Take Back The Night

Hey everyone, remember the Take Back The Night (TBTN) event we have on campus? It is coming up again this in late September. In case you might not be familiar with it, here is capture from our own website:

Take Back the Night

The 21st Annual 2011 Fox Valley Take Back The Night involves partner agencies and citizens from throughout the Fox Valley standing up to violence. The problems of violence against women and the broader issues of sexual violence need to be addressed.

Maybe we could get a dynamic speaker at the event, possibly from our own campus. How about our own Mike Lenza? He is a is in Public Affairs and after all his "...experience allows (him) to bring a different perspective that most academics wouldn't have".

Um, that perspective would be that he murdered his first wife and mother-in-law. http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2004/08/08/justice-put-him-in-prison-now-justice-is-his-missi/ His perspective would be great to hear because after all, he doesn't want to talk about the murders because "he feels that while he can defend his actions, his victims cannot". A man to be admired, no doubt.

I'd love to hear about this perspective; about how he can defend the actions of a double murder. After the years of hearing about why students missed exams, didn't turn in assignments, plagiarized papers, staff being sick, etc; I've never heard why someone feels it is okay to MURDER two women.

After all, we all have academic freedom so come on Mike, profess to us unlearned and unwashed masses on why murdering your wife and mother-in-law is hunkydory.

I'm guessing for a preview of the "perspective" and the defending of "his actions" could be found in his appeal to the 8th Circuit (caution: graphic)http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/665/804/408273/

AND before someone says "hey, he served his time and is square with the house" please remember we kick students out of dorms for drug and alcohol offenses. If you can reconcile kicking an 18 year old out of dorm because of drug or alcohol violations while employing a double murderer (of his wife and mother-in-law) as an Asst Prof on a campus that values women's rights well; God Help You.

Real News Not From The Onion!

The Onion couldn't make up a story this good: Lt Col Tim Donovan, former spokesperson for the Wisconsin National Guard not hired as spokesman for the Wisconsin Dept of Veterans Affairs and is suing:

"Donovan scored the only 100 percent on the qualifying test and was also the only veteran to make it to the final interview for the position, according to the complaint.

“The WDVA has admitted Colonel Donovan was not only fully qualified for the position, but that he was the only veteran among the seven finalists who could possibly have been hired,” Donovan’s attorney Michael Fox said in a statement.

The DVA ultimately awarded the position to Sara Stinski, 36, who scored an 82 on the test and has no military experience, according to the complaint. According to court papers filed by the DVA in response to Donovan’s complaint in the spring, Stinski’s 15 years in marketing writing about discounts for veterans qualified her for the position. Prior to her appointment by the DVA, Stinski worked as the marketing and public relations officer for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association." See the entire article here: http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/11/09/iraq_vet_files_discr.php

So to sum it up for the WDVA: write a press about a veteran's discount at a restaurant and you too are qualified to be their spokesman!

Olberman Suspended

And his toupee was put to sleep!

Read here http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/05/entertainment/e105245D05.DTL

Was It Halloween Today?

A great sight today and fortunately for me, he isn't one of my students because I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face with him in my class.

He was about 6 ft tall and maybe 120lbs and he was wearing East German (I doubt he was old enough to have been born before German reunification) combat fatigues. Shoulder length scraggly unkempt hair, wire-rim glasses and a black beret. The best part of the outfit was the black, pointy toe, high-heeled boots.

Long live the revolution comrade!

ABC World News

I got the chance to watch ABC's World News tonight. The lead story? Might it be one of our wars? Our economy? Iran? Haiti? Dubai? The stimulus anniversary?

Of course not. The lead story and 1st 5 minutes was devoted to Tiger Woods having a press conference on Friday.

Un-effing believable.

A Nod to The Chief

I was discussing The Chief/JB's recent feature of Capt Karl with a few JB readers. I'm not going to co-opt JB, go to The Chief for the link. Capt Karl is, as the English would say, a nutter. But read him and see for yourself.

Anyway, as we chuckled over the bizarre philosophy floated by Cat Karl someone mentioned Steve Quayle www.stevequayle.com. I'd never heard of him but after reading a few of his postings, he is far and away nut job #1 in my book. Capt Karl doesn't come close to the fear and paranoia floated by Quayle.

Any other blogs way out there? Post 'em here!

Green Campus?

I'm having hard time grasping this one: why parking services needed a brand new 8 passenger Suburban to cruise the parking lots in their never ending quest to issue parking tickets.

We don't have a very large campus, couldn't parking enforcement walk or bike? Likewise, couldn't a more fuel efficient vehicle be found in the campus fleet than an 8 passenger Suburban? I mean really, an 8 passenger, 4X4 SUV is needed to drive one parking enforcement guy around campus to issue tickets?

Someone please put a happy face on this story.

Our salaries are being cut and we say we are trying to have a sustainable, green campus but yet, we outfit a metermaid in a vehicle costing upwards of $40,000 and getting God knows what for fuel economy.

C'mon, please put a happy spin on this for me. Pretty please? I'm beggin!