My Soul. I summon to the winding ancient corkscrew;

Caesar Salad: Bittman, Page 203

2010-08-11T17:04:00.013-06:00

I love Caesar salad. It seems no

stretch to say Caesar salad is the greatest combination of ingredients ever tossed together. So of course, it was consumed in mass by Caesar from Rome. If not invented by the old rascal himself, it was at least made solely as a tribute to the man who conquered the known world. He was sitting high on his thrown, I imagine, when some unknown chef from an inconsequential and impossibly distant territory arrived bearing a gift. Caesar delicately stuck a silver fork into the nearest piece of Romaine, lifted it to his mouth and began to chew--slowly at first, but then with increasing enthusiasm. He looked up in wonder and said, "What say you servant! Where comes from this great concoction?!" The humble man, wearing a poncho replied, "Me-hi-co, senor!"

No seriously, Caesar salad is named not for the ruler of Rome or its copious amounts of Romaine lettuce, but rather some guy named Caesar Cardini in Mexico (albeit an Italian in Mexico). Caesar Cardini therefore is the most often referenced Caesar of all. Conquer the world or invent a salad? Despite all of our violence, food wins out over pillaging time and time again.

Exposition dispensed with, let's move on to my first ever homemade Caesar salad. And by that I mean, dressing and all.

What worked:

I got tired looking for lemon juice last night and gave up. Instead, I used some fresh limes in the fridge. Surprisingly, this worked as a substitute for lemon. I don't think it's ideal, but the adverse affect on the taste did not render the dish itself inedible at all.

What didn't work:

To start, I struggled with the eggs. Poking holes in eggs and boiling for 90 seconds was an unanticipated challenge. I think I maybe overcooked them slightly because their was solid white stuff in my final product. Uncertainty regarding the procedure lingers.

Sufficiently mincing the anchovies was also hard.

The recipe called for rubbing halves of garlic cloves on the side of the bowl, but I don't think I got enough garlic (for my taste) in the recipe. I'd like to try it again with minced garlic thrown into the actual dressing

The precooked chicken in a packet was expensive and mostly defeated any cost advantage to the effort as opposed to a trip to the cafeteria.

The Parmesan was not freshly grated--certainly a mistake.

All in all, however, it was a good lunch. I still got hungry later, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out in little over twenty minutes of cooking. Cooking chicken becomes the trade-off: Time versus money.

Return to Form

2010-08-11T16:28:00.003-06:00

This week, two years ago, I started blogging about politics from a far outpost of the American empire. Today, I'm underground in our Nation's capital. What, you might wonder, transpired in the meantime?

Alot. But that's merely the material of dreams--this new iteration of blogging will cast aside politics and immerse myself (and maybe a few family members) into the warm embrace of cooking. Entertaining? Maybe. Time consuming? Most likely. Dramatic? You betcha!

Over the course of this summer, I was given some nice presents that coalesced and brought both me and you, my dear lonely reader, here. My mother bought me a set of knives. They are beautiful, sharp knives (don't worry, I've already made the mistake of chopping my finger). My grandmother bought me Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything;" perfect, since I know how to cook nothing. Finally, my friend Arjav planted the seed that became this blog, and Bambi pushed the idea along.

I don't intend to write for the masses. In fact, blogging in the way I'm going about it is like an email that doesn't harass you in your inbox. It's a way you can pleasantly peep in on my culinary progress (or dysfunction) at your leisure. All of this for free! So what do I get out of this, you wonder? An outlet for writing and a forum for your comments, suggestions and help in the art of cooking.

I've heard it said that the digital age and the age of easy transit mark the end of all traditional social ties. Children will learn to brush their teeth from youtube videos, dating will be done online at a minimal fee, and family's will be so far flung as to be made hopelessly disconnected... yet, digital communications and rapid transportation actually balance beautifully: One moves us further away from each other, while the other bridges all the space between us.

So far, most of the digital bridges connect two people in a closed loop. But I propose that blogging can be like sitting down at a dinner table. The cooking and the conversation transpire in a semi-public space, where all family members can hear and contribute. It's my intention that the learned experiences of my family and friends guide me through cooking, as opposed to some anonymous online commentary I could find by googling "how to bandage a cut thumb." It's actually rather hard to google anything when your thumb is bleeding profusely, trust me.

If this blog works, I'll ask others (like my sister Emily) to post their own cavalier cuisines. If not, we'll all shuffle along our mortal coil and be none the worse for it. Basically, what I'm saying in way too many words is, welcome family to my dinner table. Bon Appetit!

Unpaid or Uncounted?

2008-08-16T08:01:00.005-06:00

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/07/unpaid-internsh.html

I'm about a year away from my first experience in the working world out of college. One of the many options put before me, or so I thought, might be working in DC. For better or worse, "working" seems to be a mistatement of sorts.

Perusing the opportunities of an NGO called "TOSTAN," which works in Western Africa, I came across the concept of an unpaid internship in DC. Get a college degree and start working for free... or isn't that what a lot of us competitive students in the rat race already do? I certainly volunteer or have volunteered throughout college. I've made note that for students who have to hold a job in order to afford college, this competitive advantage is more or less impossible. The Student Senate meets for about four hours a work- add two hours of committee meeting and at least three more hours of work with student engagement and you're talking about ten hours of unpaid work ontop of a full academic semester each week. IF you're on the crusp of affording school, that sounds ludicrous. Fortunately for me, I haven't been put outside the gate in that regard. But a lot of students who could be incredible assets to organizations don't have the resources to give free time.

