cause he is a face. He is a nice guy.
It takes more than being a nice-guy to get my vote for President of SG; I pray that I am not the only student who feels this way. It would take the best fucking candidate in the world, no UNIVERSE to get me to vote for Rocky for anything.
I hope that FAU students use their brains before voting for Rocky and Jared, if they don't FAU is going to be unfortuantely stuck with more of the same for at least another year and then be even more need of Reform than they are already.
see, the thing is, sga is a popularity contest. it always has. always will be. when you have a school where the students dont care anyway, knowing that you can promote to that 15% of resident students is probably your best option. They will see the ads, they will be around after class to go to debates or help campaign and such and such.
Now, i havent been at FAU or SG for a while, but i like to keep up with how my alma mater is doing, and if Jared did spearhead a campaign to get movement, its a good thign no matter what the outcome.
Would you rather lose some parking space now while they s tart construction, or keep the limited parking space now and keep whining about how thier isnt enough parking?
It may be a little inconvienet for you to lsoe osme parking, but when those 600 or so more spots open up in the course of a year, then its going to be amazing in the dorm area.
Oh, and since your quick to judge Jared (who im guessing going to be running for president (or is, im not sure when elections are)) about his initiative, please give examples of what you have done for FAU?
Something ive learned in life, its easy to whine and complain, but its easier to leave a suggestion or a solution in its place.
"that new parking lot had been planned for awhile..."
Right. The new parking lot is a red herring. When I said, 'Do you think this is a good idea?' I'm talking about the GENERAL CONCEPT of Student Government asking students what they want and then representing these students in a meeting with someone who can make it happen.
"they were gonna need additional parking for the new timucua dorm anyway, people."
That dorm is opening in Fall 2007. They haven't begun construction on a new garage in the IRT parking lot yet. I doubt they'd get it all together before summer. So over summer -- a span of three or four months at best -- they're going to build an entirely new parking garage? Not likely. The residents are going to have a REAL problem come Fall, since they'll likely have to park in the SO garage and walk over. I'm sure they'll LOVE to do that. But you know what, these are the growing pains of FAU so it can be a better school and we just have to accept that like the students at UCF have to accept the millions of construction products taking up their space there.
"wake up, SG had absolutely NOTHING to do with being instrumental in getting FAU a new parking garage. besides, parking garages arent the kind of thing that someone can promise you after one chance meeting... you'd need permits, architectural plans, and a shitload of other things done first."
Right. The whole idea is to put it into motion. Ultimately, the Board of Trustees has to sign off on all of this. The question that we have to ask ourselves is thus: if SG, who according to you can't be instrumental in things like this, can't represent our wishes for things like a parking garage, who can? When the administration plots out the Boca Raton Master Plan, do they consult any students? Perhaps they do and it's just that neither me nor anybody I know has ever been a part of it.
Have you ever been asked what you'd like to see here? What they'd have to build or do to make it your "university of first-choice"?
Historically, I imagine they do a lot of charts and graphs and scenario mapping. I think they just guess what we want, which is why so many projects at FAU fail and we're just now getting Starbucks and this new Wellness Center.
"i'll be pissed if i see anybody putting this in their campaign: "(candidate) played a key role in getting a new FAU parking garage"
Versus the candidates involved in scandals? I'll take the parking garage guy.
To the genius two posts up...
#1 - he didn't actually do anything (in regards to the parking lot problem in Lot #23) except take credit for something that he didn't even do.
Should students be proud of that kind of behavior?
BTW, the loss of parking spaces wasn't due to construction; and by now I can obviously see how much you care about your Alma-Mater. Can you even name one of the two SG Presidents we've had this year without looking it up? Only you know the answer to that question and can only prove it to yourself.
How are 600 parking spots going to magically appear? Are you talking about the lots that they are building on the opposite side of the campus or are you getting those numbers from the "outta my ass department"?
I only judge people based upon their merits. Right now I have no faith in Jared's judgement (considering who he is running with) nor his moral aptitude (seeing how he likes to take credit for other people's work AND sit silently as he is placed into a position by his soon-would-be-running mate to only do next to nothing once he got there. This comes from the mouths of his own supporters.
One last remark.
I do have a suggestion to make it better. Flush the Movement party and their sad excuse of a human (Rocky).
If Jared were to get his job ethically, perform while he was in that position (not just showing up places but doing something tangible that even his friends and colleages can acknowledge), and then, after all this choose a respectable and ethical running mate... I would then support him.
But I can't support him a candidate who is 0 for 3 in these examples.
