Just got a call from Dr. Hyer about it. And I've had Dr. Knight talk to me about it as well. I was on the fence for a while - I didn't want to make a commitment and then walk it back, but with the easing up of my schedule lately I think I'll be able to do this.
So I'm now a part of student government. I have no idea what this means. I know Aaron Prestwich (the guy who had a Vewy Sewious Talk with Nate when he wrote about how bad the campus wifi was) went all banana republic and dissolved the Student Finance Committee last year, which was unfortunate, undemocratic, and possibly even unconstitutional in a literal sense, under state law.
So I'm half-expecting to be a part of some rubber stamp committee, to be dissolved by Mr. Prestwich the moment it asserts any manner of independence. But I did get asked to do this by two different professors; one chairs a department and one's a dean. And I'm not going to offer up half-measures. I know most students don't really care about this stuff, and don't have time to care. So I'll have to care in their name, and I'll fight for student interests as best I can, and I'll leave any and all rubber stamps at home as I do it.
Interesting to note: this is not my first foray into academic politics, although it is the first time I've gotten a position, and the first time I haven't asked for one. As a child in California, I campaigned for class president. I made speeches, I gave out campaign buttons, and I lost to some popular girl. My little fifth-grade heart was broken by the experience, and ever since I kinda just ignored student politics. I haven't even really thought about that memory in decades, but I suppose that's why I've ignored them.
I started paying attention again as an undergrad. There was this raging douche named Phil Lockwood (he was the son of one of my favorite professors of all time, Dr. Lockwood) who led the CSC Gaming Club. He managed to get CAB (the Campus Activities Board) to allocate $2000 towards a LAN party, which was a huge chunk of the CAB budget. All of campus was pissed at him after that. I was not only going to college, but I was running a video game shop downtown at the time, Last Level Gaming. He came to me to try to get me to sponsor a second LAN party. He wouldn't buy any games or systems from me; in exchange for donating several thousand dollars worth of equipment he was going to let me put a notice on one of the walls saying that Last Level Gaming donated the equipment.
Like I said. Raging douche. I think he ended up changing majors every couple years so he could be an undergrad for like a decade. No clue if he ever finally graduated; I just know he's not here now.
Anyway, losing most of CAB's money was kind of a blow, and then the aforementioned crap with Prestwich last semester have given me an impression of incompetence and misrule in student government. I'm hoping to rectify this situation, at least inasmuch as it's in my power.
As for the tag "my alma mater is a banana republic:" it was an offhand comment I made to Nate once on IM, and he ended up elaborating it into a whole bit of poetry that he read at an open mic a while back. I think I'm going to use it to tag anything CSC-related that ends up on here.
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