The absurdity about the proposition put forward in DC is that after college, facing interest on student loans and the very real cost of living, students are expected to continue working for free. Some of the people I work with haven't finished college, and I have a sneeking suspicion that this may be related to making choices between earning a living, working in a relevant field, and finishing college. Rather than let the best students from any income level compete, unpaid internships present a real barrier to career development for the majority of American students.

Barack Obama suggests paying students a $4,000 educational stipend in exchange for volunteering or community service. He says, "Work for America, and America will work for you." I like this mainly because it allows students to support themselves without working at Starbucks- a move that could be damning to a career in politics or social development. Instead, under this proposal, students can attain their competitive advantage giving time to a homeless shelter or political organization. It isn't making a killing, but it helps make a living.

Our generation finds itself confronted with earning less than our parents. The cost of college has outpaced inflation more than ten times over in the last half century. And America's income gap is undeniably growing. Opportunities for the wealthy don't seem to be under any strain, but opportunities for the less-advantaged have disappeared. What do we do? Now it seems the hyper-competitive job market is finding another barrier for low income people moving up the ladder: it's called "unpaid internships" and it may leave low-income students uncounted for in America's future.

The American Farm (Better Known as the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008")

2008-08-07T18:23:00.015-06:00

So, maybe you have or haven't heard of Michael Pollan. I'm into palatable non-fiction, and The Omnivores Dilemma has been on my short-list of things I should read. I took it with me to Michigan, opened up the soft-back pages, and found myself transported to the American farm. It looks something like this... a little white house towered by groves of oak trees, the red barn, and a dusty road that leads straight through green stalks of soft wheat.

But now let me take you back to Michigan: last year. My parents gave me charge of grocery shopping one afternoon, so I hopped into the rental van and headed into town. My father is very into GPS units, and of course, he's got one in the rental car. After nearly crashing in to every other car on the road, I finally program the unit for "groceries." A list pops up, and the name "Real Food" catches my attention. You see, in Helena, Montana we have this store called "The Real Food Store" that sells outrageously expensive industrial-organic foods that I happen to love. So I took a chance on it, turned up the Sarah McLachlan blasting from the stereo, and found the interstate. I'm not much for paying attention when I drive, so it didn't really phase me that the box stores had slowly become less dense and eventually gave away to the countryside. No, I kept right on trucking, singing along "Swe-eeet! Surrender..." Then the GPS joins in, "Turn Right." Great, I think, almost there. A mile farther down the road and finally the destination. "Real Food," chimes the female robot voice. I'm looking out the van window at a vast, endless field of corn. No white house or picket fence. Not even a single sign of life with the great exception being green ears of corn.

And it might shock you all to know that Americans not only produce the stuff in droves, but we eat corn in everything. America's health problems were staring me in the face, and it was "Real Food."

I recommend the documentary King Corn (http://www.kingcorn.net/) for starters, but Pollan's first of three sections does good justice to why corn dominates are food markets (and pretty much everything else). It's more a less a problem of policy (you knew I was going to get back to politics eventually, right?).

Earl "Rusty" Butz, under direction of Richard Nixon, reinvented America's farm system in 1973. Prior to Butz' tinkering, New Deal legislation allowed farmers to take out what's called a "nonrecourse loan" if the price of a commodity was lower than the government target, which could then be repaid when the price recovered; or, farmers could (and I love this) keep the money from the nonrecourse loan and leave the grain in the government coffers, also known as the "Ever-Normal Granary." Butz enters the scene at a politically poignant moment. In 1972, Butz sold Russia 30 million tons of American grain (from the Ever-Normal Granary), elevating food prices and capturing the farm vote for Nixon. This of course created a backlash against high food prices among consumers, so Butz started doling out agricultural subsidies in direct payments, not loans, that enabled farmers to continue production in a saturated market. More to the point, it flooded the market with cheap agricultural commodities- commodities like corn that have since been taken from "real food" and converted into anything and everything but "real food." Currently, America's farmers produce 3,800 calories per person in the country, and that's not counting for the calories lost in converting corn into feed, feed into beef, and beef into something that marginally resembles a hamburger in the proper sense. More than that, Butz' announcement of "Get big or get out" showed the preference of these loans is for big corporations and consolidation.

"EWG finds that the top 1% of beneficiaries received 17% of the crop subsidy benefits between 2003 and 2005. Their average benefit was $377,484 per person for the 3 program years or over $125,000 apiece annually. As a point of reference, the average adjusted gross income within the ZIP codes of those same top recipients was $45,853 in 2004 (the latest year for with IRS provides data from tax returns by ZIP code)." - Environmental Working Group

In Montana, the largest subsidy recipient from 2003-2005 was Nielsen farms, at a staggering $854,614. You might figure a program that pays out so handsomely costs a lot of money. You'd be right. $288 billion right.

The Farmland Trust and the Center for Rural Affairs both criticized the 2008 farm bill for failing to address the misdirection of subsidies; the CRA "opposed passage of the new farm bill because it commits the federal government to subsidizing the destruction of family farming for another five years and invests little in the future of rural communities."

I made it to David Sirota's book signing again tonight (this one in Missoula), and I've noticed he likes to finish saying if you buy the book, think of it as activism. If his book sells well, the media will be forced to address the issues, will be forced to take David on conservative talk shows. It's a great point. But if it were empirically true, the US farm bill would have been on everybody's political plate this last spring (Pollan's book is a perpetual NYT bestseller). However, one has to note that the farm bill passed through congress with hardly a blink by the media while food prices were reaching record highs.