But I guess you can?
I pray that FAU has graduated a majority of those people that think the way you do.
Peace to you my friend, peace to you.
Lets see, not only can i name the last THREE presidents from THIS year, lets go back a couple more years.
Pablo Paez
Ancel Pratt
Alvira Khan
Dan Wilson
Kim Nguyen
Kirk Murray
Austin Shaw
Would you like to know the vice presidents? Senate Speakers? Governor's? Chief Justices?
Cmon, man, your complaining about not having parking, and yet, when they provide a solution, your bitching anyway.
Construction is a fact of college campuses. When I went here, it was even worse, HPT had jsut opened and IRT, Humanities, and HPT had to share that one dorm.
I came back to FAU to see this new HPT 2 they are making, and in the course of a year, they have built these beautiful towers. When I went to FAU, they were building the second parking garage. That took about a semester and a half.
So yeah, its not going to take a year to make a parking garage. It's going to be a summer inconvenience, maybe a fall inconvenience, but after a semester, a large problem at FAU is going to be get a whole lot better.
And i didn't pull the 600 out of my ass.
The two current parking garages hold 1200 spaces from the architectural blue prints. HPT is 600 beds. I would assume with that logic, that HPT 2 will also be a 600 bed dorm. With that being said, it would not be unreasonable to have the new parking garage sport over 600 spots, hence me saying, "six hundred plus".
Can someone tell me what Tony Teixeira has accomplished aside from smoke weed, beat up women, and get accussed of rape?
Exactly...would you rather have a nice, clean cut, polite young man like Jared sitting at the table with the BOT? Or, have an accused rapist, self-identified pot smoker and gang member like Tony represent you?
For real, guys...let's think about this. Tony has done nothing, nothing when he was in SG, and nothing for the year he hasn't been. I'll take Jared, who has been through the whole new constitution process, the whole redo of Student Government...he has that as his experience, and he's willing to compromise and respect students and administration. Tony is a bully, and gets by by threatening his enemies and smoking his weed. Not president material, folks.
As for Joarder, he's got experience. He's got name-recognition. Whether we like it or not, he works hard to get things done. If he was that bad, Brogan would have gotten rid of him. Instead, Brogan moved him to Governor.
Lets not forget that Tony's puppetmaster is Gary Goldberg...he's been around as long as Joarder, but hasn't been nearly as successful...just easily ignored.
I'm not saying that we have very good candidates...we don't. But there is a clear better candidate, and that would be Jared.
Can't people get over the whole parking situation? There are enough spots if you are willing to walk. The back lots near the garage behind the SO/Nursing building always have empty spots.
That is really funny, the rape accusation was studdering Pete Torres, your inarticulate senate speaker - and even funnier is that there was never a woman to back the rape claim up. I myself have seen Kirk Murray smoking pot and stealing paintings from hotels that we stayed at during SGA retreats, and I still have not heard Tony admit to smoking pot. Suddenly before the election he has accomplished so much, and he accepts credit for allocating my funds to projects. That is not accomplishment. He is also not a clean-cut looking guy, he is an awkward looking imbecile. Rakibur - the balding paki did nothing but lie, cheat, steal, and threaten his way into office. How many positions has he legitimately been elected to? Not many - he also had one of the lowest vote counts of senators elected any time that their was a senate election - so there is your name recognition. He has horrible English - go home. All Jared did was suck Rakinstein's pecker all the way to his position - and his GPA is not even high enough to hold office unless he gives his professors sexual favors to get his grades changed. Keep coming with the mudslinging you losers, there is plenty more where that came from. Your time is just about up.
Steve Faulkner (aka Gary Goldberg)...ok i'll give the rapist one but what about the beating up on women (i believe that's called domestic violence). Come on people! Let's elect an SG president without a rap sheet a mile long! Anyone with an arrest record doesn't deserve to sit on the BOT and represent FAU!
A recreational usage of marijuana in and of itself is not some terrible consequence, as anyone from the highly-vocal chapter of NORML will gladly reiterate to you.
Stealing paintings is another matter completely. The fact that no one brought this up before (especially in light of his stealing of student's money) is absolutely sad. Why have you said nothing about this before?
I'll agree that Tony hasn't seemed to do anything since elections. He should elaborate upon that in a future debate.
In regards to the parking situation (which FAU will always have -- 'a parking situation'):
"Can't people get over the whole parking situation? There are enough spots if you are willing to walk. The back lots near the garage behind the SO/Nursing building always have empty spots."