I mean, I need to say that just for my own sake once more, we approved a $288 billion subsidy package to corporate farmers while getting fleeced at the grocery store. That is the brilliant buoyancy of corporate farming afloat on a sea of corn, better known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.

Re-Emergence

2008-08-06T09:54:00.003-06:00

I was tempted to title this blog "resurfacing," but my vague memory of pop artifacts suggests this may be the name of an album by Sarah McLachlan...

A little bit of research shows the title of the album, released in 1997 and featuring such hits as Adia and Building a Mystery, is simply "Surfacing." So now we have established two things: 1) I am a Sarah McLachlan fan and 2) Whatever inspiring post one would hope to accompany a "re-emergence;" well, quite frankly, this isn't it.

No, I have only recently become convinced that a blog does serve a political purpose, and that tight-rope walking the duties of non-partisan discourse and political rabble-rousing should be approached as an amusing challenge. David Sirota said last night that the Montana Legislature was a circus; my co-worker whispered, "we don't have trapeze artists." I beg to differ.

Arco's Debacle

2008-03-28T14:12:00.007-06:00

A couple weeks ago, while roaming around Missoula by bicycle, I heard a segment from NPR's Fresh Air (via podcast) on Joseph Stiglitz' new book The Three Trillion Dollar War (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87801279). Stiglitz points to increasing fuel costs as one of the major "unanticipated" costs of the war. International equity markets, he argues, prior to the invasion of Iraq had predicted that crude oil would stay steady around $25 a barrel for the next decade. Since the war, oil has skyrocketed to new records, in excess of $100.

"Excess costs to the government are reflected in excess profits to the defense contractors, who have been (along with the oil companies) the only real winners in this war...

The rising price of fuel is a second reason that costs have increased so much. A modern army runs not just on its stomach but also on fuel oil. The world price of oil has risen from around $25 per barrel when the war started to close to $100 as this book goes to press. The price of fuel delivered to Iraq has risen even faster, driven by heavy transport costs from long and dangerous supply lines."

The instability of oil supply, recently excaberated by the new battle in Basra (http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/28/stories/2008032855181600.htm), has put intense upward pressure on oil prices. For producers outside of Iraq, production costs have remained constant while the overhead amounts to massive profits.

I'm not one to be pessimistic about political motives, nor am I an inventor of crazy conspiracy theories. IN fact, I maintain that President Bush believed (and still believes) Iraq posed a serious security threat to the United States, and that liberating Iraq was morally justified (a valid contention). Yet even under the veil of naive optimism, it's hard to ignore the beneficiaries of the war in Iraq. The BBC's Katty Kay reported in January of 2001, two years before the invasion: "The president, vice-president, commerce secretary and national security adviser all have strong ties to the oil industry"
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1138009.stm).

Right now, my roommate's cat Arco is digging under the new loveseat. I've inspected the situation a hundred times, and there's no kitty cat toys to be found. Yet he insists there's something to be gained under the couch, and now he's gotten stuck. So does the President insist there's something to be gained in Iraq, and now he's gotten the US stuck. So where's the gain? Four thousand Americans, and nearly one million Iraqi civillians (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/) have died, while American families struggle to manage budgets under the burden of unaffordable gasoline.

Arco's managed to save himself, and wiggle out from under the loveseat unhurt. Nothing about this analysis of Iraq comes from the deep- it's all straight talk from highly accredited people. Unfortunately, it's a bit too late to wiggle out unhurt. The question is, how long will we go on for the benefit of a few in a situation that costs so much?

In the interview on Fresh Air, Stiglitz says we have a new increment of measurement: what's the cost, relative to the war in Iraq? For a fraction of the three trillion dollars, we might've secured Social Security for seventy-five years. Or how about this one- President Bush gives more in US Aid to Africa than any other president, but our yearly expenditure (roughly five billion dollars) equates to just two days of fighting in the Middle East.

For the sake of redundancy, let me rephrase the question: who's paying the cost?

My Sentiments

2008-03-28T13:46:00.004-06:00

I just got a mass e-mail from the "Responsible Plan" crew... normally I don't like repeating this sort of sentemantalism, but let's be honest, there's something valuable about sentiment. Just maybe it inspires us to make changes we're not necessarily eager to make.

Matt Stoller writes, "One piece of feedback from an endorser of the plan really stuck out to me. A couple from California signed their names, and said 'We don't know where our son is.'"

Make whatever jokes you want about the geography education of Americans, but I don't where my country is anymore- MIA.

http://www.responsibleplan.com

What's to like about Jim Hunt?

2008-03-28T12:06:00.008-06:00

I’d ask people not to let Denny Rehberg off the hook this election. The Iraq war stands as a glaring defect on Rehberg’s argument for fiscal responsibility. A pair of Harvard economists, including Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz, recently measured the cost of the war at an astounding three trillion dollars. As the American economy slows down, it’s likely the weight of that cost will become much more immediate. Rehberg’s first response to the President’s war was to criticize discontent: I quote from the US Today, “Now is not the time to be backbiting and picking at the President.” In retrospect, a little more critical analysis of the war might’ve been a good idea. Rehberg maintained in the last election, “We are doing good in Iraq.” He left the issue at that and now, it seems, Rehberg’s left the issue altogether. His congressional website makes no reference to the war, neither did his announcement speech for re-election. His voting record, on the other hand, reflects a “stay the course” policy. Aside from voting against withdrawal plans, Rehberg also voted for legislation permitting interrogation techniques exceeding those in the Army Field Manual (i.e. torture). Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, a victim of torture in Vietnam, was one of the most outspoken opponents of that authority.

Rehberg has yet to meet any of his democratic challengers, and seems to believe that he can win re-election by not making himself present. It’s a no news is good news mentality that denies Montanans what we deserve from our representative, open political debate. Democratic U.S. House candidate Jim Hunt has officially endorsed “A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq” (http://www.responsibleplan.com/), a plan drafted by some of America’s most prominent military leaders including the former Assistant Secretary of Defense under the Reagan Administration Dr. Lawrence Korb and Major General Paul Eaton, former Security Transition Commanding General in Iraq. While Rehberg and Bush continue to disregard the advice of America’s top military officials, Jim Hunt’s twenty-three years of service in the Montana Army National Guard seems to have bestowed him with the wisdom of listening.

It’s easy to give up on the issue of Iraq when there doesn’t seem to be a win-win solution, but it’s our failing if we, the American people, do so. The costs of the war, in human lives and national debt, will not go away simply by being unobserved. No matter how exhausting the war has become, the problem remains unaddressed precisely because politicians like Denny Rehberg have taken the albatross off their neck by ignoring the issue for the sake of political expediency.

The last, and somewhat unrelated point, regarding Rehberg: Comedians make offensive jokes in a benign context because they're comedians (not policy makers) and because audiences understand the intention of the joke. Politicians who have a history of disenfranchising particular groups in society don't have that luxury for good reason. When you consistently vote against basic work rights for Americans based on sexual orientation, an offensive joke made at the expense of others seems like a crude cheap-shot aimed at a familiar target. It's nothing short of public discrimination- institutional discrimination reminiscent of the 20th century's worst political leaders. I don't think it's necessary to clarify which infamous figures I'm referring to.

Counting Crows - Saturday Evenings & Sunday Mornings

2008-03-28T00:11:00.016-06:00

Given that Maxim reviewed the Black Crows new album without having actually heard it, let me indulge myself and review the Counting Crows new album without any experience. Saturday Evenings & Sunday Mornings, last I checked, stood atop the iTunes sales chart.

I have to start with a confession: I'm an advocate of lost causes. I always have been, and God save me, I always will be. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings has been called a "return to form" by the Baltimore Sun, and a variety of other respected critics have given the album similar write-offs. Equally belittled and appluaded on this point, it's a decent- if not good- effort in the usual styling of the Counting Crows. You can count on, for instance, melody driven rock dominated by the voice of lead singer Adam Duritz. For some critics, the problem is that it's the same ol' stuff. But as I forewarned my audience, I'm sympathetic to a good band later down the career road. It's not necessarily that the Counting Crows haven't musically evolved. Rather the problem (and the power) of any Counting Crows album is Mr. Duritz voice.

For comparison, take the Wallflowers: Bringing Down the Horse still brings me to the edge of tears. Subsequent efforts fizzeled out, and eventually the Wallflowers disappeared altogether. But Jacob Dylan's voice was always the standout, reminiscent of a sure-footed whisper. Their last effort, Red Letter Days, was underappreciated precisely because Dylan couldn't change his voice any more than rock could change it's preset popular chord progressions. Another example might be Damien Rice, whose vocals sound fragile enough to break. Like Adam Duritz, both of these artists rely on the novel and somewhat niche appeal in their voice. Yet in the decade and a half they collectively span, all of them have dwindled in popular and critical acclaim precisely because they've never managed to move beyond their given gift: singing a sad song.

I had a chance to see the Counting Crows last summer with my sister in Michigan. Prior to that point, they existed in my mind as a likeable curiosity in a lifetime of bands that have come and gone. Adam proved a powerfully tragic stage presence, fitting the tonal quality of his voice, which always seems an angry, heartbreaking croon. His voice so dominates the music of the Counting Crows, I'm skeptical any drastic change in accompaniment would sound any different. On Saturday Evenings & Sunday Mornings, Adam's voice undermines the optimistic positing of songs like "Los Angeles." As he sings, "I'm just trying to make some sense / So if you see that movie star in me..." the major chord progession fails to sound as bright as the Decembrists' "Los Angeles, I'm Yours," or quite as sardonic as Elliott Smith's "L.A." Instead, Adam's take on America's celebrity capitol is a mix between naive hope and the melancholic spirit of "just trying."

One of the more redeeming points about the rockus first half (or "Saturday Evening part of the album) might be the consistent slip into melancholy. As one iTune's fan proclaims, "I hate to admit it, but Adam sounds better depressed." In truth, Adam always sounds depressed. It's a theme supported by self doubt, fatigue, and (0f course) lost romance. Transitions from musical optimism to anything other than are clearly marked by slower tempo and and shifts into the minor key; take for example track five, "Sundays," where the fast-paced rhythm of riff-laden rock abruptly disassembles into the chorus as Adam confesses at half tempo, "I don't believe in anything at all."