Until 2008 they do. The new teaching hospital is going to take up that ENTIRE lot that surrounds the SO parking garage. That's over 1000 spaces that are going to vanish. You'll still have the parking lot south of Nursing but good luck getting a spot there after 7 am once hospital construction starts in 2008.
I don't know if any of you have looked at the Boca Master Plan, but the thinking is that there will be one new parking garage by IRT, one new parking garage behind the Burrow (for reasons that no one can understand), and then eventually two more near the football stadium -- but that will be 2010.
The Burrow one and the Football Stadium ones are too far for residents anyway... So, really, that IRT parking garage needs to be built...
*checks watch*
...yesterday.
I love how the accusations just continue to pile up. It would actually be interesting if you would manage to come up with a shred of evidence for any of your claims. Obviously if I knew of the painting I could not be Gary Goldberg. I was a bit closer to Kirk, but good shot. That little blow hard is not half as intelligent as I am. I agree that Tony has not done much since last year and it will be interesting to see if that hurts his campaign, and who are Abe and Janna? I as well don't think that there are any "good" candidates - just ones that are happy with the status quo, and new ones with a seemingly better character.
http://www.fda.gov/ora/about/enf_story/archive/2001/ch6/oci5.htm
The wrong tony though. Is it me or do i think we have some racist people here? Do all black men beat women and rape them? (yes) Also dreadlocks = pothead too. Rocky isnt as clean as tony nor even close. http://www.friendster.com/19186623 (from above link- hobbies: There are too many to list, and too few of them legal...... )
Only a few illegal hobbies is good, atleast he doesn't have braids (not enough hair). http://paintedover.com/uploads/show.php?loc=0703&f=n33413271_30631802_5651.jpg flavored tobacco? prob not.
You posted the wrong link to the arrest sheet and yeah its the right Tony. And why does everybody keep talking about Kirk? Hey's not president and he's not in SG so get over it! We've got new candidates this year.
Good point. So I know about everything that Torres has done (and the experience he's received from his positions) but what has Tony accomplished when he was in SG or since last year's election. He didn't mention it in the debates and I don't feel comfortable voting for someone who thinks he's done something by showing up to games and hanging out in the breezeway.
Word!
whoever posted the photos and friendster account to rocky needs to be fair...
obviously, the picture of the hookah was taken at a hookah bar, and they aren't smoking pot as you insinuated. (if you've ever been to a reputable hookah bar, you'd have noticed that the smokers in the photo are using disposable tips for sanitary reasons.) so clearly, they weren't in the back of somebody's el camino passing a joint.
as for the friendster account: it's clear to me that he made the account to keep in touch with whoever that girl is... possibly a relative. so any tongue-in-cheek humor he used (such as interests not being "legal") would have been sarcasm.
now, just so you all know, i'm not a supporter of either candidate; but i am a supporter of fairness. and i think these accusations and insinuations have gotten WAY out of hand.
p.s. to the guy who did his fact-checking and found that teixeira was indeed the PLAINTIFF and not the defendant, THANK YOU. we need more reasonable-minded people who can make informed decisions when it comes to voting on something as significant as a student body president.
to the rest of you, avoid getting caught up in the he said/she said bullshit. otherwise, you're no better than those muckrakers at the UP. (ahem, jason parsley.)
my fact checking told me that tony was the defendant....and i agree the mudracking needs to stop.
How hipocratical - you throw some more mud anonymously and than you agree that it needs to stop? It just takes away your credability.
Maybe we should let the Alvira Khan train continue to roll.
Let Rocky and Jared send people out to smear other candidates so they can look "clean". Let us keep quite and not do anything about the years of corruption in SG. Lets pretend all this fraud and wrongdoing is less important and severe than a misdameanor marijuana charge. Kirk Murray committed a felony, but all you hear is from his expatriates is, "That is in the past". I would like to disagree. Although it happend last semester it is not in the past... yet.
So what will the FAU Students do? Will they succumb to negative politicking?
Come to grips with reality people! Not one candidate has doen anything for the students this year. If any of them did, you wouldn't know about it until they told you, and if you ask me that is bullshit! Ask yourself why. This is the question that the students should be asking.
Vote for one side, and the students at FAU have a real chance at changing the do-nothing / pay to play attitude that students have sadly come to expect from this SG. A vote for the other will move us only towards more of the same.
Remember: Ask yourself why neither of the candidates have done anything truly noteworthy this year. If they try and tell you that they have done something valuable for the students this year, ask them then why you didn't hear about it until now; then, get ready to duck, cause theres gonna be some flying bullshit a commin'.