I recently caught the Counting Crows on late night performing the new single "You Can't Count On Me," and the experience inspired this effort. First of all, "You Can't Count On Me" is about as bland a rock single as rock singles come anymore. Second of all, the visual effect of Adam Duritz violently wrestling his own intuition on stage, all the while wailing, "If you want to be free / there's one thing you need to know / and that's that you can't count on me" still resonates with some pretty profound, if basic, heart strings. It's not going to impress much more than the heyday of Counting Crows, i.e. "Mr. Jones," but Saturday Nights & Sunday Evenings still has some value in the contemporary music scene. I advise checking out the late night performance, via Letterman. Or pick-up the album and take it for a stroll around the block on a rainy day. At the very least, you'll get a thrill out of proving an amateur music critic utterly wrong.

Spring Training

2008-03-18T23:30:00.003-06:00

First of all, I was hoping to suit up on the College Republicans intramural co-ed softball team, but since giving them my name and number, they've failed to contact me. This only confirms my suspicion that liberals are permanently barred from the following activities:

1) Carry, salute, or look at the American flag with any earnest respect.

2) Believe in God.

3) Play sports (especially America's past time)

4) Understand the economy.

Republicans, on the other hand should be informed that they are no longer permitted to:

1) Play music, write novels, or work in the entertainment business as an actor, producer, etc.

2) Watch, appreciate or claim to understand the game commonly referred to as "soccer."

3) Drive any vehicle smaller than the largest SUV or any vehicle with over 20mpg.

4) Live in Missoula, MT.

Okay, just kidding. But seriously, why haven't I been called? Someone could at least put me in left field.

Here's something I wanted to share. I'm a Seattle Mariners fan, tried and true, so I sent this email to continue my annual griping.

To Whom It May Concern,

I live in Missoula, MT. Approximately 395 miles from Seattle, WA. Ever since
I first touched a baseball, I've been a Mariners fan. But really, I could've
been anything growing up. Unlike the highly differentiated North East,
baseball fans here come from every walk and variety. Some who never played
the game, follow with overzealous nostalgia a third-rank team from whatever
city or state preceded their life in Montana ; others follow the Yankees or
Red Sox, and render anything else irrelevant; the remaining baseball fans,
primarily those from Montana, play a game of pick and choose, sometimes
based on proximity, sometimes not. One of my friends saw his first big-league game at Shea
Stadium, and for no other reason, has been a loyal Mets fan ever since.
Another friend from Arlee was watching a fuzzy TV game with the Rangers, and
hasn't turned back. We are the free floaters of a universe based on loyalty;
maybe you'd call us postmodernists, the anti-nationalists, or the
cosmopolitans of baseball fandom. Anyway you want to describe it, we have no
inherited loyalty.

I've heard some East Coast gentlemen describe everything between California
and New York as the general "fly-over;" as if it were not enough to be
passed over by media and politicians, we have also to be literally reduced
to a "fly-over?" It's alright. Don't let me begrudge you any for
being from where ever you might be from. I only humbly request that if the
less than one million people living in a state three times the size of New
York don't matter, *quit blacking out the Marines games*. You could drive
from New York to Boston and back in the time it would take me to arrive in
Seattle- not to mention some of my less fortunate friends on the other side
of Montana (make that 5 trips from New York to Boston).

Sincerely,
Me

ELECTIONS: Questions to Answer?

2008-03-12T15:33:00.003-06:00

I'm quickly discovering how horribly stressful elections can be. Mind you, they are still a month away. But let me be upfront with a little disclaimer- I'm not going to reveal my intentions in this post. If that's what you're looking to hear, then turn away, go back, and read no further.

I won't reveal my intentions a) because I don't know what I intend and b) if I were running, it would probably violate some sort of election law as an early announcement.

But various arrangements of players have been proposed and shuffled through the collective conscious of ASUM, and now the week of petitions, when all should be settled, there is to my mind no fewer than ONE!!! definite team. A lot of people feel that for a team to go unopposed would be poor play on the behalf of ASUM. I mean really, we talk about how highly qualified we all are... but only one person is interested in being the President of the Student Body?

Yah, well I understand. It doesn't pay wonderful. School tuition is free, but you're GPA will drop a point or two (and I'm not talking about decimals). The press of the free world, the Montana Kaimin, hates you because... well, you're a politician and their journalists, and when we have play-time somebody's got to be the cop and somebody's got to be the robber. On occasion, you might enjoy the facade of real authority, but the second highest court in the land has made it quite clear that you are not omnipotent. In fact, you're not even a lesser form of government- you are an "an educational tool." Ouch.

But don't believe that means it's a breeze. Au contraire... people will call you, harass you, make mountains out of mole hills and maybe even try and make mole hills out of mountains (think mountaintop-removal mining). You have to a be a superhero, whose costume is a boring suit and tie you can spice up with a splash of color, or that sad, pathetic cartoon mickey mouse tie that tells everyone "behind this overworked unhappy person, is a really, really wild side."

So let me say to whoever is running, May the force be with you. IF it isn't, you will fail.

Lobbying and Budgeting

2008-02-25T14:02:00.004-07:00

Student Group lobbying begins tonight at 5pm. Where we generally consider lobbying to be merciless and immoral activity, ASUM has not only approved the whole ordeal but actually organizes and arranges it.

Prior to this week, the Executives sat down and reviewed $1.4million in student group budget requests. The allocated money will be available for groups at the start of the next academic year, which makes planning always a little slippery. People graduate. Things unplanned happen and planned things don't. So we aim to fund general operating expenses and fixed costs. Needless to say, we don't have $1.4million. The Executives make recommendations usually at half or a quarter of that request.

Between 5-8pm groups have scheduled ten minutes or so each to talk about their plans for next year before the Senate. Diligent members of the Senate take notes, especially about which line item a particular group would like to see increased. At the end of the night, Senators put "for sale" signs by their name cards, and informal lobbying begins.

Okay, okay... that's a bit cynical. At best, we get a postcard from ASUM childcare with a heart on it; but Hillel actually gave the Senate hummus once.

Budgeting is a mixed bag. 5-8 Mon-Thurs during a regular school week can be rough. That's the commitment of student representatives. It was deemed offensive to have a laptops out during lobbying. This only supports my theory that the Senate is the shadow puppet for a cult of Luddites. Instead of taking notes in an organized program like excel, saving paper with electronic copies of budget requests, or even having instantly updated spring training notes, we stare and nod, scribbling half-legible comments that will be entirely illegible even to the author by Friday.

Which brings me to Friday. The final day of budgeting. We sit in a room and hack it out for up to 20hrs. Nobody leaves until everything's done, but nobody ever really leaves the same anyway. It's a scarring experience, emotionally and physically.

But that's what's got to be done. C'est la vie.

The End of SB29-07/08

2008-02-21T13:40:00.005-07:00

I can't say this is a fond farewell to SB29-07/08. The Kaimin article in today's paper paraphrased last night's meeting in a very forgiving way. I am grateful for it.

Since R&A scratched the ad hoc committee from the first therefore clause, the resolution came amended from R&A as a proposal to enter into business negotiations- hardly something deserving of a resolution. However, the resolution still refers (even after last night's meeting) to the now non-existent committee in later passages. I suppose this could be called a sloppy error, but how the discussion unfolded last night, editing the resolution for consistency was just too much. We went from an attempt (motioned by myself) to eliminate the Kaimin from the resolution and keep the committee, to an attempt to explain why the Kaimin didn't want to sit on a committee, to an attempt to use the resolution as a symbolic gesture on the part of ASUM towards the Kaimin. The headline of the Kaimin article today, "Kaimin Editor Balks ASUM" reflects the latter sentiment, I think. But really, what we started with was a confusing mess and we left with the same thing.

The Kaimin article quotes what I said early on, "I'm not here to fight the Kaimin." I wish I had stuck to that. By the time we were talking about why the Kaimin should or shouldn't have to sit on a committee it wasn't going to sit on anyway, I lost it. I made some fairly non-germain complaints about the structure of the Kaimin, the role of the Kaimin on campus, etc. that I wish I had kept for another discussion. I'm grateful to Amy Faxon for showing my better side. Passing an ugly, inconsistent resolution without much justification reflects just how much discussion broke down last night; not just on my part, but within the whole senate. It happens from time to time in government. It's not pretty, but it happens.

I believe we were dealing with several different issues and running back and forth between practical and theoretical arguments. On one hand, we do need to change how we allocate funds for advertising because ASUM funds are tight. Equally so, if the Kaimin doesn't want to sit on a committee, their not going to. No point in arguing. Some practical issues of how quickly we could, without the Kaimin's help, review advertising expenditures came up. Valid, but not crucial.

Other points were raised on whether ASUM should have to make an offer to the Kaimin to pay for student group advertising or whether ASUM and the Kaimin should be compromising on the issue (since both are student fee supported). Some, including myself, feel the Kaimin should print student group events anyway because the Kaimin is fee supported and it is in the interest of the students. However, under the current structure the Kaimin has no reason or incentive to print an extensive calendar, regardless of how one interprets the role of the Kaimin or the interests of the students. In my opinion, it makes a compelling theoretical argument- but the argument doesn't change the Kaimin's incentives and it's far-flung from what last night's resolution could handle.

So what does this all mean? The resolution passed 10-7. Some Senators had left the room temporarily, but I'm not sure we knew what we were doing anymore (and I wrote the bill). Nothing will come of it. Thanks to Mr. Cribb, ASUM Senators and the Kaimin will continue to discuss an advertising deal. It probably won't be much different from what other organizations pay for bulk advertising. I still believe that student group events should be extensively printed without cost (call it advertising or whatever), but that won't change unless an earthquake hits the Board of Regents. Don't cross your fingers.

Rest In Peace SB29-07/08

Some Quick Links

2008-02-21T07:05:00.002-07:00

Missioulian Article and Video Covering the Fashion Show

Kaimin Story from SB29-07/08

Blog Name and the Subtitle

2008-02-20T22:56:00.004-07:00

No comments on the meeting tonight- big test tomorrow. I'll be posting sometime tomorrow afternoon when I have a chance. I'm sure there will be plenty coverage in the Kaimin (both the business manager and the editor were in attendance, along with a reporter and the on-campus ad rep). I've volunteered for KBGA radio tomorrow, which means sometime around 9am, I'll take a short interview on the meeting (nothing substantial).

I'm pretty new to the blog culture, and I didn't really think of using any name other than my own. But it's not a blog so much about me as about the Missoula UM campus. So the new name... "Secure These Ends" is taken from ASUM House Rules Section 1. Oath of Office:

I quote, "I do solemnly swear that I will... to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the rights and privileges of the students of the University of Montana, and will responsibly undertake all duties necessary to secure these ends."

That may change yet again, who knows? I like the way it sounds for now and the link will always remain.