Henry Kissinger said “University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”
Looks like he was actually right.
i think torres will do a good job and he seems very dedicated. he's done a lot for fau and he really cares about representing the students.
It's nice to see a clean campaign for once. Baldness, marijuana, and women beating?!?!?
I have not heard of one (good) thing that either of these candidates (Jared or Tony) have done this year. Then again, I haven't heard anything (good) come out of student government since I've been here (years), at least nothing tangible and selfless.
I think we need new people in student government all together. Its obvious that the people in it now are merely interested in petting themselves and bickering instead of doing things that the students notice without having to be reminded during the "campaign season".
FUCK THAT! Ever since I've been here SG has done less and less. Year after year they have mutated into a bunch of lazy know-nothing jabronis! They obviously don't care about the students. Instead they have what appears to be a conversation with you, while all the while bullshiting you in the face about how much they care problem and what they are gonna do for you (no promises unless you've got money or power), and then WHAM! As soon as your ass crosses the door's threshold they're back to not giving a shit about anyone but themselves. Would it be too much to ask that you serve something other than your over-inflated egos?
I think that our SG has proven that this is too much to ask of them, and that is why I say:
Lets start a REAL movement!
Its time for a change!!
Vote for a whole new SG in 2007!!!
SGA has funded and provided numerous events on campus. Additionally they have funded the agencies (such as Nite Owls or the Black Student Union) as well as assist in the funding of the new wellness center, fund campus recreation (which serves a numerous amount of students), etc. I am pleased to have witness Jared Torres and Rakibur Joarder play an active role in these functions and am confident that they would do an excellent job as President and Vice-Preseident.
Of course Jenna fails to tell you that if neither of these men had done anything this year ALL of that stuff would be funded anyway...because it was in the budget approved LAST YEAR. Thes things have been in the budget for over 10 years.
Nobody is against the Nite Owls or Campus Rec.
I would want to know if Jared or Rakibur regretted so blindly supporting Kirk Murray even after the evidence piled up or if they learned anything from the mistakes the diversity group has made over the last 3 years.
The "diversity" party has arguably produced some of the most self-serving, incompetent and/or corrupt student government leaders ever to run student government in its history. Thats saying a lot...
The Diversity Party fell apart, I know that some of them are voting for Tony.
I actually think that i'm going to vote for Jeff Joyner who i have no fucken clue is. But hell he is better than the people described in this thread.
sorry buddy, Jeff Joyner dropped out of the race.
Okay people, if you're going to comment as "Anonymous", at least pick a letter so the fights are semi-coherent.
It's too bad Jeff Joyner dropped out because he's a decent guy -- but at the same time, the logistics of having a Jupiter student running a Boca-based SGA is... difficult. Not impossible, but it would have been difficult.
"SGA has funded and provided numerous events on campus."
Sure, sure, right, all the festivals. It's the same bag every single time: White tent, same cheap, bad Chartwells food (I take it back -- the Multicultural Festival food was alright), same speakers continually asking for a round of applause for people in SG that most students don't know, same events/speakers not starting on time, students coming and then leaving.
People come for the food and then leave. They've done this for years and years. Why has no one ever asked the students why they don't stay, then changed the events accordingly?
You know why I don't stay? Because there's nothing for me to do. The Fall Festival was great because there was a lot of stuff to do. Do you know at UCF, they brought an entire goddamn carnival to campus? Rides and everything. I'm tired of watching shit. I want to DO things.
Give me something to do, SG.
I have three hours between classes with nothing to do but piss away time in the library on the computers. We have no board game rental center. We have no arcade. We have nowhere to sleep. We have no theater continually running movies. We have ... 3 pool tables at Coyote Jack's.
THIS is what the students are talking about. Not "I can't wait until they have another festival with free food and a white tent".
Give us something to do.
"Additionally they have funded the agencies (such as Nite Owls"
Who drive by people all the time without offering to pick them up...
"as well as assist in the funding of the new wellness center"
Which will only be three stories and inferior to the other wellness centers in the country... also, there was never ever a town hall meeting held before this was planned to ask students what they wanted from a wellness center...
"fund campus recreation (which serves a numerous amount of students)"
Campus SPORTS opportunities are great. But what if you don't want to get all hot and sweaty when you have a class later?
Recreation Center is misleading. It's not recreation. It won't even have a leisure pool, like UCF has.
It's an Exercise Center. That's all.
Edit: The Recreation Center will only be TWO stories tall.
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