Now the subtitle. Some funny remarks about the emo tone begs an explanation. The line actually comes from a Seamus Heaney poem, one of my favorites- "From Station Island:"

You lose more than you redeem
doing the decent thing. Keep at a tangent.
When they make the circle wide, it's time to swim

out on your own and fill the element
with signatures on your own frequency,
echo soundings, searches, probes, allurements

elver-gleams in the ever darkening sea.

Fashion Show and SB29 07/08 Update

2008-02-20T14:30:00.004-07:00

The campaign for sweatshop free university apparel is well underway. SESJ Fashion Show was a spectacular success, with media from all across Missoula (including the Kaimin) and even national coverage (MTV). The event took roughly 30 minutes and featured 16 models- mostly students, one professor, and some community members. The UC was packed with spectators. A lot of hard work, and I'm glad to say even things we hadn't prearranged were taken care of. Next stop, the UM Administration! SESJ has a meeting with President Dennison and VP Foley tomorrow afternoon. Check out what we want: the Designated Suppliers Program.

John Cribb, business manager of the Kaimin called to say he will be at the ASUM meeting tonight, only to inform the Senate that he will notbe part of any ASUM committee. I will make the motion, when the bill is taken up, that all Kaimin representatives or personnel be stricken from SB29-07/08. Details after the meeting.

Relations & Affairs Update #2

2008-02-20T02:23:00.006-07:00

SB31-07/08 Passed 5-0-0
An example of beautiful legislation... authored by Sen. Hunter, this bill recommends that profits from royalties accrued by a professor from a text required for a class he/she teaches should be donated to the University of Montanan Excellence Fund. The resolution cites both Montana Code Annotated and the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Faculty Union and the University as restricting professors or teachers from collecting royalty profits in this manner. Currently, professors and teachers pocket royalty profits from their intellectual property when it is purchased by a student for their class.

SB30-07/08 Passed 5-0-0
This resolution created a temporary Facebook Administrator for ASUM to be appointed from the current Senate. R&A members decided to cut the last Let It Be Further Resolved...The passage was thought of as excessive and wordy. I dissented from that opinion, sticking to my authorship that details never hurt more than they help. Why not clarify a process when you can?

Lengthy discussion pertaining to what, if anything, should be named as offensive content. The original language was kept, adding another line to the first Therefore clause restricting the Facebook Administrator from using the position (i.e. messaging) "for personal, political, or economic profit."

SESJ Fashion Show Update

2008-02-20T01:21:00.013-07:00

SESJ met for the last time tonight regarding the Sweatfree Fashion Show, being held tomorrow at 12:00noon in the University Center. Got a glimpse of some clothes, some models, some models without clothes... can't wait.

A recent proposition has me perspiring, should be exciting for the show. I can't say more except: stay tuned!

Some of the designers and stores on exhibit tomorrow:
Windjammer
No Sweat
Just Garments
Housfrau
Betty's Divine
Celtic Connection
American Apparel
Organic Cotton Prairie Underground
BPA Metalworks
Wantage
Goodwill
CUC
and more...

Relations and Affairs

2008-02-19T21:04:00.008-07:00

Long night, long meeting. I'm frustrated that we've reached a communicative impasse with the Kaimin. I understand that a committee is not the normal approach to negotiating contracts. However, it was never my intention that the Kaimin should feel requisitioned into anything they didn't agree with. That was, I guess, the point of having the Kaimin in equal representation on the committee.

I understand that the Kaimin wants to emulate the real world, especially in how it negotiates with local government. I feel, however, that framing a hypothetical "real world" to inform how we should act is a dangerous proposition. Doing this ignores or disregards the unique situation of the campus: effectively ignores the "real world" we live in. The Kaimin is not a market competitive paper. ASUM has no other possible negotiating partners. Money spent by ASUM on Kaimin advertising is not profit to the student body (which owns both institutions) but rather a transfer of fees from one student organization to another. Furthermore, both ASUM and the Kaimin are under the umbrella of the ASUM Constitution, and neither has the power to change this arrangement. That's the real world we live in.

But what I have undertaken is a losing battle, a nuanced argument that sounds dull compared to rhetoric of journalistic integrity and free speech. I have to ask myself continuously what is, or what ever, was the point?

The main focus of the resolution was ASUM and the impending funding shortage, not the Kaimin. There are more groups than ever asking for money. This year, budget requests came in over $1.4million- not including agencies or administrative costs. We need to find ways to cut expenses. Negotiating some sort of bulk advertising deal offered a way to save money and fit more student group events into the paper.

The only student fees spent behind closed doors are spent by the Kaimin. The Kaimin hires its own staff, runs its own editorial meetings, and conducts its daily business without oversight from any part of the campus. Nor does the Kaimin face competition on campus- there is no source to straighten the story out when something goes awry. We have twenty-three individually elected members who do not always agree, and hold each other accountable. We also have a member of the Kaimin present at all meetings so nothing is done outside the scrutiny of the press. But I would say, given those conditions, we've gained a bit of grace: the grace of listening, of reaching out not only to our friends, but reaching out across the divide for collaborative solutions.

Members of the ASUM Senate have become recondite in their business, focused on the structure of campus policy and how to work within that structure. Our debates seem to be more about details than superfluous sentiments, and some people I suppose would rather we dealt in the type of empty statements peddled by our national politicians.

2008-02-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

SB29-07/08

Resolution Regarding Kaimin Advertising and the

Associated Students of The University of Montana (ASUM)

Whereas, Kaimin advertising constitutes significant expenditures for the ASUM Administration, ASUM Agencies, and ASUM-recognized Groups per fiscal year;

Whereas, ASUM faces increasing budget constraints due to new minimum wage laws, monetary inflation, increases in student group participation and general ASUM agency growth;

Whereas, ASUM currently pays the standard flat rate of $7 x column width x height in inches, and cannot sustain the current level of ASUM Administration, ASUM Agencies, and ASUM-recognized Group advertising for Fiscal Year 2009;

Whereas, anticipated student advertising revenues may deter publication of student group and ASUM-related press releases prior to an event;

Whereas, The University of Montana Retention Taskforce has demonstrated a strong relationship between student involvement and student retention, and more efficient advertising could substantially increase student participation in both ASUM services and student group activities;

Whereas, a contract for ASUM Administration, ASUM Agencies, and ASUM-recognized Group sponsored advertising could significantly reduce per ad costs of advertising and increase dissemination of information related to ASUM Administration, ASUM Agencies, and ASUM-recognized Group activities;

Therefore, Let It Be Resolved that this body create an ad hoc committee consisting of two current ASUM Senators, one current ASUM Executive, the current Kaimin Editor, Business Manager and Campus Relations Director, one student-at-large, with the current ASUM Business Manager serving as chair.

This committee shall discuss and negotiate a possible ASUM-Kaimin advertising contract by the 4^th of April, 2008 to be in effect for ASUM FY09.

Let It Be Further Resolved that upon establishing a proposed advertising contract, this committee shall draft a Memorandum of Understanding between the Kaimin and ASUM, clarifying the relationship and interests of both, being independent and equal, student fee-supported organizations.

Authored by: Senator. Renaud Bangadi Kiki and Senator Sean Morrison

2008-02-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

SB30-07/08

Resolution Regarding ASUM on Facebook

Whereas, currently 10, 312 current and former students of The University of Montana are registered on Facebook;

Whereas, Facebook provides a free and democratic forum for comments, event listing, and campus networking related to the Associated Students of The University of Montana (ASUM) and The University of Montana (UM) extended community;

Whereas, Facebook provides an avenue for ASUM and UM alumni to participate and keep track of events, activities, and proceedings related to ASUM and the extended UM community;

Whereas, ASUM currently has an unofficial and effectively defunct Facebook group;

Whereas, the current body of ASUM should be pro-active and forward-looking in efforts to increase accessibility and participation;

Therefore, Let It Be Resolved that ASUM nominate and appoint by majority of two-thirds a member of the current ASUM Senate to the position of ASUM Facebook Administrator.

This Senator will have the unique charge of updating the ASUM Facebook group profile. The ASUM Facebook Administrator shall also be charged with monitoring wall posts for offensive content, limited to and not exceeding:

1) Profane or offensive language.

2) Personal attacks directed towards any member(s) of the student body, alumni or extended UM community.

3) Discriminatory comments based on gender identification, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion and/or race.

4) Excessive posting of content irrelevant to the Associated Students of The University of Montana, The University of Montana, local, state, national, and/or global affairs.

Let It Be Further Resolved that any member of the student body, alumni, or any interested party who feels unjustly censored bring an appeal before the Senate during the Public Comment period of a regularly scheduled ASUM Senate meeting. A member of the Senate may also make an appeal on grounds of delinquency or unjust censorship during the New Business period of a regularly scheduled ASUM Senate meeting. One appeal will call for floor discussion pursuant to a vote of confidence. A less than two-thirds majority vote will cause for the immediate removal of the current ASUM Facebook Administrator and the appointment of a new ASUM Facebook Administrator.

Authored by: Senator Sean Morrison

Sweatfree Fashion Show

2008-02-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, February 20th

In order to keep me from modeling, I've been asked to MC the event. Should be entertaining.

Facebook Event
Second Annual: Students show off sweatshop free clothing, available locally and online, to demonstrate for UM what the Designated Suppliers Program is all about... good looks and a clean conscience. Live DJ, MC. The funk soul brother, check it out now!

Press Release from Montana Human Rights Network and the Western MT Gay & Lesbian Community Center

2008-02-18T22:45:00.002-07:00

Rep. Rehberg’s practical plane joke.

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“We find this highly insulting, especially from a lawmaker with a consistent anti-gay voting record,” said Christine Kaufmann, director of the Montana Human Rights Network, and a state Senator. Kaufmann was referring to a practical “joke” played by Rep Denny Rehberg who left an “Idaho Travel Package” on Rep Mike Simpson's (R-Idaho) airplane seat. The items enclosed included a stuffed sheep with gloves attached, book on cross-dressing and a T-shirt with an insensitive gay reference.

“This is an embarrassment to Montana,” said Jamee Greer of the Western Montana Gay and Lesbian Community Center. “Representative Rehberg owes the gay community, and all of Montana an apology,” he continued.

The state-wide Human Rights Network, which recently launched its Equality Project, and the Community Center of Missoula, have requested a meeting with Rep. Rehberg to discuss the prank and his voting record. “He uses us for jokes, while he votes to continue employment discrimination. He plays silly pranks while he votes against hate crimes protections,” said Kaufmann, “We're not laughing.”

Representative Rehberg also voted yes on the failed Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006, which would have defined marriage as between a man and woman and prevent judicial extension of marriage rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.

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Students for Jim Hunt

2008-02-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon

I'm hoping to gather the required fifteen signatures this week to launch an ASUM recognized group, Students for Jim Hunt.

Jim Hunt for Congress

Great Falls Tribune Article

Stay tuned.